Joie De Viv

finding the joy in every day

Summer Unboxing with Rockets of Awesome!

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It’s been a very hectic Spring leading up to the Summer. So much so that when Rockets of Awesome approached us, I was in the midst of our back-to-back trips. Subscription boxes are all the rage these days, and definitely something every busy mom could use and appreciate! Honestly, as much as I love to shop, I can’t remember the last time I really had the time to go to the mall for an actual shopping trip. After taking a peek at their fun Insta, I hopped on over to their site to take the easy Style Quiz. If there’s something that I do love to do late at night , are silly quizzes. These were so fun, I had to do them for both kids of course!

After a few simple selections, we were done! A stylist would compile the first box for you, OR you could choose from specific items. I loved that they actually were concerned about what your child absolutely would NOT wear, because if you have an opinionated child(ren), such as my own, you would know the challenge getting dressed can be. Still, a surprise is always fun, and Kaitlyn is obsessed with blind boxes and unboxing videos, so we chose that option.  I took so many videos of Kaitlyn unveiling all her new pieces. I love her enthusiasm for everything! It also surprised me what some of her favorites were!

This navy blue top was her absolute favorite because of the soft, stretchy fabric, and the bedazzled stars! It would be perfect for 4th of July and Labor Day!  These glittery, yet soft, dolphin-style terry shorts make for a comfy summer staple.

No surprise here, this rainbow sunnies adorned kitty tee, and glittery pink tutu skirt were huge hits.  She called it her “confetti pop” skirt. I think she would wear this outfit every day if I let her!

It’s no secret we love Disneyland, and this comfy cotton tee is perfect for summer days at the park.  The various graphics seem to encapsulate favorites of young girls everywhere!

Posing with “Disgust”

The best part of the subscription for me, the mama: the service, shipping, and returns are FREE!  You only pay for what you keep, and they send you a return label and mailer in the package.  With the preview option before shipping, I already knew what we would be getting, so we didn’t choose to return anything at all.  Prices and quality seem comparable to CrewCuts or Gap Kids, and best of all, I heard zero complaints about itchiness!

And for the extremely hot summer days, where you need to beat the heat, the box makes for an excellent indoor activity.

Rockets of Awesome’s Summer Box couldn’t have come at a better time.  With Kaitlyn starting school NEXT WEEK, I just haven’t had time or prioritized “back-to-school” shopping.  We received a great bunch of staples and I can focus my time on creating cherished memories.  After all, with only 18 Summers, memories are what really matters!

 

You can try Rockets of Awesome for 20% OFF with my code: VIV20!  

If you do, please let me know how you like it!

Here’s to a summer of awesome, and less time fighting with kids on what to wear!

*** I partnered with Rockets of Awesome for this post, but all expressed opinions are 100% my own, and Kaitlyn’s! ***

Girls’ Date: First Time to American Girl Cafe!

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Today I was able to check off an eagerly anticipated first, a meal and a girls’ playdate/luncheon at the American Girl® Cafe!  We’ve dabbled in visits to the American Girl store, picking up a small item here and there, but so far, it has been little amuse bouche bites of the American Girl experience.

Let me preface our trip with some history on our own experiences with American Girl® dolls.  Unbeknownst to me prior to having kids, was this magnetic world of American Girl dolls.  I had never heard of them growing up, and most CERTAINLY never had one myself.  As a child of very strict and frugal immigrant parents, these classic and collectible dolls were never on my radar.  Of course, as soon as I joined the web of mommy boards online, I was introduced to the brand and like most others, sealed my fate by buying Kaitlyn a Bitty Baby™ for Christmas before she turned 2.  Baby Baby, her beloved doll, has been around the world with us ever since.

At age 4, I purchased an 18″ doll for a friend’s 5 year old, which drew large, widened eyes with awe.  She asked politely and regularly, if and when she could get a “big American Girl doll.”  With that, I set out to find a doll to match her looks and heritage, just to find out that a Chinese doll/character, Ivy Ling, had been retired.  I had to find one on the aftermarket, which I was able to with the help of a couple of friendly folks!  Ivy came in mint condition, still pristine in her box!  “Santa” brought Ivy on Christmas Day and Kaitlyn only recently had begun to play with her more often.  With pre-K graduation completed, and a short Summer break, this was the perfect time to plan a trip to the American Girl Cafe!

Ivy got a new hairstyle at the store!

 

PLANNING YOUR MEAL/TRIP

Due to the size of our group, I made reservations a week in advance.  The online reservations were quick and simple.  I also had a question later on and called to speak with a representative who was extremely helpful and sweet!  They followed up with emails, a phone call, and texts.  I was able to update our reservation twice without any issue.

On the day of our meal, we let the hostess know we were already in the store shopping, and were advised we could be seated as early as 10 min prior to our scheduled time.  This was nice since we had a later lunch time of 1:30pm.  Looking around at the cafe at that time, it was pretty empty.  Knowing this, I would easily pop in to see if the cafe was free for walk-ins in the future!

DINING WITH DOLLS

If your child or other children attending the meal do not have a doll with them, they are free to choose and BORROW a doll (or two) to accompany them at meal time!  I think this was one of the best add-ons to the whole dining experience for both child and parent.  Especially for younger kids who may only have a Bitty Baby or none at all, to be able to hold and play with an 18″ AG doll for the meal.

Each doll (yours or the cafe’s) is set up with a high chair next to the child for the meal.  The server gives each doll a plastic saucer and branded teacup, served complete with real pink lemonade!  This MADE the day for Kaitlyn and her friends!  They couldn’t stop “feeding” their babies with fake sips of lemonade and tiny crumbs of the appetizers. The saucer and cup are takeaways for the kids, a most special treat that Kaitlyn cannot get over!

SET MENU & PRICING

Everyone in the party is subject to the set menu of $24/per person (regardless of age) for lunch or dinner.  You may check with your specific store for details, but on our trip, we were told even our youngest gal (1 y/o) would be charged for a set menu OR a $10 sitting fee.

The food was so so good!  We started off with the American Girl® tradition of mini cinnamon buns.  Followed by an appetizer tray of crudites, hummus, dip, and pita. All of the entrees sampled amongst our party were unanimously agreed upon as delicious.  Dessert was just so adorable, but I was too full to finish. Our server was also great!  He was so patient and played along as my daughter made requests for everything from refills on her doll’s lemonade, to more little AG flags for her food.

As you can tell, it was such a memorable day for all the moms and daughters, and even Kingston expressed jealousy after seeing our photos.  I will probably bring him along one day, they do have boy dolls on loan as well!




Have you ever been to an American Girl Cafe?

School Choices: Kindergarten

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It’s enrollment day for us and the K-word has been pretty near all-consuming with our local preschool set for the past year.

K I N D E R G A R T E N

The word loomed over every party and play date.

Choices, choices, choices. It’s most definitely a first-world problem, as our toddlers get a wide range of amazing educational options. We’re so fortunate to be able to live in a city renowned for its public schools. It was a major deciding factor when we were house-hunting. Of course, now that we’re at the real Start Line for next 13 years of public education for our first-born, thoughts buzz around our minds with millions of ifs and whats. Despite all the educators telling us parents not to stress out too much, and that Kindergarten will absolutely not have any bearing on which college your child will get into, I think it’s just naturally one of the biggest things that weigh on the parents’ minds.

Like many others in our area, K has been attending Private Preschool part-time for the past 2+ years. The school and teachers have been amazing. The experience has been wonderful. It’s a bit scary to think of what is next.

CHOICES…

The most obvious choice is our local public school. It is within walking distance, highly-ranked, and paid for with our tax dollars. My main hesitation with this option has been friends’ reports about highly-impacted schools with large classroom sizes and only half-day schedules.

A popular choice among current classmates is private school. Smaller class sizes, full-time schedules. I would love this option if it were financially reasonable for our family. As a stay-at-home mom though, I didn’t find enough pros to outweigh the cons with this option.

Charter/Homeschool Options were high on my list. The pros for homeschooling far outweighed the cons, in my opinion.  The main con factor would be social activities and lifelong friendships in the traditional school environment.  That’s not to say I don’t think you can’t find equivalents in a homeschool or charter school, but it would take more work.  In fact, I still think I will constantly reassess our situation and revert to a charter or homeschool if I see fit. If we had not gotten into our first choice, I was set to homeschool and supplement with a charter school for Kindergarten.

Our final option, which is not necessarily available in all districts, is a year-round public school. In our district, there are a few year-round schools, which one may request intra-district school choice by lottery. The year-round schedule appealed to us for a large number of reasons. Of course, we love to travel, and travel during traditional school breaks are usually peak prices. Large summer breaks are also known to cause the “summer slide”, where knowledge and skills previously learned may decline. There is also boredom and restlessness, which cannot be easy for parents. Our local “summer camps” typically range from $250-300 per week! You can read more about pros and cons for year round schools HERE.

Lastly, an option I WISH we had, would be public language immersion schools. Some nearby cities have Spanish or Mandarin dual-immersion public schools, which I would love to have offered. If our district begins to offer a dual-immersion program, I’d be hopping on that waitlist immediately!

I submitted K into the lottery drawing for every single year-round school in our district, and she was so lucky to get into our first choice, so decision has been made! Life seems to take off on an even faster pace once kids begin school, I’m in full on preparation mode! Posts will likely be heavy on Kindergarten Prep the next few months! Do you have a little one about to enter school? Tips are always welcome!

 

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SoCal Kid Spot: Great Wolf Lodge & Tips

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A couple of years ago, Great Wolf Lodge opened a new location in Garden Grove, CA, JUST down the street from Disneyland! We have just spent our second “staycation” at the resort, and I hope I can share some of our experiences and tips we’ve found with other families who are considering this super fun family attraction!

The 105,000-square-foot indoor water park is exclusively for hotel guests and boasts over 600 suites. Our first trip was for Kaitlyn’s 4th birthday. We booked a standard suite and invited family to come along. We were able to purchase guest visitor passes for $50/pp and kids with 4 little toddlers, 3 of whom did not require a wristband. Despite their young age (3 under 3), the kids all had a blast! This year, we booked 2 suites for both families and the kids (5 under 5!) – and again all throughly enjoyed the park!

For the toddlers, we’ve always packed their Puddle Jumpers, because they are all familiar and comfortable with them. The resort does provide complimentary life vests and suggest all children under 48″ wear them.

The water park itself is indoors, heated to a comfortable 84F, with water temp at 82F. Fresh, dry towels are limitless – my how this was important with so many kids! The large number of employees and life guards on watch was reassuring as well.  With our group’s young ages, we typically spent a lot of time in the Cub Paw Pool.  Even our littlest (10 months) enjoyed the shallowest of waters, with a beach style-slope entry, water fountains, water tables, and the tiniest of slides.  The older toddlers also loved the slides in the Cub Paw Pool and overall semi-freedom of being able to bob, walk, and paddle in the shallow waters.  Our toddlers also LOVED Fort Mackenzie and all the water slides it offered. Even our 2 year olds could slide down solo, with a parent waiting at the bottom.  The lazy river and wave pools were also a huge hit with the older toddlers, accompanied by adults of course.  The adults took turns supervising little ones and going on the big slides for some thrills as well.

We made a point to attend their famous Bedtime Storytime in the main lobby. We had missed it on our first trip because we were still playing in the water. Plan accordingly if you want to attend this FREE nightly event. We set enough time to get up to the rooms, shower, get the kids in PJs, and scope out good seats. The kids got a kick out of going downstairs and seeing everyone else in their jammies as well. The stage involved moving characters, screens, a live storyteller, and a large character for meet-and-greet afterwards. If your child is timid, it may be better to choose a spot further back from the stage.

To save some serious dough, book a weeknight stay. The second best alternative, as we have done both times – book a Sunday/Monday stay. Groupon also regularly has deals for Great Wolf, so be sure to check it out. You are allowed to use the waterpark as early as 1pm on the day of your stay, with check-in typically around 4pm. You can also pre-check in and they will send a text to let you know when your room is ready. For the day of checkout, check out is at 11am. You may pay an additional fee for a later check-out if space is available. You are also able to use the water park the FULL day until closing, on your check out day. Plan ahead and pack a change of clothes and toiletries. There are showers and changing rooms in the water park.

We have yet to try the interactive MagiQuest game that is a huge hit with the resort, but we did see many groups throughly enjoying it! Be warned though, if you decide to partake, from my “interviews in the elevators”, the game requires a lot of elevator trips, and approximately 6 hrs to complete in entirety. It is also not free. I heard it cost about $40 ($20 per wand, and $20 for the game). It was conclusive by all participants we saw, that they thought it was completely worth it! When our kids are old enough to enjoy, I am sure it will be an activity we do as a family!

Additional Tips:
* A refillable souvenir cup for drinks can be purchased for $14.95 plus tax and includes free refills for the duration of your stay.
* Dunkin Donuts (on main lobby level) also has a refillable coffee cup for $9.95 plus tax.
* Guests celebrating birthdays can request a special “wolf ears” headband, as long as available. Our first year, they were all out. All children guests receive complimentary wolf ears.
* There is a Target within 1/2 mile down the street for anything you may need or forget.
* McDonald’s is across the street.
* The Great Wolf “story” and an accompanying episode can be found in animated version on the in-room tv station.
* There is a refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker in the room. We also received a couple of free bottles of water.
* Though the signs state no outside foods can be brought in, we never had any trouble with the snacks and milk we packed for the kids.

* GWL provides a limited number of complimentary shuttles to and from Disneyland Resort.

 

Years ago, we never would have thought we would have needed or found a reason to stay locally at an indoor water park.  However, Great Wolf Lodge really has become such a treat that we’ve all fallen for.  Have you stayed at a Great Wolf Lodge?  Please feel free to share any of your tips as well!

***ALL OPINIONS AND TIPS ARE MY OWN.  NO COMPENSATION WAS PROVIDED FOR THIS REVIEW.***

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Happy New Year + Family Photos 2017

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Happy New Year!  It feels as if the rush of the holiday season has finally settled down.  Our holiday trimmings have been all taken down, minus photo cards from loved ones.  I’ll admit I still have one strand of lights on the roof and the tree has not been put back in the attic yet, but that fresh year, fresh start feeling is coming along!

I’ve got a lot on my mind and in my planner, on what to focus on in 2018.  I’m the type who really needs to see things written down on a piece of paper and use checklists.  I haven’t been good with those things since becoming a mom, and I see the results of it.  Much more disorganized, unfocused, and unhealthy.  I haven’t made resolutions in years, but I am working on some solid intentions to focus on this year.

♥    ♥    ♥

I posted before our family photo shoot, and I was once again blown away by our photographer, Alicia P Photography.  It’s like she worked some magic to get the wind and the birds to harmonize just for her shot.  She also captured the essence of our silly brood.  Fun Fact:  J and I took our engagement shoot pics at this same exact spot.  My sentimental heart is so full and happy.

I don’t know if and when I will ever get sick of beach location shoots.  The California girl in me says, never.

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