FreidaFroo Special Offer: WorldMark Resorts!

For those of you local lucky folk who get to vacation during those 8 crazy nights (Chanukah) as opposed to the popular "winter break", I have a fabulous family-vacation opportunity for you. We (our extended family) have spent many holidays vacationing in the WorldMark Indio Resorts, and we enjoyed heaps of family-style fun! These resorts are specifically incredible when vacationing with small children or large groups due to the diversity of activities and personal-suite amenities. Vacationing with a family is meant to be easy-going and relaxing - not over-the-top and stressful. I find that while going away to the most chic and up-scale hotels/resorts may be indulgent and luxurious - it is definitely not what I would look forward to when vacationing with tots-in-toe. The Indio resorts feature: 2 huge (gradual-depth) pools, a splash-pad, a lazy river (the kids love the tubing!), playgrounds, a full equipped gym (sweat out the stress!), a basketball court, a game room (pool tables, air hockey, ping-pong) plus an arcade area, a library, media room, and in-house spa treatments (a girl can do some time!).

All suites are equipped with central air/heat, full kitchen/living room/dining room, flat-screens, private outdoor space and BBQ, a washer and dryer (plus detergent!), and (towel-laden) bathrooms. There are 1, 2, and 3 bedroom suites available - some with outdoor hot-tubs on deck! You can check out more about the resort here. At about a 2 hour drive from LA, this is really a fantastic place to vacation with the kiddies! I have a shareholder who is offering all you local FreidaFroo readers incredible rates (for off-peak times):

Monday - Thursday: 1 Bedroom (sleeps 4)  $85/night,  2 Bedroom  2 bath (sleeps 6) $120/night, 3 bedroom 3 bath (sleeps 8)   $150/night.

Friday - Saturday: 1 Bedroom $130/night, 2 Bedroom $165/night, 3 Bedroom $ 200/night.

You can book up to 60 days in advance (if you need to you can cancel without a fee up to a week in advance). These rates include all fees and taxes!

Feel free to e-mail me (freidafroo@gmail.com) for more information, or when you are ready to book your much-needed, much-deserved family-getaway!

Tripods Gone Wild!

Chanukah gift-giving is just around the corner, and I've recently laid eyes on one very convenient gadget: The Gorillapod; like no other tripod on earth! This nifty number can fold up to fit into your pocket/purse/glove compartment/diaper bag etc. I've been browsing through my iPhoto library recently (on a quest for a casual family photo) and realized how seldom the three of us actually make it behind the lens together! I wish-listed this gizmo immediately, and I'm sure lots of others would love the concept of an easier family photo, as well... Gorillapod by Joby, from $19.95

Jeggings go Potty

Turns out the "jegging"-trend is useful for more than just comfortable baby jean options; it's the perfect DIY potty pants! When potty training a toddler (especially a younger one!) pants that they can pull down and up on their own is the number one essential! Not too keen on completely forfeiting Freida's jean options, I picked up a pair of Levi jeggings ($10) and now I'm totally hooked! She can pull them down with ease (no snaps, buttons, or zippers), and pull them right back up - properly - on her own. Potty-training is enough of a bother for a toddler - feeling inadequate about getting their pants up shouldn't be part of the process... Believe it or not, people tell me "I love her little skinny jeans!" without realizing they are knit leggings. Super-comfy, cuper-cute - even for pre-potty rugrats!

(We slightly paused on the potty-training thing, going to go for it properly after her 2nd birthday... For now we just try it twice a day to get her used to the potty seat. Sometimes she pees, sometimes she doesn't - but it is definitely helpful in getting her accustomed to going and sitting etc. Once we actually start training I will post a PDF of our potty chart and system. Wish us luck!!)

Sunny Days: Gone Green

Freida (and I!) have really been enjoying the 41st season of Sesame Street!

At 7am the red light on the DVR box lights up, and within the hour, after sharing AM oatmeal and vitamins, we cuddle up together on the sofa (me - still groggy, sipping coffee) and skim through the episode for our favorite segments: Theme song, intro, mad men, music videos, and of course, Elmo. (Yeah, sometimes she feigns for me to switch to Yo Gabba, but once we get started she laughs on through... and she doesn't stop trying to learn the Elmo Slide!)

Folks,this is definitely not the Sesame Street we all grew up on - it's the iconic characters, classic values, and educationl-factor + a fabulous new and modern artistic view. And (I admit), while some of it is rather on the corny-side of the arts fence, most of this new season seems to be fun, upbeat, and genuinely entertaining! Not to mention so darn educational!!

Here's a sneak peak of some of the seasons highlights:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4mllBjgr4U]

P.S. I'm loving the Envirosax/Sesame Street collaboration. Only these beloved colorful characters can bring such vibrant cheer to simple re-usable bag! I always have a bag like this stashed deep in my purse - never fails to come in handy!! Extra shopping, farmers market stop, an unexpected set of wet/dirty baby clothes etc., these bags help keep me sane on-the-go.

Environsax Sesame Street Exclusives, from $9.95

Hope your days are sunny!!

Fun & Free on a Rainy Day

Freida woke up this morning at a shocking 5:35am (thank you dear husband for letting your woman sleep!). Not wanting today to turn into a miserably lazy rain-day, I decided to splurge and take her to an art center in my neighborhood ($20)... Only after my morning cup of joe did I think to check in and make sure they were open; which they were not (closed for "vacation" - who's taking vacation in October??). I half-heartedly decided to make our signature rain-day-buster trip to Barnes & Noble. Happened to be the school here had Teachers In Service day, so we brought Freida's cousins along for the ride. I know this sounds pathetic - we were there (happily!) for 2 whole hours! We parked ourselves at a picnic table in Kids Section, and set off to collect and set up a stack of books, some snacks and drinks etc. and believe it or not - had fun. Not just quiet-time library-style fun - real live fun. The boys were stoked to compete with each other in "I Spy" books, and Freida was happy to munch on crackers and leaf through colorful board books. She made some stuffed friends, and had a surprisingly good time trying to remember where she got each book from, and matching the ones on the shelves while putting them back. The kids even put on a full-fledged performance on the stage (it was 9am and the store just opened - believe me no one was there to mind). We hit up the in-house Starbucks for some Coffee/Tea- time, a friend of ours even joined us there, and generally we just spent a couple of educational hours enjoying each others company...

On the way back to the car we decided to stop in next door at the PetSmart and check out the animal-happenings. I looove taking Freida to pet shops! She always has such a good time talking to the animals, and learning about where they like to live, and eat etc. Today we lucked out - this PetSmart had a huge glass wall and on the other side of it was "Doggy Day Camp"! The kids happily watched as the dogs played around while the trainers got them to jump, fetch, slide etc.

If you are dealing with kids and rain this week - definitely stop Barnes & Noble... it is not just a bookstore.