Hexbug Mania!! 9/17/10

My friend Sarah Jehnzen, the one that runs Sarah's Deals, had another product testing party. This time it was aimed at boys ages 7-9. Since Marc is just 2 months shy of 7 she invited Marc. It was for a new nano technology toy called Hexbugs. Very interesting, cute, weird little toys. ;-)
When we got there Marc got to pick out the 3 Hexbugs he wanted to take home (they were different colors).Sarah had a whole track course set up in her living room. All the boys got to get down on the floor and play!
A couple of the younger sibling girls got in on the action.....more like they were an obstacle. Both of the little girls kept picking up the Hexbugs and holding them or putting them off the track so they wandered the floor instead.
The girls got bored off and on, so we pulled out Ainsley's My Little Pony collection to keep the girls entertained, for awhile anyway.
One of the boys made a comment that they were getting kinda tired of watching the bugs walk around the track. One of the parents suggested that they rearrange the track to make a new path for the bugs. The boys had a blast dismantling and reassembling the track.
The Hexbugs have little soft plastic bristles and a small motor that makes them vibrate. Daddy decided to put one on the palm of Samantha's hand for her to feel.....
and bot did it tickle her. She squealed with pleasure!
After some playing at Sarah's house, it was time to go home. When we left Marc got some of the track pieces t brig home. So, we came home with 4 Hexbugs, 2 arenas, and 3 track pieces!! After the kids got ready for bed we let them play one more time. Even Samantha got her very own pink Hexbug!
These are what the Hexbugs look like. With Samantha's foot in the picture you can kinda get an idea of the size of them. they are cute little things. i told Marc that I was glad we got an enclosed arena for them because if I saw one of them crawling around on the floor in the house I would think it was a bug and swat it and probably break it! ;-)
It was another fun night of testing new products. Thanks Sarah for inviting us and giving us ideas for Marc's Birthday/Christmas list! ;-)

Terrific Tuesdsays!! 9/14/10

I signed Samantha up for a Tumble Bugs gymnastics class at the YMCA. She was very excited to start. All she could talk about all morning was "Tumble Bugs". We got there a little early. Samantha kept asking to play on the equipment while we waited. I told her that she couldn't, that we didn't want to mess it up before class started. This is the face she gave me. ;-)
The first things we do are a hello song and some stretches. The teacher set up a circle of 5 things to do. The kids go in the circle and do each activity and then move onto the next. They do this until the 20 minutes are up.

She got to jump on the trampoline.

and spin on the sit-n-spin.

She had to crawl up the wedge, grab the ball, and roll it down the other wedge.....

and then she had to slide down the wedge and get the ball.

Samantha got to do the commando crawl under the bar and down the mat.

The last thing in the rotation was the balance beam. She liked to do her airplane arms.

After the stations, we came back together and did some cool down activities.

After Tumble Bugs, we headed to library time. This is the first time she has been. 2 years ago she was too young and last year I couldn't take her due to the time Marc got home from school. When we got there, each child got a new book.
When she first sat down, Samantha was very subdued, quite, and kept to herself.
She finally got into it when they sang "Open Shut Them". :-)
She LOVED listening to the stories!
Think she had fun?! ;-)
Each week, the librarian read 3 books, does some songs and such, and then we do a craft that all have to do with the same theme. This weeks theme was about the alphabet. The kids made alphabet bead bracelets.
It was very fun taking Samantha to these things. It made me feel like she was SO grown up! Tuesdays are going to be our fun day!

Fall Evening in the Park: 9/10/10

Today was a beautiful, fall-like day so we decided to head to the park for some fun. We don't know how many more chances we will have to go, so we went today. It was gorgeous!!!! The kids had fun climbing and playing on the play structures.We brought one of our Frisbees with us. The boys enjoyed tossing it around. Except when the Frisbee hit Marc in the face and pushed his glasses into his nose and gave him a small cut. :-(
We all had fun swinging too. :-)
We brought our bubble machine. The bubbles we brought to put in it were too thick s they didn't work too well, but there were a few for the kids to chase around.
We also brought a Nerf ball to toss around. This picture is funny because Marc is ducking from the 2-year-old throw. ;-)During winter Marc bought a baseball mitt for Peanut. We never got it our over the summer so Daddy grabbed it on our way out to the park.
It was such a gorgeous day, weather, park, and kids that I decided that it was time for a mini photo shoot.

It was such a fun way to end the week! We were all a little tired from the new school schedule that it was fun to go out and have some fun as a family. :-)

IL Trip Day 3: 9/5/10

Today is our last day in IL. We decided to head up to the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, WI. There just happened to be a nice photo opportunity in front. ;-)We were told that this zoo was a little smaller but nicer and cheaper than the other one near by. We enjoyed it a lot! It was a perfect size for us with small children and a time-frame.
There were lots of fun animals for us to look at. Some of them were closer than I have ever seen them in other zoos! In most zoos you have to play a game of I Spy to find the lions, but in this zoo they were right up close where we cold see them sleeping. We got to see the Tigers playing and splashing water at each other! Very Cool!
There was also a special exhibit about dinosaurs. It cost an extra $2.50 per person to get in. If we had not had Grandma with us, we probably wouldn't have paid the extra money to go in. But, Grandma to the rescue, she paid for us all to get in. I was a little worried about it not being worth the money, but it was actually pretty cool! There were different robotic dinosaurs set up with different "scenes". They had a herbivore pretending to eat from some trees and a carnivore eating a fish to name just a couple of them.
Samantha liked the dinosaurs. She loves watching "Dinosaur Train" on the Disney Channel, so she was excited to see the "nice dinosaurs".
At least until this T-Rex growled at her, then she didn't think they were very nice any more. Marc enjoyed pretending with the dinosaurs. Does he look scared? ;-)
Are his "wings" as big as the dinosaur's? ;-)
Near the exit there was a a dinosaur statue that we could climb on and pose with, so, course, we took advantage of it! ;-)
Then Grand asked Marc to get down on the ground and pretend the dinosaur is eating his head. Cute idea Grandma!
My Mom bought each of the kids a new stuffed dinosaur. Samantha is sleeping with Cheese on the way home. Cheese got his name when we were talking to her about it later in the night. I suggested Spike because he he had spikes on his back. Daddy suggested Cheese. I thought, "oh cute, since we got him in WI, the cheese capital". Daddy said "no, this way she can go to bed with Cheese and Crackers (her giraffe)". Kinda silly, cute very cute and a clever idea on Daddy's part.
Marc choose to name his new dinosaur Tank, after a dinosaur from "Dinosaur Train". While Samantha slept Marc talked to and pretended with Tank.
After our hour drive back to Gurnee from Milwaukee, we got back to Aunt Sari's and Uncle Gary's house. The kids helped Uncle Gary put together a dinosaur floor puzzle.
We then ate dinner, had some play time, ate dessert, and some more play time. It was then getting very close to time to go back to the hotel for some sleepy time. We wanted to get some pictures of Great Grandma with all her great grandkids; who knows when they will all be together again.
After some struggles of getting 3 young kids to sit still, look at the camera, and all smile at the same time, we decided to throw the grand kids into the mix too. We were having trouble getting the 2 2-year-olds to look at the camera. Daddy Marc was very clever (yet again) and out an Elmo video on his phone and held it right next to the camera. What do ya know...it worked!!
It was a very nice weekend with family and fun. A big thanks again to my Aunt Sari & Uncle Gary for letting us invite ourselves over to see you guys and Susanne & Kate. We all had a great time! And thanks for dinner both night! :-)