Monday, May 27, 2013

5/27/13: Evan's Birthday at CoCo Key Fitchburg

Yesterday was Evan's actual birthday and despite the big party we had for him at the Boys and Girls Club I wanted to do something fun.  Recently I had bought a SweetJack deal for CoCo Key in Fitchburg and I thought it might be fun to go there.  We had never been there so I thought I would share my likes and dislikes with you.
TIP:  Always look for deals or purchase your tickets online.  The deal I got on SweetJack was great as it saved me 60% so we only paid $10 per person to go to CoCo Key for the whole day.  This is not affiliated with CoCo Key, it is just a deal site as any other deal site.  You can see full pricing here.  I do want to mention that if you buy a deal on SweetJack make sure to print the voucher before the day you are going.  Yesterday when I went to login the login button wasn't working and of course it was on a day that there was no Customer Support.  Luckily I tried the Facebook login option and it showed my voucher.  Crisis averted.  TIP:  Also make sure that you make a reservation in advance even if you have a deal like this as they only have a certain amount of people they let in per day and you don't want to drive there and get turned away.  Here are a couple overview pictures to sort of get a sense of what is there.  This shows the kids play area structure.
 Basically there is a kids water play area, a Lazy River, 2 larger slides that wind outside, a smaller body slide, a pool, a hot tub that goes to the outside.  The outdoor hot tub was my favorite part.  It is quiet as it is outside and when it is cool out it is nice to sit in a hot tub.  The requirement for the hot tub is that children have to be 6 years old so this is not an adults only hot tub.  Here you can see this hot tub area.    
This shows the pool and Lazy River.
 And this area is the spot where you walk up to go on the slides which actually loop outside the building.  The lines for slides were not that bad despite how busy it was on a holiday weekend.
There is also an area that sells food that you can see here.
Some things I liked:  
It is a great way to spend a full day when the weather is bad outside (like it usually is in MA).  We were there from 11:30 until 7 pm.
Numerous life guards walking around at all times keeping an eye on everyone and making sure there is no horse play in the pool.
The kids were fully entertained all day and loved being in the water.
The facility was larger than I expected and I thought they made decent use of the space they had to maximize water play.
The outdoor hot tub was nice and quiet and relaxing despite the chaos of the inside.
It is fun for the whole family.
No sunblock required!
 Here is Evan playing with the water in the kids play area.  The kids really enjoyed this area.
 Lauren peeking out near one of the slides.
 Evan getting a high five coming down the slide.  This was a nice preparation for the larger slides.  I suggest starting here with smaller slides to work your way up for kids that are not sure about the larger slides.
 Lauren tried out the body slide as she wasn't tall enough for the other two slides.  This slide has a 42 inch minimum where the other slides are 48 inches.  I went down this one too.  I went up with Lauren thinking we could go together but you can't.  It takes some twists in the dark but is much shorter than the others.  Lauren was afraid at first but then after her first time she wanted to go back again and again and actually rode it 4 times.
 Things I didn't like:
Chairs and tables are tough to get.  It seems many people just lay their towels down and other belongings and leave them there to hold the table which makes it hard to get a table when you want to eat.
My husband went to the food area and it took forever.  He said there was only one person working and the line was really long.  This wasn't even at prime eating time, this was at 2:30.  He did say that the prices were affordable however the wait to order and pick up food was way too long.
The bathrooms were not very clean.
I couldn't help but thinking how many kids had peed in the water.  In fact when I was sitting at our table I saw a little boy pull down his swim shorts and pea in the water.  YUCK!  Needless to say I took a shower immediately after.
The Lazy River is fun however it wasn't so much a Lazy River as a get pushed my tons of people river.  It was pretty packed.
 Here is Evan coming down one of the slides.  There is one that is light as you can see here and one that is dark.  Evan took the light one and John took the dark one.  Evan loved it and rode it multiple times.
 Evan after getting out of the slide tube.
 Evan playing in the kids water area.
 The kids also liked climbing across these disks that float around in the water.  They did this multiple times.
 I think Evan did this about 15 times during the day.
Splash!
Lauren gives it a two thumbs up!
CoCo Key Fitchburg on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CoCoKeyFitchburg
Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I am just sharing my opinions on CoCo Key.

5/27/13: Lauren Twirls In the Memorial Day Parade

Lauren twirls baton.  In fact I started her three years ago twirling.  Today she was in the Memorial Day Parade in North Chelmsford with her team the Suburban-ettes.  It is a small parade but she had fun participating in it.
 I think she looks so cute in this outfit.
 She marches with the big girls.
 There were lots of cheers when we got to the center.
 It was a very pretty route.
 They had the High School band behind them which was perfect to march to.
 Great job!
 Here are some of the other Suburban-ettes.
 They did a great job!
 I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

5/22/13: Sea Sparkles Mermaid Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED:  CONGRATULATIONS CASSANDRA FOR WINNING!
My daughter loves Mermaids.  The super cute Aurora Sea Sparkles line is perfect for little girls and nice and cuddly to bring to bed to go to sleep with.  Read on and you can win one!
Lauren thinks she is beautiful and is bringing her to school for rest time.  She loves to fix her hair.  They come in different colors with different color hair but Lauren loves purple so that is the one I picked for her.  Lauren particularly likes her shiny skirt and jewel on her top.  Girls like sparkly things right from being little.
She decided that her doll needed to learn how to do a handstand like her.  Here she is teaching her.

She is so silly.  Notice she is wearing her Little Mermaid pajamas to match her mermaid doll.
The Aurora World Inc.'s Sea Sparkles line is expanded in 2013 to include new styles and sizes of the popular mermaid dolls.  The Sea Sparkles collection now includes new 10", 18", 38" mermaids plus four 27" mermaids. (small, medium, large and extra large sizes; SRP: range from $8-$70). 
They are suitable for all ages and can be purchased at retail or online at the official Aurora shop: http://shop.auroragift.com/c/sea-sparkles
Aurora is offering free Shipping on orders over $50; use promo code: YooHoo13.
She is getting really good at her hand stands! 
 Enter in the Rafflecopter below to win one.  
Disclosure:  I received a Sea Sparkles Doll for review purposes and for this giveaway.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, May 19, 2013

5/19/13: Happy 8th Birthday to Evan

Today was Evan's 8th Birthday Party at the Boys and Girls Club.  He wanted an Angry Birds Space theme and to have fun with his friends in the pool.  It is hard to believe that my little baby boy is 8 years old!  Where did the time go?
Here he is with all of his friends at the party.
First they started out in the pool.  This year instead of giving a goody bag with lots of little things I did one Sand Pail with goggles, water squirters, Angry Birds cookies, and a sand play piece.  
 The good thing about this is the kids could use the goggles in the pool and use the water squirters.
 I found out from many of the kids they had elaborate games they planned out at school that they would play with the water squirters.
 Most of their games centered around boys vs. girls.
 Lauren having fun.
 The kids had a lot of fun in the pool.  IT is nice too that the Boys and Girls club provides the life guard for the party and also the rings that the kids are floating in.
 Here you can see the pails that they got along with the cake and cupcakes I made.  I got the silver color of the planet by using Duff's edible spray paint in silver.  It worked awesome.
Here is a closer picture of the cake that was a ton of fun to make.
 Then it was on to pizza time in the party room.
They really worked up an appetite being in the pool.
 Cake time!  I love making the kids cakes and making them lots of fun.
 Here is Evan with the cake.  I love how they put the 8 candle on the top of the planet.
 Evan getting sung too.  There is his sister next to him.
 Time to blow out the candles.
 The kids really liked the cake.  They all wanted a piece of the silver planet.
 Evan and his sister.  They got to play in the gym after cake time.
 We did presents at home.  Here was one of his favorites.  A new Angry Birds Space one that he didn't have.  Amazing, I thought we had them all by now.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful boy Evan!