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Caption Little P and win!

9 Feb By 366 Comments

P is quite an awesome little guy. And awesome little guys like mine, and yours (and girls for that matter!) deserve some amazing fun! After all, its only once they are little.

As a family of younger children, we are no strangers to the Step2 company. In fact I was just showing off our new Step 2 Clubhouse Climber earlier this week that P got for Christmas.  So you can imagine his excitement when the Easy Turn Coupe appeared at our door! As a Step2 blogger this year I am excited to share with you all about the Easy Turn Coupe and how this fantastic toy is helping other kids!

I Love Easy Turn Coupe

The Mission

The Step2 Company, LLC focuses its charitable efforts on programs designed to enhance the healthy and education of children while enriching their lives and family experience. It is that mission that has made The Saving Tiny Hearts society (StHS) an organization that funds life saving research of congenital heart defects, one of the no-profits that Step2 has continually funded.

When one of Step2s own, Tena Crock, was pregnant with her child, she found out at her 20 week ultrasound that her child would be born with a congenital heart defect or CHD. Since then through her relationship with Step2, Tena and the company have been able to learn, assist, and fund the important research that will help save many young lives. That is why starting on February 10th, Step2 will make a $1 donation to StHS for every comment received on the Easy Turn Coupe Facebook Tab.

The Coupe

Putting together the coupe was easy peasy.

A few notes:

The floor board is easily screwed on for a young child and since the coupe has a handle on the top and an optional front wheel that turns like a stroller, you can have all the control or remove and pass on to your child.You actually do not have to screw the board down and it drops into it, so if you prefer easy and quick removal, maybe for long walks where a child wants independence and then tires, you can leave it unscrewed down.

The option is also great for children not quite old enough to understand steering with their own feet (like P), little legs that tire quickly, and children that have disabilities or special needs. One of my neighbors actually has an older Step2 car and said that the floor board in was super helpful for her non-walking son. I showed her this one and she loved the improvements with the extra wheel in the front!

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Pretty much P has been spending all day in his car since we got it. He sits and eats snacks in it while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, his sister takes him for a walk in it, you name it, he has been finding reasons to crawl in.

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I took the bottom out yesterday for him to test it with his own feet but he wasn’t quite ready yet.

Win a Step2 Easy Turn Coupe!

I am so excited to be able to provide a contest where one of you can WIN an Easy Turn Coupe! This is a BRAND NEW ON THE MARKET TOY!

step2_contest

Rules are simple:

1) Caption Phoenyx’s photo above. Please put it in the comments! You may enter once a day, so please come back!

2) Keep it Kid Friendly. Contest runs between now and March 31, 2013

3) Winner selected at random using Rafflecopter Entry Form. Winner will be provided with (1) Step2 Easy Turn Coupe. Please wait for Rafflecopter to Load

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After you submit your caption in the comments, please head to the I Love Easy Turn Coupe Facebook page and leave a comment. Your comment will donate a $1 to research!

(CLICK TO LEAVE COMMENT AND DONATE FOR THIS CAUSE!)

easy_turn_coupe_contest

~Trisha

*must be located in the US, winner has 48 hours to claim after emailed before a new winner will be drawn. Step2 provided an Easy Turn Coupe for MomDot and the winner to facilitate this contest.

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A Little Dadgineering goes a long way

27 Jan By 7 Comments

This weekend, to celebrate the weather being somewhere in the 70′s, we spent the majority of it outdoors. Chris put together one of  Phoenyx’s long awaited Christmas presents that finally arrived, Charlotte and P did as much as possible to be involved to the max in that process, and I supplied logic, cheerleading, and water cup filling.

Moms are good for the team work stuff.

Speaking of P’s gift, we got him a Step2 Clubhouse Climber. We bought one almost identical, same brand, nearly same design, for Charlotte when she was about 3. I sold it for the exact amount I bought it for when she grew out of it. And it’s no wonder because these things are so well engineered…or in our case, Dadgineered.

The kids were helping at every step!

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helping_swingset

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In the end, they did it!

Took 3 hours and 45 minutes to put together…of course that’s with a couple helpers on hand… Dad’s that do not have to worry about little hands may move a bit quicker.

Step 2 Clubhouse Climber

step-2-builder

So far its been a big hit with the kids and I look forward to playing with it more. It is so nice for P to be able to climb up and be a “big boy” because the current Highlander Swingset we have is pretty much a death trap for him.

Just so you know the pirate boat in the picture is NOT part of the Step2 Clubhouse Climber. That is the Pirate Water Table we got him for Christmas. My intentions were to let him keep it in the house for fun time, but that shortly ended 2 days in because he kept taking buckets of water and DUMPING them on the floor in the dining room.

Now that’s been demoted to strictly outdoors for obvious reasons.

Oh, and if you are looking to buy one of these, they are on sale right now on Amazon. There is also a new version with brighter colors.

You can see it here: Clubhouse Climber (New Colors).

I also wanted to take time to announce that I am 1 of 25 bloggers for Step2 this year! I am really excited to showcase some brand new toys that will be coming to a shelf near you and let you know how the kids like them. This climber was not part of that program, but as you can tell we are huge fans of the brand in our house already so it’s a perfect fit for this blog.

Who knew watching my two kids play together would be so rewarding?! Maybe if I had thought they would actually like each other instead of fight all the time I would have had that short one a bit sooner. But then again, I do miss the last 5 years of sleep I took for granted.

Tough call.

~Trisha

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Step 2 Easel Walmart.com Deal: $29

25 Nov By 1 Comment

Get this Step 2 Amazing Online Deal, Thanksgiving day only for $29 from Walmart.com!!

Double the fun with this unique two-sided easel. Perfect for play dates, the Step2 Easel for Two allows two children to draw at the same time. It’s a wonderful way to combine creative play time with socializing.
Step2 Easel for Two:

  • Two hinged easels: one with a chalkboard and one with a metal dry erase board
  • Paper clip on each side for drawing, painting activities or to display work
  • Middle storage area holds art supplies for easy access from both sides of the Easel for Two
  • Deep trays and pencil ledges keep paint, brushes, markers, chalk and erasers (not included) within easy reach
  • Step2 Easel for Two measures 42.5″(H) x 26.5″(W) x 22.75″(D)
  • No assembly required

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These are a few of her favorite things…

11 Aug By 23 Comments

If you are anything like me, you either have a houseful of toys and games that your child never touches or you are devoid of any because you threw them all out…because your child never touches.

But a few things in my house are used every day and I wanted to share those for parents planning that whole ‘Christmas thing’ {yikes!}  that is coming up here shortly.

Aside from Charlottes “blankie” and of course her stuffed animal lovies, here are the things I can count on to fill my house with a busy child:

Oodles and Oodles of My Little Ponys.

We have like, oh, I would guesstimate about 30 My Little Ponys. She plays them in her room, in her doll house, in her playhouse, and in the tub.

I love that this toy was from my childhood and its still carried on.

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Fisher-Price iXL (DSeye…)

I don’t even have a photo of it because its still in the car where she left it on the way to school today. She takes it with her everywhere.

It’s a good “car occupy” toy for sure.

(stock photo)

And it’s educational-ish.

Although she was listening to Danity Kane on it this morning….

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Card games. Go Fish, Uno, Crazy 8′s. She loves card games.

As long as she is winning of course…

And if she doesn’t know how to play whatever card game it actually is, she flips them over and just plays match.

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Gather and Grille Playhouse:

Honestly I am not sure what was more interesting to Charlotte initially…the box the Gather and Grille Playhouse came in or the actual playhouse. We opened this on July 15th and we still have the box.

Charlotte and all the neighborhood kids have turned this box into a house of sorts. It has a hole in the side and the crawl in. I found books and markers sitting in there.

I keep meaning to break it down, but I feel bad since its become its own play toy in a way.

Not that I feel that bad because this came inside it:

If you are wondering, it was super easy to put together. Getting everything out of the box and upstairs took a lot more time than putting it together.

About 30 minutes from start to finish with a power drill.

And I didn’t even hear my DH cuss one time.

And Charlottes reaction?

[flashvideo filename="videos/gatherandgrille.flv" width="448" height="361" /]

(my camera died or it would have been longer…such a bummer. She was getting all excited.)

The only issue we have had is that I had to lay the law down on the neighborhood kids getting on the roof and jumping off. I swear, kids come over here and act like they don’t have rules at home or something.

This Step 2 Gather and Grille Playhouse was provided to me via Step 2 to review and all I can say is ‘Amen’.  Because I have had a lot of toys, large and small, come through this house and after having it for nearly a month, I can say it is still played with almost daily.

As a parent, you know how valuable that is.

If you notice in the pictures we also have a Step2 Kitchen and we bought that (it wasn’t a review) and that is also used nearly daily-even more now in conjunction with the playhouse. Unfortunately Charlotte keeps finding colored soaps and washing her dishes in the sink there…I dont even know how she finds them anymore.

As soon as I think I have them thrown out, I find new dishes that are yellow or red and soapy water. You have to watch that in the kitchens….water that is left for a while stinks.

When Charlotte was a toddler/smaller child, we owned the Clubhouse Climber and that thing was also worth its weight in GOLD. We bought it used from another family for $300 (its $589 on the site with free shipping and some other freebies right now) and sold it for $350 after owning it for 2 years…and that was 3 years ago.

This toy is still around and from what I can see it has no changes to it. Its just that good.

Step 2 toys can seriously hold up…through lots of kids and lots of families.

Excellent investment toys.

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Mastermind for Kids:

This is a game that I used to play with my dad growing up, but the full version. We have the kid version and its a fun logic game that tests skill. I still help Charlotte do the deductions on it when we play, but I think all board games are a good family time.

As long as someones not throwing the board…

We played game after game of this at Grandmas this weekend.




What are your child’s favorite toys?

~Trisha

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If you are purchasing any of these items, please consider going through my amazon links where I earn a small commission to buy…more toys. What else?

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