Lego Duplo Party {The Food}

As I mentioned in my party post, I wanted to keep this party focused on the basics. With a few simple decorations and some doctored up fun foods our party was the perfect Lego Duplo

To show off the drink cups a bit more I covered them in yellow paper and drew little faces on each of the cups to represent a different Lego guy. If you look closely you can see that each face actually matches the Lego on top of (and hanging from) the cups.

Munchies were also Lego themed. We went with peanut butter and honey sandwiches and cheese and crackers.

The peanut butter and honey sandwiches were super simple and fun! I made the sandwiches, cut off the crust (and ate them!), and cut the sandwiches in half.

Then I used my smallest round biscuit cutter to cut out small holes out of another slice of bread. I used some more peanut butter to adhere the bread to the top of the sandwiches. Two for each rectangle.

If you have a peanut allergy you can easily use sunflower butter instead. Or make the sandwiches with meat and use cream cheese to adhere the bread dots to the top. I was also considering making cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches as well. There are endless possibilities!

The cheese and crackers used the same techniques. I slathered two crackers with cream cheese and sandwiched in a piece of cheese in the middle. Then I used the cream cheese to adhere some cheese circles to the tops of the cracker sandwiches.

I had all intentions to coat these rectangle sandwich cookies with red, green, and blue chocolate and cover them with little m&m dots but time got away from me so I simply served them as is. Not as exciting but still fit the theme! And the kids couldn't get enough of them.

As a play on the Lego guy's head shape I made some watermelon & feta skewers for the mamas. This is my latest favorite combo and adding a bit of basil makes this a super tasty bite on a stick. You can also cube up the watermelon, toss with feta and basil, and serve as you would a salad!

In order to satisfy the mamas at the party I decided to throw together a simple quiche. Honestly, there's nothing special about it. And really... it's more of an egg bake in a pre-made frozen pie crust. I simply combined cooked sausage, spinach, 6 eggs, a cup or two of cheese, some salt and pepper and poured it into the crust. I then baked until it smelled done (maybe 35 minutes?) and pulled it out.

And the color is yellow like a Lego head, right? Haha... might be too much of a stretch.

Yum!

If you were planning a Lego Duplo party what would you serve?

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.

Mommy and Me at the San Diego Zoo

My family is pretty lucky. Living in San Diego we're blessed to have a few amazing places to visit with the kids to teach, learn, and enjoy ourselves. One of the most frequent places we visit in town is the San Diego Zoo. And we make it at least once a month for a special program I've been able to participate in, the Zoo's Mommy and Me tours.

Each month the San Diego Zoo has a themed tour that teaches the kids something different about the zoo. We spend an hour discussing different animals, their features, where they come from, and fun quirks about them. Then we end our time together with a story and stickers!

Here are a few of the recent tours we took:

•  Animal Ambassadors: What is an Animal Ambassador? Animal Ambassadors are animals that visit schools and community events as part of our educational programs. They also appear in our shows, Keeper Talks and during special tours. This month we will discover how important these Animal Ambassadors are to the Zoo and the ways they connect people with wildlife. As we explore Urban Jungle, you will see many of the Animal Ambassadors that live there. 


•  Alphabet Bus Tour: B is for Bus Tour! This month, we are leaving the strollers behind as we board a bus and take a non-stop tour through the Zoo. Join us as we see our striped, spotted, and furry friends while learning letters in the alphabet (G is for Giraffes).


• Children's Zoo Tour: Wear some of your favorite colors this month of July as we invite you on a colorful journey through the Children’s Zoo. Kids can practice their colors, and moms will awe at some surprising facts about the history of the San Diego Zoo!

The last Mommy and Me tour we went on (the Children's Zoo Tour) ended with a visit from a very special animal, this porcupine from South America!

Each visit takes us to a new part of the zoo. We get to explore a little bit, learn, and then are left to do what we'd like after our tour. This makes visiting the zoo stress free and easy. Especially with two kids. Instead of spending the whole day, we do the tour with the group and then afterwards we head to the children's zoo to play, visit meerkats, and pet goats.

I couldn't imagine a better way to see our zoo! We don't stress about seeing this animal or that. We don't feel exhausted because we didn't have to trek around one side of the zoo to the other pushing a double stroller up hill. And we get to hang out with our friends! 

The San Diego Zoo also has an amazingly fun interactive site for kids as well at San Diego Zoo Kids. Visit their Mommy and Me section to learn more about the animals you visit at the zoo. You can even view the animals (including babies!) on the animal cams in the different animal habitats.

As we visit the zoo over and over again, my son has been increasingly interested in the jobs available at the zoo. Being able to speak with the staff, find out exactly what each person does, and how involved they are with the animals can help motivate my son to find out what he wants to be when he grows up. Sure he's only 3 1/2 but sometimes a dream can start early on in life!

If you haven't already joined a playgroup for your little one, I highly suggest it! Being able to connect with different locations around San Diego while bringing a large group means discounts, special tours, and much much more!

I found my playgroup by simply perusing the playgroups in our area on Meetup.com. I'm sure if you check them out you can find one that fits perfectly for you!