Mother’s Day is around the corner.  We feel it’s our mommy obligation to let you know about something you should be wishing for with enough time to hint to your significant other that this would make a great gift to your family.

Several of our Mommy Testers have toddlers and school age children. It’s a constant struggle to come up with new, interesting activities to keep your family active and entertained.  Even if you live in a city that has amazing amenities and attractions it’s pretty easy to fall into a rut of going to the same handful of places and watching them lose their splendor.

We have Mommy Testers across the country and even a couple of international mommies but as you may know we are based out of San Diego.  While perusing the shelves of one of our favorite local toy boutiques – Geppettos we came across ABC Photobooks and immediately fell in love.

Like most amazing ideas ABC Photo Books are based on a simple concept – recreate the alphabet through a variety of experiences and record it all in photos.

Mom inventor and San Diego native Michelle Mathis was trying to find a creative way to get her own children excited about learning the alphabet by associating the letters with places and experiences when she came up with her first ABC Photobook. Her hope is to give families a way to unplug, get out of the house and try some new things while adding an educational twist.

Her books all start with an idea list that gives you oodles of suggestions for each letter to get you going.  For example in the ABC’s of Summer under the letter Z it lists: zebra, zinnia, zip line and many more.  We hope we get to fulfill the zip line one this summer! Mathis also included an additional challenge of doing 1 charitable activity, 1 educational activity and 1 activity to learn a new skill.  We can’t wait to fulfill all of these!

After the idea list there are pages for every letter of the alphabet that have a pocket to slip a printed photo in and a coordinating page with a giant letter and a line to write the location, object or action that you used to fulfill that letter. 

So far we have completed our A page at the airport (smiling flight crew included!), our D page with a daddy date, our G page helping a neighbor plant their garden and our J page visiting the varieties of jelly fish at our local aquarium.

You get the idea.  These books are a wonderful way to build a book of memories over the course of a few weeks or months that you and your children will treasure for years to come while simultaneously ending the weekend question of what to do.   

ABC Photobooks also remind us as parents in this very digitized world to take the time to actually print our pictures and allow our kids to access them and review them as they please, unplugged….just like we did as kids.  

Right now the 2 books available are The ABC’s of Summer and The ABC’s of San Diego.  Don’t worry, there are plenty more on the way including The ABC’s of Food (bye-bye picky eater!) The ABC’s of National Parks and The ABC’s of The Zoo. 

At $15.95 retail we think they are a bargain for the hours of fun you will get out of them.  Especially since they are printed in the USA with soy based inks.

If you are a San Diego local you can purchase them at Geppettos, there are 8 spread around the county.    Otherwise you can find them on Michelle’s website here:  Purchase ABC Photobooks

In the first couple of years of our babies lives some of us flew a lot, some didn’t at all.  However, most of us did plenty of weekend road trips to visit friends and family, especially the grandparents.

Diaper bags work for a day trip, but unless you are that over the top organized type-A mom (and who is on 3 hours of sleep) they are not ideal for overnight or weekend stays.

The JJ Cole Diaper Caddy is fantastic because it iscompact, sturdy and has a designated place for everything to effectively organize enough supplies to get you through a long weekend. 

There is an included waterproof changing pad, a spot to hold a bunch of diapers in their upright and most compact position, a place for a full container of wipes and a pull out drawer that we used to hold a tube of diaper cream, a nail clipper, Boogie Wipes (which rock) , a thermometer  and some baby lotion.  Whenever we were making overnight or weekend trips we just loaded this up and popped it in the trunk. 

If you have an SUV or a car with an open trunk area then the JJ Cole Diaper Caddy makes the perfect permanent mobile changing station and trust us, you will want one of those for all of the moments where you will have just arrived or departed your destination only to find that your baby has an explosive diaper. 

When your child finally outgrows diapers the diaper caddy becomes a great art caddy.  We used it to put markers and crayons in the wipes spot, paper and stickers in the diaper section and safety scissors, glue and tape in the little drawer.  The JJ Cole Diaper Caddy is a piece of baby gear that will last well beyond the baby stage and we love that!

You can find the JJ Cole Diaper Caddy in 4 different colors – blue, pink, green and cocoa for about $30 right here:  JJ Cole Diaper Caddy

When you become a mother it’s amazing how the places you find yourself frequenting are so different from the ones you visited prior to giving birth.  The most noticeable change (aside from leaving the house less in general) is that you constantly find yourself in places with shopping carts.

Target, Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joes…at least for us it felt like most of the the time we were either pushing a stroller or a shopping cart.  Goodbye to the relaxing afternoons of browsing for cute shoes with no time frame to follow and  hello to schlepping giant packs of diapers and baby wipes and hunting for organic crackers.

It doesn’t take a news report to know how gross and germy your average shopping cart or restaurant high chair is these days, though there are plenty out there to scare you.  Plus you have probably cringed while watching someone’s child lick the shopping cart while waiting in line  and swore you would never let that happen to your own.

When one of our Mommy Testers received a Buggy Bagg as a baby shower gift it started a trend of giving them that has continued on.  There are a bunch of options out there when it comes to cart and high chair covers.  What makes the Buggy Bagg a little different is:

The Buggy Bagg is bulkier than some competing products but is currently the only cover that will fit on a Costco cart.  If you live in a very urban area this might not matter, but if you visit those warehouse stores with the huge shopping carts you are going to want to choose this brand.

The Buggy Bagg is very plush and has a detachable pillow that sits close to the handle of the shopping cart.  Why is this important?  Because at some point your child will doze off or throw a tantrum  mid-shop and do a face plant into it.  You will be so happy it was the pillow and not just a thin fabric covered steel bar at that very moment.

Buggy Bagg also comes with a nice large pocket to stash snacks, wipes, keys or whatever you want in it.  We were able to leave a diaper bag behind when running errands and just bring this.

Like some other brands, the Buggy Bagg has elastic loops to secure sippy cups or Snack Catchers(which are indispensable) and it also has straps to secure toys or stroller books.  The Buggy Bagg also has 2 safety straps so you can not only secure your child to the Buggy Bagg, but you can also secure the it to the cart or high chair so your wiggle worm stays put!

The Buggy Bagg comes in a bunch of different prints and sells for about $65.  You can find it right here: Buggy Bagg 

Have you ever heard of cooperative games?  When most parents start playing board games with their preschoolers they default to the classics from when they were kids.  We admit, several of us did the exact same thing.  We bought Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders and Hi-Ho Cherry O to start.  Amateur move! 

As we have learned (through tears) the best way to start your preschooler on board games is through cooperative games.  All of the players work together toward a common goal.  At the end of the game everyone will have contributed to the final outcome.  The focus is on taking turns and working together rather than having a winner and a loser….sounds pretty good, right?

Quite possibly the best company for cooperative board games is Peaceable Kingdom.  In the past we have played their Count Your Chickens game with our Kid Testers.  It was a huge hit and great for practicing their math skills.

More recently one of our Mommy Testers was lucky enough to win a copy of their newest game Feed the Woozle from a contest.  Unbeknownst to Peaceable Kingdom, they were putting their product in the hands of our Mommy Tester group.

When you open up Feed The Woozle you will find:

-1 very funny looking stand up Woozle (quite frankly, we are waiting for a plush version – he’s so cute)
-1 gigantic blue spoon
-1 die with numbers 1-3 on it
-24 silly snack tokens (think frog leg ice cream, toenail toast, and fried socks)
-12 yummy cards to keep count of the snacks that made it in the Woozle’s mouth
-1 spinner

The goal is to work together to get 12 silly snacks in the mouth of the Woozle before you run out of snacks. The Woozle does not believe in the 5 second rule and will not eat snacks that fall on the floor…picky little guy.  Therefore, the kids must work together to get those snacks in his mouth without dropping too many or the game will be over and they need to start again.    

We set up the Woozle about 10 feet away from our Kid Testers (ages 3 and 5) We let the 3 year old go first and she rolled the die, got a “2”,  and counted out 2 silly snacks…giggling while she chose them.

The snack options are all pretty hysterical, regardless of whether you are 3 or 33.  She then had to walk over to the Woozle making sure she did not drop either of the silly snacks.  She was able to do this successfully and then took 2 yummy cards and placed them over by our starting line.

Now it was the 5 year old’s turn.  Feed the Woozle has 3 different levels to keep the game interesting and challenging for older kids.  Our 5 year old rolled the die, got a “3” and chose 3 silly snacks to put in the spoon.  Our Mommy Tester was acting as the “Spin Master” who would spin the spinner to select a movement that the 5 year old would have to do while holding the spoon to get to the Woozle.

She spun “Spin! Spin! Spin!” which meant that the 5 year old would have to spin in circles while walking towards to Woozle.  You can probably see where this gets difficult!  He was able to get to the Woozle but had only 1 silly snack left in the spoon when he got there.  He took 1 yummy card and sat back down.

Our Kid Testers loved this game.  It’s a board game but it’s actually quite physical and the creative snacks and movements (which include bunny hop, march, and walk backwards) make it very fun to both play and observe.

It took us a second game to be able to successfully Feed the Woozle 12 snacks before we ran out. We did not get to level 3 with our kid testers because level 3 is the same as level 2 except you are blindfolded and the other players direct you to the Woozle.  It’s still beyond their abilities…and maybe ours! 

It’s nice that Feed the Woozle has 3 different levels to adjust the difficulty of the game to children of different ages who are playing together and as your child grows.  It’s available at Amazon.com for about $20 right here: Feed the Woozle

As we said – Peaceable Kingdom did not know that they were sending this to us to be reviewed in our blog but we thought you would like to know that they did tell our mommy who won the game in their contest that  if she wrote a review on Amazon.com (positive or negative) that they would donate a copy of this game to a school of her choice….all in all a nice company with some good karma!

One of our recent reviews was about the Step2 Play Up Adjustable Sand Water Table and we talked about how with some added toys it has true staying power. 

Sunny Patch Baking Set

In the selfish pursuit of getting time to read a magazine while our toddlers played outside we bought the Sunny Patch Baking Set , the Sunny Patch Ice Cream Set and the Sunny Patch Cupcake Set

Throughout a full year of daily use, abuse, being left outside sitting in the sun or drowning in water every single piece has not only survived but shows no real signs of wear. Impressive!

Admittedly prior to this we had been cheaping out – buying the sand toys in the Summer play aisle at Target for $1 and watching the orange handles fade to yellow after a few weeks of sun.  They also broke easily once they had been exposed to the elements for a while.

Sunny Patch Ice Cream Set

True – you are probably supposed to take better care of them but really?  Who has time to worry about properly storing sand toys when you are trying to change diapers, work, tend to the never ending laundry backup and get a dinner you won’t be ashamed of on the table?

Sunny Patch Cupcake Set

The Sunny Patch sets immediately transformed the Step2 Play Up Adjustable Sand Water Table from a regular sand table into a creative kitchen, baking business and full service ice cream shop with a variety of toppings like crushed leaves and twigs.  When we bring them to the beach or the park the Kid Testers need to be prepared to do a lot of sharing with other curious kids.

They have become a staple that our kids keep coming back to and surprisingly they STILL do not seem to get old.  They are sturdy, have not faded one bit and the whisk from the baking set even survived a run in with a large dog and came out okay. 

We think the Sunny Patch Baking Set and the Sunny Patch Ice Cream Set are a little better than the Sunny Patch Cupcake Set with regards to how much they get used and the creative possibilities provided but they all did and still do get regular use (and abuse) and for the price of appx $13 each they are a great value and the least expensive babysitter you might ever come across!

They are all available right here: Sunny Patch Baking Set Sunny Patch Ice Cream Set Sunny Patch Cupcake Set 

In a world which feels filled with plastic building sets dominated by licensed characters it’s refreshing to find some choices out there that remind us more of the blocks when we were kids minus the lead filled paints and ability to give a toddler a concussion on impact!

Citiblocs has building sets for older kids but our favorite product they make is the Little Builders Rattle Blocks for ages 2+

The Little Builders Rattle Blocks come in a self storing bucket which seems to be a rarity these days.  Each set has 22 blocks, 10 of which are hollow and have a variety of objects inside to make different sounds.  There are also roof top blocks, some square blocks and stair blocks.

Overall it’s a simple, cute toy.  What we love about it is the imaginative play it creates.  Within minutes we had a 3 and 4 year old assembling a city, and having it taken over by their plastic dinosaurs and miniature LaLaloopsy dolls. 

When they were done with that it turned into making Jenga style towers and encouraging the family dog to knock them over so they could rebuild. 

After that the Rattle Blocks became maracas and they did laps around the house shaking them and chasing each other.

All in all we were beyond pleased with the play options of  these blocks and purchased a second set so our Kid Testers could create multiple cities. 

At about $35 MSRP a set these blocks are not the cheapest option out there, but if you are thinking green then it’s nice to know that Little Builders Rattle Blocks  are made from renewable pine and use non-toxic paints.  Each piece is carefully sanded to ensure that there are no rough edges.  These are all factors that we like to take into consideration when making a purchase.

The best price we found so far for the Little Builders Rattle Blocks was on good old Amazon.com for about $29 right here: Little Builders Rattle Blocks

Happy building!