SEA LIFE Kansas City: The Octonauts Zone

Disclosure: I received passes to visit SEA LIFE Kansas City. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. 

We're crazy about the Octonauts, and we're pretty crazy about SEA LIFE Kansas City as well. Ever since our first trip there for Lincoln's third birthday, it's been one of my favorite Kansas City destinations to go with the kids. When I heard that SEA LIFE would be opening a brand-new exhibit called The Octonauts Zone this spring, there was no doubt about it - we had to see it.

Lincoln and Addie were so excited and wanted to wear their Octonauts costumes for the big event. Those costumes have gotten so much use, since we used them for Halloween and Lincoln's Octonauts birthday party this year!

We got to SEA LIFE bright and early the morning the exhibit opened. I thought the kids would be thrilled to participate in the Octonauts parade, but they were actually a little bit intimidated by Captain Barnacles, Kwazii, and Peso in real life (similar to the time they met them last summer at SEA LIFE Kansas City). They watched the parade from afar, and waved as everyone walked by.

This was as close as Lincoln would get to any of the characters - but he was so excited to hear the Octonauts theme playing as they all marched up to cut the ribbon in the grand opening ceremony!

Once we went inside, the kids wanted to rush straight on to see The Octonauts Zone. We skipped past all the other exhibits for the moment and headed straight there.

The kids were thrilled to find all of their favorite characters decorating the walls and on the tv screens throughout the exhibit. By far, the biggest hit were all of the ways to interact with the Octonauts! Lincoln must have pushed the Octo-Alert button a hundred times while we were there.

Apologies for the photo overload, but they were having a blast and I wanted to capture all of it!

The very lifelike Gup A and Gup B models, complete with Barnacles and Kwazii inside were really cool. The photos don't pick up the effect as well as I wish they could - basically, their faces are animated and illuminated onto their bodies. So it appears that they are interactive even without being fully moving characters. The kids were fascinated.

Lincoln and the Octo-Alert!

The interactive digital map and Peso's medic bag were really popular, too. They loved finding out details about sea creatures and playing games!

Lincoln was a big fan of the creature tank that was inside Kwazii's treasure chest!

After we had our fill of The Octonauts Zone, we took the time to explore the rest of the aquarium, too - and as usual, had a grand time. I know we'll be back to see the Octonauts again. If you're an Octonauts fan, don't miss the chance to see this great exhibit right here in Kansas City!

Disclosure: I received passes to visit SEA LIFE Kansas City. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

Disney Dreams: An Enchanted Pajama Party // #DisneySide

Disclosure: I received party supplies and samples to facilitate hosting this event. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. 

It's not a secret that I'm a huge Disney fan, so I was incredibly excited to be selected as a host for a Disney Side @Home Celebration this winter! My friend Stephanie, who blogs over at Moments That Take My Breath Away, was given the chance to host a party too, and the two of us decided to combine our efforts for an epic Disney bash.

After a lot of late night Facebook chat brainstorming, we decided that we would host a preschool Pajama Party, featuring breakfast snack foods, crafts and activities, and even a special guest visitor. We gathered up every Disney toy we own (and let's just say that's A LOT), invited lots of young Disney fans, turned up some Disney tunes, and partied the day away! We didn't send formal invitations in the mail, but it would have been really simple to adapt my DIY Mickey Mouse Party Invitations with a dreamy touch!

Since we were throwing an enchanted pajama bash, we carried the sleep/dream theme throughout the party. Our front door sign (above) featured a famous quote from Walt Disney, and the sentiment was echoed in the Mickey Mouse themed banner we displayed (below).

Stephanie is a food artist far more talented than I (have you seen the owl cake we she made for Addie's first birthday?), and she put together an impressive display of Disney themed snacks for everyone to munch on. Between Mickey and Minnie Cinnamon Rolls, Fairy Godmother (Fruit) Wands, and Luigi's Leaning Tower of (Donut) Tires, the table display was downright adorable.

The kids were more than happy to grab some snacks and devour them!

For entertainment, we had three main stations for the kids to cycle through: Cozy Cone Motel's Moonlit Raceway, Sweet Dreams Station, and Every Princess Needs Her Beauty Sleep (a princess makeover station - you can find that one on Stephanie's blog).

The Cozy Cone Motel's Moonlit Raceway featured lots of Cars themed plush toys, a giant Cozy Cone (still on hand from the theatrical release when my husband worked at a movie theater), and a race track so the kids could test out their racing skills!

The track was a big hit and the kids returned to it many times throughout the party to send some cars flying down the road!

The Sweet Dream Station featured plain white pillowcases, fabric markers, and Mickey Mouse stencils to allow each child to design their own Mickey Mouse pillow! Some of the sweetest dreams are Disney dreams, right? I know I dream about returning to Disney World someday!

This ended up being a really fun station, and the kids (especially the girls...and the moms!) were all very excited to create their own personalized Mickey pillowcases. This station held Lincoln's interest for about thirty seconds, and then he was back to playing with Cars.

Since there were a lot of little princesses in attendance at our bash, we thought it only appropriate to have a Princess Storytime. The preschoolers got to meet Princess Belle live and in person, and this crazy theatre lady got to portray a pretty epic role. Dreams were coming true all over the place!

Princess Belle read a story about being as polite as a princess first, then followed up with some Disney bedtime stories.

It's actually really difficult to read books while wearing gloves. You heard it here first, friends!

Storytime was a great success...at least, I thought so. Maybe I'm biased, though. Okay, I am...I admit it. But I'll let you all judge how the kids liked it, based on the photo below.

We kept the fun right on going after Belle went back to being just a mama helping to host a party and played "Pin the Sorcerer's Hat on Mickey." It sort of looks like a nightcap, so it fit the theme perfectly! The kids got a big kick out of closing their eyes for the game. Most of them cheated, but most of them couldn't figure out how to keep their eyes closed and move at the same time. It was cute.

We ended the party by asking everyone to join in a dance party to earn their favors!

I keep cracking up looking at these photos of Lincoln. He was having the BEST time. All of the kids loved dancing themselves silly!

We had the best time at our Disney Side party! Lincoln and Addie talked about it for days on end, and kept wanting to know when we would have another party. The good news is...with Disney, you never run out of party ideas!

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney Side @Home Celebrations for providing many elements of our party. All opinions expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

Disney on Ice: Passport to Adventure {Kansas City Sprint Center - Review}

Disclosure: I received something of value from Feld Entertainment as part of their Insider Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

We're so excited every time a Disney On Ice show comes to town! This year, the show was Passport to Adventure - and there were definitely adventures abounding on the ice!

Both Lincoln and Addie had waited all day for the show. Lincoln was excited to see Mickey and Minnie, while Addie spent several hours insisting that she would be seeing a "princess show" and she collected several favorite characters (including two Minnies) to bring with us.

We gave the kids some light up necklaces and they were thrilled! They waited pretty patiently for the show to begin.

The show began as excitement buzzed around us. Mickey and Minnie greeted us from the ice and there were cheers all through the arena! Both of our kids were totally mesmerized. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy informed us that we were headed off on some fantastic adventures!

Passport to Adventure features four primary stories: The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, and Peter Pan. First up, we headed to the African Savannah to see some classic moments featuring Simba.

Addie likes to watch (the non-scary parts of) The Lion King with daddy before bed sometimes, so I thought she would love this segment. She seemed a little confused at first and said "I hear him! I hear Simba!" before putting it together that Simba was on skates. We heard parts of several favorite songs - I Just Can't Wait to Be King, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight? This scene seemed to FLY right by and I couldn't believe it when we moved on!

Next up was The Little Mermaid. Addie was pretty astounded when she saw Ariel live on the ice before her, but the first thing she said was "I not see Prince Eric! And Flounder!" This very condensed version of Ariel's story included Ursula (in "normal" size and movie finale size), Flotsam and Jetsam, lots of sea creatures, and all of Ariel's sisters. We heard pieces of the classic songs like Fathoms Below, Under the Sea, Part of Your World, and Kiss the Girl. This was my favorite scene, but that's possibly because I grew up with a love for princesses in the 1990's?

The final segment of the first act featured Lilo & Stitch. We are not familiar with the movie, so the kids were a little restless during this one. Lincoln was not a fan of the "alien bad guys." There were many Elvis songs included in this scene and that was fun - but to be honest, I would rather have seen another princess story than this one.

After intermission, we were treated to the larger scale story of Peter Pan. The kids loved watching Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael fly! They also like Tinker Bell, the pirates, and the pirate ship. I liked the pirate ship design - once it had sailed out onstage, it split into multiple pieces to give the impression of a much larger ship.

The kids have been talking almost nonstop about the giant crocodile from the finale battle between Captain Hook and Peter! It left quite an impression.

If you're in Kansas City, you still have plenty of chances to catch the show at the Sprint Center before it rolls out of town. Ticket prices start at $16 (fees may apply).

Friday, March 6th at 10:30 AM and 07:00 PM
Saturday, March 7th at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 8th at 01:00 PM and 5:00 PM

You can buy tickets to Passport to Adventure here, plus visit Disney on Ice on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates.

My kids were thrilled with the production and did not want it to end. They were even awake the whole way home (at 10pm) talking about all of the things they had seen! They did eventually give up the fight and dreamed some magical dreams - but they have spent almost the whole day today reminiscing about the show!

I received something of value from Feld Entertainment as part of their Insider Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.