bumble of joy

CLEARANCE SALE--25% OFF EVERYTHING!

2016-05-27T09:38:00.001-04:00

Hi Bumble of Joy fans!! Remember us? It has been almost 2 years since we went under construction and it has been a busy and also trying times (especially for Eva's family, please do keep her and her family in your prayers).

We are planning to go in a NEW DIRECTION as soon as we can but it probably isn't going to happen just yet.

In the mean time, we want to get rid of our OLD inventory so we can start FRESH. So we are holding a CLEARANCE SALE over at the "Honeycomb Store"
25% OFF EVERYTHING! LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE!! GET THEM WHILE THEY LAST!!
And if you order a SET or 5 individual items we will REIMBURSE you shipping cost!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2014-07-12T15:04:00.001-04:00

We are currently going through a re-imaging of our company/site, please bare with us as Bumble goes through construction!

End of the school year

2014-06-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

We have 4 days left!
I cannot believe how quickly the school year went. Remember how I was worrying about how H would adjust to Kindergarten… so many milestones and proud moments. She had the best teacher and I know H will miss her.

Recently H lost her first tooth. She actually pulled it out herself! She was so excited and screamed "Mommy, Mommy, my tooth came out!" She even wrote a note to the tooth fairy that night.
Dear Tooth Fairy
Here is my tooth.
Love H
She made sure to leave a pencil so the tooth fairy had something to write with. H asked "How is she going to hold this pencil? It's going to be so big!" Ha ha I love it, the wonders of a child.

The next morning she receive a nice exchange for her tooth… $1, a special note and fairy dust!

Last week was H's class field trip and I experienced chaperoning for the first time. We went to the fish hatchery and a local zoo. I had a great group of girls and perfect weather that day!

Feeding the trout at the fish hatchery

Brushing the goats

Soon I'll have a first grader and Pre-Kindergartener!?!
But first we are going to enjoy these next 3 months of summer vacation!!! It's going to be nice to have mornings at our own pace and not rushing out to catch the bus, hehe.

Are your kids finished with school?
What's the first thing you will do on summer vacation?
Eva

School project = Art history lesson

2014-05-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Last week H exhibited a project during Open House at school. It was an opportunity for the kids to to develop a project that reflects their special interests and abilities. Keeping in mind that she is only in Kindergarten, I chose something simple and enjoyable but incorporate a lesson as well. This gave me a chance to teach her about the artist Georges Seurat and Pointilism (a technique of painting in which small dots of color are applied to form an image).

WHAT YOU NEED
Paint
Canvas board or heavy weight paper
Q-tips or small paint brush

I chose one of my favorite photos of H&N from our beach trip last year.
I drew an outline sketch on the canvas so H had something to follow.
I explained to her how to create colors by painting on top of an existing color. She was fascinated by this technique and happily painted away.

This was pretty tedious process so she actually took a break and finished it up a little later.

Here is her masterpiece! I'm proud of my lil' Seurat. It was great seeing what other kids did in her class and all the other grades as well.

Do you have a favorite artist?
Have a wonderful weekend!

Eva

Happy Mother's Day!

2014-05-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Wishing our (mommy) readers & your mother(s) a special Mother's Day! Whether its breakfast in bed or just a day to do absolutely nothing but relax, may you feel loved and appreciated today!

A great big THANK YOU to our mothers for their love and support.
Happy Mother's Day Mom! We are so blessed to have you as our mom.

Love,
Eva & Zi

Summer 2014 Bucket List

2014-05-07T00:25:00.002-04:00

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are starting to compile our family's summer bucket list (see here for last year's list).

Since we just did a big trip at the end of last year/beginning of this year, we will not be doing any big trips this summer. Instead my husband and I decided that we would focus on experiences that the kids haven't had yet.

So here is our list of fun experiences we plan to have this summer:

1) Plant a veggie garden. This was on last year's list but I only really tried to plant 1 veggie and it wasn't a huge success so we are trying this again this year. And I am glad to report that we are already off to a good start. Here are some pictures of the kids and I starting our garden:

* Everyone got a chance to participate!

2) Go bowling. There is a place close to us that has $0.50 games from Sundays through Thursday from 10am to 1pm, so we want to take advantage. And also because the kids have never been bowling before. See here for the website in case you live close by.

3) Fruit picking. This is starting to become a summer tradition for our family and we hope to continue it this year.

4) Go to the movie theaters to enjoy summer movie deals. We had done this once with the 3 older kids 2 summer's ago, hope to do it again including E4 this time! Check them out here. There could be a movie theater near you that is participating and this year the list of movies are pretty good.

5) Go visit a factory (probably Herr's or Hershey).

6) Go to a free concert at a nearby park. Kids have never really experienced a real concert so this would be a good start without spending any money.

7) Go to Central Park in NYC. We go to visit John's parents in NYC but never really enjoyed Central Park with the kids before, so we want to do that this year.

8) Go to a Drive-In Movie. This would be a first not only for the kids but for us parents as well.

9) Go to see the Liberty Bell. Considering the fact that we live only 30 minutes from Philly, we think the kids should really see it at least once.

10) Go to the beach. Would love to do this at least 1 time this year.

11) Go to Cape May Zoo. This is a free zoo that we went to last year and we all really enjoyed it, would love to do it again. See the post here.

12) Go to a traditional ice-cream shop. What I have in mind is some place that is not a chain.

Does your family have a summer bucket list? Would love to hear what is on your list!

Zi

Spring projects: DIY door decor

2014-05-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Now that it's finally warmer I've been able to clean up the yard and pull out the dead plants. Last weekend we planted some flowers out front. Amazing how color can lift one's mood. I've been searching for a nice spring/summer wreath for our front door but had no luck finding one that didn't look so "fake". And the ones I've seen cost at least $40+, if I'm about to spend that much it's got to look it. One day while browsing the web I found an interesting idea using a large umbrella and flowers. LIGHTBULB! I had this umbrella that my sister had given to me years ago from her college fashion show. I've always wanted to do something with it and this was perfect!

Here's my version...

Add tulips, berry sprigs and tie a ribbon to finish it off. A fast and simple project!
The best thing about this was I used things I already had. This jump started my motivation to begin some spring projects like painting the kids' bathroom, living room, and organizing our garage. Let's see how fast I can get those done... Have a great weekend!

Do you have any spring projects planned?
Eva

N's Skylander party

2014-04-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hope you all had a nice spring break and Easter! I'm finally getting around to sharing N's party with you. My 4 year old is crazy about Skylanders ever since the end of last year. (Remember how this was on our Favorite Things list.) So it was very fitting for him to want a Skylander party. Many people may not know too much about it or even knew these existed. Partly I think it's because its based off a video game. There are so many characters and parts to this that I would need to write a second post, anyways on to the party details.

DECORATIONS
We chose a blue and green color scheme. I cut out letters and the 8 elements (color circle with logo: air, life, undead, earth, fire, water, magic & tech) to make the birthday banner. Thank God for an x-acto knife. I found plates, balloons and these Skylander portal Easter eggs. I added some gold chocolate coins for the table. Made water bottle wrappers with a "water" element Skylander.

CAKE
This was a little more challenging to figure out. I bought some Megablok sets with Skylanders characters to use on the cake. I ended making a portal with a 6" cake pan and surrounded it with chocolate wafer rolls. Covered the top with silver sugar crystals. Piped the landscape and added the sheep and chompy figures. I made sheep cupcakes and placed them on green paper plates. I trimmed the edges to make it look more like grass.

FAVORS
I found these perfect Skylander bags and attached personalize tags. Filled it with snacks, skylander themed marker, stickers and puzzle.

GAMES
How many gold coins can Wrecking Ball collect?
Place a pile of gold coins and jewels on table. Each person got three chances to collect as many coins with a sticky hand/grabber. If they caught a jewel they got an extra turn!

Help Trigger Happy defeat Kaos.
I attached an image of Kaos on plastic cups and found a ball gun at the dollar store. I loved how the kids went closer and closer with each shot to get better aim.

I had one excited boy that day. He gave me two thumbs up!

This is what it's all about, a HAPPY birthday... check!
Don't you agree?
Eva

Easter egg experiments

2014-04-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Easter weekend is here and a mini Spring break for H will begin today. (Thanks to all those snow days we had.) As I was shopping for the kids' Easter basket goodies I came across this cool product. Not sure if you've seen these....Plastic Decorating Eggs.

It's ready to use and 100% recyclable. This way I won't feel bad "wasting" the real eggs, plus they look pretty real to me. Which is the REAL egg?

This year we'll be doing some experimenting... Kool-Aid (like Zi did last year with her kids here) vs. color tablets and hard boiled eggs vs. plastic eggs.

Check out our results.
As you can see the difference in the color saturation with the same dye.
(Plastic eggs on top and real eggs on bottom)

Here are the results that I thought was best for...
SATURATED COLORS: Color tablets with vinegar
PASTELS: Color tablets in water or plastic eggs
BRIGHT COLORS: Kool-Aid Cherry & Orange (egg 1 & 2, bottom left)
SMELL/SCENT: Kool-Aid or color tablets with lemon juice
REAL EGG: You can get more saturated colored eggs.
PLASTIC EGG: Great for kids to use since they can dye eggs to their hearts content, no food wasted and no cracked eggs. Plus you can save these for decorating next year or just recycle them.

We'll be decorating some with stickers and markers to add more fun, but also to keep the kids busy hehe.

How do you dye or decorate Easter eggs? Do you have an Easter Tradition?
Have a Happy & Blessed Easter!
Eva

DIY Frozen craft

2014-04-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

This little craft was a hit during H's birthday party. I did some prep work like painting the eyes, gluing on the screwhole button for Anna's bun and precutting the ribbons, tape, fabrics etc.
Hope you enjoy this Frozen craft!

WHAT YOU NEED:

Paint
Paint brushes

Doll pins/wooden pegs
screwhole button
Craft sticks
Craft glue

Ribbon

Embroidery floss
White rainbow loom bands

Glitter tape

Fabric & tulle
Sven printout (optional)

ELSA

We painted her hair in White pearl metallic paint and dress in Ocean Breeze gloss acrylic paint.

I braided embroidery floss to make Elsa's hair. I used a white rainbow loom band to attach Elsa's braid.

Cut tulle into a 5" circle for skirt. (remember to cut a small slit in the center)

Once the paint dries put on tulle skirt and wrap with the aqua glitter tape to create the bodice for dress. You may need some craft glue to help the tape stay on.

ANNA (Coronation outfit)

Glue screwhole button to create Anna's bun. We used green satin fabric for the dress. Cut the fabric into a 5" circle. I used pinking shears to prevent the fabric from fraying. Cut a small circle in center.

We painted her hair in Burnt Sienna gloss acrylic paint and lower half of peg in Apple Tart paint.

Once the paint dries put on satin skirt and wrap with the black glitter tape to create the bodice for dress. Again you may need some craft glue to help the tape stay on. Tie the green ribbon on Anna's bun.

KRISTOFF

We used bright yellow gloss acrylic for his hair paint. Dark grey for his jacket and boots. And black for his pants. Once the paint dries tie a maroon ribbon as his sash.
I printed out an image of sven and attached it onto 2 craft sticks so Kristoff could ride on Sven.

Since we have some extra pegs we should work on some more characters... maybe on a rainy day. We've been enjoying some outdoor play now that's it's finally to begin to feel more like spring!

Have a great weekend!

Who's your favorite character? Are you enjoying nice weather in your area?

Eva

H's Frozen Party

2014-03-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

Yay for March, do you know why I (Eva) love this month so much? I get to plan my kids' birthday parties! This year H wanted a Frozen party. I had plenty of inspiration from all this cold and snowy weather we had these last few months. We invited all her girlfriends from school this year.
Take a peek into our version of Frozen!

Decorations
My Christmas decorations came in very handy. We chose the blue and white color theme.
Found free Elsa & Anna papercrafts online.

Party favors
I designed personalize tags for the bags.

We made a bag of Olaf hugs, wrapped packs of Model Magic to build a snowman.

Filled a champagne flute with these pretty pearlized blue gum balls. And I found these perfect crowns at Joanns. It was so cute how all the girls wore them throughout the party.

Cake
Luckily I was able to find this Disney Frozen character gift set with Elsa, Anna and Olaf. I grabbed it as soon as I saw it since anything Frozen fly off the shelves.
I used white pearlized gum balls for snowballs and iced sugar cones to create snow covered trees.
This is by far my favorite cake I made.

Made some cupcake toppers, everyone wanted Elsa!

Activities
Frozen craft: Elsa, Anna & Kristoff
I came up with a simple design so it was easy enough for the kids to do it on their own but still have it recognizable. I'll post a more detailed post for this DIY Frozen craft next week.

"Marshmallow Attack" Game
I drew Marshmallow on cardboard and backed it up against a box and made the snowballs out of fleece. The kids had fun throwing snowballs... just like Anna. "It's not nice to throw people!" (Ok Frozen fans what part of the movie was this from?)

Another successful party, phew... now onto our next one! Have a great weekend!
Do you love Frozen too? What's your favorite song?
Eva

Happy Birthday N!

2014-03-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

N has been asking every day this month "Is it my birthday yet?" Well now I can finally say YES!!!

Wishing my lil charmer a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
We love you so much!

One of his signature poses

I cannot believe he is 4?! and starting Pre-K in September! My baby is not a baby anymore... sniff sniff. Today we are going out for a small birthday treat of his choice and celebrating this weekend with his friends so it's a busy week for me.

Can you guess what his birthday theme will be?
Eva

Happy Birthday H!

2014-03-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

Six years ago today I became a mom to a beautiful girl. I was just cradling you in my arms and meeting you for the first time and in a blink of an eye you are now in school and being more and more independent. What a joy and blessing to see your child(ren) grow up!

Today we brought in some treats to share with her classmates. H's teacher told me there are 14 March birthdays in that class alone. H wanted to bring something different since she's had enough cupcakes this month. Haha I don't blame her, I love cake but there comes a point when it becomes "too much".

Fruit on a lollipop stick

Happy happy 6th birthday to the sweetest girl I know!
We love you so much, XOXO Mommy.

A little peek into next week's post :)

What's your favorite thing about being a mom or dad?
Eva

Disney World Series Part 4: Recap

2014-03-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Read on CNN last Monday, just as we were starting our Disney series here at Bumble of Joy, that Disney World was raising their ticket prices again. In the comments section, there were some people that said that it just isn't worth going there since it is so expensive.

Well, what do I think?

I think they do an AMAZING job creating a magical experience for their visitors, especially young children! And most people will be buying multi-day passes when they visit which are much more affordable. Of course, I'm not saying that I would be bringing my kids there every year. But it is definitely a trip that is worth saving up for and letting the kids experience at least once in their life.

I still remember E3's face during our first parade there and she saw her favorite character, Minnie Mouse. She was just in awe and had a mega-watt smile on her face!

My husband, John, wondered if the kids were a little too young to go there. Would all that money be wasted, since they might not even remember the whole experience?

Personally, I think it was totally worth it. Little kids are less jaded and can fully experience the "magic" of the place. They are just so in awe of all the wonderful details and all the characters. And even though my 3 oldest knew that the characters were just people in costumes, it did not dampen the experience one bit. It actually made them a little less scary.

What sets Disney World apart from many other places? Their amazing customer service!

For example, when we met Mickey, E2 and E3 were actually a bit timid. And even though there was a long line of people waiting, Mickey actually took the time to try and get the girls to warm up to him and made sure we got a pretty good picture together. Even after the pictures were taken, he spent a bit more time trying to engage them so they would have a good experience.

And when we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean, I actually dropped my lens cap in the boat during the ride. I tried looking for it frantically at the end of the ride but it was stuck in this dark corner under the seats that it must of took at least 15 minutes to locate. Did we get rushed by the employees? Nope! The nice young lady working there was very patient and even offered me a flashlight to help with my search.

So I will leave you with some pictures from our trip and my final piece of advice--it is a place that I think every young child should get to experience at least once and try to go when they are young because it will truly be a magical time!

How H & E1 spent much of the trip.

What are your thoughts on Disney World? Share some of your experiences, we would love to hear from you!

Zi

Disney World Series Part 3D: Epcot Review

2014-03-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

On our last park day we spent half the day back at Animal Kingdom. While Zi's family headed back to revisit Hollywood Studios, we wanted to check out Epcot.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to really enjoy all of what Epcot has to offer. Plus it being the coldest night didn't help either and when I say cold we actually wore our heavy winter coats! So in this post we won't have "favorites" with the exception of this being my husband's favorite kingdom. But nonetheless here are a couple highlights. Our first stop was a ride that I knew H&N would enjoy.

The Seas with Nemo & Friends
This was the shortest and fastest line ever during our stay at Disney, we literally speed walk through to the end. But I'm sure the weather factor has a lot to do with this.
We sat in a clamobile and went on an undersea adventure with the cast from "Finding Nemo". The best thing about this ride is at the end they dropped you off inside a huge aquarium. The kids loved seeing the manatee, a live "Nemo & Dory", and scuba divers swimming with the fish. We spent a good hour or two there.

World Showcase
I must say Epcot at night is really beautiful with all the lights from each of the countries. With some imagination, atmosphere and landmarks you could begin to believe you were there. (Ex: the Eifel Tower in France) We stopped in Japan for dinner, nothing like a hot bowl of udon to warm you up!
I thought it was neat that all the employees are actually from the countries. You could see which city they lived in on their name tags. We even did a little shopping after dinner at Mitsukoshi. A very cool Japanese store with something for everyone.

China

Mexico

Canada

I wished I had more to share but this is definitely a kingdom where we want to go spend some more time and revisit. Next time we will be sure to stay and watch the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth Show.

Have you been to Epcot? What are your favorites?
Eva

Disney World Series Part 3C: Hollywood Studios Review

2014-03-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Our first stop was Toy Story Midway Mania. It was a long wait and unfortunately the fast passes were all gone. As you may be able to see in the photo the wait was 105 minutes, I think it increased as we stood in line. We gambled to see if the kids could wait it out... we were about two thirds into the line when N said "Mommy I need to go to the bathroom." (Note we did all go before we got in line) And soon all followed suit and we missed out on this ride. I must say the kids were very well behaved given the length of time we were waiting, even I was getting antsy.

While there are rides in this park, most were not suitable for our kids age group. (2-5 years)
However there were plenty of shows to keep them entertained.

Favorite shows

Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage

Yet another amazing stage performance and a must see! Great for all ages. In fact, this was one of the shows that Zi's kids requested to see a second time.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

We couldn't miss this one since Ariel is one of H's favorites. It was a short 15 minute show with highlights from the movie and some surprises in between. The only thing is I wished it was a little longer but still worthy to go watch.

Fantasmic!

If you plan on staying into the evening be sure to watch this show. This is when those glow sticks and snacks come in handy as we waited for it to begin. Amazing pyrotechnics and water projections throughout this 30 minute show. All the kids got so excited when they saw Mickey and the girls squealed in delight when they saw their favorite princesses. Just a warning to those who kids don't like loud noises, like my H. They might get startled and cover their ears at times but in the end they loved the show. N likes to call this the Mickey show.

What are you favorites in Hollywood Studios?
Eva & Zi

Disney World Series Part 3B: Animal Kingdom Review

2014-02-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

The fact that E1, E2, and E3 are all animal lovers, we knew that Animal Kingdom would be a big hit for them.

Favorite Rides & Places to Play:

Kilimanjaro Safaris

E1's favorite animal.

Seeing live animals is something all 3 older E kids enjoy so we knew that this ride would be a big hit for them. We spent 1 1/2 days at Animal Kingdom and each time this was the first ride we went to. The first day we waited for almost an hour, we got there around the early afternoon time . The second day only 10 minutes because it was early in the morning.

A good thing about this ride is you are allowed to have your stroller with you till almost the end, so if there is a long wait the kids would take a nap in the stroller. But you do get "set back" a bit when you go to park your stroller parking towards the end, not a huge deal though.

Now on to the actual ride itself. About 20 people are loaded onto a jeep fashioned to look like one you would sit on in Africa. Granted I've never been on an actual safari in Africa but this is how I imagined it would look like. Each jeep has a guide that tells you about each location and the animals you will see there. There are a few staged "dangers" along the way and it is a rather bumpy ride but you do get to see quite a few animals much to the kids delight. If possible, I would recommend getting seats on the last row of the jeep because you get the chance to turn around and take some pretty good pictures without any obstructions.

The Boneyard

A great area for the kids to stop and play. Granted you didn't come all this way to Disney to play in a playground but this is a nice break from waiting in the long lines. Just beware it might be hard to keep track of your kids since some of these slides can go fairly high unless you want to go on the slides too. I did witness a few parents go down them. But don't worry kids won't be able to run off since it is in an enclosed area and there's a Disney employee at the entrance and exit. H even asked to go here again on our second visit to Animal Kingdom.

Favorite Shows:

Festival Of The Lion King

A great interactive show that lets you be part of a wonderful festival for Simba and his friends. You will get to hear your favorite songs from the movie and enjoy some wonderful acrobatic performances.

The whole family will enjoy this show, even my hard to impress husband was pretty impressed with the flame twirler in the show. And the kids asked to watch the show again!

Finding Nemo - The Musical

One of the best shows I've seen! A 40 minute "condensed" version of the movie with spectacular singing and puppetry performances. It felt like we were watching a broadway production. The kids soaked up every minute of it. H&N were singing the tunes afterwards. Makes us want to watch the movie again.

It's Tough to be a Bug!
A 3D show where you get to experience what it's like to be a bug with characters from "A Bug's Life". While we waited inside a dimly lit ant hole, H&N wore their bug glasses. As N put them on he said "Ahh I can't see!" haha silly kid. There might be a scare factor to some young children but only for a moment. And if you don't like bugs then you might just jump out of your seat. But don't let this scare you away it's REALLY a fun show to check out. H&N were giggling and talking about what they liked as we headed out the doors.

What is your favorite Animal Kingdom show and ride?

Zi and Eva

Disney World Series Part 3A: Magic Kingdom Review

2014-02-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

The largest kingdom at Disney World has tons of great rides and shows, it is hard to pick just one favorite.

So, here are a few of our favorites.

Favorite Rides:

Dumbo

E1 with grandma

This is really a classic ride. Especially fun for preschoolers but really perfect for all ages. They have made some updates to this ride so it is actually "fun" to wait since there is a play area under the big top. But the wait can still get long so it would be a good idea to Fast Pass this if possible.

Didn't get a chance to get a good picture on the ride? They have a Dumbo set up right outside the ride that is a great photo op.

"It's a small world"

Another classic ride. This was one ride that I (Eva) remember when I was younger at Disneyland and now for my kids. They kept on saying "Look at this, look at that!" The lines may be long at times but moves fairly quickly since it loads large number of people on a boat. Just beware that song might be stuck in your head for the rest of the day, hehe.

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

Definitely a must for a fast pass if you want to get on this ride. A cute under the sea adventure with classic songs from the movie. This was H's favorite and wanted to go back again. And if you want to meet Ariel, she's right next door in "Ariel's Grotto"

Favorite Shows:

Enchanted Tales With Belle

We had no idea what exactly this was when we lined up for it but it turned out to be a rather fun experience. It is an interactive show that is a condensed telling of Beauty and the Beast story.

While you wait for the show to begin, you walk through Belle's father's cottage with nice props. There is a bit of a surprise at the beginning that I won't ruin for you. And then a few members of the audience get selected to be part of the show. E2 actually got selected to be Chip the first time we went. Yes, E2 and 3 enjoyed it so much we actually went to this twice.

It is also a great opportunity for the little ones to meet Belle and get pictures taken with her.

Mickey's PhilharMagic
A 3-D movie starring various Disney characters. The kids loved "grabbing" at flying objects and a few surprises in between. Don't want to say too much and spoil it. But it will definitely stimulate your senses and give smiles all around at the end of the show. There are times when the wait was only 10-15 minutes, so definitely keep this in mind. It's great, plus a fun experience!

Wishes Nighttime Spectacular

You can't go to Magic Kingdom and not stay for their fireworks show at least one time. And during the Christmas season they also have a light show that happens beforehand which is really amazing and hard to describe in words. Let's just say that it will most likely be the best fireworks show you see in your life! Also, try to get a spot around the front of Cinderella's castle so you can see Tinkerbell fly by at one point in the show.

There are so many great rides and shows at Magic Kingdom, please share yours!

Zi and Eva

Disney World Series Part 2: Navigating Tips

2014-02-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thought this post would be best done in Q and A format. Keep in mind that our group consisted of kids ranging from age 2 to 5.

Q: How many days should I spend per kingdom?
A: Magic Kingdom is the largest kingdom in terms of things to do for both little kids and adults alike, so you can definitely spend at least 2 to 3 days here.
Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot could all be a 1 day excursion. But if you have more days on your schedule, there is enough to do at these kingdoms that you could spend another half a day or another full day there.
Got even more time in your schedule? It is actually a good idea to take a break between your excursions to the kingdoms because you will be tired and it would be nice to have time to relax and recharge.

Q: How does Fast Pass work?
A: Few things to know about Fast Pass, a) the kiosks to get Fast Pass for any particular ride or show is never located where the ride/show is, b) you are only allowed to get 1 Fast Pass every 2 hours, c) totally worth it for super popular rides.
With these few things in mind, here are some strategies for using Fast Pass. Find out what ride your group really wants to go on that usually has the longest wait time. Send 1 person in your group along with everyone's tickets to get the Fast Pass for that ride. Everyone else in your group could line up for another ride at the same time to save on time. Have a plan as to what other ride you would like to Fast Pass, so when your 2 hour freeze is up, you could go get the next one.
Usually rides that only take a few riders at a time will most likely have a longer wait time, logically this makes sense right? Say for example, at Magic Kingdom the Peter Pan ride takes only about 3 riders per pirate ship and the It's A Small World ride takes over 20 people per boat, so obviously Peter Pan usually has a longer wait time.

Q: How much is parking?
A: Parking is $15 at all kingdoms. Once you pay for parking it is good for the whole day at all the kingdoms. Just remember to keep your stub.
*Parking tip: remember to snap a pic of the row and location sign to help you remember where you parked.

Q: Where did you buy your Disney World tickets?
A: Eva's family bought their tickets through her husband's workplace and Zi's family bought it through tickets2you.com. The prices were pretty comparable,both had buy 3 days get 2 days for free offers, with tickets2you.com being slightly cheaper by a few dollars per ticket.

E2 favorite princess-Snow White, signing her book.

Q: Where is the best place to meet characters?
A: Each kingdom has designated spots where you can meet specific characters. The more popular characters will most likely have the longest lines. So if there is a specific character your child absolutely HAS to see, find out where you can see them and we would recommend going there first to beat the crowd. For example, there is a "Princess Fairytale Hall" where you can meet Snow White and Rapunzel at one side and Cinderella and Aurora on another. Rapunzel being the newest princess was more popular, and on our first day at Magic Kingdom had a 2 hour wait. So the 2nd day we went to Magic Kingdom, we decided that we would go there first and had a 30 minute wait instead which was much more tolerable with little children.

Q: How did you get to Florida?
A: Of course this is all dependent on where you are coming from. We were going down to Florida from Pennsylvania so both our families decided to drive. It is about a 15-16 hour drive from where we live. With at least 2 drivers it is totally possible to make it in one straight shot. But on the way down, Zi's family made a couple of stops in Raleigh, NC and Savannah, GA and Eva's family stopped in Savannah, GA. On the way back, both families did a straight shot back through the night. Driving through the night makes it a little easier in the sense that the kids slept for most of the trip. But can be difficult for the drivers since they have spent a full week at Disney =)

Questions we didn't answer here? Feel free to ask in comments.

Zi

Disney World Series Part 1: Packing List

2014-02-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Our families spent the last week of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 at the most magical place on earth--Disney World!

Since our return, it has been a whirlwind of getting the kids back into their school schedule, getting our lives back on track, unexpected new car purchases for both our families, and LOTS of snow days, that it has taken us almost 2 months to put together this series about our trip. Despite the long wait, we hope that this will be a helpful series for all who plan to make a trip to Disney World.

This is what you can look forward to in our Disney World Series:
Part 1: Packing List
Part 2: Navigating Tips
Part 3: Ride and Show Reviews by Kingdom
A) Magic Kingdom
B) Animal Kingdom
C) Hollywood Studios
D) Epcot
Part 4: Recap

A quick note before we start, the children in our group were aged 2 to 5, so many of our tips and observations will be most appropriate for this age range.

Now let's get to it, here is our recommended Packing List (obviously this is not every single thing you need to bring):

1) Stroller For Each Child--one of the best advice we received before going to Disney World was to make sure we had a stroller for each child. The days will be long and the kids will get tired and most likely nap at some point. So it very nice to have a place for them to do so. It is also nice to help carry things like food and water since those things can get heavy. That being said, make sure the stroller is relatively light weight, since there will be times where you need to pack it up and carry it, so you don't want to be lugging around a huge stroller.

2) Pack Lunch and Lots of Snacks--park tickets aside, the thing you will be spending the most money on is food at Disney World. So it is definitely recommended that you pack at least your lunch and lots of snacks. If you are able to, go ahead and pack dinner too since you will most likely be spending all day at the parks. And as parents of little children know, they will need snacks. So pack lots to keep the kids fueled throughout the day. There are also water fountains in the park, so go ahead and bring water bottles that you could refill while you are there.
There is a size restriction to the coolers that are allowed in the parks, so make sure you check Disney's site for those dimensions.

3) Make Your Own Autograph Books--one of the fun experiences about Disney is that children get to meet their favorite characters, get a picture taken with them, and have them sign their autograph books. But honestly, most lines are pretty long for these character meets, especially if they are popular, so you probably won't meet too many. So why spend over $10 for an autograph book when you could have a DIY version that is just as cute. Both Eva and I just bought inexpensive notebooks and decorated them for our kids.

E2/3's autograph book being signed by Marie

4) Ponchos/Raincoats--being in Florida, you can expect some rain while you are there, so it is always a good idea to pack ponchos are some lightweight rain gear for everyone in your group. Great place to look for these are Walmart or Target. Didn't get to pick some up before your trip? No worries! There is a Walmart and Target close to the park that you could easily pick some up. And honestly, the kid size ponchos at the park are not too expensive, they are about $8 which is what you would pay for a decent poncho elsewhere.
Going along with the ponchos, it is a good idea to have a couple of large trash bags or umbrellas. These could be used to cover your strollers while they are parked. And yes, you will be parking your strollers quite a bit.

Zi with Mickey and wearing one of the extra kid ponchos =)

5) Disney Merchandise--no matter how hard you try to avoid it, kids will want to buy something from the many many stores at the park. If your child has a character or princess that they are really fond of then it is a good idea to purchase some merchandise ahead of time from Walmart, Target or maybe even a consignment sale. It will most likely be cheaper than getting it at the parks.
Based on personal observation, the items that are seriously over priced at the park are the clothing (t-shirts, hoodies), dress up clothing (especially the princess dresses), and large soft toys.

6) Backpack and/or Messenger Bag--with kids to keep track of and all the things you need to pack, it is a good idea to have a bag that can carry many items and keep your hands free. Both of our families had at least 1 backpack. Zi also had a messenger bag with multiple compartments which made it easier to keep track of items, like park tickets, photo passes, pens, autograph books, and hand sanitizer.

7) Glow sticks--one of the things that really catches children's attention are all the glowing toys that Disney pushes once the sun goes down. So the best way to combat your child's urge to throw a tantrum because they just got to have one is to bring some of your own glow sticks. They are much more affordable from a dollar store or places like Five Below.

Got something to add to our list? Please feel free to share in comments!

Zi

Playdates

2014-02-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Now that H is in Kindergarten her circle of friends is growing. The girls in her class are all best friends and such a close knit group. Us kindergarten moms LOVE this fact and hope it can continue on throughout their school years. So with that H's social calendar is filling up... from birthday parties to playdates after school. It wasn't too long ago when playdates meant time for mommies to get together, have a "break" and enjoy talking to another adult.

Playdates past... my baby girl & her buddy

Now it's "Mommy can so and so come over? Can I go over so and so's house? OK! Bye Mommy!"

I can't get over the fact that now it's truly is a playdate for H. It's actually a few hours "away" from Mommy. My little bird is testing her wings. It truly hit me when H went over her friend's house to play, without me?! what?! sniff sniff. Time really flies, my baby girl is a big girl now... in a blink of an eye. Granted there are still times when I'm good friends with the mom and we hang out as the kids play. So everyone gets to socialize and have fun haha!

At the last birthday party a bunch of us parents were discussing how at 1st grade is usually when parents just drop off the kid at the party and leave.
Do you remember how old when that happened for you?
What do you love most about playdates?

Eva

A Valentine for you!

2014-02-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

We have been busy working on Valentine's for H's class. Last year we made our Heart Hand Warmers. These are available in our HONEYCOMB STORE.

This year H wanted to give heart lollipops. So I created a new design and attached the lollipop by cutting two slits on the card.

Did you get your Valentine cards yet? If not, we are sharing free BOJ's valentines HERE!
Have a Pinterest board? Please pin it and share with your friends.

Are you making Valentine's this year?
Would you rather have chocolates or candy hearts?

Eva

Buzz by our honeycomb store for some fun Valentine's gifts!

2014-02-04T11:03:00.001-05:00

Great for kids, the teacher, babysitter, grandma or anyone you love!
Need something red to wear for Valentine's? How about our Heart-Felt heart clip or pin.

Pack a surprise in your kid's lunch on Valentine's day with our lunch buddies sets.

Looks like we still have 6 more weeks of winter!

Here's something to keep you warm, our Heart Hand Warmers.

Thanks for buzzing by!
Eva & Zi

Valentines for the teacher

2014-02-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Too cold outside or more snow on the way? No problem!
Here's something to keep the kids busy and have a Valentines ready for their teacher(s).

I don't know about your kids but H LOVES her teacher! She misses her over a break or a long weekend. H even said the other day "How about we invite Mrs. B to my birthday party?" Now how many kids say that?

So what better way to say how much we love her by making her a Valentine!

You can too by clicking HERE.

Will you be giving your child's teacher something for Valentine's?

If you're a teacher, what's the best Valentine you ever got?

Eva

A fun snack project

2014-01-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been awhile since our last post, I don't know where January went but it was crazy for us.
H was the "Star of the Week" in school. She has been counting down since the beginning of the school year, haha! She's the line leader and in charge of various important tasks throughout the day. It also means she gets to bring a "special snack" to share on Friday with the Letter of the week... N!

Took some brainstorming but I was able to come up with something fun for H & I to create.
The graphic designer in me couldn't just throw the snacks in a ziploc bag. (Not that there's anything wrong with that) I just had to add a lil fun for the K-kids! Ok maybe more for me haha.
I bought some brown lunch bags and created this N tag.

And made these Ninja wrappers for our mini water bottles.

H had so much fun helping me glue and put these packs together. I hope the kids will enjoy the snacks!

Can you think of any other "N" snacks? What fun snacks have you made?
Making any for Super Bowl Sunday?
Have a great weekend!
Eva