Pink Saturday: McPlaydate

A few years ago, if you had told me I'd be blithely spending an afternoon in a McDonald's, let alone the play area, I'd have thought you were hitting the cold syrup a little too hard.  This is doubly true because the cold syrup used to have more kick than it does these days.  Nonetheless, last weekend we had the opportunity to take the kids on a 4 hour car trip to meet a relative they'd never seen before, and McDonald's seemed just the place to go. 

Side note- you generally have to order something to play, so we ordered strawberry sundaes. The strawberry sauce tasted somewhat rancid.... I don't recommend them.

JabberWalky had a lot of fun learning to climb up the various platforms.

Mongoosine even taught him how to go down the slide, somewhat safely.

 The compartment with the little steering wheel was a particular favorite.

Ultimately, the most fun was had when JabberWalky and (Cousin Who Needs a Cute Nickname) were giving  grandpa impromptu dental exams.

If you've ever been in a McDonald's playplace, you're likely looking at this picture in a certain amount of horror.... That's right, hands that have been in the play place... in his mouth. 

We're expecting he'll be sick any day now.

The kids had a lot of fun, and the toddlers were pretty pleased with the existence of one another. Or rather, they didn't say otherwise... though JabberWalky's cousin *did* teach JabberWalky to say "No," and now I'm having to try to get him to say other things again. 

Either way, I'm still proud that he learned to say affirmative words "yay," "woohoo," "yes," "yeah," and "nice," before he started saying "no."

For more Pink Saturday, head on over to How Sweet the Sound

Wordless Wednesday: My Future's So Bright

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Riding Lawnmower

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: When I grow up...

Wordless Wednesday

Link up!

Wordless Wednesday: Snowtastic

Wordless Wednesday

Link up!

My Review of Ride-Ons Tikes Patrol 30th Anniversary Edition

Do you remember forever ago when I was waxing nostalgic about the joy of sitting at a vanity and pretending to be a princess and going on about the importance of imaginative play?
Well, I promised a follow up review of CSN Stores and something imaginitive, and then I got indecisive. There was too much to pick from, but *finally* I settled on this fun police car for JabberWalky.  You can read what I said about it on their site below.

He freaking loves it.

Merriest Christmas present ever.

Originally submitted at CSN Stores

Now this kid-powered car has a whole new look.

Features:

• Tikes patrol 30th Anniversary edition
• Fabric ears for softie play
• New features include removable floor and a handle on back for parent-controlled push rides
• Designed with...

Ride-Ons Tikes Patrol 30th Anniversary Edition

Favorite Toy

By Slee from IL on 12/31/2010

4out of 5

My son sits in this car for meals now. He loves it. We have run into some trouble with getting him out of it when we have to go elsewhere, but for a 19 month old, it's heavenly.

I am not giving it five stars because the assembly is horrendous.

(legalese)

I ordered it partially with a gift certificate provided by CSN Stores for the purposes of a review.  It was definitely the best choice I could make for him, except, as mentioned in my review, that the assembly is horrendous.  

Spouse was so upset at one point in the assembly that the whole thing almost went straight to the garbage, but once he managed to fix the assembly error (and he's pretty dang handy, so I'm going to agree with all the other reviews and say that it's just a difficult assembly) then it went together correctly and works just peachy.

I was a little frustrated that like other large items, it arrived without any masking plain brown paper so that the contents were readily viewable, in color, on the box.  Franky, it's hard to hide a giant car box that shows up on your porch from a toddler when he's always where you are.

Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend this toy, and I was super pleased with how quickly it shipped and how easy it was to order.  All in all, a positive experience.

One of these things...

One of these things is not like the other.... 

My parents have a dog. A huge dog with big paws and big teeth and big amounts of energy.  He's mostly Boxer, and giant.  I call him "Boom." That's not actually his name, but close enough.

JabberWalky both loves and fears Boom. 

There was a time when they were the same size with about the same ginger hair. Boom has grown much faster than JabberWalky.

We have cats. Two of them.  They are black. I love them. JabberWalky loves them. He loves to pet them.  Okay, he loves to poke them in the eyes and pull their ears, but he's working on "gentle."

He has clearly figured out that they're all pets.  He knows Boom is a "Dog," or more affectionately, an "ah, ah- sit." He knows the cats are "gat" or more affectionately, "kee-ee gat".  

He also knows that he can throw a ball and say "woo hoo!" and Boom will chase it like he's hopped up on pixie sticks.  

Here's the thing. One of these things is not like the other, and JabberWalky hasn't yet fully figured this out.  The other day he grabbed a ball, tossed it, yelled "woo hoo!" and waited for the cat to chase it.  Then he went and got the ball, put it in front of the cat's face, yelled "woo hoo!" and slowly threw the ball, probably thinking something along the lines of "I have to teach this pet what a ball is?"  Well, the third time he bopped the cat with the ball, said "ball," threw it, said "woo hoo!" and stared at the cat like she was defective.  Then he cried.

I'm working on explaining that cats don't fetch, but I think he thinks that if they don't fetch, they don't get pet.

Seriously, what healthy breathing creature wouldn't want to play toddler ball?

Pink Saturday: A Boy having Tutu Much Fun

Sometimes little boys want to play with trucks, and sometimes they want to dress up in a tutu. Who am I to judge?  The way I look at it is this- if he's happily playing, no one is getting hurt, it's safe, then why do I care if my son's wearing a tutu? I wouldn't suggest he wear one climbing trees, but I wouldn't suggest my daughter do that either. Too easy to snare it on something and that could be dangerous, right?
So Just like last week, where he was having a ball, I think it's delightful if he's ready for the ball too.

I just wish I had gotten more pictures of him. He wouldn't hold still, he was too busy spinning and turning, dancing and singing. Very sweet.

For more Pink Saturday, head on over to How Sweet the Sound.

Pink Saturday: Have a Ball

A Boy's Gotta Have A Ball...

Even if his mom has him hanging in a room with a scary pink carpet!

All in all, he had fun throwing the ball (which is also partially pink) chasing the ball, and watching it get little and big.

He was definitely having a ball.

So, tell me what you're doing this weekend to have a ball, and then stop by How Sweet the Sound for some more Pink Saturday.

Wordless Wednesday: Slide

Up the slide

Down the Slide

Looking through the round slide.

Slide on over for more Wordless Wednesday

Imaginative Play

When I was a child, most of my time was spent doing one of three things. Napping, (I was iron deficient), doing chores, or imagining. Whether playing with dolls, or sitting in my grandmother's third wedding dress at my vanity brushing my hair and pretending I was late for the ball, I was definitely big on the imagination.  I wish I had a picture of that vanity to show you. I spent a lot of time sitting at it with some fairy tale or another going on in my head.  It has been an old wooden one that had seen better days, so my mom took it down into the basement for some tough love, and it reemerged bright white with hand-painted bows on the drawers.  I loved it.
As I have watched my daughter grow up, (can you believe she's a tween now?) I always felt it was very important to surround her with things which encouraged creative play. Whether it was costumes, fairy wands or a hobby horse, or toys and sheets she could use to build her imaginary castle, I wanted to encourage her to recreate the world in her own mind. My favorite? When she imagines herself into a corner and has to use those problem solving skills to find a solution.  

Snapdragon imagines he's the ruler of the jungle AND the universe, because that's how he rolls.

I love the confidence imaginative play gives a child, and I love the way it helps them see problems from more perspectives than one.
My goal is to let Snapdragon grow up imagining, playing, and being as creative as he wants to.  
To that end, I'm excited to let you know that in the not too distant future, you can check back here for a review of something imagination inspiring from CSNStores.com, the parent company of www.justvanities.com, because I'm thinking Snapdragon needs some creative outlets, and I'm very excited about it.


Disclosure: To date I have not been compensated to write this though I will be reviewing something in the future.  All opinions and nostalgic musings are entirely my own. You may have had a different experience as a child.  Who knows, maybe your imaginary friends didn't like you, or maybe they never went away. :-)