Playmobil Advent Calendars

I’ve been a big fan of Playmobil ever since I discovered the toys a few years ago.  Chip had a big pirate phase and Playmobil was perfect with a large selection of figures and accessories for all kinds of fun, imaginative play.  My mother-in-law lives in Sweden and since Playmobil is a German company, they get the new products over there first.  When we are in Sweden, a visit to a toy store to check out Playmobil’s latest offerings is always on my to-do list.  I was really thrilled when Playmobil sent me The Police Advent Calendar to review because Chip LOVES everything police!  He was a SWAT police officer for Halloween and loves police toys.  The thing that really bothers me about advent calendars in general is that I only seem to be able to find chocolate ones.  Considering most kids want to open an advent “door” each morning, starting off with a piece of chocolate is odd to me.  Playmobil’s clever concept, literally, behind each day’s door is that there is a new toy and by Christmas the child has a complete playset that continues to be play-worthy!  In addition to The Police, there are four more Playmobil Advent Calendars offered for 2010: Christmas in the Forest, Pony Ranch, Dragon’s Land, and Unicorn in Fairy World. 

The outer box has a numbered diagram showing which toy is behind which day’s door.  This is totally convenient for parents to see and doesn’t ruin the surprise for the kids because you remove the actual calendar from this outer box.  I’m impressed that most days actually contain several items making for a nice collection by day 24.  The calendar box itself turns into play scene at the end as well!  Kind of a totally amazing idea and a nice pre-Christmas gift at a great price point.  I just showed The Police Advent Calendar to Chip today and he is absolutely

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beside himself asking when he can open the first door.  He is asking if it’s tomorrow…And he keeps asking.  Ok, only a couple of days until December 1st.  This is also a fun way to reinforce the calendar skills we have been working on.  I think I’ll put an actual month of December calendar next to the Playmobil Advent Calendar and ask chip to match up the day on the door to the day of the month.  These advent calendar playsets are recommended for ages 4+ and retail for about $16.99.  Basic adult set-up required (wordless directions=easy).  Available at PlaymobilUSA.com as well as brick and mortar stores nationwide. Thank you to Playmobil for sending me The Police Advent Calendar to enable me to write this review.

Death In The Family

Occasionally you hear something like: "Due to a death in the family [insert explanation]." My father passed away exactly one month ago and it is very much my explanation as to why I haven't been posting. Although, I often think of so much I could post about relating to my father's passing. One of my favorite sayings is: "You just gotta do it one time, then you are an expert." Well, that's how I feel about my journey over the past month...And my journey continues. However, blogging now fits into my journey. Thanks for your understanding while I've been on my detour. Much love! Elizabeth

Halloween at Southern California Theme Parks

Every Southern California theme park has Halloween activities. However, not all events are the right fit for each member of the family. Here is a guide to the top picks to help you plan your Halloween family fun.

Halloween Time at Disneyland

Disneyland is all dressed up for Halloween! Space Mountain has turned into “Space Mountain – Ghost Galaxy” and The Haunted Mansion is all decked out a la “Tim Burton’s Nightmare before Christmas”. Disney characters are dressed in Halloween costumes and the Disney Villains characters can also be found roaming the park this time of year.

Mickey’s Halloween Party, a separate ticket event at Disneyland, takes place on Tuesday (6pm) and Friday (7pm) evenings during October as well as Halloween night. The extra bonus this year is that guests attending Mickey’s Halloween Party are allowed to enter Disneyland three hours early to play in the park. Mickey’s Halloween Party is also the only way to see the “Halloween Screams” fireworks spectacular. Adults and children can dress in costume, trick-or-treat throughout the park, attend dance parties and take photos with characters in the special photo locations set up for the party. Tickets start at $49. For more information visit: Halloween at Disneyland

 

 Knott’s Scary Farm

Knott’s Berry Farm is transformed for the season into The Halloween Haunt at Knott’s Scary Farm Wednesday through Sunday nights in October. Featuring 13 mazes, 7 hair-raising shows, 3 horrific scare zones and 1,000 roaming monsters, this year is scarier than ever. The doors open at 7pm and close at 1am (2am on Fridays and Saturdays) for this separate ticket event. Knott’s Pre-Scare “Boo-ffet” Dinner, $20.99, allows event ticket holders early entry into The Haunt. Knott’s Halloween Haunt is a scary event and not recommended for children under 13. Guests are not allowed to wear costumes so as not to be confused with The Haunt characters. Tickets start at $33. For more information visit: Knotts Scary Farm

For the younger kids, Snoopy’s Costume Party in Camp Snoopy is an alternative daytime non-scare celebration of Halloween cheer rather than fear. Offered on weekends in October, 10am-5pm and included with regular park admission. This special, family event includes friendly monsters, a kid-friendly maze, crafts, and trick-or-treat stations.

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights

Universal Studios Hollywood is offering its Halloween Horror Nights on consecutive weekends and select weeknights in October. This separate ticket event begins at 7pm and is not recommended for children under 13. Horror Nights capitalizes on Universal’s movie franchises by combining the themes and characters into mazes, scare zones and the “Terror Tram” attraction. How about a stroll through the Friday the 13^th maze with Jason followed by working your way through A Nightmare on Elm Street maze with Freddy Krueger? All Universal attractions are open during Horror Nights. Costumes are not allowed. Tickets start at $44. For more information visit: Universal Horror Nights

 

 Brick-or-Treat at LEGOLAND

Every Saturday in October from 5-9pm, LEGOLAND California is transformed into a not-too-spooky Halloween haven for Brick-or-Treat Party Nights featuring costume contests, dance contests, a pumpkin patch building event, “howler of the hour” contests, nighttime trick-or-treating on one of two Brick-or-Treat Trails, live music and entertainment.

During the day every Saturday and Sunday in October revelers 12 and under trick-or-treat on the Park’s exclusive Brick-or-Treat Trail, where they gather goodies including delicious treats, trading cards and other surprises. Guests can also enjoy the new musical “Mail Order Monsters” and pose with a giant LEGO^® jack-o-lantern. All Brick-or-Treat and Party Nights festivities are included in the price of regular one-day admission to LEGOLAND California.  Special tickets for Brick-or-Treat Party Nights only are available for $30. During Brick-or-Treat, LEGOLAND is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information visit: Legoland

It’s Blogger Prom!

I’m off to Blogger Prom tonight at Yamashiro in Hollywood!  I’m attending with none other than The Hollywood Housewife and we are putting the final touches on our outfits as we type.  The theme is Hollywood Glamour…I think I’m sort of aiming for a Lauren Bacall circa Humphrey Bogart…Sorta kinda, as if I could pull that off.  The Blogger Prom is a charity event and I’ve stolen the following from the Blogger Prom site regarding this year’s charity: The Blogger Prom Committee is pleased to announce that 100% of the proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Center for Community and Family Services in support of Operation Frontline Los Angeles, the regional OFL program at Share Our Strength "that teaches families how to prepare healthy, tasty meals on a limited budget" with the belief "that negative health and economic effects of hunger and poor diet can be avoided if families know how to shop for and prepare healthy, low cost meals."  Pretty awesome and worthy cause!  I never did get to go to my high school proms in a limo.  Keeping the tradition into this century, I’ll be going to this one in my minivan.  How amusing that all these years and so many limos—yes, I’ve been in a lot of limos since high school—I’d rather drive myself.  Ok, I’m off like a prom dress! ;)

CBSLosAngeles.com

You can now find me blogging over on the CBS Los Angeles site, CBSLosAngeles.com, that launched on September 1st.  I’m really honored to have been invited to join a team of talented parent bloggers from all over the Los Angeles area who will be bringing readers the Best of LA geared for families.  My first four posts are up covering: The Best Fun for Kids in The South Bay, The Best Fun for Kids in Long Beach, The Best Back to School Tips for LA Parents and a review of the arena spectacular, Walking with The Dinosaurs.  The CBS Los Angeles site is home to KCBS-ch.2, KCAL-ch.9, KNX AM1070 and KFWB AM980 and there is lots of great local info as well as weather, traffic, sports and news.  I look forward to this new opportunity and to sharing the best of LA with everyone.

Walking With Dinosaurs – Last Chances!

I’m really excited that tomorrow I’ll be heading to The Honda Center in Anaheim to see one of the final performances of WALKING WITH DINOSAURS.  The original company of WALKING WITH DINOSAURS – The Arena Spectacular, which has toured North America since July 2007, will play its final engagements at The Honda Center in Anaheim, CA September 1-5, followed by performances at The STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles, September 9-12.  The show originally played the Los Angeles area in 2008 with an unprecedented sold-out run at both venues.  WALKING WITH DINOSAURS – The Arena Spectacular is based on the award-winning BBC Television Series.  In this production, seventeen roaring, snarling “live” dinosaurs mesmerize the audience as if they were back in the time when dinosaurs walked the earth. The dinosaurs are life-size, making the show so immense, it could only fit in arenas.  The “live” dinosaurs are actually a brilliant combination of technology and traditional theater arts like lighting, acting, scenery and puppetry.  The show is so enormous that they travel around North America in 25 trucks and production cost is $20 million.

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In WALKING WITH DINOSAURS, ten species are represented from the 200 million year reign of the dinosaurs.  Wow, 200 million years?  How do I explain that concept to Chip when I CAN HARDLY grasp it?  Anyway, I’m personally thrilled to see that the Stegosaurus, my favorite dinosaur, is in the show’s cast.  The show depicts the dinosaurs’ evolution which includes the climatic and tectonic changes that lead to the demise of many of the species.  It also shows how the carnivores and herbivores behaved.  The history of the world is played out with the splitting of the earth’s continents, and the transition from the arid desert of the Triassic period is given over to the lush green prairies and forces of the later Jurassic.  Oceans form, volcanoes erupt, a forest catches fire -- all leading to the impact of the massive comet, which struck the earth, and forced the extinction of the dinosaurs.  Apparently, all with a 35 minute first act, 20 minute intermission and a 35 minute second act!  I think I’m looking forward to it more than the kids?!

Review: I attended opening night with my 4 year old son, 5 year old boy/girl twin neighbors and their mom.  We were all enthralled by the show which is narrated by a rugged paleontologist who guides the audience through the 200 million year story.  Some young children may be frightened by the full sized, “real” dinosaurs.  Video is on the show’s site and it is recommended showing that to kids to get an idea of how they might feel at the show.  Our 3 kids were really into the show and asked lots of questions.  There are a few loud dinosaur roars that were tough on the toddler ears.  If you can afford it, the price of sitting closer to the dinosaurs is well worth it.  All seats are good and it may be wise to sit further back if little ones would be more comfortable away from a full grown, roaring T-Rex.  Overall, this is a show I highly recommend as being really fun for the whole family.  I wasn't feeling antsy or checking my watch, like I do at some of the "kiddie shows."  When the Stegosaurus came out during the Jurassic Period, it was like seeing Yo Gabba Gabba for me!  I leaned over to the kids and made sure they knew that was my favorite.  Who doesn't like dinosaurs?  Hot tip: Goldstar has half-priced tickets currently available on their site for The Staples Center shows.


Tickets are now on sale.  Honda Center tickets ($22.50-79.00) can be purchased at the Honda Center Box Office and at any Ticketmaster outlet, charge by phone 1-800-745-3000 or online at ticketmaster.com.  Tickets for STAPLES Center ($39-79.00) can be purchased at the STAPLES Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone 213-480-3232 or online at ticketmaster.com. For groups, contact the local arena directly.  For more information, please visit www.dinosaurlive.com. Video of the show is available on the site under “Meet The Dinos” tab in the middle of the front page.

Disclosure: I was given tickets to the show for review purposes and complimentary parking in the media lot.  No compensation was received.

Variety Power of Women

I am honored to have been chosen by Honda along with ten other amazing bloggers from all over the country to attend the Variety Power of Women Event in Beverly Hills on September, 30.  The funny thing is I live really close to Beverly Hills, so I guess I’m the ideal, all expenses paid, winner!  Variety has invited two of the bloggers to be Red Carpet Correspondents at the event to be chosen via a contest.  All eleven of us wrote what the Power of Women means to us and our essays are posted on Honda’s Facebook page.  The two bloggers whose essays receive the most votes will get to be the Red Carpet Correspondents.  Here is my essay and if you would like to vote for me, just go to the Honda contest page and click “vote”.  That’s it!  The voting period ends Thursday, August 26, 8:59pm PDT.  Thank you!

To me, “Power of Women” means harnessing the greatness of all the women who have gone before us, who have paved the way for us, the women of 2010. I’m not just referring to famous historic women. I mean all women: our mothers, grandmothers and their mothers and sisters. For every girl over the centuries who dreamed of creating something, there was at least one older female who supported her. Women supporting women, networking, mentoring and encouraging women and girls from all backgrounds to pursue their dreams and make a difference in their communities is a key element of today’s Power of Women. As I look back over the story of my life, I can think of so many women, some who only played walk-on roles, but who inspired, influenced or continue to echo through me. I just know that we can continue the momentum for the women yet to come.

Elizabeth Peterson