The Sunday Post ~ Little Tykes Spiralin' Seas Water Park Review

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If you don't know much about water tables, they are a great way to keep your kid entertained in the hot months without the effort of going to the swimming pool. There's a huge selection out there, from the most basic to ones shaped like pirate ships. We opted to buy the Spiralin' Seas Water Park.

I'll admit that I partially chose this particular table because it was on sale at the time that I wanted to buy one. But, we've been extremely happy with it.

This table comes with four activities, plus water- which is enough to occupy a toddler for an hour by itself (and make the mess to prove it). It has the large spiral tube, a "merry go round", a funnel with cogs and a spinner. It also comes with 5 balls (to throw into the spiral tube or to put on the merry go round) and a cup with a handle to pour water down the funnel.

First, it is a table on the smaller side, which I consider a bonus because it only takes a few minutes to fill it with a garden hose and doesn't waste too much water. There's not a whole lot of waiting around to start playing.

Next, only three of the activities are fun. The spiral piece, which is intended to create a current in the table, it practically useless. But the other activities are interesting and fun.

I will say that this table requires having plenty of bath toys or water toys on hand to use in it. I keep a box of bath toys ready for water table play. The five balls and one cup are not enough to keep my little one occupied for long. But the table creates the perfect base for play, with added smaller toys to round out the experience.

It's also easy to drain.

On the minus side, it was difficult to assemble the tube and the tube has proven difficult to clean. I find leaving the table upright out in the rain and sun the best method to keep the tube mold free. And we did get mold in it at one point, so be prepared to encounter that. It is, after all, a water table.

All in all, this is a good buy and totally worth it.

August 17, 2012 ~ photos!

August 16, 2012 ~ Up the Down

And the latest fad? The Slide.

Yes. For months he's been telling me, "it's dirty." Not anymore. I hosed it down and dragged it out in the sun and away from the trees where the birds dive-bomb the thing. Nope. Clean. And now the toy du jour.

There we are eating dinner and he says to me, "Mommy, slide? Push!"

This is not him asking me to push him down the slide. This is him asking me to watch him push his toy trucks down the slide. That's right. The toys go down the slide. Then Billy. Rinse. Repeat. I don't play fetch. He has to go get the toys after they careen to the bottom and bring them to me to hold until he climbs to the top again.

Today, the mosquitoes got after me so I had to head for the porch to save my skin. Billy wanted to keep playing, though. And he thought I wasn't watching.

So, he took the opportunity unsupervised (I was right there watching) to try to climb up the slide. To "go up the down." First attempt- no success. He failed midway up and came careening down. No big deal. Try again. Second attempt- score! That called for sliding back down to try it again!

I wonder what else he gets into when I'm not watching...

Drawn In Thursdays: Things Kids Do #10

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A true story...from last week.

August 14, 2012 ~ Tornado Cuddles

So, there I was, sitting on my fabulous porch (best room in the house!) watching the light show nature provided. Suddenly, the phone rang. I knew what this meant before I even picked up the phone. I knew who it was and what it was about. Grandma was calling. She almost never calls that late, and given the storm I was watching to the south it meant WARNING. Specifically: TORNADO WARNING. Sure enough, Grandma was letting me know about the warning. She knows I rarely have the TV on local programming if I'm watching it, so she always lets me know.

Daddy knew immediately too and checked the weather. But he and I have different opinions on what to do in a weather warning. I'm a take no chances gal. He's a worry about it later guy. He said, oh the warning expires in 15 minutes so don't worry about it. But, tornadoes don't need 15 minutes to come get you, so I worry about it.

I scooped up Billy and brought him to the basement and let him sleep on my chest. Last tornado warning I happened to have been washing the Go Crib and got it up in only a minute and put him in that. But, I'm not sure where it is, so he got to sleep on my chest instead.

Sure enough, the storm I was watching was heading straight for us. It wasn't like I was terribly worried, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and have Billy downstairs with me. The warning expired, but the storm still hadn't made it to us and the local weathermen were still seeing the "hook" pattern in the storm very close to our location, so I decided to keep Billy downstairs with me.

He got to cuddle with me for 2 hours. He woke up towards the end, startled awake by the sound of hail slamming against our front door and the lightning getting closer. This storm was producing over 2000 strikes per hour- so a lot of thunder. Some so close you could hear the crack of the lightning prior to the earth-shattering thunder. So rattling, that it knocked our framed art askew on the walls.

But the best part were the cuddles. Billy has not cuddled with me like that since before he could crawl. As an itty bitty he used to sleep on my chest, but once he could move, he wanted to MOVE, not to cuddle. But he cuddled with me the whole time, even awake, scared of the storm but safe in Mommy's arms.

August 13, 2012 ~ The Random Toddler Tantrum

I have proof that a toddler can have a tantrum over just about anything.

Daddy decided to give Billy chocolate milk with dinner instead of plain milk.

"I don't want it!" he screamed.

We tried to convince him that he would like it but the more we tried to convince him the more he screamed. Eventually, we just tried to calm him down so he would eat rather than scream. He had epic meltdown over the milk.

But then, randomly, he tried it.

Wait! What's this? Chocolate milk tastes... wait for it... good??? Why didn't someone tell me this tasted good? Can I have more?

Yes, it's true. Chocolate milk does taste good. Oh, and Billy likes it now. Yep. When I gave him regular milk he handed it back, "Mommy, yucky. Chocolate?"

Proof that toddlers will throw a tantrum over even the good stuff.

August 12, 2012 ~ Sleeping With the Fishes

Daddy took Billy to the National Aquarium to look at the fish. I was out of town, so I didn't get  to go, but I heard all about it. There were shacks, towdulls and lots of fishes. (sharks, turtles and fish).

(If you haven't been, you should check out the National Aquarium. They have a fabulous collection of fish, sting rays, sharks, dolphins, jellyfish and a whole host of other sea creatures. They even include a trip to the rainforest and another down under. It's my favorite non-art museum in town. Check it out.)

I got home right at the beginning of nap time, but Billy and Daddy weren't home yet. Then, it was wake up time, and still Daddy and Billy weren't home yet. But finally, they came home raving about the fishes.

Daddy had bought Billy a collection of sharks and a sea turtle with a diver- it was a "diving" set. He's working on learning the different kinds of sharks. The set came with 3- a hammerhead, a whale shark and a generic shark that I am telling him is a lemon shark- close enough. He calls them "hamhah shack, whale shack and lemon shack." The whale shack is boo and white. The hamhah and lemon shacks are gay. That's what he tells me, anyway.

"Mommy, shack is a fish."  He learned ALL about them.

Well, after lots of big hugs it was clear that Lil Man was waaaaaay beyond tired. So, I sent him off to take a nap. But, he refused to go unless the sharks and turtle could join him, because, the sharks needed to take a nap too. So, the sharks went off to bed. He snuggled up with his sharp little plastic sharks and the turtle and fell sound asleep.

He was sleeping with the fishes.