Summer Party Playdate with @HonestTea

This past weekend was filled with fun and celebration as my playgroup got together for a Summer Party Playdate at my home. It was an event I had been looking forward to for a while.

For one, it's always a great day when my mommy friends get together, and second, when these ladies get together there's always bound to be great conversation, food, and entertainment.

This party was different from our normal playdates in one way... there were giveaways!

In an effort to stay cool and offer a refreshing drink, Honest Tea offered my guests a variety of Honest Tea, Honest Ade and Honest Kids juice drinks. These drinks were absolutely delicious! Each guest was able to choose what they wanted.

Everyone was able to easily read which options contained caffeine, which had antioxidants, and they were able to clearly see the calorie content in each bottle.

And everything was so pretty all lined up! While I enjoyed all of the varieties, I really loved the Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade. It wasn't too sweet and was absolutely delicious.

Along with the drinks I also made some egg cups and had some yummy snacks from Nabisco for my guests to munch on including Ritz crackers, Ritz bits cheese bites, and Chips Ahoy cookies. My awesome friends also brought over some delicious goodies to snack on as well including fruit, cheese, muffins, and more!

One of the best things about having the ladies over is that I can always count on them to save me if I forget anything. I made the mistake of enjoying the last of the creamer the day before without realizing that we didnt' have any more in the fridge. A quick text and it was there!

I also don't have to worry about asking others to bring food as well. Just about every get together we have is pot luck style and I love it that way. We are never going to get the exact same meal and the food is always over abundant.

As the party came to an end we decided to raffle off a few awesome prizes to the ladies in attendance. Being blessed enough to meet so many amazing companies and stores means that I have the opportunity to share what I learn and what products I use with my mom's group. So being able to let them try out a few of the items I've tried out is exciting!

Here are a few of the items I gave away:

• Joovy StepTool
• Perplexus Original
• Willow Store Dryer Balls
• Kiddie Antics personalized beach pails
• Boogie Wipes kit
• Method detergent
• Honest Tea Patagonia Bag & grocery bags

And a few other odds and ends that a few of the ladies showed interest in! Everyone who came was able to leave with something in hand to take home. I cannot wait to hear what they thought about the products they took home!

We're already planning our September My Favorite Things Party and the girls are excited to find a great item to share with us! We've decided to go with a Child's Favorite Thing where we introduce items that our kids love or that we love to use with our kids.

By changing the theme of the party every few months we're able to still enjoy the concept (and have an excuse to get together) while learning about new products and companies we might not have had any idea about beforehand!

So stay tuned for my next get together! I'm sure there will be a few awesome recipes, ideas, and products that I'll learn about from my mom friends.

Disclaimer: I received product for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Playing Games with the Perplexus Original 3D Maze and Perplexus Rookie

We love to play games. Whether its physical games like tag or Elefun or mental games like picture matching. So when we received our Perplexus Original and Perplexus Rookie 3D mazes from PlaSmart, the makers of the PlasmaBike and PlasmaCar, we were excited to test them out and see how far we could go!

The Perplexus Original a physical puzzle maze that you control with your hands and your wit. The sphere contains a 3-D puzzle complete with turns, twists, and drops!  And the best part is, this maze is great for kids 8-108. It's quite amusing watching an adult get stumped while a child continues to go through the maze in no time!

The Perplexus Rookie is perfect for the under 8 crowd. Built with younger kids in mind, this Rookie is great for the 4 and up crowd. But you might be surprised to see that once your 4 year old masters the Rookie, they graduate to the Original in no time while the adults are still trying to figure out the Rookie.

I absolutely love how this game promotes the fine tuning of hand-eye coordination. It makes my son think, really think, about what his next move will be and how he can keep the ball from falling off the track.

He knows how to get the ball to the starting point and from there takes off slowly to try and make sure he's gently guiding the ball instead of sending it into orbit quickly. Once he gets through the first part he usually asks for a bit of help. And I'm happy to helpfully guide his hands through a few of the tougher spots.

As you can tell, he really gets into it. You can see the look of concentration on his face as he tries to maneuver through the stairs, flips, and turns.

The Perplexus Original and Perplexus Rookie are the perfect unique gift for any child or adult. They provide hours of unplugged entertainment and keep you guessing at every turn! And while a select few will master it in no time, those of us who aren't as quick will be able to take our time trying and trying again.

The patience this game is teaching my son is priceless!

Interested in purchasing a Perplexus 3D maze? 

Head on over to the Perplexus website and click on Where Can I Find One? You'll be able to check out where you can purchase your Perplexus maze locally (you can even purchase one in Switzerland!). Or you can head on over to Amazon.com and purchase the Perplexus Maze Game or Perplexus Rookie.

To learn more about the Perplexus family check them out on Facebook! You can also follow them on Twitter.

What's your favorite game to play with the kids? 

The Noise Girls have yet again put together an amazing giveaway event just for your family! And PlaSmart has joined in on the fun to offer one lucky reader a Perplexus 3D Maze in this giveaway.

The For the Family giveaway event starts on September 1st so please remember to hurry back and enter for your chance to win. You won't want to miss what we have to offer!



Disclaimer: I received a Perplexus Original and Perplexus Rookie for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.