Tesalate sand free towels are perfect for the beach or poolside!

 

Temperatures are rising which means it is water season! Whether you are hitting the pool, beach, or river/lake a good towel is important to bring with. A towel brand called Tesalate has recently been popping up all over the place & I was given a chance to try out one of their towels for myself to see what all the hype is about. Tesalate towels are not only absorbent but they are designed to be sand free so you won't be bringing back half of the beach into your car & home. 

There are a lot of nice designs to choose from so it took a moment to narrow down which design to select, I ended up going with Ripple because I like how it is a wave design done in tie-dye. Their regular sized beach towels are 63 x 31 inches, & if that isn't big enough they sell a XL beach towel meant for two that measures 63 x 63 inches. Regular towels are $59 each, and XL are $99, they often have sales so keep an eye out for those. They have a two sided design, the underside has a black & white design so it is like two towels in one. Tesalate also offers workout towels which are a smaller version of their regular towel great for the gym. 

Each towel comes with a free carrying bag & has a small handle attached to the towel itself so you can hang it up anywhere you'd like. Sometimes before I get into the pool I like to sit by the side & soak up a little sun and this towel is really nice to sit on. It helps protect my skin from the heat of the pavement and any dirt, rocks or other assorted things that might be on the sidewalk around the pool that I wouldn't want directly touching my skin. You can fold it in half to put next to the pool for a little extra cushion or lay it out completely flat so that someone can sit next to you.

I have not had the chance to test it out in sand yet, but it has done a great job staying clean. It absorbs well, I've used it to dry off after getting out of the pool and it dries quickly as well which is a plus. Washing it is simple, it just needs to be added to your normal washing routine, they do recommend taking it out to dry as it dries quickly anyways, but I haven't had any issue with it in the drier. I like the soft materials the towel is made out of & how light weight it is, you can either roll it up or fold it up small to fit into it's carrying bag or your beach bag which makes it great for travel. I look forward to using this towel more & it has definitely become a staple in our beach/swim bag. 

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Tesalate 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.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Hollywood, CA Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. The products mentioned below have been provided by Ripley's Believe It or Not Hollywood, CA for the review free of charge.**

Ever since I was a kid I've always loved Ripley's Believe It or Not! I used to watch the shows and every year when my school held it's book fair the first book I'd be sure to pick up was the newest Ripleys book. Although I have been to Hollywood once and in California several times I've never been able to visit the Hollywood Ripley's Odditorium or any of their other locations and it is something I have always wanted to do. I am happy to say I was finally able to visit their Odditorium! I've worked with Ripley on several occasions reviewing their newest books but this time I was offered a chance to visit their attraction in person while I was on my honeymoon.



We took off early in the morning from our home and drove to California straight for Ripleys, it was a pleasant drive and Ripley's was easy to find. For those going to visit it should be noted Ripley's is located on Hollywood Boulevard and does not have a parking lot/structure of it's own so you will need to pay one of the parking lots to park for the day but it wasn't too bad and we got there early enough there was still plenty of parking. When we arrived there were only a few other people there which was nice because it pretty much gave us the place to ourselves. 

 

I knew that Ripley's was set up like a typical museum where they have different rooms with a variety of interesting, creepy and fascinating things on display but what I didn't realize was that it was packed full of interactive spots. They had things you could open, buttons you could push, a shooting gallery where you could shot at real movie props and once you hit them they would do different things, they had dance screens and more! Even the bathrooms had interactions but I won't spoil the surprise and tell you what is in them. 

 

                 

The Ripley's Hollywood Odditorium is two stories and is set up so you can easily navigate everything, you start off in a small room on the first floor then descend down a flight of stairs to explore downstairs before being lead back up the other side of the stairs to explore the other rooms upstairs. The stairs themselves are interactive as well, each step is a piano key so it makes all kinds of sounds as you are going up and down. The whole thing took about an hour without many people around so we were able to stop and look at each thing we wanted, we had a lot of fun at the Odditorium and I am very happy I was finally able to visit. If you are in the area and want to check out other attractions they also have a wax museum across the street, you can buy a ticket just for Ripleys or buy a VIP pass for $36 which gets you into both attractions. 

Medieval Times Review!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The event mentioned below has been provided by Medieval Times for the review free of charge. I was given four complimentary tickets to enjoy the show.****

We are always on the look out for new, fun and unique things we can do as a family so when I was presented with the opportunity to visit Medieval Times in Buena Park, CA I couldn't refuse. What is Medieval Times? It is an amazing dinner tournament show where you are served food while you sit and enjoy a live action Medieval Times performance. Adults cost $61.95 per person and children are $36.95 which seems like a lot right? If you break it down you are provided with a full meal, two rounds of drinks, plus dessert and coffee on top of getting a two hour show so I'd say the price is well worth it. Alcohol and souvenirs are not included in the price, you can also buy tickets to the torture museum for an additional fee. The alcohol prices range depending on the type of drink and the type of cup you select, my step-dad bought a beer which he said was about $15 and he got to keep the cup. The staff members did not know I would be writing a review on my blog so we weren't treated any differently than you would going to the show,everything written below is from my own personal experience and may vary from others.





We were asked to arrive an hour before the show began to make sure our seats were placed together, we received four complimentary passes to the show and we purchased the rest. Upon arriving you are sorted into a colored area and given a crown to match where you will be seated, the color you are given represents the knight you will be cheering for. After arriving we had a while to walk around and wait for the show to start so we bought tickets to the torture museum, some may be a bit squeamish with some of the devices shown and may not want their small children asking questions about it so before you go I'd decide whether you'd like to enter or not. My children did alright, my son is still small enough he was just paying attention to the swords, my daughter is a bit older and thought everything in there looked crazy and I am sure we are all glad those devices are no longer in use. Exiting the torture museum we popped out in the courtyard which was beautiful and decorated with Christmas lights and was well maintained. The next leg of the walk brings you into the great hall where there are weapons on display, a bar, souvenirs, a view of the horses stalls, a chance to see the hawks before the show and more! They had so many fantastic souvenirs, I love dragons and fairy tale creatures and they sure had quite the selection I wanted to buy them all but alas I don't think my wallet would approve of that, we did how ever get a light up sword for my son and a light up necklace for my daughter. If you arrive an hour before the show and have small children I suggest bringing something  for them to do in case they get a little board or a snack as our kids were pretty antsy to eat by the time we were called into the tournament space.



Unless you are traveling with a rather large party you will be seated in a row with other guests, we had seven people in our party and had four other people at our table as well. There is plenty of room for everyone to eat in comfort but if you are someone who needs to go to the bathroom often I would suggest trying to sit on the end of the row, if you can't it wasn't too difficult to climb over the seat into the next row like you would at a baseball game. Your plates are already out when you arrive to your table and a hostess will come up after you are seated and explain how dinner will work. First you will start off with drinks, followed by different sections of your dinner which isn't served all at once instead they bring the soup first, followed by your bread and so on. I like that they did this because it allowed you to eat at a slower pace and enjoy the show while eating. There wasn't any silverware in the Medieval Times so you will have to use your hands, but no need to worry everything aside from the soup are all finger foods and isn't overly hot. During your meal you get two rounds of which ever drink you select from their menu then after dinner is done they will bring you a dessert and coffee if you so desire. They also provide you with a wet wipe cloth to cleanse your hands.



The show itself was wonderful, we were placed in the green section and though our Knight didn't win it was a blast cheering for him and booing the other knights that were against us. I can be a bit shy when it comes to getting loud or feeling like I look silly when at social events but here I just didn't care, it was so entertaining cheering along with the crowd everyone was shouting and having a jolly good time. Three times during the show the knights are tossed roses by the Princess that they can toss out to people in the crowed who go pretty crazy trying to get a flower, during the first round the knight had tossed all the flowers out but had noticed my daughter seemed quite sad not to get one, I didn't even notice! My mom was the one who told me afterwards. The second time around when our green knight was given more roses by the Princess to give out he tossed one to my daughter, she was so excited the pure look of amazement on her face was completely worth the cost of the ticket to get in. During the two hour show we watched jousting, sword fighting, horses dancing, a hawk soar around the room and more. It is truly a unique and wonderful experience for anyone of any age, Medieval Times has eight locations nationwide I highly suggest looking into the one closest to you or closest to where you plan on vacationing next and booking your tickets!

Grand Canyon/Williams KOA Campgrounds Review!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned below have been provided by the Grand Canyon/Williams KOA for the review free of charge.****

When you go on vacation or on a business trip the first thing you usually think of is finding a place to stay while you are away from your home, most will look for a hotel or a motel to stay in for the night but have you ever considered a KOA camp that offers camp sites, tents and cabins for rent? During my life time I've only stay at one KAO camp site in northern New Mexico which was for a single night, four of us shared a one room cabin with no bathroom the bathroom they had was a bit of a walk and the inside of it scared the crap out of the bug-a-phoba inside me. I hadn't stayed in once since but I recently thought I would give it another try, each KAO site is individual owned and operated so they all offer different amenities and more and I am very glad we decided to give the KAO experience another chance. My family and I recently packed up for a weekend trip up to Northern Arizona to enjoy some snow festivities for the weekend and the lovely Grand Canyon/Williams KOA located at 5333 State Highway 64Williams, AZ 86046 graciously offered to sponsor us for a two day stay at their campground. It is the closest KAO campground near the Grand Canyon and also happens to be within a ten minute drive of Bearizon! We were offered one of their Deluxe cabins with bathroom, it offers a sleeping loft, a full bedroom, a smaller room with two bunk beds along with a kitchen, living room that has a pull out sofa bed and of course the bathroom in total it sleeps up to eight people. You would think it might cost an arm and a leg to rent a cabin for the night but surprisingly the estimated base rate for five adults and two children was only $135 a night, hotels in the surrounding area can cost $119 a night ($108 using a hotel website) for a single room with just two beds so for slightly more you basically get a small house all to yourself.

Walking into the front office was quite the site on it's own, driving up you could see bike rentals, a play ground, bathroom areas and a convenient store which contained the office area. Check in process was easy and the staff was extremely friendly and attentive, the convenience store was large and had a lot to browse I wanted to start looking around right away but we had a long drive up north and the kids we itching to get out of the van. We had a small two minute drive from the front office to where the cabins were, they have four various sized cabins lined up and they all looked so welcoming. Each cabin is fully furnished which includes patio furniture and chairs for the fire pit area, there is also a gas BBQ grill provided for your use. The cabin it's self was warm and cozy, they had the heat on keeping everything nice for when guests arrived. The cabin included everything you could need to make your stay as comfortable as possible, the kitchen features two coffee pots (a regular coffee pot & a K-cup machine with four provided pods), a microwave, toaster, dish washer, a full sink, two stove tops and it was already stocked with pots/pans, dishes and more. Liens are provided as well as soap/lotion in the bathroom, and under the kitchen sink we even found a dish rack/sponge/dish washer tabs and dish soap so you don't need to bring your own.





Even with five adults and two children there was still plenty of room to move around.Their website states there is only one TV in the cabin but there are actually two, there is one out in the living room and another in the master bedroom. During check in you are provide a map of the camp grounds that includes a list of channels and the Wifi info (provided free with stay), I do have to say that due to the location there wasn't a lot of channels to choose from which made me wish a DVD player was provided in the cabin for the time we did spend inside trying to stay warm. Each room had it's own small heater which really helped keep the cabin at a very comfortable temperature compared to what it was like outside. While enjoying our stay we fully enjoyed everything the cabin had to offer, we used the fire pit both nights we were there (fire wood can be purchased in their convenience store along with fire starters, camping gear and more!), we used the gas grill, and many of the dishes and dish washer. We took the kids up to play at their play ground and checked out everything they had to offer, the pool was out of commission for the season of course so that was one thing we didn't do but we took full advantage of the coffee bar they had inside the convenience store the kids loved the hot coco and we loved the Smores flavored hot coffee!! They even had a Rec Room with Pool Table, a Wii, a basket ball court and more for you to enjoy while you stay. Pets aren't allowed in the deluxe cabins but they are allowed in the smaller cabins and in the tent/RV areas, they provide a walking area and a K9 camp area for the dogs to play.





It was a quite area and even though all the cabins around us were occupied every night you weren't able to hear anyone's loud TV's, hear people going up and down the halls like you would in a hotel or have to deal with anyone being above you. Over all it was a very positive and enjoyable stay, everyone wished we could have stayed a few more days but work and school were calling us home. There was a lot to see and do just at this camp site and that didn't even include what all we did while we were up in Williams,Arizonas so I am sure I forgot to mention one or two things so if you are in the area you should book a stay and see everything they have to offer for yourself I am sure you won't regret it.