Ninja Mommy Hacks: Life with 2 Minions and lots of wine!

TARGET Embark Backpack!  I have last years version and my husband and I love it.   He just bought this years version (on sale now $32), I noticed they are all one solid color this year.  Mine below has bright inside green lining. The reason we love this bag: 1) Quality built, it does not feel cheap. 2) EVERY zipper pocket has LOOP zippers and DOUBLE zippers.  Each pocket is easy to access 3) Lots of pockets 4) water bottle outside pocket (or umbrella)  OR A BOTTLE OF WINE! 5) Laptop pocket in the VERY back.  Separate from the main large compartment Head out to your local Target to pick it up-- school section aisle.    Bonus point for 5% off w/Red Card :) ** this bag can be HUGE if you fill every pocket (which I do not recommend).  It would be a great baby bag and we use it for family day trips.  Even a picnic w/ the hubs-- w/wine & beer of course.  Laptop compartment below  ID and place for cards.  small inside pocket and pen holder I am almost po

BEST Thing:   This place gives complimentary (2) glasses of Wine or Mimosa's!   SCORE!!! My husband and I have frequented spa's together and find it to be a great relaxing time together.  I booked Muses in Fresno to spend the afternoon there together on our last day of summer vacation without the kids.   And.... Epic Fail!!!!  ...  the mens and woman's lounges are all separate, so basically we spent the afternoon apart, alone, and texting one another about the amenities.  This is what we found: Are you a gentleman looking for a day spa?  Read below.  Ladies, skip this section I have lots to tell you (all good news for you). Guys: 1) The lounge area for men is SMALL!  No chase, only 1 sofa and 1 chair, not a place you want to share w/other men to lounge and relax in.   2) Only women seem to work there, so they are hard to find to get any help (probably feel uncomfortable to walk in every 5 minutes to check on things like they do the woman's side- in fact they are

Reviewed July 7, 2015 OK- do you have an active preschooler? well-- this may be disappointing.  1) you need to do this. It's an amazing aquarium.  2) my minion was done in 3 hours. So I felt I paid $100 for all of us for only a little bit of time. We were on his schedule, honestly he would have been miserable if we made him stay.  3) go on a day where you can come back after nap/lunch. We went on a Sunday and they closed at 4 (or was it 5pm)? We are from the Monterey CA area and this is so different from the Monterey Aquarium.  4) No strollers allowed, you need to "check it" so bring the baby carrier. Lots of escalators which my minion loved the most.  5) Is your little afraid of the dark places... well this place is pretty dim. 6) bring refillable water bottles- they have amazing stations to fill up your bottles. way cool! 7) Jellyfish station was my fav. You can touch the jellies! Visited July 2015 https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g6

Reviewed July 9, 2013 Overview: Spend your day at the waterpark THEN around 4pm, head into Legoland- all the ride are empty! If you want to keep reading...here is all my advice: I have a 37 inch 2 year old (he will be 3 in 1 month)- this was our 2nd trip to Legoland. My 1st review when he was 2- "take your toddler to the waterpark instead", and I still think that is true for 2 year olds. Now that my son is 3, we have entered the world of 34 and 36 inch rides..WAY more than last year! Here are my tidbits: -Get there at 10 am, head straight for waterpark. Find an umbrella and chairs, park it there all day. Lock up valubles, prepare to leave your stuff there while your 3 year old plays in the water. There are a couple great slides and play areas for your pre-schooler (PS). -nap at the waterpark. this is where you parents get to go on the big rides (alone of course) -around 4pm, head out to Legoland. Everyone leaves from 4-5pm. This means all the rides open up. We

Yes, you want to go to Legoland!  -We did a ton of "Divide and Conquer" - the little one can't do much in Legoland. WE love the WATERPARK! -Parking is $15 OUCH! But... You get a free Shutterfly Book coupon! -Get there at 9am. The park opens in waves, so be there at 8:45am to get the best parking spots and NO line to pay for parking. You can get through the turnstiles right at 9am. Head right and there is one small land and one ride open (Ninjango). No lines that early. Take the little one to the Duplo build room across the way. -Then at 9:30 the Duplo side opens and you can walk through there. BUT YOU NEED A PHOTO... come back outside (exit gates with stamp) to the family picture in front of the Legoland sign. That's the photo you want! So come back outside find the photographer and They will give you a wristband to scan for all of your photos that day. We went ahead and paid $50 dollars for the digital package. We got all of our photos in my email. 66 photos to

Ok Ninja moms, it's time to be real... your soon to be 2 year old will NOT remember this birthday! Sorry I am being so real...  harsh, I know.   Go ask the older siblings right now "Where did you go for your 2nd birthday?"     So why are you willing to slave over the Cricut and spend tons of money on goodie bags, decorations, food, and entertainment??  My husband and I did this last week for Sebastian's 2nd birthday and it was so cheap & easy we committed to doing again for his 3rd Birthday! **They are 2 years old-- they only should invite 2 buddies to this event.    We invited 1 friend from daycare who has 2 other siblings, the 2 cousins, and my best friends 2 kids.   Total of 9 kids! 1) You work the local area kids places to your advantage--   hello TODDLER (6 yr UNDER) TIME!            -Find the nearest Pump it up, Skywalk, Trampoline Park, bounce house fun arena place.            -Get on the calendar and find when the Todder time is.   All places have

We just went today for the 1st time, and for Visalia, this is a GREAT place for the kiddos if you live in the area.   Here are my tidbits: 1) it is pricey and bad for the budget.   $8 a person, kids/adults/over 2-- So a family of 4 is looking at $32.  The yearly membership is a good deal @ $150 and you get to add 2 alternate adults to your membership (hello grandma). **Disclaimer:  We were lucky to be on deployment last year in Maryland and got to play at one of the top 10 kids museums in the country, so please keep in mind that I am comparing ImagineU to a top ranked exhibit. 2) ImagineU is really geared for the 3-4 year old.  My 2 year old was a tad bored, and my 6 year old was only fascinated with the ball/orange fruit exhibit (which is pretty cool, I will talk more about this later).     My 2 year old liked playing with this craft playdoh stuff they had out (they rotate the craft items), but really he could do this at home. 3) Best exhibit is the ball-fruit-picking-work-t

UPDATE:   12 months later I had $132- I cashed it into my Paypal acct, then into my checking acct (3 easy clicks)--- bam- upgrade the ipad!!!   original post: OK, I have been using Ibotta for 5 months and have $100.75 in my account.  This is hard cash that I can deposit thru Paypal into my acct, or put it on some sort of gift card.   I love Ibotta...  it's an app and this is how it works: 1) You can search for the store you are headed too (Walmart), and it will pull up the hundreds of rebates available. 2) You must "Unlock" the rebates by tapping the button, then they usually ask you a marketing question or make you watch a short video.    (Me:  start video, put it down... come back in 60 seconds). 3) Once unlocked you go buy the product. 4) Right when you get home, (do not wait on this, Ninja Mom Hack), get your receipt and put all the Ibotta stuff on the table.   You only have 7 days to do this!!! 5) In app- then tell Ibotta which items you bought, and you mus

OK, so we took the older 5 year old minion to The Greatest Show on Earth.    We left the 2 year old at home, I totally get he would have been free, but would he have loved it?  Would he have been so enthralled he would have sat thru the 2 hours and allowed the rest of us to enjoy it too?  Prob not... so this is why he stayed home and we had quality time with Aidan. General Tidbits Are you on a budget?  Then eat a huge meal before the show, and take snacks in a bag/purse.   The food is outrageously expensive... box of popcorn $9, cotton candy is $12.   This can easily be a $300 night...  We got the $37 tickets and had AMAZING seats, 5 rows up in the middle.  I could see everyones faces perfectly.   And the Tigers were too close for comfort.   Tickets $145 Dinner, drinks, snacks because we did not plan accordingly.   $55 (w/dessert DippinDots ice creams) Light up gun & White tiger plush (the major splurge)  $50     Parking $10  The performance was amazing, all the acts

I am NOT a stay at home mom, that would be too difficult- and I like my job.  My job is my vacation :) - props to you stay@home peeps.      I am a full time high school counselor and my husband is a 6th grade teacher + an Air Force Officer in the Reserves. Here is how I keep my sanity...    My ultimate Ninja Mom Hacks: 1) Sunday Night-  is YOUR time.  Devote 2 hours to yourself and the week ahead.  Make no plans, and be HOME.... easy dinner in crockpot.. husband takes the kids (sorry, this is not Wine Time... yet).  Here is the to-do list for a stress free week. Get all clothing ready:  kids clothing in easy to find/reach bundles for the week.  Little minions bag packed for daycare- for all week (diapers, supplies, clothing).   Your clothing (5 outfits) ready in order hanging in the closet {bonus points for undies/socks/jewelry there too}.    School aged kids:  they clean out backpacks, get organized...everything by the door.  Figure out meals for the week... which is also lu

The Wine Line... repeat- The Wine Line!  A genius and simple Paso Robles vacationing hack... for $60 we hopped on the Wine Line at 10:30am and then quickly off again at our first winery.  We got 40 minutes in each winery, and each one he personally walked us INTO the tasting rooms to "deliver" us to our wine masters- and all the tastings- FREE! The Wine Line has a deal with numerous tasting rooms... 0 out of pocket, plus some have % off bottles of purchased wine.  Once we were done tasting, the Wine Line was back inside to collect our purchased wine (heaven forbid we actually had to carry our purchases anywhere, he quickly scooped them up out of our hands and stored them in the back of the Wine Line Van). Off to the next winery- repeat 5 times! Yup, we saw 5 wineries, and honestly as a lightweight Mommy who does not get out much-- 1 too many. We were pretty hammered by the 4th place.  We chose 3 wineries we wanted to see- J Lohr, Eberle, Glunz, and he chose 2 mo

Wins vs Losses Vegas with a 4yo and 8mo old.   On spring break... a WIN!  Disclaimer- I have a very active 4 year old.  8momth old can just sit and "be" anywhere. -Win.  So...this whole post will be mainly about the 4 year old I call Minion.   Let's start with the Mandalay Shark Reef-  skip it. Yup -$20 per adult- Minion is free- and not worth it. We were out in 20 minutes. -Loss   He would have been just as happy on the escalators and trams- FREE!  We did hit up House of Blues for drinks and dessert after. Minion had ice cream, baby slept, and we had an adult beverage. -Win Town Square-  a big big YES!   This is South of the strip a few lights.  Go early- pay the $5 for valet (-WIN)  Shop and eat an early dinner- then head to the middle of the "square".   There lies a  cute contained play area (toddler friendly). With a splash pad- so bring the swim trunks.    There are also a few play structures with slides and a cool maze.  WIN!    We went 2x

Toddler-Proof Your iPhone With This Quick Trick - Fortune http://fortune.com/2016/06/27/toddler-proof-iphone-trick/ If you have a toddler or little who likes your iPhone- read this. Guided access in the settings menu is the best thing ever! And you are welcome! -after you are loving it...open a bottle of wine in celebration!!!  

We frequent Monterey a ton, we were married there and my husband is from the area... so here are our recommendations: Monterey, CA is a VERY quiet and relaxing community-  if you are a "up early" and love to walk type of family-- this is for you! For kids: Best Beach:  Carmel City Beach.    Get there EARLY, parking is a BEAR!    Soft sand, large waves, (it's cold, so no one swims), and the best place for you to sit and watch the kids dig in the sand.   Although really, all the beaches are great, I love this one cause of the SAND and it's 3 blocks from the Coach outlet... SO- have hubby drop you off, you shop... then walk down and join them. Best Eats:  Breakfast @ First Awakenings Pacific Grove (near aquarium).   Again, get there early- parking.   (note my theme.. everything is always "early" for us).      The pancakes are the size of a 12+ inch dinner plate- you have been warned. Toddler fun:  My Museum- a  kids only museum..  what a great way to

I am a mom, and as a mom I have certain standards for when I leave my children behind...  My sister-in-law had an amazing overnight trip to Paso Robles...  Here are the tidbits: 1) The Oaks Hotel-  at under $200 a night, it's a phenomenal place!    Hot Breakfast included, robes on the bathroom doors, and upgraded soaps, toiletries (There were even make up remover wipes)! Close to downtown, walking distance to Starbucks...  we will be staying again! 2) The Wine Line...  repeat-  The Wine Line!   A genius and simple Paso Robles vacationing hack... for $60 it picked us up at 10:30am from the Oaks Hotel (nope, room was not ready, but they kept our stuff safe in a locked room while we were gone).    We hopped on the Wine Line at 10:30am and then quickly off again at our first winery.  We got 40 minutes in each winery, and each one he personally walked us INTO the tasting rooms to "deliver" us to our wine masters- and all the tastings-  FREE!   The Wine Line has a deal wit