Playtime: Mary’s Park Sensory Playground

Minerva turned one on Wednesday, so we decided to go check out the Sensory Playground at Peninsula Town Center.

There is highly interactive sensory and tactile play available. The park is Wheelchair-accessible too! The surface is playground rubber.

There was plenty of seating around the playground and some seating was in a shady area. The playground is surrounded by bushes and secured fencing.

I loved that the Minerva could climb some fixtures on her own. I did have to go after my brave baby at some points, haha!

The gravity bowl was so fun for Maxine once she understood how it worked. Her first go ended with her SCREAMING for me to help her stop. By the time we left, she had been back on several times.

The park was really fun! The bathrooms were a block over from the playground, but there was a drinking fountain in the park so that was convenient. We can’t wait to go again! We will have to check out their play fountain next time too.

Also, there is a smartphone app that goes along with the play area! You can listen to the Hans Christian Anderson stories that the park’s themes are based on: The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling.  The stories are offered in 16 languages!

Mary’s Park Sensory Playground is an outdoor playground at Peninsula Town Center that was built in partnership with the Peninsula School for Autism.  

Playtime: Windsor Castle Park Natural Playscape

Smithfield, Virginia is my hometown and such a beautiful place! Maxine is at an age where she can enjoy playing on her own so I decided to take her to check out the new Windsor Castle Park Natural Playscape.

She loved it! I loved that they had a side for younger children. We stayed over there today.

The entire area was beautifully shaded by trees. It didn’t feel as miserably hot as the thermometer read.

This slide was the perfect size for Maxine and she went on it several times. The other slide on the big kid size is 30 feet!

Max had a blast and we will definitely be back soon!

Review: Honest Kids

So  a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try out Honest Tea through a Klout perk! I fell in love with the tea. When Honest found out that I have a toddler, they offered to send out some Honest Kids juice samples to try with her and I agreed. I expected samples–you know, like a box of one half size per flavor of something. Boy, was I wrong. Honest sent me three full sized boxes of their juice!

 

Maxine and I were so thrilled! I love this juice. There is zero added sugar. It is sweetened with fruit juice. It is organic. FAIR TRADE.  It is gluten free. It has no GMOs. It’s basically the best juice for kids.  When I first tasted it, it was not as sweet as I am used to but that was expected because it has no added sugar. I gave Maxine a pouch and she drank the whole thing! She seems to like the Berry Berry Good Lemonade the most. My favorite was the Super Fruit Punch.

Honest Kids has a new customer for sure. Great juice! I highly recommend these!

I Don’t Understand

Why do items for girls always cost more? Items could literally have only a different color and be marked up. Why? Does pink dye really cost that much more than blue or white? Do pink and purple blocks really need to cost more than primary colored blocks? Do companies really need to mark up items just because they are for girls? I don’t think there is a reasonable explanation. I see why girls are “more expensive” than boys.

Dear @Target, why does the "girls" set cost $0.50 more than this "boys" set? Literally the only difference Is color. pic.twitter.com/t7PpNdCXY0

— Britt. (@BrittBrownMarsh) September 7, 2014