Thursday, August 16, 2012

Flipper (Product Review)



Long ago when Gage was about 18 months old, we redid 'his' bathroom to something more kid friendly.  Although I never posted pictures on my blog, Gage wanted a dinosaur bathroom.  After searching every possible place, as I like to do, we finally settled on the set we would get him.  Then, it was my job, as I do every time I buy something new like this, to find the cheapest place we could get the whole set.  I wanted it all...the curtain, the rug, the tissue box holder, the shower hooks, etc.  I, of course, also wanted a toothbrush holder, but the one that came with the set was essentially just a cup that looked like a Triceratops.  I was kinda disappointed so I decided to look elsewhere.  I eventually just ended up Googling "dinosaur toothbrush holder" because I couldn't find anything else.  That's when I came up with the Flipper.  And how cute was this??  Plus, it matched the colors in the bathroom set!

Now, if you haven't seen these before, you may be wondering how this is a toothbrush holder.  That's why you gotta go check out their website to see how it works.  Basically it suctions on to the mirror or tile in your bathroom and the egg part hinges down the middle, you pop your toothbrush in and it closes right up on it, leaving your toothbrush handle hanging down, but your bristles FULLY protected from any airborne germs in the bathroom, how genius! This also comes in handy while traveling.  You know how they used to have those little caps to put on toothbrushes while traveling??  I, personally don't like my brush touching anything and have long lost 34 of those little travel caps, so I typically just use a Ziploc baggie.....however, for Gage's toothbrush, I just pop it off the mirror and throw it in his bag, again FULLY protected.  Pretty awesome, huh?  Flipper toothbrush holders meet all ADA and CDC guidelines and there are even some helpful tips on their website to keep your toothbrush as clean as possible.  I also like that if you have multiple toothbrushes that you can have multiple Flippers and none of the bristles will accidentally bump into each other.  I can just see it now, having a little family of dinosaurs suctioned to our bathroom mirror!

Dinosaurs aren't the only design Flipper offers.  Flipper has a whole line of animals ranging from cows, to elephants to tigers and three puppy designs.  Each one retails for $6.99 and can be purchased through their website or at limited retailers across the country.  They also have an NFL line ($8.99) for the sports lover and for the more traditional decorator, they also feature a blue or white 'bean' (2 for $3.99) as they call it, that has all the great features of the Flipper, but is a little more low key design wise.




Finally, something else that I'm particularly excited about, but have yet to try is their razor holders.  I don't know about you, but I think keeping my razor clean and dry is just about as difficult for me as keeping my toothbrush germless.  I always seem to have trouble with my razor sitting in my shower and rusting or getting busted up every time it falls.  Maybe it's because I buy cheap razors....however, I'm willing to give Flipper razor holders a try to see if it makes any difference.  They are available in three colors and have one big suction cup on the back to hold it to the side of the shower.  I can't tell by looking how the razor exactly fits inside, but I'll be sure to let you know once I get my hands on one!



Since yesterday was payday, I'll be heading over to Flipper to get my hands on a razor holder and if you or your kids are always battling with keeping your toothbrushes clean, you should head over, too and check out all the different designs! 


*Although Flipper did send me a complimentary toothbrush holder for review, all thoughts and opinions in the above post are my own.*


Don't forget to enter my Carmex giveaway!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Green

I'm doubling up today and entering the Green photo challenge over at the Paper Mama and posting a few cute shots we got at the park one day.



Ok, so a few words:  Happy Birthday to our good friend, Jeff today, plus 2 congratulations out to 2 new babies born in the last few weeks.  Our friends Summer and Matt welcomed their daughter, Ina on Luke's birthday and our friends Lawren and Misit welcomed their son, Grayson last Friday!  You're in for the ride of your lifetime!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Happy Birthday Ava and Katelynn!

Although I feel like there have been too many birthdays to even count lately I haven't done a birthday post in a while.  Today I want to wish a Happy 3rd Birthday to Ava over at More than a Mommy and a Happy 5th Birthday to Katelynn at The Kubeczka Family.  I have been reading both of these blogs for at least 2 years or more and enjoy keeping up with them. 

Jennifer, who is More Than a Mommy, has just sent her oldest off to Kindergarten and welcomed a new little baby boy 2 months ago.  She has her hands full with a new baby and enjoys documenting with pictures.  Ava, her middle child, is probably lost without her big sister but is enjoying playing with her new baby brother and her increased Mommy time.  Go give her a big birthday shout out and see the pics her Mom is sure to put up to celebrate!

Katelynn is celebrating A BIG ONE today and also is about to start Kindergarten.  Her Mom, like Jennifer, also takes awesome pictures and loves to share about their daily lives.  She often has good recipes, too.  She, too, is about to expand her family so head on over to wish Katelynn a Happy Birthday and you'll be sure to stick around to hear news about the new little one!

Please, please go enter my giveaway!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Dutch Wonderland

One of the goals that Luke and I have for our family is that we'll go on some little vacation/trip each and every year aside from our regular trips to the beach.  Even if it's just something small we want Gage and his soon to be brother to be able to experience something new every year.  Yes I know, these things cost money, but reasonably speaking, I hope we'll have the chance to at least take little trips.  The 1st year after Gage was born, our trip was to Austin, then last year we took Gage to Wilimington, which we really enjoyed and would love to visit again sometime.  This year we knew we didn't have much time since we'll need our leave at the end of the year so we considered taking Gage to Sesame Place or something of the like for just a few days and we wanted to make sure it was something special he could enjoy since this would be our last time to focus just on him.  I wasn't quite sure Sesame was age appropriate for Gage so I am sooo glad we found an alternative.  I really can't say enough about this place.  I feel like I'm about to do a promotion for them, but that's just how much fun we had.

I 1st heard about Dutch Wonderland from a friend and went on their website to check it out.  It looked cool enough and from the website you could actually see what rides Gage would be allowed on, etc.  I couldn't believe that there were over 20 rides he could ride, since he is so tiny and I was doubtful that at any other amusement park this would be the case.  Plus Dutch Wonderland was $35 a pop and Gage was STILL free....double bonus!  Sesame and Busch Gardens, etc. are all upwards of $50-$60 and I'm pretty sure that you have to pay for any kid 2 and up.  In any case, I started to do some more research and found plenty of  blogs, mommy sites, etc. that compared Sesame and DW.  Dutch Wonderland came out on top every time.  People commented about the cleanliness of the park, the small crowds, all the rides for young kids, etc. and every one of the comments was SPOT ON. 

First off we were taking our chances in going to an amusement park at the end of July at 32 weeks pregnant, especially with how hot it's been lately.  But we agreed to keep looking at the weather and if it was under 90 degrees we would make the trek.  Boy, are we glad we did!  Dutch Wonderland, located in Lancaster, PA was just a 3 hour drive from us and we planned to drive up  Th. night, have all day the next day at the park (hoping Fridays wouldn't have as long of lines), hit up the Strasburg Railroad the next day and come back Sat. evening.  We did just that and although the trip was delayed a bit by a rain storm and we didn't get Gage into bed until late Th. night we were up and ready to go on Friday morning long before DW opened.  Our plan was to get there right when it opened, play for as long as Gage could take it, come home and nap and go back.  We were excited to not see a massive crowd when we got there at 10am and we dove right in!  Gage had no fear (which is not usually the case with him) and we rotated from ride to ride to ride, anything and everything that he was allowed on.  There were plenty of rides he could ride by himself and some in which we had to ride with him, but on all of the rides, there was no line and Gage probably could've/would've rode them over and over again, had we let him.


1st ride was a boat ride, kind of eased us in
This ride cracked me up, if the kid couldn't reach the hand wheel or didn't have the strength to do it himself, you could push him along with  stick!  ha!



Gage wanted to have his picture taken with this princess.


This ride made Daddy sick.



Gage's favorite ride:  The Wonder Whip

The only 'roller coaster' Gage could ride


He's up there, you just can't see him


I wrote half of this post 10 days ago, so it's hard for me to continue my train of thought.  I think I'll just say it was a great trip to a great amusement park and we'll surely go again next summer. 

Gage and Mommy goofing off on the Strasburg Railroad

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Summer Carmex Review and Giveaway 2012!

Well, we just got back in town last night from our last vacay as parents of one, I had lots to blog about before I left, blogged about nothing when I was there, and now have got to get this review up so you guys can have a chance to win this really great gift set.  It's time for another Carmex giveaway!!

For the last couple of years I have been reviewing and giving away Carmex products. At first it was just a few chap sticks here and there, then last summer they gave away a really cool package with a beach/picnic blanket and this year, I was super excited to receive a beach/pool bag PLUS 6 different flavors of lip balm.  I had just commented earlier in the month that I needed a new beach bag and now here it was!  And I will say, it came in super handy on our vacay last week!



Not only did I get this awesome beach bag that was super roomy and had a magnetic closure, I also received 6 different moisturizing lip balms, or 'click sticks' as Carmex calls them, in all of the flavors they have to offer:  Original, Vanilla, Lime Twist, Strawberry, Cherry and their brand new Pomegranate!  All of the Carmex lip balms have SPF 15, which is a plus in my book, who can't use sunscreen on their lips?  They also all have a cooling sensation, regardless of their flavor.  All of the Carmex balms contain germ-killing menthol and phenol that help to speed up the healing process.  I think the Original flavor speaks for itself and is just a down right smooth feeling balm.  The Vanilla flavor is a little sweet tasting to me and I seem to smell the Lime more than I taste it.  The Strawberry and Cherry are nice, but my favorite was definitely the Pomegranate.  I really think that the flavor is a personal preference and no flavor is better than the next....kinda like ice cream!  In any case, they all have the same smooth, silky feeling and the ever important SPF.  I'm just glad now I have one for my desk, my purse, my bathroom, my car and everywhere in between!


One of my lucky readers can now win the package you see above including the Carmex beach/pool bag, and the 6 different flavors of Carmex ultra smooth lip balm!


All you have to do to enter to win is
1) Leave me a comment telling me which flavor you think would be your favorite.
2)  Follow me using GFC.
3)  Visit Shabby Apple (link on right sidebar) and let me know a product you'd like to have.
4)  Leave me a comment on another post and let me know where!
Don't forget to leave your email.

One entry per comment. 

Good luck!

The giveaway will end August 20th, 2012 at midnight EST.  I will notify the winner August 21st.
*Although Carmex did contact me and send me these products to review, the above thoughts and opinions are all my own!





Thursday, August 2, 2012

Time...

Well time has caught up with me again and it's already Thursday.  I was supposed to blog a ton this week about our awesome weekend trip, my new blog name, begin a giveaway post and advertise for my new affiliate.  But by tomorrow night, we'll be off again, this time to the beach and I probably won't have a reliable connection to keep in touch.  I will try to furiously type and organize my ideas so you guys won't be left in the dark;)

For now, I have to get the clothes washed up again, make my packing list and start packing....AGAIN.  We usually don't go to the beach 'til the week before I go back to school, but being that that's 4 weeks before the baby is due we decided that it might be in our best interest to go now, just in case something happens.  I mean, we couldn't possibly miss the beach!  And so far, it's supposed to be mid 80's every day with 2 days of rain, so I can definitley handle that.  Ok on to those more exciting posts, while trying to do laundry and pack before Gage gets up from his nap.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Go O's!


I couldn't ignore their recent hope!


 Also a big Happy 3rd Birthday to our good pal, Jake!

 
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