Kids

6 Ways We’re Keeping Sane During Lockdown

April 11, 2020 by playworkrepeat Leave a Comment

Remember when I said I was going to be making the most of this lockdown? How adorable was I?! This is about SURVIVAL.

We’ve been in self-isolation for almost a month now. There have been the expected highs and lows, times when I’ve felt totally in control and times where I’ve felt completely out of control. We’ve hit abandoned trails in the nearby woods to break free and I’ve hit our dining room table in frustration and nearly broke my hand. All things being equal, we’re just trying to maintain sanity at this point. Here are the things keeping us sane with two high stress/demanding jobs (and an equally demanding 6 year old) during our shelter-in-place days.

Going for walks. Admittedly, we did this more in the first two weeks than the last two, but I can’t tell you how vital this has been for our mental health. Yes, sometimes we bring the iPad so wee man can use Pokemon Go around the neighborhood, but I can’t tell you what a relief it is to just move your legs and get some fresh air. Even on a conference call this week, I did laps back and forth in my driveway. My neighbors probably think I’m nuts, but I swear I could think more clearly when outside of the “war room” that used to be our dining room.

Exercising. This one is more my husband than myself, but he has found sanity in using the Peloton every morning where as I’m a once/twice a week kind of gal. I’ve been more dedicated to wee man’s phys ed lessons during this whole homeschooling process. When I can keep up, I get an Oreo. Win-win. Plus, see “Going for walks” above — totally counting that as exercise.

Turning everything into a lesson, because I suck at homeschooling. There is a reason I didn’t become a teacher…I HATE teaching. Just. Can’t. Do. It. Since he’s in Kindergarten, there is no virtual learning — it’s a hot mess of 14 worksheets a day with ME as a teacher while juggling 14 hours of work some days. So when we play with the Nerf guns in the backyard to see who can make it closer to the shed, and go looking for the darts, I turn that into an addition and subtraction lesson. Or some of the science experiment-related Kiwi Crates we’ve been hoarding (read: he’s had no interest and they were a gift), breaking those bad boys out like crazy — and he LOVES them. Or again, walking through the woods and talking about why the leaves fall, how the seasons change or how differently-sized bodies of water are called different things – or using an Aerogarden to talk about photosynthesis. Learning how to make change playing Monopoly or even reading the subtitles on Pokemon Shield! He’s engaged and he’s learning…period.

Everything is new again – revisiting old toys or ones never played with. Much like the Kiwi Crates, we are rediscovering all kinds of toys that haven’t been played with in a while or, in some cases, never. The Smart Pixelator? Suddenly obsessed, and supplementing the art component of school he misses so much. A noise maker that recreates sounds that only small boys (and probably grown up ones) would appreciate, which he sneaks into a room (usually while one of us is on a conference call) and sets off. Hard to be mad when his diabolical genius is shining so brightly there.

Facetime/Zoom/Social Media…for everyone. My parents. My in laws. My girlfriends from college. Wee man and his little girlfriend from school having a virtual lunch. A virtual happy hour with colleagues. While I loathe Facebook, it has been an amazing place for my son’s school’s parents to commiserate and joke about identifying odd objects that should either start or end with the letter m. We can still be social despite the social distance.

Making my home my sanctuary. Life was so busy before the pandemic, that my home was more of a place to drop my things and think about on the weekend (if I had the time). I bought a fire pit and a s’mores kit. Why did I not do these things earlier?! We broke out cornhole and set up a badminton/volleyball net. We’re going on treasure hunts around the yard, searching for clues that may lead us to gold (or Robux, which has a value higher than gold in this house). No closets have been cleaned or organized as a result of this pandemic, but we’re having a blast outside!

Honorable mentions? Alcohol and a sense of humor. I’m thankful for both, as was my hurt hand.

Tuesday Tidbits {02.04.20}

February 4, 2020 by playworkrepeat Leave a Comment

See :: Anne with an “E”. A fan of the books and the 1980’s movies, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this retelling. It’s darker, for sure…diving deep into Anne’s abusive childhood with flashbacks and sending Gilbert on adventures most adults wouldn’t brave…but two seasons in, I’m addicted. Devastated there is only one more season to go, which won’t nearly cover the romance between Anne and Gilbert. I’m in the “depths of despair” over this.

Do :: Update your LinkedIn profile. If you haven’t updated the content of your profile in some time, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Your skill sets may have expanded, you may have spoken on an emerging topic or you may just not look like that headshot you had taken straight out of college anymore. The new year is a great time to revisit how to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

Read :: The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook: 60+ Simple, Tasty Recipes for Growing Super Heroes. My son is an INSANELY picky eater. Seriously, thank goodness for breakfast foods, chicken nuggets, yogurt and vitamins, because it has been the only thing keeping him alive for years now. He originally found this book at the library and loved it so much that we purchased it from Amazon. He actually wants to make — AND TRY — food from this book. Even if it’s only a taste, we’re trending in the right direction. So far, he loves the Superman smoothie — which is the first bit of spinach to hit his body in about five years.

Learn :: All of the travel hacks for our upcoming cruise vacation. Facebook groups, forums, Pinterest — I’m am hitting them all for the best ideas as to what we should bring with us on our upcoming cruise. While the hubs and I were avid cruisers BC (before child), this is our first time back on the high seas with our wee man in tow. And we’re taking him on a cruise, where literally all there is to do is eat. Here’s hoping that superhero cookbook works miracles.

Disney World Adventure – Day Three (Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom)

June 22, 2019 by playworkrepeat Leave a Comment

Recaps of Days 1 and 2 here.

Day Three. Midway through the vacation, pouring rain…and, honestly, the best.

Following the Safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

We got up early to catch the first(ish?) bus to Animal Kingdom from our hotel. We dressed in layers and with rain coats, and didn’t let the weather hold us back. I was SO GLAD. Animal Kingdom was about as empty as Disney parks get. Wednesday morning with bad weather = Disney heaven.

One downside – we did not do Avatar Flight of Passage. I couldn’t get a FastPass for it and was not waiting on line for two hours in the rain with a morning full of FastPasses and empty lines. Instead, we did so much else.

Animal Kingdom Rides
~ Dinosaur – I’ve always loved this ride. Wee man was a little nervous, but later confessed as to how much he loved it.
~ Expedition Everest – first LEGIT roller coaster for wee man; he was a little shaky after, but claimed he loved it. This was our last FP of the day.
~ Kilimanjaro Safaris – the best views of the animals I have ever seen, since it had stopped raining for a brief period during our scheduled time and the animals began emerging from their shelters. Absolutely beautiful – worth the FP.
~ Na’vi River Journey – another Avatar ride, which we had a FP for. Absolutely stunning ride.
~ Touring – what I love about Animal Kingdom that isn’t exactly an attraction is the opportunity to walk around, see all of the beautiful animals, enjoy Pandora, partake in the carnival atmosphere of Dinoland and…of course…hang with the characters (we saw Scrooge McDuck!).

There were also many impromptu shows with incredible music, and we even ran into Kevin from “Up!”.

We grabbed lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue (delicious!) and some ice cream before heading back to our hotel for some R&R and, I’m sure you guessed it…pool time!

After freshening up, we grabbed an evening boat ride over to Magic Kingdom to catch dinner and some more rides.

I made a last minute reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern, around 8:15 pm. The wait was about 15 minutes — not terrible by Disney standards. So let me say that when I booked this, I thought buffet meant an actual buffet — not family-style set menu. I wish I had known that going into it. The food was actually really, really good and authentically American. Pot roast, roast turkey, pork roast, potatoes, vegetables, gravy…it’s endless and pretty darn tasty. Only problem was that wee man is anti-food, and refused to eat anything offered except a dinner roll. Add to that, the Wishes fireworks display. Full day of Disney + Hunger + Fireworks = Epic Meltdown.

Apart from a disastrous dinner experience (through no fault of the restaurant – I blame myself for not researching better!), we were able to hit some more rides that we missed the day before. We were even able to take advantage of the park’s Extra Magic Hours, where we were able to keep going on rides after the park closed to the general public because we were staying at a Disney hotel.

Magic Kingdom Rides (Round 2 – No FPs)
~ Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – always a crowd-pleaser roller coaster, plus it was pretty chilly that night and it was nice that part of the wait was indoors.
~ The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – there was no line for this, otherwise we might have passed. Fantastic for younger kids, though.
~ Peter Pan’s Flight – I was tempted to FP this, since I heard such wonderful things. Thanks to all the hype, I had built it up in my head a bit and was a little let down. We went on this ride during Extra Magic Hours, so the line was considerably shorter than at any other point of the day. Wee man fell asleep on the ride…that’s when we decided to call it a night.
~ Pirates of the Caribbean – a boat tour through Jack Sparrow’s pirate tale. No line at night and tons of fun!
~ Swiss Family Treehouse – my mother would like this attraction (not a ride!), my son was bored to tears.

There is something so special about Disney parks at night — it really does feel magical.

Disney World Adventure – Day Two (Magic Kingdom/Epcot)

March 16, 2019 by playworkrepeat 1 Comment

Day One…epic success. We woke up the next morning excited and energized for Magic Kingdom.

Fast Passes were ready to go (Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train), we caught the first boat over to Magic Kingdom and then something happen…NO ENTHUSIASM FROM THE WEE MAN! I don’t know if I was expecting glitter to explode from his head when he saw Cinderella’s Castle for the first time, and eventually we did get a little reaction from him, which we managed to get on video. I’ll spare you the two videos taken before it where I was given dirty looks.

Magic Kingdom Rides
~ Astro Orbiter – high flying, no lines early AM, probably really cool at night
~ Barnstormer – great coaster for small kids, it’s also where I lost (and found) my Magic Band
~ Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – this was adorable, a virtual shooting game and mini coaster
~ Haunted Mansion – the line was a little long for this one, but it moves quickly; great ride and nice way to beat the heat for a bit
~ Mad Tea Party – goes down in history as wee man’s first Disney ride!
~ Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – quite possibly my favorite ride in MK and worth the FP since standby hours were 2-3 hours when we were there
~ Space Mountain – the last of our FPs for the day, and by this point wee man was tired, hungry and cranky, which resulted in the pouting image below after we wouldn’t let him switch seats after the ride started (showing this one at his wedding!!!)
~ Under the Sea – there was no line for this ride, which is why we decided to try it; it was adorable, but wee man didn’t care for it one way or another – would not have waited in a line for it

He will, however, always wait in line for a popsicle.

We grabbed lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, and made sure to get a Mickey-shaped ice cream bar while checking out The Muppets Present Great Moments in American History!

Then back on the boat to our hotel we went…and, of course, back to the pool!

After some swimming, rest (once it starting POURING) and showers of our own, we hopped on a bus and headed to Epcot once the rain stopped. Honestly, given the little guy’s aversion to food, we contemplated skipping this park altogether. Since we had the park hopper pass, why not give it a shot, right?

I’m glad we went…we had a great time. For rides, we only went on Mission: SPACE and Spaceship Earth. There were no lines for either, so we were in and out pretty quickly. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone on Soarin’, but the line was sooo long.

We were all on last legs, so we walked around the World Showcase (AMAZING!) pretty quickly, had dinner in Mexico at La Cantina de San Angel and watched IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth much to the dismay of my child (he’s terrified of fireworks). Illuminations was beautiful — worth watching the show, if you can.

Grabbing the bus back to the hotel was quick and easy, as we prepared for Day 3 of our Disney World Adventure in Animal Kingdom and a second pass at Magic Kingdom.

We went to Disney World!

March 10, 2019 by playworkrepeat 1 Comment

With a five year old. And survived. Those who bring multiple children to the Most Magical Place on Earth, I salute you.

Looking back now, I get all fangirl about the vacation, as in, “OMG! BEST VACATION EVER! WE NEED TO DO THIS EVERY YEAR!” Clearly I’m forgetting the 10 thousand times wee man (all 46″ of him) asked to be picked up/carried/held because he didn’t feel like walking/standing/waiting. Or was put out when we didn’t have a Fast Pass (bless you, FP!) for a ride. Or saying that he likes being cold and doesn’t want to layer clothing, then complains he is too cold and we have to spend $100 on a sweatshirt. The list goes on, but I won’t bore you with that here…a little pain is all part of the Disney experience.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for four nights (Monday – Friday), which we picked based on the pool and its proximity to Magic Kingdom. LOOOOOOVED taking the boat to MK, but just an FYI that you will need to take a bus to every other park unless you go to MK first and take the monorail. The pool was so good that wee man never wanted to leave (including to go to the rides!), and the staff was just purely incredible. We chose a balcony room that faced the pool — no regrets! We also booked using the Gift of Magic offer, which is good through the end of April 2019.

View of Wilderness Lodge pool from our balcony.

Monday (Day One)
We flew down to Orlando from Newark airport free of charge courtesy of the miles I had been saving up with the airline’s credit card. It was wee man’s first plane ride, and he exceeded all expectations. I could not have been more proud of him with all the loud noises (which he hates) and being forced to listen to direction (which he also hates). I mean, he’s five.

Anyway…I can’t recommend enough using the Magical Express if you are staying at a WDW Resort. First, it’s free. Second, it’s glorious — place the yellow luggage tags on your checked bags PRIOR to checking your luggage at the airport. While you go straight from the plane to the Magical Express bus in Orlando, WDW finds your luggage at the airport and brings it directly to your room in 3-5 hours. Pack anything you absolutely need – including bathing suits for those amazing pools – in your carry on. WDW does the rest. (More on Magical Express going home to come). Having dowloaded the Disney app and checked into our hotel online prior to our arrival, I received a text while still on the bus that our room was ready — which meant we could bypass lobby check-in and use our magic bands to access our room. Could not be easier.

On Magic Express heading to Wilderness Lodge

Is anything better than the start of your vacation once you’re FINALLY at your destination? Ugh, it’s glorious. This first (late) lunch, at our hotel’s Geyser Bar & Grill, was al fresco and amazing. After we ate, we changed into swim clothes (which we packed in our carry on) and hit the pool! The temperature of the pool (and the weather) was perfection, and there was ample seating for guests. The pool offers a slide for bigger kids, and a separate mini-water park for smaller children. The towels are free and in ample supply. You could also purchase adult beverages at Geyser and bring them to the pool. Wins all around.

We had purchased Park Hopper passes for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but had nothing scheduled for Monday night. To be honest, (a) I wasn’t sure we would be up for it depending on how the day went with travel and (b) I just really wanted to go with the flow for once. We left the pool for our room just in time for our luggage to be delivered. After showers and changing, we set out for the bus to Disney Springs to find some fun and food.

Disney Springs was HOPPING…on a Monday! I can’t imagine what weekends look like there. We wandered around, took advantage of some photos opps, bought wee man way too many toys (see “first day of vacation” euphoria above) and just walked around outside on a beautiful evening. In February, we were hitting the near-end of winter New Jersey, so just being able to walk around outside was exhilarating.

We settled on dinner at Bongos Cuban Cafe, which was delicious. I made the last minute reservation using the Disney app while we were walking around Disney Springs. Unlike most Disney veterans, or at least those who had done their research, we did NOT book ahead for amazing Disney dining experiences. Wee man is still very much not a fan of eating, let alone trying new foods, so why waste the time, money and effort when it literally pains him to sit at a meal table. For us, this method worked out fine, but I would recommend booking dining reservations well in advance if you’re looking for a special experience.

After dinner, we walked back to the bus and eventually made our way to the hotel. Upon arrival, we realized that there is an electrical water pageant at Wilderness Lodge every night starting at 9:30 pm. Wee man was out of gas at that point and had no interest watching the pageant, so we went back to our room where we could luckily still see the pageant from our balcony. Some of us didn’t make it through the show.

Up next, Tuesday (Day Two) of our Disney World adventure, including Magic Kingdom and Epcot!

Labor Day Sales Roundup

September 1, 2018 by playworkrepeat Leave a Comment

What would Labor Day Weekend be without all the great sales?! I love seeing all the deals, but it’s hard to keep track of all of the great bargains out there. Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite online retailers and the sales they are currently running, which I’ll keep updating throughout the weekend. Happy shopping!

Labor Day Sales

Beauty Bioscience :: Love my GloPRO, and now you can have it too for 20% off! Since I already have the product and a couple of the heads, I may take advantage of this offer for some creams and this stunning rose quartz attachment. CODE: LDW20

Boden :: Offering 20% for adults and 25% for wee ones. Love this brand for myself and my son. CODE: G9C2

Dermstore :: Up to 20% off on participating brands, which they are kind enough to list here. Nothing worse than finding out the product you threw in your cart with your fingers crossed for discount is not participating, so I really appreciate this list and — to be quite honest — will shop directly from it. Skincare is an expensive hobby! The email I received also mentions receiving a Allies of Skin 1A All-Day Pollution Air Mask with a purchase of $200 or more. CODE: LABORDAY

Joss & Main :: Up to 80% on a lot of great stuff and free shipping on “everything” (I’m sure exclusions apply, but still incentivizing). They are also having flash deals on Monday. Color me intrigued. Very interested in the area rug sale, which goes up to a 65% discount.

Macy’s :: They are having huge sales for dang near everything, but I usually use these sales to buy big ticket furniture for the house. During their last sale on July 4th, I scored a fantastic sectional at an amazing price. Furniture sales looking pretty great this time around, too – up to 65% off!

Nordstrom :: Offering up 40% on so many great items!

Paula’s Choice :: This skincare line is offering 20% off with certain exclusions and free shipping on orders of $50+.

Sephora :: It’s still going on! I listed my recommendation and wish list in this post, and there’s still time to save! Rouge members receive 20% off (CODE: YESROUGE), VIB members receive 15% off (CODE: YESVIB) and Insider members receive 10% off (CODE: YESINSIDER). Codes are good once for online shopping (unlimited at the store), so make sure you’ve got everything you want in there! It’s free to sign up and the sale lasts until 9/3.

Great Wolf Lodge – First Family Vacation (Plus Tips & Tricks!)

July 5, 2018 by playworkrepeat Leave a Comment

Okay, this admission is a bit embarrassing — we have never taken wee man on a solo vacation before. We are extremely fortunate in that my family has a beach house we use, and often we’ve been down there when my parents and/or brother’s family were also visiting — zone coverage and a “meh, let’s go home” get out of jail free card at our leisure. Thus, our recent trip to Great Wolf Lodge was our first foray into an actual vacation away from a home we knew, our first time in a hotel with wee man and one of the few times we have been away without reinforcements.

But away we went.

Family Vacation at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos

We arrived at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos around 1 pm. I had read online that even if your room isn’t ready upon check-in, you can still use the water park starting at that time — just keep your luggage in the car and enjoy all the fun! We packed a separate bag with our swimsuits (just in case), and dressed wee man in his swim clothes. Luckily, our room — the Wolf Den Suite — was ready to go, so we dropped off our bags, did a quick change and headed straight for the pool. (Tip: Leave your towels in your room and at home — there plenty in the water park for use. Same with life jackets for little ones who can’t swim perfectly yet (like wee man). ALSO, you have wristbands that act as a credit card and door key, so you will rarely need to bring your wallet with you.)

The Water Park

The water park at Great Wolf Lodge is fantastic. First, it’s WARM in there, and the water is not that cold in comparison. For the senses, it was a rather pleasant experience. Wee man is tall for his age — 44″ without shoes — so he was able to go on all the slides except The Double Barrel Drop, Hydro Plunge and River Canyon Run. Next year! He especially loved some of the tallest slides and the wave pool.

Our stay at Great Wolf Lodge began on Thursday and ended on Saturday, and we rented a cabana for the full day Friday. The cabana was great — fresh fruit and cookies, waiter service, television (not needed, but nice while eating), lots of beverages included and a nice way to spend down time. I really don’t think you need a cabana, as you could leave your belongings in the room, put them in a locker or place them at a table with little worry of disturbance, but we never get away and it was a nice treat. In fact, I wish we would have rented one on Saturday — the day we left — so we didn’t have to jam everything into a locker! (Tip: you can use the water park for the entire day of your departure — just toss your luggage in the car and change before you head home!)

Cabana at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos

The Food

I can’t believe I’m saying this about a water park. THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD! We ordered burgers, pasta, healthy sandwiches, dessert, etc. and it was all very good. The only thing we pre-paid for was the breakfast buffet, as it was the only meal we knew wee man might actually eat (the struggle to get this child to eat is REAL). Even that was fantastic. Can’t say enough about the food there. You can even order a full pizza and take it back to your room and just relax with your family. And I mentioned dessert, right?!

Eating at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos

There is a space in the room with a refrigerator, so we brought lots of bottled water, apple juice and snacks (read: what he considers meals) for wee man. We also brought some wine since we figured we would need it! Some people brought entire coolers filled with food and drinks. There are also a number of fast casual restaurants and diners just minutes away (driving) from the resort, which is probably a lot more affordable if you’re on a tight budget. On Friday night, we went to visit my 90 year old grandfather for dinner, who lives about 30 minutes away from the resort.

Other Resort Activities

We took advantage of a few other activities they have at the resort — bowling, mini golf, 4D movie rides and so many arcade games. We bowled once, played mini golf three times and saw all three 4D movie ride offerings (he was a little scared of the dinosaur film…whoops).

The bowling was blacklight, with bumpers, shorter lanes and modified bowling balls — since it was empty when we played, we were able to play multiple times. I can credit Great Wolf Lodge with my son’s new obsession with mini golf. He loved it so much, I’m actually thinking about getting him some golf lessons (yes, I know he’s four). We also spent hours in the arcade — the size of which was quite manageable and the offerings more interactive than a straight up screen. We walked away with some decent prizes after all our tickets, which wee man didn’t care about so I just picked them for him.

Arcade at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos

There were a number of free events, as well. Morning yoga, nature walks, nighttime shows and a bedtime story. There was also a MagiQuest adventure you can go on, but wee man was still a bit too young for this.

The Vibe

I wanted to put this section in to talk about how wonderful the staff and fellow guests were at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos. I don’t think we met a single staff member who didn’t make you feel like this was the best day of their lives. Guests were in such an incredible mood from all the fun and/or sympathized with you when your child was having “a moment” in a public space. Maybe it was just on the days that we went, but dang…this was full on Disney vibes.

The Accommodations

I saved this one for last because honestly everything was WONDERFUL on our trip, except for the room itself. We were on the first floor (I loathe patios) and the room was so terribly outdated. The bathroom was so small you had to squeeze yourself into it before you closed the door, the televisions and offerings were antiquated, the decor was dated…and did I mention how small the bathroom was? And we had a suite! Maybe I’m being overly particular here, but it was my least favorite part of the trip. Thankfully, we were not in the room all that much, and maybe that is the point, but the rooms are pretty expensive (granted, water park admission is included) and the offering was mediocre at best.

OVERALL…

We loved it. Wee man loved it. If I’m being honest, there were some breakdowns — like the no sleep we got on the first night because we told him he had to sleep on the bottom bunk and he kept waking up crying about it. The water park is great. The people are great. The food is (still surprisingly!) great. The experience was, overall, great. If you’re on the fence like I was about Great Wolf Lodge, don’t hesitate. Take advantage of one of their many specials to save on cost (I think we received 40% off by booking 60 days in advance) and go have fun with your kids. You’ll love it, and so will they.

Until next time, play on.

Staying at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos