This Is Eight

To say that summer is finally here is an understatement!  We were hit with a heat wave over the weekend and totally unprepared (I'm sitting here writing this post at the mercy of my rotating fan - enough said).  We also celebrated a pretty special day on Saturday - Jadon's eighth birthday!!

I still can't believe my baby is 8.  He woke up telling me how he felt so much older and possibly a little taller, haha!  Oh, buddy, just you wait!  We had a pretty hectic day ahead of us, as we scheduled his party on his actual birthday.  Everything was running smoothly until we had to wait for hubby to get ready (anyone who knows Gary, knows).  

Anyways, one traffic jam later and (only) a half hour late to his own party, we finally showed up at a local trampoline park, Extreme Air Park.  Jadon has been dying to have his party there ever since his older sister's birthday a few years ago and, coincidently, we were just there for a birthday party a couple weeks ago.

Here's a few tips to know about having a party at Extreme Air Park:

• fill out your waivers before the party
• arrive early (like 30 minutes before your jump time).  This will give everyone time to check in and have the front desk organize payment, etc.
• make sure you count and keep track of your Extreme Air Sox as they are given to you
• ensure that your entire party has their Air Sox and time tags (a sticker with the time that they're allowed to jump until)
• bring a cooler filled with ice for any items that need to be kept cold (eg: ice cream cakes, drinks, etc.), as you won't have access to your party room until the allotted time
• bring a water bottle for the kids.  They'll be active for most of their jump time and they tend to get tired/thirsty fairly quickly!
• kids 5 and under need to have a paid parent to supervise
• make sure you let the Extreme Air Park team know the final number of your party to ensure that they reserve a room catered to your party size
• have fun!

Overall, the kids had a blast!  If you're looking for a place to tire your kids out, this is it!  With 42,000 square feet of trampolines and activities, including 3D dodgeball, zero gravity basketball, half pipe and a huge foam pit, there's definitely something for everyone (adults included!).

 

After the party, we headed over to the Dragon Boat Festival in False Creek to hang out with the family.  Then, we were homebound so Jadon could finally open up his presents.  Ah, the life of an eight year old!

xo,

kristina

Disney On Ice Presents Frozen

It's that time of the year again!  We're getting SO excited for this winter season's Disney On Ice presents Frozen!!

We can wait to relive the magic of the city of Arendelle and its beloved characters, sisters Anna and Elsa, snowman Olaf and more!  "Let it Goooooo..." is on repeat in our house and belted out daily by Zoe, so I'm definitely looking forward to bringing her to the show on opening night.

The show will feature all of your children's favourite characters from Frozen and will be hosted by none other than Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

Scroll down for more details on the show and where you can purchase your tickets!

Show Information:

Where: Pacific Coliseum at the PNE
100 North Renfrew Street, Vancouver, BC

When: November 25 – 29, 2015
Wednesday, November 25 7:00 PM
Thursday, November 26 7:00 PM
Friday, November 27 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 28 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, November 29 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM


Tickets: Ticket price levels range from $25 – $95 (Rinkside)*
Tickets are now available for purchase online at TicketLeader.ca, charge by phone at 604-252-3700 or visit the PNE Box Office.
 *Pricing levels may vary between weekday & weekend performance 

Disney On Ice Presents Let's Party!

It’s no secret that we love anything to do with Disney (talks of another Disneyland trip is making its rounds around the house again!) and the magic that follows the six-letter word. For the past few years, we’ve been fortunate enough to be included in Disney On Ice’s media night when they stop in Vancouver – an event the entire family looks forward to every year!

This year it’s time to party with your favourite Disney characters when Disney On Ice presents Let’s Party! skates into town! Featuring more than 50 of your favourite Disney characters from 16 memorable Disney classics, it’s going to be one exciting and fun-filled party on ice!

Disney On Ice presents Let’s Party! is coming to Vancouver from November 26 – 30th to the Pacific Coliseum at the PNE and you’re invited! Join Mickey and Minnie Mouse as they celebrate a Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter; a winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear; Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana; a Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses; a Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch; a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains; plus traveling to far-off exotic places including China for the Chinese New Year, Brazil for Carnival party and Japan for the beautiful Cherry Blossom festival Sakura. Our minds are spinning just thinking of the excitement!

Our Summer Recap + Share Your Smiles with Kinder® Canada! #kindersmiles

Hello September,

What did you do to August? Where did you hide summer? The fun can’t be over already – it just can’t be!

Please bring our summer baaacccck!

Signed,
Everyone

 Once again, summer is over.  It started out with a bang and ended so quickly and quietly, no one saw it coming. At least that’s how it feels to us!

While we didn’t get everything crossed off of our summer bucket list, we still managed to get in a couple beach days and a few trips to the water park.  We also took a couple of mini trips to Bellevue, Washington (our favourite almost-staycation destination) with a stay at the fabulous Hyatt Regency Belleuve and visits with family, and we ended up at one festival (we usually go to one every weekend!) and spent a couple days at The Fair at the PNE (Jadon wants to live there now).  Hopefully, we’ll get to squeeze in another day at the beach this weekend!


Kinder® Canada Facebook Smile Booth App

Thinking about ways to document your summer fun?  Kinder® Canada has an interactive photo app on their Facebook page that allows you to create your own “photo strip” by uploading your summer photos and personalizing it with your choice of frame and filter.

Tell us how you created your own summer memories in the comment section below!  Did you cross everything off your bucket list?  Was Kinder® a part of your summer activities?  We can’t wait to hear your stories!

Kraft Dinner's KD Fun Pop-Up Shop + a Giveaway!

Think Vancouver is the "no fun" city?  Ready to get a little silly?  With the launch of the first ever KD Fun Pop-Up Shop, Kraft Dinner is on a mission to get Canadian’s back to their fun-loving selves.  Join in on the fun and visit the Fun Shop from June this week in downtown Vancouver at Granville Square - you can’t miss it!

{WHAT IS IT?}

The KD Fun Pop-Up Shop {the only place in the world where you can pay for KD-inspired items with FUN instead of money!} will take over Granville Square at 200 Granville Street {near the Waterfront Skytrain station} from July 23rd-25th from 7am to 7pm.

This big and bright noodle shop will be stocked with never-before-seen items that Vancouverites of all ages {including kids!} can take home by simply having a little fun, while sampling KD.  This means no wallet necessary!!

Zoe's "Yoga in the Garden" Garden Party!

Last month we celebrated Zoe’s second birthday, if I may say, in style.  I decided earlier on that this year would be the year I would go a little crazy and style her party with as many details as I could possibly manage.

We hosted her party at Yoga Buttons, a local kid-friendly yoga studio in the heart of the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, with approximately 25-30 of our closest friends and family.  The theme was “Yoga in the Garden”, or a garden party, with a white, gold, light pink and mint green colour scheme.  For some reason it took me a while to think of the colours, but thanks to a bulk tissue paper purchase at my local dollar store, I was able to take some of those colours and pair it with white and gold.  The result?  Absolute perfection!

The party had to be all about Zoe [of course!}, so I made sure it was known with the help of a few {giant} gold balloons:

And a number “2”, just in case anyone forgot how old she was turning {I kid!}:

Zoe’s birthday banner and paper fan backdrop were both handmade by yours truly. I wanted everything to match the party’s colour scheme and I really just enjoyed getting crafty. The paper fan backdrop was actually meant for the dessert table but I think it worked a lot better here:

We had a snack station set up for all of the guests with a few nibbles and bites:

I scored an amazing deal on the plastic drink bottles {they’re actually spice bottles!} from our local dollar store and paired them with these gorgeous light pink and gold striped straws:

The tassel balloon and tassel garland {both made with love by me} truly complimented the snack station:

My favourite part of the party was the dessert table set-up.  As soon as guests walked into the studio, they were greeted by this table and I may have gotten a few compliments here and there!

It's a YogaButtons Birthday Party {Review}!

It’s no secret that I love parties.  I love the preparation and I also love throwing them.  So when it comes time to find a venue for my kids’ birthday parties, I always make sure I search for something that’s unique and age appropriate for the kids, and also fun for the adults.

When I came across YogaButtons at their one year anniversary party last year, I knew it would be a perfect spot to have Zoe’s second birthday.  I contacted the owner, Carolyn Lundie, and we instantly hit it off!

Carolyn was, unfortunately, away on an Italian getaway {lucky girl!} on the day of Zoe's party but she definitely left us in good hands with Jen and Anita, both of who did everything they could to ensure the party ran smoothly and without a hitch.

When I was corresponding with Carolyn about the party, I let her know that we were going to have a "garden party" and she assured me that they would have crafts ready to compliment our theme.  Sure enough they had a craft table filled with jewels and stickers to make cute little flowers, however, Jen's instinct was that the boys would respond better to a Lego workstation than making flowers.  She discretely asked me if it was okay {of course it was!} and off the boys went to play with Lego!  Best. Idea. Ever!

While the kids spent approximately 45 minutes on their crafts and Lego building, the adults mingled and helped out the younger ones.  I loved that YogaButtons had a big enough space to accommodate both the kids and parents, as we had a number of younger babies and kids attending that needed adult supervision.

I must admit that while I thought yoga was a cute and unique idea for a birthday party, I was a bit skeptical about how the yoga part was actually going  to work.  When you have kids ages 0-8 years old, you can't really expect that they will all stay still and listen.  Once again, the staff at YogaButtons proved me wrong and this happened:

Our Spring Break recap + a special deal from The Hyatt Regency Bellevue!

You know you've been busy when you're just starting to write a blog post about Spring Break - that happened almost two months ago!

Yup, that seems to be the way things are going lately.  If I'm not at work or trying to blog, then I'm at home wrangling with the kids and attempting to keep the house in order, or driving the kids to their respective activities and trying to keep them occupied.

Oh and did I mention party planning?

Ah, the life of a working mom.

Luckily, we were able to take a short break from it all and head down to our must-go mini vacay spot across the border - Bellevue, Washington.  I get really excited every time we go because we get to shop, see family and stay at our all-time favourite hotel, The Hyatt Regency Bellevue.

It seems that every time we stay at The Hyatt Regency Bellevue, we end up getting treated like royalty and this time was no exception.  We were just anxious to go back to what has become our frequent stomping ground in Bellevue and walk around the downtown core.  Little did we know, this was waiting for us after a long car ride:

I swear, they nail it every single time.  How sweet it is to feel welcomed and have our stay personalized - complete with regular milk and chocolate milk in the fridge and a library of kid-friendly movies for our kids!  We honestly couldn't have asked for anything more to make our first night, and entire stay, easier for us {and definitely memorable!}.