Arizona Science Center a great spot for hands on learning!

 

Phoenix families are you looking for a fun activity to do together before school starts back up for the year? Why not spend a few hours at the Arizona Science Center, where you'll have fun & keep the brain active while learning something new. The science center has four levels of exhibits to explore, along with their featured exhibit which changes frequently. The current featured exhibit is called "Survival of the Slowest" where you'll be able to see real life critters on display & learn fun facts about all of the different "slow" species. Tickets are $21.95 for adults & $15.95 for ages 3-17, admission includes all of their regular exhibits - tickets for the featured exhibit, planetarium, and theatre cost extra. They also sell memberships that are a one time payment & you'll be able to visit as many times through out the year as you'd like. The science center is located in downtown phoenix, the address is 600 E. Washing St. Phoenxi,Arizona 85004. 

Once you arrive, you can choose how you'd like to explore the science center, you can work your way up or down. We decided to head to the top floor & work our way down, we had arrived about 11am and wanted to attend the survival of the slowest show at 12:15pm so we made sure we were exploring the floor it was on so we didn't miss it. All the of exhibits offer hands on activities & experiences for both kids and adults to enjoy, ranging from building with Legos to digitally morphing a photo by pressing different buttons.  

The featured exhibit was personally my favorite part because they have close to two dozen different live critters for you to see up close. I was pretty impressed with how large their enclosures were for each animal, they were bigger than some zoo enclosures I've seen for animals of similar styles/species. Along the way you'll get to learn facts about all the animals plus other animals that aren't there in person. They have two shows daily where a staff member will talk about animals & even show you one or two of the animals. When we were there they pulled out the boa & let everyone touch it, then everyone had the opportunity to help feed the tortoises. 

We also stopped by to watch a presentation in the Planetarium. The kids really enjoyed the presentation on the solar system, it took you on a 360 degree virtual trip through the stars and planets. Along the way you'll learn about the solar system & take mini polls along the way answering by clicking the buttons on the handle of your chair. Who grew up learning that Pluto was a planet & thinks it should still be considered a planet vs a dwarf planet? 

During our visit we had a lot of fun exploring all of the various exhibits & getting to interact with what was available. There are so many things to enjoy at the science center that this post would end up being gigantic if I told you about everything they have to offer which is why it is best for you to check out the fun for yourself! I will also be putting together a Instagram reel highlighting some of the things we did while at the science center & you can click here to see a quick reel of some of the critters they have on display at Survival of the Slowest. 

I really enjoy that the science center isn't geared towards just younger children, teens & adults will have a great time as well. I personally like the "My Digital World" Exhibit & the "Forces of Nature"! One of the hands on activities in the my digital world area is this cylinder that is filled with tiny yellow & blue beads with one singular red bead thrown in. You are able to spin the cylinder round & round letting the beads roll as you turn it so you can try and spot the read bead, I was pretty excited when I was the first one out of my group to spot the red bead! In total we spent about three and a half hours exploring the science center, we arrived at 11am on a Saturday & were happy to find it was super crowded, plus with the way they have everything set up it allows everyone to have room to enjoy the exhibits. 

A few things to know before you go! Parking is not included with your ticket, there are several parking garages in the area however the science center will only validate your parking if you park in the Heritage & Science Park garage, you can google it or there is a map on their website showing where it is located. This will allow you to park for cheaper. They do have a snack vending machine that I spotted near the front entrance, but they do not have a restaurant at the science center so you may want to look into eating before you go, or stopping at a near by restaurant once you are done. The science center provides a list of close restaurants on the back of the map of the science center to make it easier for you to find a place to eat. If you want to really make the most of your day & beat the Arizona heat by staying indoors the Children's Museum of Phoenix is located quite close to the science center, you can find info on that by clicking here.

My family & I had a wonderful time at the science center and will definitely be keeping an eye on their social media pages to see what the next featured exhibit is. They also have various events & programs you can participate in, all of which can be found on their website. A little extra info; if you are a EBT card holder the science center is park of the Museums for all program where you can get tickets to the science center for $3 per person (you'll need to reserve your tickets ahead of when you want to visit).

Disclaimer- The Arizona Science Center provided tickets to the science center + tickets for the featured exhibit/planetarium for the review free of charge, no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Fade Away Tattoos - Do they work?

 

Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo, but you weren't sure where to put it or how you might look with a tattoo? Temporary tattoos can be a great way to test out if you'll like having tattoos & where to place them without the cost and life time commitment of a real tattoo. I was recently given a chance to work with a company called Fade Away Tattoo, they offer a selection of semi-permanent tattoos that last 1-2 weeks after putting them on. I have several real tattoos on my back & legs, but I've always wondered if I'd like one on my forearm or not and this gives me the opportunity to find out.

I've seen similar brands before & have been interesting in seeing how they turn out and if they work as advertised. When first applied the tattoo is barley visible, then over the next 24 to 36 hours the formula they use will get darker until it reaches the color it is meant to be, from the time you apply it the tattoo will last up to two weeks. One of the tips they give while you are waiting for it to develop the first twenty four hours is to wear loose clothing while sleeping to help prevent the tattoo from transferring onto another section of your skin. The amount of time it last completely depends on where you place the temporary tattoo. I tested out a small fox on my ankle which almost made it to the darkest shade & lasted a little over two weeks before I washed off the last remaining portion of the tattoo. I also tried out a series of planets & stars in a line on my wrist, only half of the tattoo became as dark as it was meant to & it washed off within a few days. The one I tried on my wrist, I believe lasted less time as I wash my hands/wrists at work quite often. 

Over the weekend my kids & I tried out a tattoo on our forearms (7/17 is when we applied them). This time around the tattoos became nice & dark, seeing the amount of details they are able to put into some of the tattoos is cool to see. The ghost tattoos I applied on my kids have faded faster than mine as they spend a lot of time in the pool, they are still slightly visible & should last another day or two. The tattoo I had applied is still very dark & hasn't faded at all. I absolutely love how the Anubis tattoo I applied on my forearm looks, and it has helped me decide that in the future I will get a real tattoo in the same spot after I figure out what I want. I have a few other tattoos I was sent that I haven't used yet, but I am looking forward to using them as well. It is fun being able to apply these & having the look of having more tattoos. My kids nor myself have had any kind of negative reaction to these temporary tattoos & if you want to get rid of them sooner than having them fade away on their own they can be scrubbed off with some body wash & a hand towel or bathing sponge. 

I do want to point out that in the instructions it tells you to remove any hair from the area you'll be applying the tattoo. I shave my arms anyway so that wasn't a big deal for me, when it came to my kids I didn't want to shave their arms especially given that they have fine baby hairs anyway so we just applied the temporary tattoos over them. The tattoos still applied & worked just fine, the image below is about 24 hours after we had applied the tattoos & they did get darker as time went on. Unless the area you are applying your temporary tattoo on is overly hairy, you should have able to get away with applying the tattoo to thinly hair areas without issue. Update 7/28 - It has now been eleven days since I originally applied the Anubis tattoo. A large majority of the tattoo is still intact however the outer edges of the tattoo such as his ears and the geometric shapes/lines in the back are significantly lighter as you can tell it is starting to fade. When it gets to the point where enough is missing & you'd like to remove it, some light scrubbing with a wash cloth + soap will remove the rest of it.

Fade Away Tattoo has a growing collection of tattoos to choose from, I got lucky & found several designs I liked and look forward to them adding more. Prices range from $2.34 for a small tattoo up to $16 for large tattoos. If you can't decide what you'd like or want a surprise they have mystery packs available to purchase. The shipping was quick & it came with easy to follow instructions on how to apply your tattoo (works just like the fake tattoos you might have used when you were a kid). If you aren't from the US, no need to worry as the company ships worldwide with a page that goes over how long it takes to ship to each country.

Prize Alert:
I asked Fade Away Tattoos to send me a mystery bundle to use for a giveaway. Thus one lucky winner will receive a black Fade Away Tattoo envelope with three mystery items in it. 

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 08/08/2022 Giveaway has been extended until 8/11/22

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment telling me what your favorite design is from their collection of temporary tattoos. 

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Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Fade Away Tattoos for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Tiny Epic Galaxies Blast Off Review!

Whose ready for a new board game review? This time around I am sharing a great company who is based out of Arizona! The company is called Gamelyn Games & they are the creators of the Tiny Epic Games series. I was recently sent three of their games along with an expansion to play & review with my family. I will be featuring each game in it's own post starting off with this first post featuring a game called "Tiny Epic Galaxies BLAST OFF". This game is one of the newest games in their collection & can be purchased for $20, it is designed for 2-4 players ages 8+. The series is called the Tiny Epic Game series due to the size of the game boxes & game pieces, the boxes are the game measure 7" long with a width just under 5" which makes these games easy to store & to travel with. I could easily pack this into my suitcase, backpack or purse to play while on vacation or during travel. 

Blast Off is a game where you will explore the universe trying to conquer as many planets as you can. Each planet is worth a set amount of points which will be added to your grand total, the first player to reach twenty-one points wins. Your first round might be a little chaotic as you learn the rules & get used to the game and it will get easier the next time you play, the rules are fairly easy to learn & you will be able to learn them quickly. If you are struggling to understand the rule book there is a QR code you can scan which will play a video of what to do. I like that they include the instructional video as some people are better visual learners. I also like that the inside of the lid also doubles as a dice tray.  All of the game pieces & player cards are very detailed and bright in color, it is fun seeing all of the different planets the cards feature.

So how do you play? Everyone starts off on the same level which you are see in the card below, so you'll automatically be able to roll four dice, have two ships & start at zero points, plus you'll start with two energy & one  culture. You will also notice that each player card has a red column which signifies how much energy or culture you will need to "upgrade" your level which unlocks more dice, ships & points to use to win. The game does rely on the luck of the dice, but there are also ways to create your own luck. You can spend an energy to re-roll all of your un-used dice (I will explain this below) or your can use either an energy or culture to use the converter once changing one dice to any face you'd like. 

After rolling the dice, you will complete the tasks in any order you choose by "activating" the dice which means placing them into the square slots on the activation bay card. The squares that are yellow will allow another player to use a culture to "follow" or copy your move and complete the same action themselves. If you pay attention to the other players during game play it can come in handy for how you decide to complete your tasks. Once a dice is on the activation bay it is a "used" dice and any other dice left in the dice tray are "un-used" which you can re-roll given you have the energy to pay to do so.

 A dice with a rocket ship will all you to place your ship on any open planet which gives you two spots to land, one is a track you'll need to climb to claim the planet & the other option is to land on the planet itself giving you the resources list at the bottom of the card. You can only have 1 ship per track & 1 ship per surface on the planet cards. You climb the track by playing dice that match the same symbol on the track & once you reach the top that planet is yours & can be placed under your player mat like shown above. You will still have access to use the resources on the planet card if you use the Utilize galaxy dice, it will give you access to upgrade your player track or use one planet recourse. The handy rulebook that comes with the game will tell you what each symbol on the planets mean so you can properly claim your resource. For example if you look at the top right planet card on the photo above that has the "5" points, this card means that all other players will gain one culture token & you will gain two. Some cards benefit only you and others benefit everyone, play these cards wisely or you could end up giving someone else the win. 

We've played this several times together as a family now & we've also played with just three people, having the hang of how the game goes now the rounds go by fairly quickly. We enjoy pulling this out when we are looking for a quick simple game to enjoy in between other plans we have going on, a game can last anywhere from twenty to forty minutes depending on how everyone plays & how the dice is rolled. We can't wait to check out the other two games in the Tiny Epic series we were sent to check out. If you love board games or are looking for a good place to start this is a fun game to check out, I highly suggest heading over to their website and seeing what their game catalogue has to offer you.

Disclaimer- Gamelyn Games provided the products above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

July Beauty & The Book Giveaway!

 

This first week of July really flew by for me! The start of a new month means it is time for a new beauty and the book giveaway, which of course is the reason you are reading this post in the first place. As the name suggests I combine two of my favorite things to giveaway each month books & beauty products. It is a great way to enjoy a new book while pampering yourself, the items are different each time I put these together so if you don't like this month's bundle, keep an eye out for next month. 

Coming up this month I will have some new reviews along with some fun giveaways (board games, temporary tattoos and more). We are currently in the hot month's of summer so we don't typically travel out of the city a lot during this time, plus my car needs a bit of work so I will post more camping/travel destinations once the weather starts to cool down a bit.  For all of my giveaways the mandatory entry is to leave a comment answering a question at the end of the post. The world has been a crazy place the last few years & it is easy to get lost in the sea of sad news stories, rising prices and more so it is nice to stop once in a while and remember to appreciate the good moments that make you smile, make you happy & help brighten up your week. So this month's question is related to that 😊, to answer the question myself; Something that has made me happy recently is that quite a few of the bands I love recently put out new albums that I am loving, my kids have been having a great summer & have been able to spend some time with their close friends, my car has been having some issues but I am thankful that I have the capabilities to fix those issues myself along with a supportive husband + step-dad that help me when I need it. 

This month's giveaway includes:

★ Hard cover copy of "Trial by Fire"
★ Amika Dry Shampoo Travel Size
★ Amika Instant Shine Mask
★ Amika reusable shopping bag
★ Bath & Body Works Lotion
★ Puremix Shampoo/Conditioner Samples x2
★ Mad Hippie Samples x3
★ Jelly Bath Bomb (it smells so good!)
★ Under eye mask
★ Smashbox Lipstick
★ Elf Lipstick
★ Maybelline Lipstick
★ QUR 360 Lip Balm
★ Perfume Sample in a floral scent
★ Nail File & Buffer
★ Trestique Eyeliner
★ Scentered balm set

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 7/30/2022

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling me about something that made you happy recently, or something you are grateful for!

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You can complete as many entries as you want, there are several one-time activities and daily activities that can earn you more entries into the giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye on my site & social media pages for more giveaways headed your way.

Randomise the strange & fun card game!

 

When we get together as a family for a BBQ or holiday event, we like having games to play that are fast paced, easy to play & are easy enough to learn quickly that it doesn't make anyone feel confused or left out. I recently found a great game called Randomise by Gamely Games that is small enough to carry around with you where ever you go, the rules do not take long to learn and it is quite interesting to play. What is Randomized? Teams will take turns sending one player up to draw, act or describe what they are wanting their team to guess based off of the cards they receive during their turn. 

Inside of the box, you'll find cards labeled "A", "B" & "C". You will need one for each round as they each signify something different: card "A" describes you (e.g. Happy, Hairy, Vain), card "B" will tell you what you are (Person, Lion, Chicken) & card "C" will tell you what you are doing. All the cards have two sections with numbers 1-3, you will need to decide if you want to go for the top half which is Easy or the bottom half which is Hard (Your team will win a higher number of points for a harder guess), then the opposing team will give you three numbers. So, if they tell you 2,3,3 & you went with the easy descriptions you'll go with A2, B3, C3 and choose if you want to draw, act or describe what you are. 

Here is a example of what you could end up with, A hungry Wizard spinning pottery. This is one I ended up with & drew the above photo (left side) to try and get my team to guess what it was. They guessed part of it but didn't completely guess what my clues were. Sounds like it should be easy to get your team to guess everything right? Well, the catch is if you draw it, you'll have 90 seconds to complete your photo. It was more difficult than you think trying to draw someone on a pottery wheel within the amount of time given. If you act it out, you'll have 60 seconds and if you describe it, you'll only get 30 seconds. Depending on the three descriptions you are given it can be pretty crazy trying to accomplish your feat within the time frame. This game really helps keep your brain active & engaged while playing it since you'll need to quickly figure out what to draw or how to describe/act out various aspects of your teams guess with the rules provided. For some guesses such as "Robin" you might want to draw Robin's symbol from the batman series, however you aren't allowed to draw letters or numbers.

We love just how crazy & truly random the game can get, some of the combinations are downright hilarious and some make you think "what the heck". The first team to 30 points wins! The two options that were a favorite with our group was drawing it out & describing it out loud following the guidelines they have in the rules. We laughed a lot playing this game & everyone who played really enjoyed it so that was a bonus because it means they will want to play it again during another get together. Randomise can be purchased through amazon for $14.99 with free prime shipping, if you are outside of the US you can purchase it through their website. Looking for more family friendly board games? Type "Board games" into the search bar of my blog or click the board game link on the right hand side of my page to see other games I've reviewed. 

Is this a game you & your family would enjoy playing together?

Disclaimer- Gamely Games provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Cooking deliciousness with Dash!

 

The house we are currently living in doesn't have a lot of storage space, so I've always said I wasn't going to be getting anymore big appliances or kitchen clutter. When the air fryer trend really started to take off, my mom picked one up and I decided to borrow it one night. We quickly realized we enjoy using it, so we would swap it back and forth between the houses since we never used it on the same nights. However, when Dash offered to let me review one of their air fryers to have as my own, I couldn't say no! I was sent a 6QT family air fryer in the color grey.

Sweet Potato Fries

We've used this to make a lot of delicious main courses along with plenty of yummy side dishes. The main difference between this one and the one we were using is that it doesn't have specific settings for certain dishes like fish, chicken, potatoes, and so forth so there may be a little bit of a learning curve trying to figure out what amount of time & temp to use when cooking. The only thing I slightly burnt was some broccoli that I left in for a little too long, but it was still edible and tasty. 

Sesame Style Chicken to go on Rice

My two favorite things to make in this is boneless chicken fingers/wings and vegetables. Prior to having the air fryer I would steam our veggies while cooking the main meal, but this air fryer helps cut down cooking time since you don't have to wait for water to boil & steam plus it cooks our veggies how we like them. I like that I can pop open the pan and check on everything as it is cooking so I can flip or mix what I am cooking and add seasonings. I've also made homemade sweet potato fries & carrot fries using this air fryer. Depending on what you are cooking a light spray of cooking oil or wiping it down with a little butter can help combat anything sticking to it.

I have found that it is easy to use and easy to clean after we are done using it, everything comes apart without any issues, and dries quickly. We are a family of four & this cooks the perfect sized amounts for side dishes, when it comes to main dishes depending on what we are cooking we have to split it up into two batches. I like that it isn't super loud when it is on, some air fryer models can be quite noisy when in operation. You can buy the 6QT air fryer in black, aqua, cool grey or red to go with the colors of your kitchen, they sell for $99.99. Along with air fryers Dash offers dozens of awesome & fun products such as waffle makers that are in festive shapes, egg cookers, blenders and more all at affordable prices.

Disclaimer- Dash provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Sips & Samples - July Review!

 

I recently received the chance to check out a subscription box from Sips and Samples, as soon as I got it open, I loved it! I've tried out quite a few subscription boxes and this has jumped to the top with some of my favorites. Every month Sips and Samples sends out a subscription box filled with some new drink products to try out along with snacks & full-sized beauty products. I was able to review the July box, it had a lot of amazing goodies a few of which I already know so it was nice to see some familiar favorites in with new products. There was a lot packed into this box, more than I was expecting. You can purchase a one-time box for $64.95 or purchase a longer subscription which gives you a slight discount each month.

My July box came with twelve products, five of them were to drink, two of them were snacks & five of them are beauty products. Let's break down what was included in the box;

Sparkling black & white teas from Trader Joes - Each box contains one black tea with peach & one white tea with pomegranate. I have not tried these as of yet, I am not always in the mood for tea, but will try to get to them soon. 

Cold brew coconut cream latte from Trader Joes - I let my husband try out this one, he wasn't a fan of it as he said it tasted like it had gone sour. We enjoyed the chance to try it, but we wouldn't buy this one in store. 

Smoothie mix from Fresh Success - We received the banana flavor mix. This is actually a product we already know & love, in fact when this arrived, I had a banana mix already in the kitchen. The kids and I love making smoothies with these for a quick treat. 

Light lemonade powder packets from Wylers - This is another product we are familiar with & have bought to use in our house. I like how easy the packets are to use and that I can toss some in my purse for when I am on the go. This box came with five packets to use. 

Cheese Crisps from Whisps - We love these in our home, we buy them frequently to eat as a snack or add onto our salads for a cheesy crunch. This was a smaller sized snack bag which is good for on the go, or a small snack at home. 

Coffee Bombs from Nudge - I enjoy drinking coffee, but I am not huge into coffee flavored snacks to I wasn't sure if I was going to like these or not. They surprised me and are actually quite delicious, both my husband and I like snacking on a few of these at a time for a little pick me up of coffee flavor. 

Handmade beach boho headbands from Scettar - This headband is beautiful; I love the floral pattern and how soft it is. It is a nice way to help keep the hair out of your face in summer, or a quick way to make a messy hair do look better. 

Mini aromatherapy balms from Scentered - What a neat little set of aromatherapy balms, this comes with six different essential oil-based balms to use for a variety of reasons. I like the tin they come in & that they can fit into your pocket. I will however be putting this into the July Beauty & the book giveaway which will be up soon as I don't see myself remembering to use this.

Natural sunscreen from Mamalu - An easy to carry around sunscreen in a solid form with a reusable tin. I like the smell of this sunscreen, the application process and carrying method are alright I think I'd prefer this in a stick form though, so I don't have to rub my hands into the tin. 

Mini moisturizing facial cleanser from Simple - I've seen the new packaging for this product a few times online & have been wanting to try it out as it is designed to help you easily get all of the product out of the package without wasting what you can't reach. This cleanser lathers well & leaves my skin feeling soft, I do wish it was a different scent though (but it won't stop me from using it).

Daisy facial toner from Beauty Papier - On looks alone this is a pretty neat product, it has actual daisy petals floating around the inside of the bottle like small dancing fairies. As with the product above I haven't tried this out quite yet as I don't like opening too many cleansing products at once, so I will use this once my other toner is finished. 

Overall, I am pretty happy with the collection of products this subscription box came with. The boxes are just under $65 a box which can seem a little pricey when read or said out loud, so is the box really worth it? I went through each of the products included in this to find out how much they retail for, give or take a few dollars based on where you purchase all of these products from the total retail cost of these products came out to $96. So, you are saving about $31 if you were to outright buy all of these products. This box is a nice way to treat yourself to a nice surprise if you don't get to splurge on yourself often, I enjoyed the nice variety I received & was happy I didn't end up with random stuff I wouldn't use. 

Head over to their website to learn more about their great subscription box, see pasts boxes or sign up to receive their next box. They also have an option to build your own box based off of extra inventory they currently have on hand, so you get to shop at a discounted price. Want to see other great subscription boxes I've reviewed? Type "Subscription box" into the search bar to bring up my past reviews.

Disclaimer- Sips & Samples provided me with one box for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.