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This is a small spot area in my car before I attacked it with Dash Away. You can see where my floor mat had been.

Ok, you busy parents of little mess makers, hold onto to your carseats because we’ve got a product that will absolutely make your “must haves” list!

I was contacted by Surf City Garage out of Huntington Beach, CA with a cleaning product they said couldn’t be beat. Having five children of my own and the various messes that accompany them, i have tried innumerable products and none seem to completely live up to their claims of “miraculous” cleaning power. So I was naturally quite skeptical of Surf City Garages claims for their Dash Away all purpose cleaning product. It arrived on my doorstep with the guarantee from its founder, Tim Miller, that “when used as directed, if this product isn’t the best you’ve ever tried, give me a call and I’ll buy it back.” As you will see from the pictures, I have no intention of calling Mr. Miller!

This is the picture I took of the same area about 2 minutes after I applied Dash Away. You can barely see the earlier line of grime defining where the floor mat had been!

I decided to test it out on some of the toughest, most resilient stains I have at my disposal… my car. I have had the carpet professionally cleaned several times and was told to resign myself to the fact that certain stains are just impossible to remove. I very skeptically followed the directions for Dash Away…shaking the bottle, spraying a light mist over the stain, and then wiping it clean with a rag. Way too simple, I thought, until I began to actually “see” the stain begin to disappear! And as if thats not enough, it actually smells good too!

I turned my good friend Jodie onto the product to help her with a 3 year old, sun baked koolaid stain. She has had the stain professionally treated several times with no visible results. After showing her the product, she promptly went out and bought not only the Dash Away product but also the window and leather cleaners! Here’s her take on the Surf City Garage products…

“It lightened the koolaid…it worked on all the dark spots on carpet and got the smudge off the sides of the car and doors. I liked the cleaner because its not sticky or oily. I usually like aerosol window stuff but this stuff didn’t streak or leave smears.”

Needless to say, I am now a devoted fan! The product is non toxic and safe to use on a number of materials like vinyl, leather, carpet, fabrics like car seats, strollers and the like. Although it was designed for car cleaning, the applications seem limitless. I have no problem endorsing this product and highly recommend it to anyone looking for quick, easy and thorough cleaning results (and it’s only $9.99!). I was able to clean the entire interior of my Denali in less than 15 minutes with results that were better than the $60 professional interior detail I not only paid for but also waited over two hours to have completed several months ago!

Check out more info on Dash Away and other Surf City Garage cleaning products at www.surfcitygarage.com. Happy cleaning!

Tags: chores, cleaning tips, Family and Home, housekeeping, product reviews
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Does your child struggle with behavior concepts? Perhaps numbers or letters are particularly difficult for them? Or maybe you just want your little one to feel extra loved and appreciated? All these are reasons to give Personal Child Stories a call!

Little Sammy was one of the inspirations behind Personal Child Stories

Personal Child Stories was begun specifically to address all of theses questions. The company owner, writer and designer, Shara Lawrence-Weiss is a journalist, early childhood specialist, experienced nanny and freelance writer who is also experienced in special needs children from a firsthand perspective. She has taken this diverse background and combined her many skills along with a passion for reading into a wonderful positive learning tool for children of all ages. Her books are custom designed for each individual child with pictures, story line and theme centered around each childs particular needs.

I had to see this for myself! I recently received some samples of her product and was most impressed! Her books come in two sizes, 5×5 for smaller children and 8.5×9 for older children. Trust me when I say that these books are meant to last! Each page is laminated and the book is spiral bound for easy page turning. The result is a sturdy book that will hold up to drooling, chewing, throwing, stepping on, and just about any other rough treatment your toddler can imagine! The pages will not tear, can be written or colored on and then can be wiped clean again with a damp cloth to look brand new again!

From babies to toddlers to even older children, Personal Child Stories inspire and teach all ages!

Storylines are completely customized and used in conjunction with actual submitted photos of the child to fit each childs individual need, situation or desired learning concept. She works closely with parents to accomplish this. Her alphabet book and counting book samples were a huge hit with my little toddler! She loved flipping through the book again and again, counting the pictures and pointing out the letters of the alphabet!…of course that was after I had exhausted my patience answering numerous requests to “read it again, mommy!”. The counting book was especially neat because it not only had a cute rhyming lilt to it but it also showed the numbers in Spanish, English, and sign language!

As a graphic designer of over 12 years experience, I can attest to the life-changing impact that strong images and well written copy can have on people of all ages. Shara has combined both in her product and I would highly recommend these books to anyone looking to teach their children through the power of positive reinforcement.

If you would like to learn more about obtaining your own personalized book for your child, visit Shara at www.personalchildstories.com

Tags: arts and crafts for kids, education, Family and Home, parenting, product reviews, toddlers
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If you are searching for that perfect valentines gift for a techno-mommy on your list, we’ve got a winner for you! We have stumbled across an iPhone app that is truly a mommy-tool calendaring wonder! The TotalBaby app definitely makes our MyTime Calendar recommendation list! The TotalBaby Application is a calendar and event tracking solution for kids and babies whose application is limitless!

Developed in 2009, this application was the brain-child of ANDESigned, LLC and is truly inspired work. It allows you to track multiple children from birth to whenever! To better explain this application, I will use my own family of 4 children as an example. Each child was entered with all their birth information and a current photo. I was then able to enter all their vaccination information through a slick interface that allows you to record by vaccine, date and even be as specific as the time of day. You can also make notes at each vaccination entry about how they reacted, doctor recommendations, etc. Next, I was able to enter all the doctor visits I wanted to for each child. For most of my children, this included just the well-visit check-ups for which I entered their measurement info and any pertinent doctor advice I wanted to keep track of. But I have one child that has had health conditions that necessitated specialists so I was able to enter these “sick” visits as well to track exactly when he went and what was discussed.

Total Baby is the most Complete Baby Logging and Tracking Application available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

But it doesn’t stop there! There is a wonderful diary entry area for each child where you can use pictures from your iPhone gallery or snap one for immediate use and couple it with any information you want to include. This is great when your child says or does something funny or memorable and you want to remember it but may not remember at the end of the day to write it into your journal. This app lets you jot it down right as it happens! There is also a milestone area…you title each entry so you can track when they took their first step (with photos!), first words, first smile, or even their first day of school! How about those parent/teacher conferences, concerts or special assignments? Yup, you can record those too! This area also comes with a timing feature so you can track the exact moment you want to notate through a handy drop-down menu that deafaults to the current moment!

If you choose, you can email the TotalBaby reports. Just specify dates or "all data" and you get a well organized synopsis of your child's history!

This event timing is one of the coolest features. Total Baby combines 13 separate timing and tracking functions into a single complete solution. You can track events for each child like diaper changes, bottle feedings/nursing (even which side they nursed on and for how long!!), naps, bathtimes, and one of my absolute favorite features (because I have multiple children to track) is the ability to track doses of medication. For instance, if I have more than one child that requires medication, I can track exactly what I give each child (time, quantity and specific medication) so I know exactly what they’ve received and when they are due for another dose. This is invaluable for sleep deprived mothers who may or may not have the ability to trust their memories at two o’clock in the morning.

To wrap up our review, all this information is literally at your fingertips! So when your friends ask you “so when was she born?” or your doctor asks “how many wet diapers did he have today?” or your child asks you “what did I do when I was 2?”. Not only is it easily accessible but you can also back up the files as well as email them (choosing all information or just specific dates)! We have looked at several other baby/child tracking apps and this one truly shines above all the rest. For only $4.99, it is a totally fun app that is so practical every mom should have it!

Our only complaint (and we had to reach to find a complaint with this app!) was that a growth chart would be very helpful to have in addition to the growth recording abilities it now has. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this feature will be included in future updates!

Tags: Calendaring Tips, Family and Home, health, parenting, product reviews
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When I initially set out to write this series, I was a little disheartened by the lack of information available through my school. But I was most impressed with the outpouring of information from the many people who handle kids with peanut allergies on a daily basis. With all the information out there though, nothing can compensate for a childs own ability to self-manage their allergies. Parents with allergic children need to prepare their child for life in busy crowded situations like school by giving both the child and their teachers as much information as possible to be prepared.

A teacher with ample information to send home to a child’s classmates parents will be able to provide a much safer environment than a teacher with no tools to supply their parents and students. As Elizabeth Cowles Johnston, a member of School Nutition Association states, “schools want to ensure that sutdents are also cognizant of their own allergy risks – another reason tables or areas of “peanut0free” are more prevalent than complete bans as they are more manageable to monitor.” Elizabeth offered us two great printouts entitled “School Foodservice and Food Allergies: What We Need to Know” and a comprehensive “Food Allergy Action Plan” that parents can fill out for their kids to take to school and give to their teachers, parents or other involved faculty members.

Lor Aronsky from Food Allergy Ally shared some more suggestions of “nut free” treats and alternatives to send to school:

• Instead of Peanut Butter, try Soy Nut Butter (IM Healthy) or Sunflower Butter (Sun Butter).
• Treasure Mills Allergen Sensitive Snacks make school safe treats such as brownies, chocolate chip treats, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc. and are sold at Whole Foods Stores.
• Divvies makes delicious treats for school.
• Vermont Nut Free has amazing candies, treats, etc.
• Entenmanns makes several nut free deserts and many popsicles and water ices are safe but a caution with these products…READ LABELS as not all of these products are made without nut contaminants.

Lori also offers some suggestions on home safety should you have a child with nut allergies over to play. It is fine to have nuts and peanut butter in your home but keep them out of reach and even out of sight if possible. If you have prepared peanut butter sandwiches on your table tops, simply wipe them down well. Remember to check labels before giving any food to the child. Recognize that they can safely eat fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt and MOST Mac and Cheeses and MOST pizza snacks but again…CHECK LABELS! Be sure the parent leaves 2 epi pens and they train you how to use one in case.

Other suggestions for classrooms are to make sure if you have a child with allergies, to bring a bag of “safe” treats to school for your teacher to keep on hand should someone unexpectedly bring questionable treats to school for the kids. Most teachers prefer kids bring in pencils, markers, stickers or other school supplies as an alternative to treats anyway.

Always wash hands after snacks or lunch to make sure that nut contaminants are not transferred to classroom materials.

A great web find was the Stuck on You labels. They offer many customized stickers, bags, labels, bracelets and school supplies that will help parents protect children by alerting caregivers to their specific allergy. They have some very fun ideas and supplies worth checking into.

Another suggestion came from Alana Elliot, Founder and President of Nonuttin’ Foods Inc. She suggests providing a large, color poster to the school with a picture of the allergic child, their food allergies, and no more than 3 simple steps to follow if an allergic reaction is suspected. Make enough copies for the child’s classroom, the staff room and the office. “While some people may be concerned about their child being labeled,” Alana says, “it’s advisable to have all in the school aware of your child so they can respond accordingly in an emergency and not all staff will know the child so must have a visual to refer to.” She adds,”Safety trumps privacy in this situation.”

Alana also recommends keeping your child’s epi-pens on their person. “A teacher in the playground with your child will not have time to go get an epi-pen in the school and return to your child.” Kat Eden, an employee at Education.com and mother of an allergic child, suggests a “teaching” epi-pen is worth having around so that parents can take a moment at the beginning of the school year to educate a teacher or other faculty member how to use the pen correctly without fear.

Kat also  has taught her son some choice phrases to help him communicate with the other children about his allergies. Politely refusing treats with a “no thank you” or even a more direct “I’m allergic to peanuts” will alert kids but may also invite teasing. So Kat suggested her son try a little humor of his own by saying “my body doesn’t like peanuts and if I eat them or touch them I’ll get very sick. But my body LOVEEESSSS chocolate!”…she adds, “I’m not sure why but that cracks him up every time!”.

Here are a few more helpful links worth checking out…

• Nut and Peanut Allergy Diet
• Allergy and Special Needs
• Kids and Food Allergies: Facts, Tips, and Resources

We hope you have found our unfortunately rather long blog posts this week helpful as we strive to keep our kids safer in school. It is also our hope that you will take this information and share it with as many others as you can so that we can continue to understand this allergy better, with less fear and with more understanding. As Jessica Cohen, a parent of a child with multiple food allergies, states “the more the people around him understand the seriousness of it, the more we can all work together to keep children like mine safe.” Mike Spinney, another concerned parent, adds “clearly communicating the reality of our daughter’s situation opens eyes, and when they know there’s a potential for death, they pay attention.”

Tags: education, Family and Home, food allergies, parenting, product reviews, safety, teachers, tips and tricks
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Dance and cook with Goofy and his friends in Goofy's Kitchen!

Brilliant fireworks, beautiful music, and a snow fall surrounded by white lights all combine in the Disney fireworks display to bring the holidays home!

Are you planning any trips to the Magic Kingdom this holiday season? If you are not, then you should! Holidays in Disneyland are truly magical! For starters, it’s pretty tough to find someone that could top the Mouse for his decorating savvy. The entire park gets a serious make-over for the holidays. Toon Towne is complete with snow on the rooftops and you won’t even recognize the Haunted Mansion, which has been overrun by Jack Skellington and his band from the Nightmare Before Christmas. The towering trees, wreaths, flowers, and holiday lights are truly a sight to behold. If you can’t get in the Holiday spirit in Disneyland, then I am afraid there is little hope for you.

If you are planning a Disneyland trip this holiday season and toting along multiple little people with you, we’ve got a few recommendations…

• Transportation. If you have the ability to take the monorail into the park, this will shave considerable time off your morning commute. You must be staying in a Disneyland Hotel (California Hotel, Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel) in order to fast pass onto this little gem of a transport system. Presenting your room key along with your park ticket will get you in a full hour before the park opens on select days.
• Food and the “bottom” line. If you plan to be in the park for the entire day, food can be a very daunting expense and major time waster. Again, we are addressing those with little ones here. Based on considerable experience, we recommend you try to limit yourself to two or less meals in the park. Snack before you leave your room. Then eat a good sized breakfast in the park late in the morning (you can hit the rides while everyone else is eating at normal breakfast hours, then eat while the ride lines are longer) then take along a smorgesborg of water, treats and snacks (fruit roll-ups, trail mix, granola bars, fruit, etc.) that will happily tide your little ones (and bigs ones!) over until the next meal. Skip the lunch and have either an early dinner or a late dinner. Again, this helps you avoid the mealtime crowds and time-waster lines.
• Don’t miss the fireworks! You need to give yourself a good hour before it starts to find a decent spot. Take some blankets to sit on. Pick a spot near the castle or near the Small World ride. These are the best locations to be a part of the “White Christmas” part of the fireworks…yes, there is actual snow that will fall! You won’t want to miss it!
• Give the gift of memories! If you’re going to spend all that money on getting your family to the park, then it’s worth it to make sure they remember it, right? Autograph books can help you’re kids interact with the characters firsthand and have some memories to boot. An autograph book that includes picture slots is a must. Our little ones loved to approach each character and “ask for their autograph”, if only to have an excuse to talk to the character one on one. Once finished with the trip, we insert photos of each child with their character friends into this autograph book and it becomes a real treasure for each child. A word of advice for the autograph seeking crowd…it is well worth investing in a “character dining experience” rather than face long lines to meet each character in the park. For the best food and character quantity, we recommend the “Plaza Inn “Minnie & Friends – Breakfast in the Park” hosted by Kellogg’s ” inside Disneyland for breakfast. In one hour, you will fill up at least half of an autograph book.

Good luck on your Disney vacation and we hope you have as much fun as we did! Now go make some memories!

Do you have experiences or tips you would like to share about how to maximize a Disneyland holiday trip? Visit our forum and join in the conversation!

Tags: entertainment, Family and Home, fun, holiday activities, product reviews, tips and tricks
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ReUsies come in many different styles to fit your little one's "tastes"!

As school began this year, I found myself caught somewhat off guard as I ushered three of my four children off to school for the first time instead of two. Several things were surprising to me. First, it’s amazing how much longer it takes to get three out the door as opposed to two! Second, school supplies are now a “purchase in bulk” item rather than a “lets stop by the store on the way to school” project. And third, I can go through a jumbo box of ziploc bags in less than 3 weeks!!!!

Yikes! I am not  the most conscientiously “green” parent but I do make an effort to not be obscenely wasteful and this particular realization had me shaking as I grabbed the box of plastic bags for lunches. I couldn’t believe there was no other alternative to this kind of waste. Enter ReUsies!

ReUsies has developed a product to replace plastic sandwich bags forever! They are made from  100% cotton lined with leak-resistant nylon and have a Velcro closure. They come in two different sizes, Snack Size (approximately 6″x5″) and Sandwich size (approximately 7.5″x6″). The snack size can hold a half sandwich or whole sandwich with the crust off and is great for crackers, pretzels, fruit slices, or similar quantities of snacks.  The Sandwich size  can hold a regular sized sandwich, bagel, or similar sized snacks. If you’re like our family, a typical lunch might contain one large snack bag and two smaller ones.

One of the best things about ReUsies is the ease of care! They can be machine washed, washed in the dishwasher (my personal favorite!) or wiped clean in soapy water and air dried! One of my biggest hold ups with the product was my fear that after prolonged or extended use, they would begin to smell or break down (as do my dishrags!) but I am pleased to say that after a month of use, they still look (and smell) just as good as new!

When it takes over 1,000 years to break down a single plastic bag (and a single family of 3 kids is capable of disposing of over 180 bags a month!!), this product could make a considerable difference in the future of our children. Not only is it safer for the environment, it is safer for the food we consume since less contact with plastic means less contamination to food. When you live in a climate like Arizona where temperatures can reach up to 115º (even higher if your food sits in a car for any amount of time), plastic and food don’t always make a safe combination.

For more information or to purchase your own ReUsies, visit their website at www.reusies.com. They are currently running a special through the end of September 2009 that includes free shipping!

Tags: Family and Home, parenting, product reviews, safety, tips and tricks
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The Kid Cave, a featured inflatable at the North Phoenix PumpItUp Location

When the temperature jumps to 109 degrees and your kids are bouncing off the walls with unspent energy, where do you go that won’t cause heat stroke, dehydration or heat exhaustion? I have a solution to your problem! …PumpItUp! The Inflatable Party Zone!

They are currently getting ready to celebrate their 4th anniversary on August 31st! Congrats! This will be a special event in that it will offer a free “open bounce” from 5:00pm-8:00pm with groups of 25-30 kids being moved through two bounce zones every 30 minutes (equalling 1 hr of open play for each attendee). Probably the most exciting thing about this anniversary, however, is that Banerjee is going to accept donations to support the American Society of Autism.

Banerjee has hosted events for the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC) before along with many private parties for autistic children’s groups. Banerjee confided, “the (autistic) kids really seem to enjoy themselves…something about the environment awakens something in them and they truly have some amazing fun!”. Banerjee added that he is careful to consult parents in attendance about the environment (ie. music volume and selection) to make sure that he creates the best environment possible for these special needs children.

“We have a deep appreciation and concern for autism in our community…these families are truly special and have given us some sobering insights into the struggles faced by autistic children and their caregivers,” says Banerjee. “This is our way to give back to the community that has supported us these last four years,” he adds.

I would encourage you to attend this free bounce event if possible but if you don’t make it, Banerjee assured me that they are open year round, with the exception of major holidays. Banerjee recognizes that his business depends on the disposable income of families, something not many have a lot of these days. So he has restructured some of the standard PumpItUp! party package options at his location specifically to address these tough economic times. So don’t be afraid to give it a try! Remember, “no matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back!” (quote by Sheryl Swoopes)

If you have ever been to a BounceU or Jump and Shout, then you will be very familiar with this type of indoor inflatable playground. The North Phoenix location boasts two arenas of over 4000 square feet each, filled with various inflatable activities. PumpItUp has a brightly colored and exciting atmosphere to offer even the most seasoned bouncer! There are 4 valley locations (Tempe, Scottsdale, North Phoenix and Arrowhead) that offer open bounce times as well as scheduled private parties for all ages. For those of you who are bounce-savvy, you might be interested to know that PumpItUp was actually the original “indoor bounce zone”, later adapted by BounceU and others. But now, even BounceU falls under the corporate umbrella of PumpItUp Holdings.

I spoke with Swapan Banerjee, owner and operator of the North Phoenix PumpItUp! location on August 26th about his operation. His facility holds two open bounce sessions per week for smaller kids (6 and under) as well as one session per week for older kids (although these older kid bounce sessions are only available during the summer months and are discontinued during the school year). The open bounce price is $7 per child and siblings two and under can enter free. In order for the two or under sibling to enter for free, though, there needs to be an older sibling that has paid admission.

While they offer these open bounce sessions as opportunities for prospective clients to sample the goods, private parties are their bread and butter. They specialize in children’s parties but have even hosted corporate parties for adults; after all, you don’t stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing!

For more info: Visit the PumpItUp website or you can contact the North Phoenix Location at (623) 434-7867 or visit their location at 22515 N. 18th Drive in Phoenix, AZ 85024-1356.

Tags: entertainment, free stuff, fun, product reviews
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Yes! I know, I know…you must be rolling your eyes right about now. Tucson? Really? My answer is absolutely! I have to say, I would have been sharing your same reaction if someone had shared this thought with me. But give me a chance to defend our southern desert.

I recently vacationed here with my family for a weekend away from home. We were looking forward to getting out of town and really didn’t care much where we were going. We are like everyone these days and needed our vacation spot to meet some specific criteria…namely, pricetag and close proximity of activities. Tucson delivered and then some! We stayed at the Tucson Omni National Resort where they are currently running an amazing summer deal where they match dollar for dollar what you spend on your room in resort dollars. So basically, whatever you pay on your room, you get back in cash you can spend at the resort! We golfed, dined, and some of our group even visited their spa…all for the price of the room!

Now, I know what your saying…the food must’ve been nasty or the accommodations had to be poor. But I will tell you now that the room we stayed in was probably one of the nicest, largest and most well-equiped rooms we have ever stayed in. We had a dining area, sitting room, bedroom with two queen size beds, and a bathroom as large as the bedroom. The food was amazing whether we were eating in the formal dining restaurant, eating room service on our couch or munching on some great lunch dishes at the little cafe overlooking the golf course. The pool area was clean and large with a sand volleyball court and two full size tennis courts. They even offered lunch barbequed poolside along with drinks for guests playing in this area.

The golf course was well-manicured and a lot of fun for experienced golfers as well as those of us who don’t play quite as often. It was challenging without being frustratingly difficult. The weather was amazing…warm in the mornings but by afternoon, Tucson’s legendary monsoon storms settled in and dropped the temperature 10 degrees while entertaining us with some spectacular lighting! Who needs fireworks? But Tucson delivered that as well over the fourth of July weekend.

We visited the Kartchner Caverns which was a delight for my husband and I as well as my little ones. Amazing cave formations coupled with a family-friendly guide made the 45 minute tour a great experience for us all. Word to the wise, Kartchner Caverns sports an 80 degree temperature with about 98% humidity so don’t plan to go anywhere you have to look nice for afterwards! We were a little disappointed we couldn’t see the “Great Room” because this area closes down this tim eof year while the bats that make this cave their home are taking care of their babies. But maybe on our next trip.

Pima County Air Musuem had some great hands on activities for the kids as well as some fun historical trivia for the adults!

We also visited Pima County Air Museum. This had a wonderful array of history. I was impressed as I read about the different types of planes how many historical air events took place in Arizona. The kids had a wonderful time playing in the kid-friendly hanger where kids can be hands on with various types of planes, simulators and even toddler friendly equipment. We probably spent at least two hours here and didn’t even see the entire museum. There is a tram that will carry you throughout the outdoor exhibits but we declined this trip because it is not air conditioned and we didn’t like the idea of baking in the sun for 30 minutes. It gives us something to try next trip!

Wyatt Earp, Morgan and Virgil stopped by for a photo

We took the short drive to Tombstone one day as well and had a wonderful time reliving the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp and his brothers. We even got some spooky fun visiting the real life haunted saloon, the Birdcage (I ended up with a few photos here that smack of ghost action!). This museum also has some amazing history. Did you know where the term “Aces and Eights = Dead Man’s Hand” came from? Wild Bill was shot in the back while playing poker…he died clutching his hand of aces and eights. The Birdcage is full of incredible history and worth taking some time to walk around and read the plaques.

I read about a Children’s Museum here as well but we didn’t have time to visit this trip. Hopefully we can make it next trip because there will certainly be a “next trip”! I know most would roll their eyes at vacationing in Tucson, but I’m here to tell you…it’s a wonderful spot for a family on a budget and with a little forethought, you can find some wonderful “things to do” here!

Tags: entertainment, Family and Home, free stuff, fun, product reviews
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We have wanted to visit the Arizona Science Center for several years but have always had difficulty with the pricing. With 5 of us (and sometimes 6 if my husband can get off work!), paying for parking, admission, special exhibits, lunch and gas (we live in Mesa) it quickly becomes a very expensive adventure…especially if we want to add on any other activities like the planetarium or the imax movies. But after an hour of waiting in line, we were fortunate enough to get a “Culture Pass” through the Mesa Public Library and were very excited to be able to use it! (Word to the Wise: if you want a culture pass, be at the library an hour before they open and park yourself right in front of the door…the Mesa Public Library puts out 14 passes every morning from Tuesday through Friday and it’s first come, first serve)

Normally, I would have packed lunches for my kids but I read that food was not allowed  inside the museum but there was a cafe for lunch (I didn’t learn until after our visit that they allow food and drink as long as it’s not eaten within the museum – a fact I will remember for our next visit!). So we determined to eat at the cafe. But I was very surprised by the prices and was not quite prepared for it. With the cheapest sandwich being around $9.00 and the cheapest kids meal is around $6.00, it is definitely wise to brown bag it. They have a nice patio outside for us brown baggers.
Because of the pricing, we were hesitant to buy passes to the extra exhibits like the planetarium or the IMAX theater. But I assure you, although we were there from 10:30am to 5:00pm, we were not bored for even a minute! Here’s a run down of some of our favorite exhibits…
The Home Building Exhibit
My 6 year old really loved this exhbit because he is my probable engineer! He loved watching the video of the house being built in accelerated time. We’ve had a lot of development going on around us near our home and he is constantly asking me how it’s done…it was fun to be able to say “well, son, here’s how it’s done!”. My toddler really loved the little play area here and it was a really nice place to let her run around and explore without worrying too much about what she’s up to. She loved the oversized soft lego’s since legos are a very popular toy at my house but her brothers and sisters don’t always want to share!

The Lego Exhibit

Life sized dragon made completely out of legos!

Legos! Need we say more? My kids absolutely loved this one! I have two boys (ages 4 and 6) and they thought this was just amazing! They both came home inspired and ready to build their own “master” lego creations! My 8 year old daughter had a wonderful time play acting in the castle and trying on the dress up with her brothers. She also thought the craft activities were fun and encouraged her brothers to build crowns and shields with her! They still have

them and have been playing with them all weekend! Even my 1 year old had a great time on the little toddler slide…she played there the whole time her brothers and sister were building their lego creations!

The Nature Exhibit

My daughter especially loved this exhibit…she loved the simulation platform and talked about it all weekend! Very amazing stuff. They recreate a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, monsoon storm and volcanic eruptions…complete with the heat sensations, ground vibrations, wind and even rain!

My boys liked the water erosion activity and loved to change the path of the water by building the “sand traps”. The only issue we had here was a couple of older boys that were bullying the little kids. They went so far as to steal the plastic pieces they were using to move the sand right out of their hands and throwing them underneath the plastic covering so the kids couldn’t get at them (It makes me angry when parents are not watching their children…having older kids only makes them more obnoxious and should not be an excuse to let them roam unsupervised). The demonstrations on different kinds of volcanoes as well as the liquid nitrogen demo had my kids completely enthralled the whole time! My daughter brought her camera and proudly talks about her “volcano pictures”! I have to say, the nitrogen demo even had me amazed!

The 2nd Floor Exhibit
I think this was probably my kids favorite. They loved all the hands on activities there were to do here. It was really fun explaining to them why the fulcrum works as we battled it out in a massive tug-o-war!  Learning with them about all the different kinds of energy and how it works was fascinating for all of us. The boys loved trying out the bed of nails and decided they were pretty brave fellows! We really had fun exploring this area and luckily, my toddler was asleep for most of it so I got to play some too! Don’t overlook the boxes of brain teaser puzzles against the wall either…when I finally figured one out, my kids thought I was a pretty cool magician!

These were by no means the only exhibits we enjoyed (making the giant nose sneeze in the Life Exhibit was a favorite of my boys!) but these were definitely our favorites! We were all very impressed with the wonderful staff and how friendly, informative, and indulgent these staff members are towards the kids. They really helped to make it a special day.

Definitely worth attending, especially through the Library Culture Pass. It can be a little expensive if you’re not prepared. The parking garage for the museum will cost you $12 before validation and the special exhibits are priced per person, per exhibit. But there is definitely enough to keep everyone busy without the special exhibits if your on a budgetary diet!

Tags: culture, education, Family and Home, fun, product reviews
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Ok, now I know that kids are getting more computer savvy at a much earlier age, but seriously…iPhone Applications for toddlers? Yes, I did roll my eyes when I first discovered these games after purchasing my iPhone. But I have to give it up for the genius application designers that came up with these little gems! I tried out a few of these “preschool apps” and have found them an absoluetly indespensible addition to my iPhone repertoire!

From long lines to even longer waits at doctors offices, these little iPhone apps have created happy, busy children who would otherwise have been devoting their efforts to a well orchestrated tantrum performance. I’ve reviewed a few of these favored applications in our forum area of the website so make sure you stop and take a look at some of our product reviews in our parent forum.

Several applications that I would whole heartedly recommend are listed below with age recommendations…

• For Toddler to 4 or 5 years old: Preschool Adventures, Bubble Wrap, TicTacFree, Scribble Lite, XmasPuzzle, Christmas Tree Decoration
• For 4 or 5 to 8 (and even older): Glyder (although the controls definitely take some practice before you can really enjoy this one), Everest: Hidden Expedition, FastLane Street Racing, TanZen, Word Scramble, WordsWorth, Brain Tuner and Booty Blocks.

For a review of each of these games, check out our forum area for parents under “Product Reviews” and you can see individual reviews for each of these games. Keep your eyes on this forum for new product reviews to come!

Tags: product reviews
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