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25 Mar 2013

Kidville (more like KidHeaven)

This past Saturday, we attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening of Kidville in Wellesley. Our schedules have been jam-packed lately, but we decided to make it a priority to check this place out as we’ve been actively looking (surprisingly without much success) for fun, new, educational activities in our community to entertain our little guy. I’m so glad we went because this is precisely the type of local family-friendly venue that we have been searching for!

Their all-in-one resource facility is quite impressive and I’m pretty sure it was the most fun-filled morning of my almost-two-year-old son’s life thus far. Afterall, it’s not every day that he gets to climb a rock wall, swing from uneven bars, bounce on a massive trampoline, construct a giant soft block tower, and dance in the front row of a live Rockin’ Railroad concert!

As usual, we arrived a few minutes early and were officially the first family to visit Kidville Wellesley! Exciting! As we waited for the rest of the families to file in (and file in they did — there must have been hundreds of people there), we were warmly welcomed by one of the co-owners, Harvard Pan. And during the ribbon cutting ceremony, we were pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful shout out to Talking Thirty by co-owner, Cathy Tai.

Kidville Wellesley Ribbon Cutting

So what exactly is Kidville? Kidville Wellesley is a new play and learning space in Wellesley Center (in the location of the former Rugged Bear store in Wellesley Center) geared towards serving families like ours with active little tikes. They offer a variety of classes in music, art and gym for babies, toddlers and kids newborn through 6-years old. They also offer a preschool alternative program (Kidville University – KVU) and summer camps.

The interior of Kidville Wellesley features high-ceilings and large open spaces tastefully decorated in bright, bold colors. It contains classrooms, a retail boutique, and an awesome indoor playspace that made my toddler shout “YAY!” upon first entry. There’s even a little salon there where the wee ones can get their hair cut while sitting in an adorable tiny red airplane. How cute is this?!

Kidville Wellesley Salon

We’re always looking for new places to entertain C. Unfortunately, most of the children’s places we’ve been to lately from children’s museums to indoor playgrounds have been a bit old, run-down and just icky sticky. So, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Kidville’s facility is brand new, spacious, uncluttered, and immaculate. A germophobic mama’s dream! I really hope it stays this clean in the years to come.

We began the morning by enjoying some open gym time in the enormous indoor playspace. This place had just about everything — rock climbing wall, oversized trampoline, balance beam, uneven bars, basketball hoops, soft padded blocks, tumbling mats of all shapes and sizes, and swings hung by chains from the ceiling. My little guy was beyond thrilled to explore it all. I just wish it were socially acceptable for thirty-something adults to climb on, jump off, and swing from all the play structures, too!

Kidville Wellesley Playspace

Kidville Wellesley's Climbing Wall

Kidville Wellesley's Playspace

Basketball at Kidville Wellesley

By far, the highlight of our visit was the Rockin’ Railroad Concert. A live 4-piece children’s band led by a conductor and co-conductor enthusiastically played a set of upbeat toddler tunes, some familiar and some refreshingly new to us. To make it extra exciting, they even brought out a bubble maker and some special puppet friends during the show. The conductor’s genuine enthusiasm for the music and encouraging manner seemed to instill confidence in my very-shy-lil guy to get up and shake his baby booty! It was indeed a rockin’ musical adventure enjoyed by both children and parents alike.

Kidville Wellesley Rockin' Railroad Concert

Kidville Wellesley's Rockin' Railroad Concert

Kidville Wellesley Rockin' Railroad Concert

It’s hard to find words to express our enthusiasm for this place. Let me just say this: When we got home, our normally-nap- resistant little man voluntarily took an EXTRA nap because he was just that exhausted from all the festivities. That’s HUGE and pretty much guarantees that we’ll be back for more.

All too often, we visit kids’ venues only to find that Connor is too young to participate in many of the activities. What I enjoyed about Kidville was that the environment, equipment, and activities were safe and engaging for even very young toddlers and babies.

Music exploration at Kidville Wellesley

I’ve already decided that we are just going to HAVE to have one of Connor’s birthday parties here someday. First, he just has to make some new little friends to invite. Maybe he’ll meet them at Kidville.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post; however, I did receive a complimentary goody bag from Kidville/Koop Communications and a complimentary introductory semester of a Kidville class. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.

TalkingThirty | 7 comments

11 Dec 2012

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Celebrations & Entertaining

10 Ways to Green Your Holidays

Check out my latest post on Boston Mamas, 10 Ways to Green Your Holidays!

BostonMamas.com

And since it seems I hardly ever have time to post these days, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a really fabulous 2013!

TalkingThirty | One comment

10 Oct 2012

Babies & Parenting • Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World

Baby costumes

I have never really been a Halloween person. Sure, I dressed up, went trick-or-treating, and ate my fair share of KitKats as a kid, but Halloween has just never excited me in the way that it excites others. But now that I have a baby, I simply cannot wait for Halloween! My favorite thing in the whole wide world is babies in costumes. Just makes my heart melt to see their chubby little faces squished into silly little costumes. I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to it.

Last year, we dressed baby C up in a baby lion costume, but Halloween was officially canceled in many Massachusetts towns due to a three-day power outage. Very disappointing for his first Halloween. So we had to settle for taking a few pictures indoors in the dark.

This year, for his first REAL Halloween, we’ll be dressing him up in a baby lobster costume. As soon as we brought the costume home, I just couldn’t wait to put him in it. Here’s a sneak peek:

What is your little one going to be for Halloween this year? Are you dressing up, too?

TalkingThirty | 6 comments

02 Apr 2012

Career/Working Moms • Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World

Let the Staycation Begin!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We are finally recovering from the worst virus ever and were able to enjoy a relaxing, low-key family weekend at home.

Yesterday, I went to a lovely baby shower at the childhood home of one of my best friends who I’ve known since the summer before 6th grade. Although I don’t live all that far from where I grew up, I hardly ever venture through my hometown anymore. The drive to the shower took me past several of my old schools and past the fields where I spent every Saturday morning for years playing soccer. It’s such a warm and comforting feeling returning to the place where you grew up and spending the day with people you have known virtually your entire life.

The shower itself was so beautifully prepared by the grandmothers-to-be. I love going to showers in which they have added unique little touches that you don’t necessarily see at every shower. Yesterday, they hung a long clothesline across two rooms and everyone was asked to bring something to hang on it which contained special memories that they had shared with the parents-to-be and/or which represented their best wishes for the baby on the way. One of the grandmothers-to-be who is an avid diver (how cool is that?!) brought a rubber ducky in scuba gear! Other adorable items hung on the clothesline included a dream catcher, an old photograph of the father-to-be as a child, and a personalized onesie with the mom-to-be’s hometown embroidered on it (yes, that was my item). At the end of the shower, the hosts said a little something about each memento. I have never seen this done at a baby shower before and thought it was a really sweet idea. Here’s the baby mama looking through some of the clothesline items. How amazing does she look?

Anyway, hope everyone has a fantastic week! I decided to take this week off for my second Mini-Maternity Leave! For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, every few months I take a week off from work to do nothing but spend quality time with my baby boy. No work emails, no housework, no errands. Just uninterrupted play time with my baby. I’m so looking forward to a week of reading books, singing silly songs, and lots of giggling and snuggling with this little guy.

Can’t wait for him to wake up from his nap so I can kiss those cheeks!

TalkingThirty | 5 comments

12 Mar 2012

Around Boston • Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World

Imagination Island

Baby C was invited to a family friend’s 2nd birthday party on Sunday morning at an indoor playground in Plymouth, MA called Imagination Island. This was the first real birthday party that we’d been to since the hubby and I were kids ourselves, and I’m sure things have changed since the 1980s and 90s, so we weren’t really sure what to expect of this place.

Since C is not a daycare kiddo, we were happy for him to have the opportunity to meet and interact with other little ones his age. And now that he’s crawling, we were excited that he’d actually be able to participate in some of the fun activities.

Tucked away in an industrial park-type setting with ample parking and little traffic, this place was a true hidden gem and we’re so glad that we discovered it. Open to children ages 1-8, Imagination Island is 5,500 square feet of island-themed indoor play space. It includes a multi-level, soft-contained playscape, mazes, tunnels, slides, moonbounce, doll house, puppet stage, trains, Legos table, riding cars, and padded foam block area for the littlest guys.

: Imagination Island Plymouth, MA

: Imagination Island – Indoor Playground

There were also a bunch of separate little rooms each with its own fun theme. For example, kids could dress up in a little boutique, shop for groceries at a play marketplace, cook in a play kitchen and eat in the pretend café, captain a pirate ship, pretend to be firefighters in a fire house, amongst other things.

Tuki’s Tropical Village at Imagination Island

There was a small snack stand offering chicken fingers, dry cereal, animal crackers, and the like, and a small picnic area with tables and benches where people could rest or have a bite to eat.

What I liked about this place is that it was really clean. They ask children and adults to remove their shoes before entering the play space. Socks are required and there was hand sanitizer at every counter and doorway. All of the staff members we interacted with were friendly, courteous, and helpful. They greeted you immediately upon arrival and provided simple directions on what to do and where to go.

I also loved the extra little touches that made this place special and exciting for the kids. Periodically throughout the morning, they turned on a machine that sat on an elevated platform and blew bubbles out onto the kids below. Like moths to a flame, the kiddos came running towards the bubbles from every corner of the play space.

Bubbles!

Our friends got the private party package so we had the place to ourselves for the first hour of the morning. This was wonderful because we got to explore the entire playground without having to deal with crowds. It really did fill up towards the end of the party once they opened to the public. Imagination Island took care of everything for the party. We were really impressed with how well-organized they were and with how seamlessly the two-hour event was run. They provided pizza, juice, soft drinks, and coffee, as well as a dinosaur-themed cake and decorations. They even had a staff member recording each gift that the birthday boy received and the gift giver’s name.

Dinosaur-themed Birthday Party

Dinosaur birthday cake

If we lived closer to Plymouth, I could definitely see us coming here every weekend, especially when C gets a little older. If you live near Plymouth or happen to be down the Cape with your kids on a rainy day, I recommend checking it out!

I don’t remember having these places when we were little! Have you taken your little ones to a similar indoor playground in your local area?

TalkingThirty | 2 comments

29 Jan 2012

Celebrations & Entertaining • Yummy Things

Resolutions Be Damned! Cake

Really looking forward to some much-needed girl time at Dinner Club tonight! The theme is “Happy New Year!” and I volunteered to be in charge of dessert. I’ve been looking for an excuse to make a Judy-fied version of this cake that I’ve been drooling over on Pinterest for the past few weeks.

There’s nothing healthy about this so if you’re dead set on staying true to your New Year’s Resolution (notice how I assume that everyone has the same NYR), look away now. Seriously. Avert your gaze.

Okay, here’s how mine turned out…

Resolutions Be Damned Cake

This sinfully delicious and easy-to-make (a requirement for me) dessert is aptly named Resolutions Be Damned! Cake.

Ingredients:

1 box of Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 ¼ cups water
½ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 16 oz. jar hot fudge topping
1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip
1 8 oz. bag of Heath English Toffee Bits (The bag says “Bits ‘O Brickle” …not sure what that even means)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare pan to keep cake from sticking by lightly coating bottom of pan with no-stick cooking spray.
3. As directed on cake mix box, blend cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl until moistened. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or whisk by hand for 2 minutes.
4. Bake 31-35 minutes at 350 degrees F in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
5. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes throughout the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon.
6. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top. Then, let cool completely.
7. Spread hot fudge over the cake and put in the fridge to set.
8. When it is completely cool, spread Cool Whip over the top of the cake.
9. Top with Heath toffee bits.
10. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This cake can be made the night before and kept in the fridge overnight which makes it even more moist.

TalkingThirty | 7 comments

25 Jan 2012

Celebrations & Entertaining • Yummy Things

(An ABC’s Version of) Hong Kong-Style Egg Tarts

Today while C was down for his nap, I had a craving for Hong Kong-Style Egg Tarts (or “Dan Tat” for my Cantonese peeps). We normally just buy them from a Chinese bakery, but I didn’t feel like heading all the way into Boston’s Chinatown just for that. So, in the spirit of Chinese New Year, I decided to get in touch with my cultural roots and bake them myself!

I didn’t have much time (baby C is a notoriously short napper) so I took some shortcuts. I used pre-made pie crust instead of making the dough from scratch. Think of this as the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade version of dan tat (if Sandra Lee made things like dan tat, which she doesn’t, so I have taken the liberty of naming this the TalkingThirty Semi-Homemade Dan Tat).

From start to finish, it only took me about 20 minutes to bake them. To my surprise, they were actually pretty tasty, although they turned out more like Macau-style egg tarts. Here’s the recipe I used (a seriously modified version of one I found on Allrecipes) for anyone interested in trying it out.

Ingredients:

1 Pillsbury Refrigerated Pre-Made Pie Crust
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar (you can use more sugar if you like things sweeter)
5 eggs
1 dash of vanilla extract
½ cup of canned evaporated milk

: Ingredients for Hong Kong-style Egg Tarts

Clearly, when I was at the grocery store, I did not think ahead to the fact that I would be photographing my ingredients, and now the whole world (or the four people who read my blog) knows that I was too cheap to dish out the extra $0.50 on Carnation brand evaporated milk. But I digress…here’s how I made them.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Unroll the pre-made pie crust. Using the mouth of a large drinking glass, cut circles out of the raw pie crust and press them into a muffin pan to form the tart shells.
3. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Continue to cook until the sugar has completely dissolved, remove from heat, and cool to room temperature.
4. Beat eggs (but don’t over-beat).
5. Strain the eggs through a sieve and whisk into the sugar-water mixture.
6. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla.
7. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
8. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 or until the filling is slightly puffed up and the top is a golden brown.

Makes about 8 tarts.

Hong Kong-style Egg Tart ("Dan Tat")

A word of caution if you’re going to try this recipe: This is an ABC’s version of Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts. If you’re looking for an authentic recipe, I’d advise you to look elsewhere and obviously, don’t make this for Chinese food purists!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity in the Year of the Dragon!

TalkingThirty | 12 comments

24 Dec 2011

Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World • Uncategorized

A new twist on an old favorite: Reindeer Poop

Merry Christmas Eve (to those who celebrate)! It’s my favorite day of the year!So much excitement and anticipation, cooking, baking, yummy food, giving, and family time!

While baby C was down for his morning nap, Jack and I decided to make something fun, something that always reminds him of his childhood. A new twist on an old favorite (Buckeye Balls), we’ve named them “Reindeer Poop”! A cute idea for the kids and they are so easy to make!

Reindeer Poop

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 lb. confectioners (powdered) sugar
16 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels
2 tablespoons Crisco shortening

Directions:

1) Melt butter in non-stick pan and stir in peanut butter. Mixture will be soupy.
2) Gradually add confectioners sugar. Taking care not to burn yourself, you may want to use your hands towards the end.
3) Chill for a few minutes.
4) Lay wax paper on cookie sheets. Shape peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls using your hands and place on wax paper.
5) Melt chocolate chip morsels and stir in 2 tablespoons of shortening. Stir until shortening melts and is thoroughly mixed.
6) Using a small spoon, drizzle chocolate over peanut butter balls.
7) Chill in fridge until hard and serve.

TalkingThirty | No comments

21 Dec 2011

Celebrations & Entertaining

How to host a holiday cookie swap

I hosted my first holiday cookie swap with some of my closest girlfriends this past weekend and we had a blast! I’m sure there are several ways to host a cookie swap, but this is how we did it.

There were five of us and each person baked two different kinds of cookies. I think in traditional cookie swaps, each person only bakes one type of cookie, but we wanted to make sure we had enough variety. We each brought copies of our recipes to share. No secret recipes here!

We sampled the goodies to our hearts’ delight over girl talk and hot mulled apple cider. Once we were sure we had consumed our weight in sugar and butter, it was time to swap! Each person took home a container full of assorted cookies from the swap to bring home to share with loved ones and visitors over the holidays.

I’ll definitely be making this an annual event. It’s super easy to host and saves everyone time. Could you imagine having to bake that many cookies all by yourself to serve your guests each Christmas? Plus it’s a great way to make sure you see your closest girls during the chaotic holiday season. And if your friends are all better bakers than you are (as is true in my case), then you get to take credit for all their work!

Above are pics of a few of the cookies we had. I wish I had taken pictures of every single batch, but I was too busy stuffing my face. From top left: Toffee brittle, pecan pie cookies, chewy molasses cookies, walnut blondie cookie bars, peanut butter blossom cookies, pecan shortbread cookies, snickerdoodles, white chocolate chip almond cookies, and mint chocolate chip cookies.

TalkingThirty | No comments

11 Dec 2011

Celebrations & Entertaining • Domestic Duties

Channeling Cake Boss

Another weekend has come and gone. I spent most of the weekend playing with the baby and doing mounds of laundry and other household chores, but Saturday, I took a little time to myself to explore my creative side. I baked a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for my sister’s birthday. She has a thing for owls so I decided to play around with rolled fondant to make a 3D sculpted owl to put on top. I had never made anything with fondant before so I had no idea what I was doing, but I think it turned out really cute, if I may say so myself! And the little arts & crafts break was surprisingly therapeutic and so much fun.