Last Wednesday the girls and I were given the opportunity (thanks to Twin Cities Kids Club) to have lunch with a few characters from Ever After High as part of Princess Wednesdays at Hard Rock MOA. It was a lunch my girls will not soon forget! In partnership with Twin Cities Kids Club and Tiny Divas Princess Party, the Hard Rock Cafe at the Mall of America hosts lunch with princesses on select Wednesdays. Past lunches have included the general Disney princesses, the Frozen sisters, and now the characters from Ever After High. I'd say Princess Wednesdays at Hard Rock MOA are perfect for ages 7 and younger. That being said, my 9 year old was THRILLED to meet Madeline Hatter! She loves the Ever After High books. The only complaint about the lunch that Nutty had was that Apple White didn't show up. Otherwise, despite me thinking she'd get bored, she actually had fun. Tottie, being 6, got really into the games and show. If it weren't for her shyness she would have been … [Read more...]
Our Week On The River
This post is sponsored by the J.M. Smucker company through a campaign with Sverve. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. Last week I showed you how we prepared for our week long trip on the Mississippi River with Walmart as our SNACKATION Destination. Today, you get to see what a week long river trip looks like! Let me tell you, it was a TON of fun! Monday Monday was actually spent just hanging out at our marina. We needed to clean, organize, and pack the boat. We also got a bit of fishing in on the docks. The girls were catching fish left and right! We slept on our boat in our slip that night. Tuesday Tuesday we hung out with friends in the bay near our marina. We went tubing and swimming. Tuesday night we actually went home to sleep because we had to prepare for... Wednesday Nutty's birthday party! Yes, Nutty's 9th birthday party was on our boat on the river. A total of 8 girls hung out going for boat rides, tubing, and playing on our water carpet. A few friends … [Read more...]
Preparing For A Week On The River with Smuckers and Walmart #ad
This post is sponsored by the J.M. Smucker company through a campaign with Sverve. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. If you haven't figured out from my Instagram feed, my family has been spending a TON of time on our boat this summer. It's our first year getting a slip at a marina vs trailering it and we have not regretted the decision. This year, in addition to every weekend, we spent two full weeks on our boat on the river. The first week was at the beginning of the summer where we camped on an island for 3 days, the second week was two weeks ago where we traveled up and down the river. More to come on that later... So how do I prepare for all this time on the river? I head to Walmart! It has become my SNACKATION Destination! Walmart, along with the J.M. Smucker company have some great options for snacks that aren't your usual chips and cookies (which my girls get easily tired of). On our list of SNACKATION snacks we include Jif To Go Dippers and Jif Chocolate … [Read more...]
Floating Ball Activity
I saw this floating ball activity on Pinterest a few months ago and thought my girls might think it was fun. The instructions on how to make/do this activity can be found on All For The Boys. For our circle we traced a CD and for our ball we used tin foil. To be honest, my girls were not as impressed with the floating ball activity as I thought they would be. Playing with it lasted all of maybe 10 minutes before they got bored with it and gave up. I'm not sure if they just plain ole didn't like it or if they thought it was too hard. I gave it a try and it is DEFINITELY harder than it looks! Unless you have a strong yet steady breath, the ball ends up either falling out of the cone more often than staying in or it just moved around inside the cone instead of hovering over it. I'm guessing that's really the whole point of the floating ball activity but my girls thought it was "lame". Maybe had it been bit easier we would have gotten more positive feedback. Oh … [Read more...]
10 Back To School Planning Tips
If you haven't figured it out from the signs and supplies in the stores, commercials all over TV, and ads plastered everywhere, we've started back-to-school time. In honor of this time of year, I've come up with 10 back to school planning tips. These aren't your normal back to school planning tips though...hint, buy a bottle of wine! 1) Assess the clothes situation Go through all your kids clothes to see what they have for this coming school year. Learn that one or more of your children has had a growth spurt sometime this summer and you have to buy an entirely new wardrobe. 2) Drink a glass of wine 3) Assess the supply situation Go through the school supply list you received from your child's teacher and assess what you can reuse and what you have to buy. Argue with your child that their backpack and lunch box from last year ARE good enough to use again this year. Realize that you have to buy the rest of the school supplies. Go to multiple stores looking for yellow folders only … [Read more...]
Then & Now: Kemps State Fair Photo Contest
I received compensation for help in promoting this contest. The Minnesota State Fair, aka The Great Minnesota Get Together, has been part of Minnesota tradition since 1859 (a year after Minnesota was granted statehood). In it's present location since 1885, the Minnesota State Fair now features 320 acres of food and fun; and is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance boasting upwards of 200,00 attendees a day! Just like the state fair, Kemps has also been a Minnesota tradition for generations. From it's beginnings as a small creamery in Southeastern Minnesota in 1914, to operating six manufacturing facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin with over 1,200 employees, Kemps delights families with their milk, ice cream and milk products. To celebrate special family memories and to create memories that will stick with families for years to come, Kemps has come up with the ‘Then & Now: Kemps State Fair Photo Contest’. Rich in history and the … [Read more...]
