Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Sunday, March 8, 2015

MagiQuest - A Review & Tips

I've been wanting to do a review of this place for years, ever since we first became addicted, but of course other things kept getting in the way and before I knew it months would pass before i would have time. Magiquest has locations all over the USA and Japan too! It's an awesome place for families, not just kids. We go year round and once you invest in the wands, it becomes a great deal, since you will easily spend all day there. 
TIP: Call ahead and double check the hours, get there at opening and you will find you have the entire place (along with the employee and all their knowledge) all to yourself!!

TIP: Wear comfortable shoes or socks, since they let you run around barefoot (remember they are attached to a water park!) You will be up and down stairs non stop and the elevator only goes to the 2nd floor, not floors 3 & 4.
First things first, get the wands! You will be tempted to save money and have the whole family use 1 wand and then let the kids wander off while you sit and enjoy some coffee and conversation...don't! Make it a fun family outing that is worth the investment, because with so many locations, you never know when you will be at another one! We have been over 7 times already and cannot wait to do more!
TIP: Don't waste money on the toppers! You will notice that we have a few, although super cool, they weigh down your wand too much and often unscrew the cap, which makes your wand not work properly or effectively. It's a MAJOR disappointment and I wish it is something Magiquest would fix, but so far it's been a no-go.

TIP: Wear something with pockets or have some kind of a small bag (that won't get annoying). They hand you a booklet that you will need for completing your quests and they charge you if you lose it! Be sure to save them every time you complete the quest and bring them next time you come back, in case you do lose it, then you know you have extras!
My daughter even made her own cape, that's how into this we all are! If you stay in the attached Great Wolf Lodge, you will add more fun as there are Magiquest stations throughout  the resort as well, they bring many things to life and turn on lights or other fun things that always make people turn and look at what you are doing. You will be asked upon arrival to Magiquest if you want to play both ShadowQuest & MAGIQuest or just 1, go with just 1, you WILL NOT have enough time to play both games and you will just be out the additional money. 
TIP: This is a long day and you most likely won't be able to drag your kids away, pack a lunch or have something delivered. The one in Wisconsin Dells has a tucked away eating area with soda machines but nothing else. Having food in a cooler bag for the kids to graze as they play works great and then we go out for dinner after we play!

TIP: Once you have bought your wands and activated them, next time you go back you can still open treasure chests and activate things, you just cannot play the game without paying again. Sometimes my kids just like to go to play with all the net slimbers and slides, they bring their wands to open the chests and play with some of the things but have no interest in the games themselves. On these days my husband and I only activate our wands and challenge each other....I'm a level 7 magi you know ;)
Have fun with your family by eliciting a challenge before you begin, we like to say that the winner at the end of the day gets to pick where we eat or what movie we see or whatever we plan on doing that evening. You WILL work up an appetite with all the running up and down the stairs, using the net climbers and flying down the slides. It's an activity palace! Our kids are all old enough to venture off on their own, they know where the cooler bag of food is, where the bathrooms are and know to never leave the area, this makes playing to much more fun for all of us. 
TIP: USE THE EMPLOYEES!! Stuck on a challenge or battle? Run in and ask them for help, that's what they are there for! We learned many a trick while in there with them. 

TIP: As you solve riddles and find parts of your quests, be sure to wave your wand at everything! Stars in the sky, suits of armor, shields and pictures on the walls...they all add up coins, gold and points to your score and you only increase your levels by adding up more gold and points! Many people just solve the riddles and wonder why they don't make the high scores for the day and this is why! It's so easy to do and adds more fun to the game!
This place is 4 floors of pure adventure! You will find many parents sitting on the sidelines, but I fully believe it's because they have never tried it themselves! Get involved, and have fun with it, it's the only way to be when you are on vacation!!

TIP: DO NOT take your wands on the slides, the static electricity sometimes deactivates them. It's no big deal, as they only have to restart them and  you don't lose any information but it is a pain if you have to wait in a long line! We usually go up to the slides in pairs and 1 person goes down while the other takes the wands and just switch off doing that.
At 30.00 a person, it adds up fast your first time but please believe me that it is so worth it! This is one of those times that the money is well spent and if you are dead set on never going back, sell them to people as they walk in! We took friends with us one time and bought them wands, which they gave back as they don't live near a magiquest and this last time we were there, we were able to sell both 17.00 wands for 25.00, not too bad!
TIP: Still not sure about the cost? Check out Ebay and try and win wands there, they can delete the information on them when you arrive to a new Magiquest and then you are free to start from the beginning!
Hope this convinces you to try it out! Enjoy every minute my friends!


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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Crafty Thursday Book In A Bag

Get out those glue sticks, it's time for a fun craft! I wanted to a fun way to teach a lesson in our religion class but these are awesome for anything at all!
What you need:
1. Paper lunch bags (Ours needed 16 pages, so we used 4 paper bags)
2. Glue Stick
3. Scissors
4. Stapler
5. Assorted paper cut into squares to fit on pages
6. Tabs (optional, for pulling pages out of the sleeves)
Once your paper squares are cut out, move on to the folding your bags in half to make the book. Take your scissors and carefully trip off the bottom tip of the lunch bags, so that you have more openings to use as tabs.
Take your stapler and staple the center of the book, so that all pages stay in place. I carefully folded the pages in, so my stapler would fit better. 
Glue down the squares on each page and place sheets in the pockets, put a tab on if you wish to make them easier to pull out. We just used square task stickers folded up.
You are now ready to design your book! This is so much better than those pre-made books as your kids get to have a hand in creating them as well.
Ours were used for the 15 Stations of the Cross and we created them while listening to the Passion on CD. There are millions of things you could do with your book, please share! We plan on making these books for many other things we are learning!
Enjoy every minute my friends!

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Pigeons and Robots and Tornadoes?!

Last night we spent an awesome time at a Pigeon Party! We love Mo Willems and his crazy pigeon, do you? If you have not checked out his books, RUN to do so now! My kids were by far the oldest in the room but still had an absolute blast and didn't even realize it, they just became helpers of the teacher and the smaller children. 
As we study different topics, I love to have a hands on activity, game, field trip or vacation to go along with the lessons. This Discovery Kids Tornado Lab was PERFECT for our extreme weather lesson. The kids loved it so much that once class was over, they continued to play. They even added in some Monopoly houses to get the tornado effect really going.
Our LEGO Mindstormers Robotics kit arrived last month and the kids still cannot get enough. They enjoy challenging themselves and then creating and programming. My middle son begins his Robotics Competition club this month and he is so excited.
Adoration Bag #2 is ready to be photographed. You can see the other bags HERE at Our Little Catholic Homeschool! We head to Adoration this afternoon and the kids are very excited. This bag belongs to my oldest. I bought her a bible of her very own. She has always had smaller ones, children's ones, hardcover ones and the like but has been asking for one similar to my wedding one so that she could make it her own and now seemed like the perfect time. She is free to write in the margins, clip the pages, add post its, prayer cards, use a bible highlighter or anything at all. Autumn is 10 years old and her bag contains:
1. Bible
2. Three different bible highlighters & One pen.
3. Holy Bible Crosswords, each clue is from the bible and you must look it up and read the chapter to get the answer.
4. Rosary & Mysteries on a ring for prayer and reflection
Remember to enjoy every minute my friends!!

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Classroom Confessions

:: Mondays make me nervous that I may not have the motivation to begin school work.
:: The closet of my classroom looks like 321 bins of classroom things threw up.
:: I have a secret stash of smarties hidden away, when caught chewing I swallow quickly!
:: Classical music plays throughout the day and sometimes I doze off
::My heart still soars when I visually see the children 'get' something.
:: I love organizing and reorganizing my book shelves
:: I have feelings of insecurity over their education daily
:: I love the smell of Expo markers
:: I worry
:: I laugh
:: I love
The kids each have Science labs in their bedrooms and the bases are IKEA coffee tables, needless to say they need to be replaced often. They get exploded on, wet, drawn on, experimented on and so much more...this leads to a lot of wear but I am so glad they love to create. As we replaced one, I was ready to toss this, but realized we could use it in the classroom as a gaming center or for group work. Our first project is to give it a makeover this month. Nothing that costs money and using things that are only found around the house. This should be interesting! Hahaha!
Last week I bit the bullet and signed up the children AND I for an adoration hour at our church. This is 1 hour spent in silence with the Lord. I know the big kids will be fine with it but I was worried about the youngest. I figured I would make Adoration Bags filled with things that they can do on their own to reflect and pray to the Lord. I will share 1 each day and they will remain linked over on my LITTLE CATHOLIC HOMESCHOOL post. This week the youngest will have a book on the 12 Disciples along with our foam playset of the 12 Disciples that he can use while reading the story. (I will post more on this playset on the LCH post later). He also has a chunky rosary with a Fr. Lovasik book on praying the rosary. A bible verses book to reflect quietly over and once he has done those things, he has his  Larry Boy book to read. This is more than enough to keep him occupied but I would rather have too much than not enough. All of it is tucked away in his Veggie Tales soft sided bag.
Enjoy every minute my friends!

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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Suddenly Sunday

Give children confidence and you will see them grow! Sunday is here and I am truly blessed for another day with my family. We are celebrating birthdays with family and then coming home to relax and unwind for the week ahead.
A well snuck in nap! We ended up having to get another cart to carry the rest of our stuff!
Multiplication games on the weekends? I Love it! Roll the dice and mark the answer, first one to get 4 in a row wins!
A field trip to the news station brought out so much in the kids, they learned and now love to watch the news with me to see the anchors that are now their 'friends' and they can chat about where they sat and what they did!
Enjoy every minute my friends!
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Thursday, December 4, 2014

Holiday Festivities, Teaching Tools and Yay it's Thursday!

Ohhh what fun we had last year making up these snow filled ornaments! The children put their fingerprint on each one so that the 3 snowmen were each a different child. We used a funnel to fill it with salt and then added on a hat and buttons and a face with a sharpie and we were done! Simple and sooo cute! Now I am trying to think of what we will do this year! 
As I am preparing for our neighborhood Gingerbread House party, I have lists all over the place and stuff everywhere. My children seem oblivious to it all as they sit with a puzzle and helping the youngest learn his 50 states. No wonder they never hear me calling them, they are oblivious to chaos. 
I have been lucky to have found a group on Facebook that allows me to sell my older manipulatives as my youngest moves up and on. As I find them to photograph them, I realize just how much fun we have learning around here. These frogs are a dime a dozen and usually just end up in the trash, but pair them with some sight word flashcards and you have a serious game of learning on your hands! Do this with math flashcards, or anything that needs to be learned! I will have to update this post with where the Elf on the Shelf is today as my children have not found him yet and they are getting quite impatient! 
Enjoy every minute my friends and remember to aim high!
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Friday, November 28, 2014

Fun on Friday

Friday is here and just about gone, what did you do with your day? Were you shopping, spending time with friends and or family, relaxing, cleaning? Please share! Ours was a lazy day spent in the theaters and then lounging around our home and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!
We shopped in the morning and then headed to an afternoon showing of Mocking Jay (yes, we took the kids, more on this tomorro). As we were headed home and discussing the movie, we chatted about wanting to see Penguins of Madagascar next. My husband then asked what was stopping us from seeing that today as well? We turned right around and were only 20 minutes shy of that movie starting! Hahaha!! We still had our drink and popcorn with us, so we refilled them for free and were ready to settle in with another film!
Our Elf on the Shelf brought Pajamas with his likeness on them and the kids were excited to wear them last night, so we had to photograph them wearing their jammies this morning. Roman absolutely adores penguins, so a penguin always makes its way into our photos! 
We have recently finished watching the Houdini miniseries and my son has now become obsessed with escaping from boxes, handcuffs and anything else they can think of. I only hope they do not attempt any under water tricks! 
Enjoy every minute my friends!
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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thankful Thankgiving Thursday...

Happy Thanksgiving my Friends! I am in quite a rush but wanted to stop and wish you all the very best and also stop to think about being thankful during this time.
10 Things I am Thankful For-
~Family & Friends
~All of you out there that care about what I have to say
~Food to eat, a roof to sleep under and a car to get us to see our friends & family
~My husband who was so amazing when I passed out at the blood bank last night
~ My children who warm my heart every single time I look at them
~That my mother-in-law is a great person and not one of those psychos you hear about
~That I still have 2 fantastic grandparents that my children have gotten to know so well
~My Faith that has gotten me through so much
~My parents that have been so supportive with every aspect of my life
~That I wake up every morning with a purpose
Our Elf on the Shelf is back for 2014! He arrived with a BANG and brought lots of gifts! I will share more details on Monday, my family is seriously in the car as I sit on the couch finishing this up!
Enjoy every minute my friends! Let the stressful moments roll of your back and live in the happy moments. Life goes by too quick to not enjoy it all!

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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Let Them Craft, Cook, Make a Mess and Love Them!

As the years go on and the children get older, I sit and think about how much time I have left with them. I cannot believe that I don't have any babies around the house anymore. 9,8,7...that's how old they are and with them all skipping grades, that ages them even more. This means they may leave my home eaarlier. This is one reason why I adopt the Enjoy Every Minute motto. I want to be able to hav plenty of great memories in my bank when they finally move on to have families of their own. I don't want to have any regrets or be that person that can't function without her kids and has no identity once they are gone.
 I want to enjoy every minute with the babies I had then, the big kids i have now and the teens I will have tomorrow and then when it's just my husband and I, we can go on adventures of our own, knowing that we equipped the kids to function without us. We may be around for big family holiday gatherings or we may be on the other side of the world, but the one thing we will always have? Memories and so much Love! We will visit our children often, not wait for them to visit us, we will let them know with frequen calls and letters how missed and loved they are but understand that their lives are busy too. We will have had our time with out kids and I don't want to miss a minute of it, knowing that as each day passes, that is one day less I will have with them.
This is why I say LET THEM LIVE!! Our house is in perpetual chaos. Is it a tornado where I fear they may be taken away? Nope, it's just got clutter. There are too many pictures on the wall, too much junk piling up on the coffee table and their rooms have probably hidden a secret or two somewhere in the mounds of blanket forts and sleeping bags. Time is running out and I don't want to miss opportunities. What? You want to use a hot glue gun AND a saw to build a birdhouse? Sure, just let me be in the same room. You don't feel good? Let's take a day off from school and read those library books about bridges and then show me that you can build one of your own with proper structure and tell me all about it, what kind of bridge it is and what it resembles...ohh yeah, it's a play day, no learning or fun at all!
Let them create their own lives so that they don't become to dependent on you. Oh dear, are you wearing stripes with plaids and adding a Santa hat when it's 92 degrees out? Okay, you look 
awesome. The last thing we want to do is kill their creativity and curiousity. It may make us look like careless parents when we get the stink eye from someone at the grocery store because our kids have mismatched socks on and pillowcases hanging around their necks but well you see...they are superheroes saving the laundry people of today from the dryer that eats socks...
As long as they are not harming themselves or anyone else, let them try it. There will be bigger battles ahead and they need to learn the results of their consequences today. Every day is a new one to make new choices, let them do it. Oh, you want to climb to the top of that rock wall without me standing behind you...okay I will watch from afar and realize that you did it all on your own...without me. Yes, everyday they get a little bit stronger and a heck of a lot smarter and you know why? Because you let them grow.
Knives and stoves and ovens oh my! Why don't you bang on a pot while mommy cooks. No? What? Oh yeah you are 9. Okay, you wash the stuff and I will chop...no wait. Here. Be careful, tuck your fingers away and have at it. Here is a stool, lean in close and I will share a secret. Okay, you chop, you over there, you stir and you...hey little one, stop sampling! I think sometimes we think they can't do it because we don't want to admit that our children are growing. Too fast if you ask me, but we can't stop it. The time will come that that they want to walk, then run and then fly and it's up to us to make sure that they can dust their knees off when they fall and then keep on going. It's up to us to let them know that we will always be here for a hug or a phone call or even advice but we need to let them go first.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings and remember to enjoy every minute...
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