Imagination: Never Say Die

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by BuyCostumes, but all opinions (and my love of playing dress-up) are my own.

The world of imagination is unbelievably beautiful. My kids are started to reveal their love for pretend play to me, little by little, and I am so excited about all the adventures they are going to have as they grow up together. A lot of people scoff at the idea of letting a kid out of the house in a princess dress or Mario overalls, but I say this: they are not going to have this amazing sense of adventure forever. When a person grows up, they tend to never reclaim the magic of putting on a costume and becoming someone else - even if it's just for a short time.

My background in extensive imagination, followed by acting and directing has helped to retain my personal fearlessness at appearing in public dressed as Princess Leia or Princess Peach. When I was a teenager, I was usually the ringleader of costumed excursions around the Midwest.

It's possible this friend will never forgive me for leaking this photo online publicly,
so I will leave her nameless here. Hehe.

There was that time I convinced my dear friend that the only way to see Wicked was in full replica costume, including green makeup. The people in the row behind us were a little bit concerned when I sat down with that hat (I took it off for the show). We were actually told in the lobby after the performance that we "did a great job." That was an unexpected ego boost for a couple of kids who had been sitting in an expensive seat for three hours.

My Phantom of the Opera dress has seen a lot of action, as I wore it to multiple events: a performance of the show in Indianapolis, the movie release here in Kansas City, and a tea party I threw for some 8-year-olds when I worked for the library. The best, though, was when I was joined in this endeavor at the movie release by my friend Holly as The Phantom. This was a couple of years after we had put on our own full-scale (for poor teenagers) production of Phantom in the barn in my parents' backyard, so it was kind of like reprising our roles. Totally worth all the strange glances and comments. Totally.

Fun fact: my husband definitely worked at this movie theatre at this time
and was probably there this day, and it's probably good this was not the day we met.

Maybe you hesitate to make a costumed appearance because you don't have any costumes! Don't let that stop you. Costumes are available year round, but right now you'll likely find a much larger selection since Halloween is coming up soon. You can save 20% on orders over $50 at BuyCostumes right now (use the code afchalloewen2050 for the deal). Plus, now is a great time to order because of the I Want To Be Guarantee - which allows you to exchange for a different size (with no additional shipping costs) for costumes and accessories purchased through October 31, 2014. You can read more details here.

It's really not necessary to have a specific event to wear a costume, although that is what inspires a lot of people (think: Halloween, when more people than normal are willing to look like a crazy person an imaginative soul in public). Sometimes, you can just round up some friends, dress everyone as pirates, convince your brother to be "security detail" and just wander the aisles of your local supermarket at 10pm for no other reason that it will be fun.

Am I scaring you off yet? It may have been awhile since I have appeared in public in costume, but that doesn't mean I'm not always scheming about an excuse to make it happen. Maybe we'll have a costume day for preschool soon and make it a point to go do something normal while we are all super dressed up. That would for sure be a good memory for the kids, right? 

Pirates can bake, too!

Okay, I admit it. Sometimes, people are embarrassed to be seen in public with me. I don't really mind. The memories are so fun!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by BuyCostumes, but all opinions are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy. 

Visiting Omaha, Nebraska with Kids: Omaha Children's Museum {Review}

Disclosure: In exchange for my post and to facilitate my honest review of this experience, I received tickets to this attraction for my family. No other compensation was received and all opinions expressed are my own. Fair warning: this post contains so.many.photos!

Our family trip to Omaha, Nebraska was a whirlwind, but it was a blast! We drove straight to the Omaha Zoo, spent the night at the Hilton Omaha, and then headed for the Omaha Children's Museum in the morning!

Located in downtown Omaha, the Children's Museum is a sight for weary parent eyes with the brightly colored, whimsical design of the building. Lincoln saw it and immediately said "we have to PLAY in there!" We checked in at the front desk and were given stickers to wear (to allow us admission into the special exhibit), and then the kids were off to find adventures!

We stopped by a creative play station and put on a (very short) puppet show before Lincoln high-tailed it to the staircase and was climbing to the top before we could catch him! To say he was excited is a serious understatement.

Both of my kids were ecstatic to run, jump, and climb in the Zooland exhibit. The over-sized, brightly colored animal play structures are so much fun! Lincoln (of course) took the opportunity to run behind the curtain you can see on the left (behind the elephant) and disappeared on us for a few terrifying minutes. Thankfully, there were enough things to catch his attention that he got bored with running away and stopped to play so we could find him again.

The museum is a 501 (c) 3 organization and their mission is to engage the imagination and create excitement about learning. I'd say they do a great job of both!

The current special exhibit, Dinos: The Big Dig, was a huge hit with Lincoln. He spent a very long time digging through the archaeologist site, searching for dinosaur bones, had fun with all of the dress-up clothing options placed throughout the exhibit, and built a large foam dinosaur on the wall!

The Dino Diner play area also offered a great scope for the imagination, as kids were creating all sorts of tasty (plastic) dishes over the fire pit in the restaurant's center and serving up meals to their companions and parents.

Dinos features robotic dinosaurs like a T-Rex family, Triceratops family, Pteranodon baby, and many more! There's a two-story Dino Dig Pit, 40-foot Fossil Climber, Paleo Tent, Dino Diner, 3-Tiered Mosaic Climber, and other fun things to do and see. A couple - the Dinosaur Train and Treasure Creek - are available with additional purchase, so we skipped those this time around since the kids were perfectly content to play with all the included options! I honestly think Lincoln would have happily played in the Dino exhibit all day - we had to drag him away to see what other fun opportunities were waiting for us to explore!

The Charlie Campbell Science & Technology Center was our next stop. My three-year-old and one-year-old had no idea they were learning anything about science, but they loved chasing balls around the room and finding places to have them vacuumed away! The exhibit design is so perfect for children, with buttons to push and constant motion - once we were here, my kids again didn't want to do anything else!

Addie and I took a much-needed break in the Family Discovery Room in the Imagination Playground. She was desperate for a nap - and while I didn't get her to sleep, she was able to chill in a quiet area and reset a little before we went back out into the chaos. There's a small, private room available for moms who are nursing or trying to get babies to sleep - love finding places that are family friendly like this! Going to a children's museum with two toddlers is kind of like signing up for a marathon knowing you can't have even a second to relax! But they had a blast, so it was definitely worth it.

I think my favorite part of the museum was the Imagination Playground, which features several different interactive areas aimed at children ages 0-5. Kids are able to explore the Children's Hospital & Medical Center, First National Bank, Rainbow Farm, OCM Engine House Number 1 (this was Lincoln's favorite, of course - no wonder after the firetruck birthday party we had earlier this year), and Little Market. Each area is very beautifully designed and features so many options for creative, imaginative play!

I especially loved the two-story farm house with a kitchen on the lower level and a bedroom with baby dolls on top. The little garden and lawnmowers outside were the perfect touch! The kids honestly did not even make it to all of the different buildings, even though we spent over an hour playing in this section of the museum. They ran and ran and played their hearts out - it was awesome.

Lincoln got to have his picture taken with a Storm Trooper. Mom and Dad may have been more excited than he was, but hey. I'm an unashamed Star Wars fan. This was a fun bonus!

Lincoln only got a little wet while working to put out "fires" in this interactive water play area in the middle of the Imagination Playground. He went back to it over and over again!

The standout favorite for Lincoln, though, was the Walker Tire and Auto Service Center. He was able to dress like a mechanic, climb under a car, change tires, and create custom license plates. He was in heaven. We had to drag him away from this section more than once (to allow other kids a turn), and this was the last place he wanted to stop before we headed home.

Our visit to the museum was wonderful and we can't wait to go back again someday! I feel like we barely scratched the surface, as there was a section or two we didn't even begin to discover. If you're local to this museum, I think an annual pass would be well worth the price for all of the fun opportunities that lie in store!

I'm hoping next time we visit, it will be warm outside so that we can take advantage of the fun Sandy's Splish Splash Garden! What kid doesn't love water play? Okay, except mine (last year). I think they're thankfully over that now!

After so much play time, the kids were very sleepy as we packed them in the car and got ready to head back to Kansas City! I know we'll be making more stops at the Omaha Children's Museum in the future - it was so much fun!

You can check out all the exhibits and animals at the Omaha Children's Museum website, and keep up with the latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclosure: In exchange for my post and to facilitate my honest review of this experience, I received tickets to this attraction for my family. No other compensation was received and all opinions expressed are my own.

Wordless Wednesday: The Pirate Ship Park

It's a super fun park. Except when your toddler smacks her face on the slide. Addie's had a black eye for days.

DIY Firefighter Birthday Party Preschooler Game Idea

When I was planning Lincoln's firetruck birthday party, I knew I wanted to find some sort of activity to do with the kids. Planning a party for preschoolers is easy in some regards - they like everything - but difficult if you want to have any structured activity. I considered coloring sheets or crafts, but I can barely get Lincoln to focus on activities that require sitting down when we're having craft time one-on-one. With the excitement of having friends and family here for his party, there was no way he was going to be thrilled about having to sit and do a craft.

So, on a whim, this Firefighter Game came to my mind. I was actually planning to just use it as a decoration, but I thought the kids would have a blast "putting out a fire" at the party - and it turns out I was right. Here's how to make your own!

Supplies Needed:

-Large Box Fan. Mine swivels so it can point upward, and that was perfect, but you could make it work with a stand-up box fan, too.

-Fire-colored Crepe Paper. I used red, orange, and yellow.

-Tape.

-Scissors.

-Tweezers.

-One or Two Pool Noodles (these are the "fire hoses").

1. Cut strips of crepe paper. Mine ended up being around 12-18" long. If you're using multiple colors, make sure you have a roughly equal amount of each color.

2. Use tweezers to thread piece of crepe paper through the fan.

3. Use tape to hold at least one side together near the paper fold (shown above). If you don't tape them, they'll just blow out when the fan is turned on.

4. Test your fan's speeds to see which setting makes the best fire. On mine, it's Medium. You may have to encourage the pieces to stand up once the fan starts turning; sometimes they get stuck around the edges.

That's it! It's so simple. Once you've constructed your fan, take a few minutes to plan your setup for the game. We ended up setting it on a TV tray behind a gate in our hallway, near an electrical outlet. This kept the moving fan blades out of reach of the littlest hands and gave all of the kids a boundary.

How to Play: Assign an adult to be in charge of the fire (plugging the fan into a power strip with an on/off switch is probably the easiest method). Line up the kids and let them take turns with the pool noodle hoses to "put out the fire." After a few seconds, the adult turns off the fan and the fire has been extinguished!

Okay, so it sounds really silly. But the kids loved it. Several of them wanted to play over and over and over - and they had to be pulled away when it was time to eat cupcakes. It turns out that entertaining preschoolers is actually pretty easy.

Addie, Ellie from A Beautiful Ruckus, and
Grace from Moments That Take My Breath Away

Lincoln has been asking to play the "fire game" for weeks. Definite birthday party success!

What's your favorite birthday party game?

Winnie the Pooh and McStuffins, Too!

My kids are a little bit obsessed with Disney. That's not a huge secret. I mean, I ponder about the minds of the characters and give away tickets to the Kansas City Disney on Ice show. It's not a normal day around here if we don't play with a princess or a Lightning McQueen.

Addie has two favorites right now that seem to have earned their place of preference over all toys: Winnie the Pooh and Doc McStuffins. We've been sick for the better part of a month (someone, please send spring), so there has been a lot more TV-watching than normal around here. And this little girl of mine thinks she is entitled to watch Pooh and Doc around the clock.

Honestly? I don't mind. I love them both, too. Our TV time is on the decline since we are (finally) feeling better and can play outside in the warmer weather, but I'm still excited about the newest Pooh and Doc releases. After all, I spend a lot of my time watching these shows, too!

It's like Disney can sense how to make my kid happy. Do you know what two of the newest DVD/Blu-ray releases are? Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo and Doc McStuffins: Mobile Clinic.

Addie saw the new Pooh DVD when we were shopping a couple days ago and declared "ROO!!!" No doubt it would be a hit.

I am certainly ready for a new Doc McStuffins episode selection. We own two DVDs and have played them both nearly to death. I can sing the theme song in my sleep - and actually, sometimes Addie does that too. She doesn't say the words, but she knows exactly when to chime in with "Doo-doo-doo" and "Oh-oh-oh." It might be the cutest things ever.

Today, we're singing Pooh and Doc McStuffins songs outside, but I'm keeping these new releases in mind for the next rainy day. Unlike most people, we don't have a cable subscription - so all of the episodes will be completely new to us when we view the DVD!

Are you a Disney fan? What show or movie do your kids love?

Wordless Wednesday: Laundry Basket Sailors

Some were happier about this game than others. ;)

Yeah it's been way too long since I did a WW post! Whoops!