Lands’ End Kids Swimsuits : Best.Suits.Ever!

My kids are only *slightly* adorable!
My kids are only *slightly* adorable! Lands’ End provided me with these swimsuits for them facilitate my review. All opinions are mine (and 100% correct, of course.)

SWIM SEASON! Swim season has caused a bit of panic in me the last couple of years, because two summers ago the pool we went to decided to turn itself into a mini-waterpark and make my life a living hell. So after dealing with that for a couple of years, we decided to fork out the extra dough this year to go to a private pool. Yes, these days, apparently, you have to pay EXTRA to go to a pool that is not a “waterpark”. The decision to join the new pool was pretty last-minute, and therefore I had also slacked off on getting the kids their new suits for the season. WHOOPS! Thankfully, my friends at Lands’ End came to my rescue and let me pick out these adorable ones above to review and they got them to me quickly so I’d have them for last Monday when we took the kids to…wait for the irony…a waterpark! But, this one is A REAL waterpark. With lots of giant slides, a lazy river, etc. Not a formerly peaceful public swimming pool masquerading as a waterpark. This one I will only go to WITH my husband because there’s no way I could have all three kids there by myself. Our new pool is perfectly sized so I can relax with Jonah in the baby area and still see Sophie and Joshua swimming in the big pool. WIN.

But I digress. These suits! They are awesome. We’ll start with Sophie’s. Because she’s a girl, and let’s face it, hers is the most important! For Soph I chose this “Cape May Cutie” tankini ruffled top and ruffled bottom.

Sophie Suit collage

 

 

Why did I choose this suit? Honestly, the product description on Lands’ End’s website says it perfectly, but I’ll break it down: adorable, age-appropriate, MODEST style, and a UPF of 50 to protect her skin underneath it. It dries quickly, is comfy, and moves well. She ran all over that park in it and went down the big slides with no modesty problems whatsoever. And it’s a-stinking-dorable!!

(Once again, because she’s a girl, I also bought Sophie yet another suit. This one, because I am in love with the bright pink & orange colors and functional style. It has all the great qualities of the Cape May Cutie suit as well.)

Now, onto Joshua’s suit! This one was a tough decision for me but I couldn’t be more thrilled with it!

joshua in suit

 

Joshua’s suit is the Boys’ ShakeDry Stripe Stretch Half-Elastic Board Shorts. I chose this particular suit for three reasons: 1) Orange is Joshua’s favorite color and I knew he would think the pattern was super-cool (he loves them). 2) They are “Shake-Dry”, which means they are water-repellent and dry really fast. This is important for Joshua because if you didn’t notice, the child has zero fat on his body, and he gets cold at the pool. So when he’s ready to get out, I try to warm him up fast! 3) The fit – I was pretty sure from reading the description that he elastic-back waist & drawstring would work with Joshua’s skinny frame and that they would also be long enough, as he is fairly tall. I was right! I couldn’t love them more and neither could he. Plus, they also have the UPF 50 protection from the sun!

Now for Jonah-Jo’s suit. Had to get something to protect my baby! His skin is the most sensitive of all my kiddos, so I went with a Short Sleeve Colorblock Rash Guard shirt and Colorblock Pieced Trunks for him.

In the baby pool at our new pool. He's not yet decided to go "all in".
In the baby pool at our new pool. He’s not yet decided to go “all in”.

This suit is just perfect for Jonah. He had not yet decided to become “one” with the pool, so I like having him covered up top instead of trying to slather him with sunscreen all over his front (once an hour). Plus, it keeps him a little bit warmer when his nutso parents take him to the waterpark in 65-degree weather because Daddy took the day off work and DANGIT we were going!! Ahem.  Both pieces stretch and move really well, which is great, because he decided on Monday that he’d rather run all over the waterpark than get in the freezing cold water (a good call, in my opinion. Although that meant I had to chase him).

Run, Jonah, run!
Run, Jonah, run! It’s the only way to keep warm!

We couldn’t be any more thrilled with our Lands’ End suits this year! (I love my SwimMates suit, too!) They really are the best, folks. Last year I had two for Sophie and she took swim lessons every. single. week. for a year and they held up beautifully. As a matter of fact, I just handed them both down to Emily’s niece for when she is older! Lands’ End for the win! You won’t find better swim suits for the whole family this year.

sophie joshua suits

Thanks again, Lands’ End, for getting my kiddos ready for fun in the water this summer!

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Ubooly: A super-smart, super-cool toy giveaway!

Meet Ubooly!
Meet Ubooly! He totally sent himself to me to review and hooked me up with some credits to Ubooly Lab and sponsored this post. Thanks, dude!

When I was at Mom 2.0, I met a lovely young lady named Rachel, who told me briefly about the smart toy she worked with, called Ubooly. Then, after Mom 2.0, Rachel sent me an email and flattered me, and asked me if I’d like to review said smart toy. Well, Rachel soon learned that I like flattery. And smart toys for my kiddos. So within a couple of weeks, Ubooly arrived at our house!

Ubooly is a toy that uses your iPhone (3GS, 4, 4S, 5) or iPod touch ( 4th or 5th gen) and the free Ubooly app to create a fun learning and play experience for  your child. You simply start up the app and slide your device into Ubooly’s fluffy, protective body. See?

uboolysetup
Just tap on Ubooly’s face to wake him up!

The Ubooly pet is pretty cool on his own, but now there’s even more to be excited about! In addition to the original fun Ubooly came with, Ubooly now has his own LAB, aptly named the Ubooly Lab. The Ubooly Lab is where you can purchase credits to download customized lessons for your kiddo (created by elementary teachers, whoop whoop!) so you as a parent can point your kiddo’s educational playtime in the direction you want it to go in! For Sophie, I downloaded Oceans, the Human Body, Grammar, Spelling 6-9, and  Addition. But there are several more to choose from on the Ubooly Lab! This short video does a great job explaining how amazing Ubooly Lab is:

Sophie & Ubooly doing some serious learning!
Sophie & Ubooly doing some serious learning!

Sophie was immediately enchanted with Ubooly as soon as we fired him up. Ubooly asked her if she wanted to go on an adventure, hear a story, or hear a joke. They went on an adventure (I believe there were pirates involved, I know her bed was the boat!) and then he told her a joke. She loooooves the jokes! See?

So, Ubooly’s funny, but the good news is all the fun and games add up to learning! The Oceans lesson has a neat little science experiment, and I absolutely love the grammar lessons. It makes learning parts of speech (pretty new to Sophie) lots of fun to learn. The math lessons are great for keeping up math facts over the summer (or studying them anytime.) Ubooly really has put a new spin on learning in my house, and Sophie really loves her super-smart, funny friend. Ubooly occupied her time well last week when she was already out of school but Joshua was still in school. It was nice for her to have a funny, articulate playmate to take a couple of imaginary adventures with when I was busy with Jonah or housework.

sophie ubooly

She’s really looking forward to completing some of the lesson packs and earning coins so she can customize her Ubooly by “buying” him some sweet accessories. I’m really hoping she goes for glasses and a sweet mustache, myself!

So guess what? Ubooly is a generous smart toy, and he wants to come play at YOUR house, too! Well, one of your houses. That’s right, one lucky winner is going to be the proud owner of their own Ubooly pet (valued at $29.95) and 30 credits to the Ubooly Lab!  Here’s how to enter! MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY or it will not count.

1) Leave a comment telling me who in your house would love Ubooly the most.

2) For an extra entry: Tweet about this giveaway: “I want to win an @Ubooly smart toy from @jennyitup @momminitup #UboolyLab http://bit.ly/138tZp9″ – then come back here and leave a link to your tweet in the comments.

3) For an extra entry: If you like Ubooly on Facebook, you can get an extra entry, so let us know in the comments if you are a fan of Ubooly on FB!

4) For an extra entry: Visit the Ubooly Lab, and leave a comment telling me which lesson you think your kiddo will love the most.

One winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday June 10th at 6 pm. Good luck, and enjoy this hilarious video of two Uboolies doing a job interview!

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Drugstore loves {favorite drugstore products}

dove style 2

When I was at Mom 2.0 a few weeks ago, one of my very favorite experiences there was having my hair done in the salon Dove, the presenting sponsor of the conference, had set up for us. It was SO nice. (They had manicures, too!) As I sat down in the stylist’s chair, she asked me if she could tell me about the Dove products she had at her station.

Untitled

 

“I already use most of them!” I replied, so I made her job a little bit easier. But it’s true. And that comment inspired me to write a post about some of my current favorite drugstore beauty items. The Dove products are a really big favorite. I absolutely adore their  Style +Care dry shampoo, hairspray, nourishing whipped cream mousse, frizz-free shine cream-serum,   and thermal replenishing spray. The mousse provides hold for my wavy hair but also moisture, which is great because my hair is dry and most mousses are just more drying. Not the case here! The cream-serum I always put in my hair before I straighten it, to eliminate frizz. It just makes it soft and smooth and easier to straighten. I also use the thermal replenishing spray before I flatiron it to protect it as I heat style. I really love all these products! So I clip my coupons and stock up when they are on a great sale at the drugstores, because these products really are worth it.

Dove’s cousin, Suave, also makes a few of my favorites – love their dry shampoo as well, and their deodorant. It’s often on sale for just $1 and it’s a great bargain. I buy the powder scent for my hairy brother and the Everlasting Sunshine for me!

Another Dove cousin, Vaseline, also has a new product I luuurve. Spray ‘n Go moisturizer. I was quite skeptical about it, but not only do I love it for me, it makes moisturizing one’s six-year-old after bath SO MUCH FASTER. Score! I hope to see some good sales & coupons attached to it soon.

After the Mom 2.0 Summit, CVS Minute Clinic, another sponsor (you guys know I loves me some CVS!), sent us a big ol’ bag of products to our homes. It was full of full-size products and I got took the opportunity to try some new things. (And can I just say as a side note how glad I am that we have two Minute Clinics in our area now!! Haven’t had to use them yet but I am so glad to have an alternative to urgent care.) I’ve been using Mary Kay for five years but I have been cheating on it with the RoC Max resurfacing cleanser that came in the CVS Minute Clinic swag bag and I really like it! It’s really exfoliating which I love. If you have really sensitive skin it might not be for you, but I rather enjoy it!  I’ve also been trying out their MAX wrinkle resurfacing system on my forehead because baby, I’ve got some serious expression lines forming. But I’ve only been using it for two weeks so I can’t really say if it’s working yet. I DO like the way it feels, however, and I’m not having any negative reactions to it, so that’s so far so good.

cvs swag

Another product that I really like that was in that bag is Aveeno BB cream. Yep, I’m cheating on my Mary Kay again! I really think it covers well and it gives my skin a really nice shimmer. Plus, it’s SPF 30 which is always important! I really did not expect to like this product and I really, really do. Yay for pleasant surprises!

Well, those are my favorite products these days! What beauty & hygiene products do you like to pick up at the drug?

P.S. this post was not sponsored at all whatsoever. Just wanted to tell you what I’m diggin’!

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