Are you the best mom?!

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Hi, is this thing on? Just wanted to tell you my mom is the BESTEST.

“Yes I do buddy, always.”

He lowers his voice a bit as if it might be a secret. “You’re the bestest mom.”

“Aw thanks honey. That’s an awful nice thing to say.”

Getting louder now. “No I mean it. Like better than all my friends mommies. SO much better.”

“Well I don’t know honey , we’re all good at different things. I bet Will thinks his mom is the best.”

“No, mom. YOU’RE the bestest. Even better than your friend’s that are mommies too. Like not my friends, your friends. THE BEST!”

At this point to argue is futile. I will just accept the title gracefully and say…

Suck it all you other muthas! I’m the BESTEST.  Theo says so.

So there.

Great Wolf Lodge New England for the Holidays

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Last weekend my family and I were asked to attend a Howliday sneak peek at Great Wolf Lodge New England!   We got to experience Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one sitting!

First we started with Howl-o-ween. The kids decorated treat bags and got some candy from the witch. During the month of October kids will get in their costumes and participate in Spooktacular family activities such as the Trick-or-Treat Trail or Monster Bash Dance Party. It’ll be a howling good time! (Get it? Wolf. Howl?)

We had a Thanksgiving feast fit for KINGS I tell you. Every bit of it was delicious (between my husband and I we tried most of it ;-). And as a bonus it was all nut free!

Then they made it SNOW! Inside. The kids thought it was so cool. It was part of what will be called  Snowland – From snow showers and twinkling lights in the Grand Lobby to gingerbread houses and enormous snowflakes. We had hot chocolate with handmade marshmallows, and the kids decorated Holiday cookies and basically got all hopped up on sugar. There was also a storytime and then a dance party. I suppose to account for the different levels of sugar intake ;-)

Dollops of Diane’s kids. Mine would not stand still for a second here.

That was all just our blogger preview of the holidays! Everything else at Great Wolf Lodge was equally as awesome.

The Dunkin Donuts and a bar for adults -that’s the way to begin and end the day ;-) The buffet breakfast for everyone. And of course, of course the WATER PARK and everything in between our room and the water!

There are shops, a salon, arcades, indoor mini golf, a ropes course and so much more. Be sure to look them up on Facebook for deals!

We had so much fun and would definitely go back! Among the water parks around these parts it’s most certainly the leader of the pack (sorry I couldn’t help myself.)

This post (and my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a program by Great WOlf Lodge. I have been given aComplimentary stay at the resort. Image used with permission. All opinions are my own.

King Richard’s Faire

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I took the fam to King Richard’s Faire last weekend. The first thing I learned is that you can’t bring food in. M’lady at the gate was very pissy about that. Heh.

Second, you need cash. And a lot of it. They don’t take credit and all the performers ask for tips. That’s how they make a living y’all!

And speaking of, third, and most importantly the performers are really great. We saw a jousting competition, a comedy acrobatic act, and a sword fight.

I know people that LOVE Ren Fairs and I know people that loathe them. I fall somewhere squarely in the middle. But we would definitely go again, gentle people ;-)

I had never been to King Richard’s Faire before. Have you? Been to any other Renaissance Fairs?

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My family received complimentary tickets to attend the Faire and tell you all about it. All opinions are my own.

Curious George Curious About Me App Review

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I have three kids (8,6,4) and my littlest is dying to read like the big kids!

The Curious About Me app is a wonderful way to get the non readers and new readers like him to write their own story. And THEN the app reads the story back to them. It reads them the story they just wrote. Cool!

Curious George and the man with the yellow hat walk you and your child through a series of questions all about them. How much do kids like to talk about themselves, right?

They get to draw pictures, take pictures and videos, record their voices, and use pictures available on the device they’re using. They can use all these mediums to tell their story.

My 4yo got such a kick out of hearing his own voice and seeing his pics and videos in the story with Curious George. He can’t wait to go back and rewrite his story and to create new ones.

From Houghton Mifflin:

Developed for preschool-aged children, the app enables learners to star in two unique stories—Curious About Me and Day at the Zoo. By helping children communicate their personal experiences and interests through drawings, activities, and photographs and recordings of family members, the app promotes social interaction and collaboration and builds a foundation in language development essential for success in reading and writing.

“For generations, Curious George has brought together parents and children in the spirit of learning and imagination,” says Sanj Kharbanda, SVP of Digital Markets at HMH. “Curious About Me provides an opportunity for parents and children to laugh and play together while also giving young learners an engaging digital outlet in which to create and communicate through words and illustrations.”

You can get the app here!

This post (as well as my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a compensated program initiated by Houghton Mifflin.

Great Wolf Lodge freak out!

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I surprised my kids the other day with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge New England. I’ll have more about the trip this week!

Before we headed out I updated my Facebook status, as you do…

Let’s just say, I was right ;-)

Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday – Week 10 of Summer in pics

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Yeeeeeeha the kids are back at school!

But that means that summer is ovah – OVER.

We had such a lovely, fun, idyllic, wonderful summer. Truly we did.

We spent lazy days at the pool and the lake in the beginning learning to swim and being with friends.We were so fortunate to be able to spend most of August away. And then come back to our little purple house and love it even more!

The last official week of summer we were supposed to go to Storyland but opted to move that to a nice fall weekend and spend some time at home getting reading for school to start.

So this was the highlight of week 10…

My husband and I get some well deserved kid free time. I don’t think I had been without the kids in 7 or 8 weeks. Like 24/7 Mom, mooom, mommy, mom, mama, mom, mama MOOOOOOOOOOOM 24/7.

So there you have it Summer 2014 in the books.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9