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Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Toys "R" Us connects me with K'NEX

Announcement: The amazing post you are about to read has been sponsored by K'NEX, insofar as I received cool toys in exchange for telling you about them. All opinions are my own.

Do you remember Lincoln Logs?

Of course you do, unless you were born on some planet other than Earth. They're only one of the greatest toys ever, encouraging kids to use their imagination and building skills - and NO BATTERIES.

That's right - a fantastic toy that does not make any noise.

I think I'm in love.
 photo image005_zps6003e087.jpg


We have a set from when my husband was a kid, but a lot of the pieces are broken or missing - nevertheless, my kids love building stuff over and over with the pieces we do have. My toddler, particularly, likes to build structures and then try to climb inside them.

Come to think of it, I might know how some of those pieces got broken...

Anyway, K'NEX has this Lincoln Logs Redfield Ranch set exclusive to Toys "R" Us, and they generously popped one in the mail to me so we could check it out.

Again, I'm in love.

It's super cute, easy to build, QUIET, and fun to play with. And look at those characters! No more pretending your hands are people with finger legs, walking around your Lincoln Log cabin - this ranch includes a cowboy and horse that are just the right size. It's great for that age level when babyish blocks aren't quite challenging enough, but other building toys are still a wee bit too advanced. And, as if you needed another reason to love it, too...

It comes in its own storage container.

 photo lincolnlogs_zps8063ee30.jpg

Add easy-to-clean-up to the long list of reasons to want this nostalgic, classic toy for your own kids or grandkids, and you just can't miss.

Huge thanks to K'NEX and Toy "R" Us for bringing us these fun toys, and for sending this one to me! Make sure to check out this set - and the other six K'NEX products exclusive to Toys "R" Us - when you're out shopping for the holidays!

Friday, November 29, 2013

how K'NEX taught my kid about musical icons

Now hear this: The amazing post you are about to read has been sponsored by K'NEX, insofar as I received cool toys in exchange for telling you about them. All opinions are my own.

I'm going to say something right now that might surprise you: I recently discovered that my daughter didn't know who The Beatles are.

I KNOW. I blame myself. I think when I became a mom I assumed that certain things - hair color, a hatred of lima beans, awareness of major musical icons - was encoded in the DNA.


As it turns out, a human being has to be told about certain major events, important people, and cultural phenomena, and that includes The Beatles.

I was surprised, too!

Well, K'NEX afforded me with the opportunity to discuss Beatlemania as well as basic engineering skills with my daughter, by graciously inviting me to check out some toys they're offering exclusively at Toys "R" Us, like this Beatles Yellow Submarine building set. Naturally she already knew what K'NEX are. She doesn't lead a completely sheltered life.


Together, she and I discussed the origins of rock 'n' roll as we assembled the Yellow Submarine in K'NEX form, then had a raucous time fighting the Blue Meanies with the Beatles figures. (Well, with most of them - she wouldn't let Ringo play. Poor Ringo.)


They're rocking out on the stage - groovy, man!


I can't say for sure my 8-year-old fully grasped the cultural importance of the Fab Four, but she did have a great time with the set, and I slept easier knowing Pepperland was safe. What more can you ask for in a toy?

Huge thanks to K'NEX and Toy "R" Us for bringing us these fun toys, and for sending this one to me! Make sure to check out this set - and the other six K'NEX products exclusive to Toys "R" Us - when you're out shopping for the holidays!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

How To Make Your Family Happy and Lose Your Laptop


It was late at night. We were finally alone, huddled together on the couch. There was grunting. And moaning.

Right there! Right there!
Ooooh, that had to hurt.
Yes! It's the kind with two balls!

This was the scene in my living room over the weekend, as Gerry and I spent some quality time together.

Killing zombies.

Wait, let me back up a little.

That's what she said.  OH! I can't stop. Okay, serious face.

A (long) while back, a very, very patient, semi-angelic woman from Big Fish Games emailed me about video games. "Do you and your family like games?" she wanted to know. "Do you and your readers dig free stuff? Enjoy laughing, excitement, and/or education? Okay, so, I'm sure you like  video games, so please be specific - do you just like them, or do you like  them like them?"
Ignore the quotation marks - I may be paraphrasing, here.
I thought, Sweet! People might be interested in hearing about one of these educational games - I could let Jake play it, and get a fun giveaway for my peeps! Win, win.

Then reality happened, and proved once again that I'm doomed to be a terrible influence at best, even on those rare occasions when I try my hand at Good Parenting.

I'll spare you the details, but instead of having Jake play a game I could feel good about, something involving a math rodeo or a factory that produces animated verbs and nouns, I decided to let Kennedy pick a game. Naturally he was more interested in the arcade and action games, and out of the many choices (wisely) picked Plants vs. Zombies.

Crappy photos courtesy of my shaky hand and a lack of light.

Thus began several weeks of me doing typical Me stuff, like not being able to coordinate with my own kids well enough to orchestrate them uploading a game to a phone, then losing the unlock code, and sheepishly asking for another (which my new bestie at Big Fish Games was super cool about), then getting all distracted by Real Life, then deciding to put the game on the laptop instead of the phone and thus changing the entire plan, such as it was.

Which brings us to the part where Gerry and I were hunkered on the couch, yelling things at the screen and giggling.

Yes, Gerry can play video games AND
check Facebook on his phone. Show-off.

Well, I  was giggling, anyway. What isn't  funny about zombies wearing football uniforms and driving lawn tractors? That's what I'd like to know.
I might have had some wine.
Whatever, it was funny. Especially building our own zombie, even though Gerry wouldn't use the "I heart brains" bib. Apparently he's kind of a purist when it comes to dressing zombies, and Real zombies don't wear bibs. They do, however, rock multiple other accessories.

Hey zombie, remember that time
you were in the Beatles? That was awesome.

Gerry probably doesn't want you to know this, but he stayed up until about 2 AM playing that crazy game. He's a man obsessed. Must. Unlock. All. The. Mini games. Braaaiiiiins.

The next morning, like the Mom Of the Year that I am, I encouraged Jake to start killing zombies at 7:30 AM. He loved it too, and the downside is that, between the two of them, I'm never going to get to use the laptop again.


Yes, that silver thing on the table is used to measure
shots of booze. No, I didn't bother to move it for this picture and
no, I wasn't letting Jake get liquored up.
Maddie was eating pretzel sticks out of it.
Naturally.

All was not lost for poor Kennedy - although we couldn't get the game on his phone (through no fault of Big Fish - I'm just too dumb) he did discover that you can play a trial of almost any of Big Fish's zillion games for FREE for an hour before you buy it, so you never end up paying for something that you later find out sucks big time.

He got quite a bit of mileage out of that feature.

All is not lost for you guys, either, because two of you can get a free game, too! Just peek at Big Fish Games' website, and comment below with the name of a game that looks like fun. They have tons to choose from, from puzzles to adventure, and games for all age levels. I'll pick two lucky readers at random from the comments on Monday and set you up with an unlock code, courtesy of the fine folks at Big Fish Games.

And no, they didn't pay me to say Big Fish Games a kajillion times, it just happened that way. I was  compensated for this post, though. Nevertheless, all opinions remain, as ever, my own, including my opinions about global warming, pumpkin pie, and people who chew toothpicks, though we can no doubt agree that some of my opinions are, for the sake of this post anyway, completely irrelevant, although I sincerely hope that you're impressed, on some level, by the number of commas I used in this sentence, and can glean that, on the subject of commas and Big Fish Games, my opinion is a decidedly positive one.

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