Favorites: Swoop Mini Bags

I don't know what's worse--a million Lego pieces all over the house or a few Legos on the floor that you step on with your bare feet. Ouch, right!?! Either way, Legos need a place of their own. Lucas and Theo were so lucky to inherit their cousin's gazillion Legos which they love and play with on a daily basis (remember our trip to Legoland?). And Lucas just got a bunch of new Legos for his 6th birthday. Though we have some Ikea storage bins, we could always use more storage for all those tiny pieces. So when Sarah at Swoop Bags sent us their new Swoop Mini Bags, we were thrilled! Not only are they perfect for storing the Legos and MagnaTiles they're playing with at the moment, but they are also great for traveling--we just took them to visit Nana and Grandad in Santa Rosa last weekend! And I swear they encourage cooperative play! Win Win! ;)

Designed and made in Seattle of tough, water-resistant nylon fabric, they have an inside pocket, heavy duty nylon cording with locks, are machine washable (yay!) and have a lifetime warranty.

Scroll to the bottom to find a special discount from Swoop Bags.

Hello, mini pocket!

Took our Legos and MagnaTiles to Nana and Grandad's house for the first time!

I love that these Swoop Mini Bags can hold so much yet cinch up easily and feel so compact.

+ Sarah at Swoop Bags is kindly offering 20% off in their Shop with code GOOD20 through Sunday, June 5th.
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Spring Break Trip to Legoland

The kids were on spring break last week and I decided to take Lucas on a mama and me trip to LEGOLAND. The last mama and me trip was last summer when I took Lucas to la to visit our friends Joy, Bonnie and Christine. We had a blast. We are incredibly lucky and thankful for my mom who took care of Theo while we went on our trip and nick worked.

Lucas has been obsessed with LEGOS for the past year and a half so I thought LEGOLAND would be a perfect mini trip. A quick 1.5 hour flight (the length of The Incredibles movie on the Kindle Fire) to San Diego, and we were practically there. I thought about staying at the LEGOLAND Hotel but it was too pricey and I didn't think it would be worth it. Instead we stayed at the Grand Pacific Palisades Hotel and Resort across the street from LEGOLAND. It was awesome! They had a pool, a restaurant on the premises and comfortable clean rooms with a cozy king bed (all that room yet Lucas wanted to sleep right up against me --- I suppose that was sweet and all but admittedly I was looking forward to sprawling out!). We were also able to walk to LEGOLAND in 10 minutes via a pedestrian path.

LEGOLAND was pretty awesome -- well laid out and had lots of benches and other shady spots for resting. The weather was a perfect 70 with a light breeze. Our first stop was Build & Test in the Imagination Zone where where Lucas spent some time building his own race car and then racing it against other kids' creations. Super fun!

I was especially impressed by the Miniland USA section which included mini versions of cities like San Francisco and New York complete with moving vehicles and sound effects. We also loved the new Star Wars Area with tiny versions of scenes from various episodes. So much detail and precision went into building these models.

After lunch Lucas went on a little horsey ride at Castletown and then climbed a burning building at Fun Town. We didn't go on a lot of rides because Lucas would look at a line and say it was too long. I was secretly happy not to have to wait in any long lines but was a little surprised at the same time that Lucas wasn't that disappointed about it.

Our favorite thing in Fun Town was the Lego Clubhouse where Lucas built and customized three Lego minis for $9.99. What a deal! He got to choose a head, a body, a set of legs and then choose a free accessory for each one. Lucas loves these little guys and to be able to create his own was even more special. Highly recommended!

It's funny because Lucas didn't seem as amazed as I expected he would be. He was perfectly happy playing on benches and shady rest spots with his little guys. He absolutely loved the dinosaur sand pit in the Explorer Island section. He spent over an hour and a half digging and again playing with his little guys.

We also saw Emmett from the LEGO movie and toured the movie set which was super cool.

We spent our last night in the hotel on our king sized bed building an Iron Man vs Ultron Lego set.

Two things that saved me on this trip were my fanny pack (yes, I sported one the whole time and I'm not ashamed one bit!) and the Kindle Fire/headphones.

Here's a money-saving tip: Head over to Target. You could buy a mini LEGO Chima figure at the checkout for $5. On the back of the package there's a coupon for buy one adult ticket get a child ticket free to LEGOLAND. That's a $79 savings!

All in all we had a great time. Of course there were moody moments and a few fits thrown in to keep me on my toes, but when I asked Lucas what his favorite part about LEGOLAND was, he said, "You. Hanging out with you, Mama." That made my day. 

+ All photos taken with iPhone 5
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Camping with Lucas and Theo

This past weekend we went on a school-wide camp out with Lucas' preschool. Each year parents and kids gear up for one night at Bort Meadow at Anthony Chabot Regional Park. We set up tents, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, shared a potluck of sides and salads, roasted s'mores over the hot fire, climbed trees, enjoyed a big sing-a-long (Nick rocked it out on his acoustic guitar and played everything from "On the Road Again" to "I've Been Working on the Railroad" to "Carpet of Dreams" by the very talented childrens songwriter Jane Timberlake, to "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen - you know this one got all the kids dancing and building pretend ice castles), drank hot chocolate, and then went to bed in our sleeping bags and tents under the big starry night sky. The next morning we enjoyed a wonderful pancake breakast with lots of coffee for the grown-ups.

This year I woke up in a tent on my birthday. Lucas came in and gave me about 17 kisses on the lips. Then he said, "Mama, are you an old lady today?" and I immediately smiled and said, "I sure am!" Then he said, "Well, who's going to take care of me?" and I said, "I'm old, but not THAT old. And besides, even when I'm a really old lady, I'll always take care of you." He says the funniest things these days and I'm soaking it all in (and jotting it down here).

I really enjoy camping -- the food, the cozy feeling, the s'mores. And it's getting easier with the kids. We learned our lesson this year and set up two tents -- one for me and Theo, who slept from 7:15 p.m. - 7:15 a.m. straight, and a smaller one for Nick and Lucas. Last year was disastrous as Lucas woke up Theo around 10 p.m. and both kids were wide awake. No thanks!

A few things that made it extra fun for the kids were the Lego table, glow sticks, LED finger lights, a stomp rocket, a constellation night light, and some fun books.

All in all we had so much fun but were exhausted. I came home craving noodles and soup (my total comfort food) so we braved the Ramen Shop that night after we cleaned up. I must say I had a wonderful birthday this year.