Extreme Bubbles

We are so excited about this American made find: Extreme Bubbles.  The company motto is "Get outside and play" and their bubbles will provide hours of outdoor fun. 

Our kids are all bubble fanatics and get extraordinarily frustrated if they blow on the wand and not one bubble is formed or they pop right away.  Extreme Bubbles' Captain Bubbles is the best bubble mixture around...they last forever! Check out this video.

Captain Bubbles come in packs of 6.

Extreme Bubbles also has a ton of huge bubble wands to make x-large bubbles. Check out their Extreme Bubbles Family Pack: World Record Bubble Kit.

This kit comes with their Pro Wand (largest wand), a Starter Wand and 4 bottles of Beeboo Big Bubble Mixture.  The Beeboo Big Bubble Mixture is a concentrate- one small bottle creates a gallon of bubble solution.  They used this secret formula to set the first World Record for "Largest Free Floating Soap Bubble."  Awesome!!!  And they share their top 11 secrets for creating record breaking big bubbles with us all on their blog.  All of their bubble mixtures are made in Minnesota as well as their wands. (except for the red and blue wand that comes in the Dip Stix Giant Bubbles Package)

These products are the perfect gift for both the children in your life as well as adults who enjoy having fun!  Click here to shop their products online.

Stay-On Mittens: Review

Winter is back once AGAIN and it's time to get everyone's cold winter gear organized.  One piece of outdoor clothing that always seems to cause a little more angst for us than others are the mittens/gloves.  I can't tell you how many times I have come home from the store with what I think will be the perfect pair for my kids but once we get them on they don't fit right, they aren't warm enough, I can't keep them on my little one's hands or they end up being made out of cheap material that quickly tears... 

When I found out about a company called Cozy Tots that makes what they call the "Stay-On Mittens,"  I was very excited to give them a try!  Cozy Tots generously sent us a pair of  their Toddler Mittens to try with my one year old.

First of all, before we even put the mittens on, we fell in love with this company.  Cozy Tots was started by a Mom in Massachusetts who saw a need for warm mittens that would stay on her children's hands (read her story here).  Not only are the products made from fleece Made in Massachusetts, but (this is the best part) Cozy Tots has paired with MoJo Manufacturing in Massachusetts, a company that trains and employs single Moms in the USA to manufacture products giving these women benefits and child care!  Their slogan is "Helping The American Family Get Their MoJo back."  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea!!!

So, I was already rooting for these mittens and as soon as I actually tried the mittens on my 1 year old, I fell in love with them again!

First great thing about these mittens: they are made from super-soft, stretchy microfleece.  It's not the thin, cheap kind you can sometimes find on kid's clothing, but rather the thick, plush, high-quality kind.

Next great thing: the stay-on mittens cleverly have elastic at the wrist and then more elastic at the end of a longer sleeve.  Believe me they live up to their name...they stay on!

The design was perfect...easy to put on a child's hand because they are pliable and soft but once on they stay put.  The other thing I really appreciated was that the thumb portion of the mitten was appropriately sized for the child.  The pre-school size has a little bigger thumb area and a velcro finger pocket so fingers can come out to eat snacks, etc.  The toddler size has a small thumb pocket perfectly sized for a one year old's tiny hands (see above picture).  And from looking at the website, the infant size are very smartly thumbless.  Seriously, who wants to be trying to get an infants thumb into a mitten.  Bottom line is Cozy Tots has thought of everything in terms of making these mittens functional and easy to use, but oh so cute!

Last but not least because this could be the best part of the whole design, the mittens are ingeniously made with an extra layer of fleece sewn into the fingertips to keep little fingers extra warm.  The entire part of the mitten above the decorative stitching you see in my pictures is double layered.  What a fabulous idea!  On our walk, not only did the stay-on mittens keep my little one's fingers toasty warm but my heavily teething baby also enjoyed biting on the extra layer of fleece too.

The mittens come in cute colors with various contrasting colored stitching, which adds some extra detail.

We give Cozy Tot's Stay-On Mittens two (very warm) thumbs up!  We will most definitely be buying some extra pairs (because some always get lost as winter carries on) and look forward to trying their hats (they are also double layered with fleece).  We think they would make great gifts too.

Thanks Cozy Tots for sharing your fabulous Made in the USA product with us!

The Original Bench Swing

This picture is worth a thousand words.  What child (and many adults) wouldn't love swinging in an old tree on a perfect swing? Can't you just smell the fresh air and feel the breeze blowing through your hair?

Living in Phoenix, this is our best time of year to be outside and this swing looks perfect for our tree out back!  It is made by the company The Original Tree Swing.  Not only do they make this fabulous, perfectly crafted tree swing,  but they create a bunch of wooden toys made primarily from reclaimed wood.  So, Made in America and  eco-friendly...two of our favorite things.  We think this would make a fun and unique holiday gift for those little ones in your life!

This swing is made of ash or elm and 20 feet (each side) of 100% natural fiber rope.  To purchase this swing online, click here.  To find a local retailer that sells this swing, click here.