Enjoy Magnificent Unicorns with Candlewick Press.

**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 Candlewick Press for the review  free of charge.**

 Magnificent Birds by Narisa Togo - Retail Price $20.00

One of my favorite things is birds so I was quite excited when Candlewick Press sent me a book called Magnificent Birds. Instead of being a story book this is a fun birds facts book which gives you a break from your typical fact books that can be slightly boring for kids. Each bird has a two page spread which features a beautiful sketched image that look like a watercolor painting along with a bit of information about that bird. None of the pages are longer than two paragraphs, keeping everything short and sweet yet to the point. You'll find fourteen different birds featured in this book. The suggested age range for this book is 10-14 but I think it suits any age.

Do You Believe in Unicorns? by Bethanie Deeney Murguia- Retail Price $14.99

When I was younger I preferred dragons and gargoyles over Unicorns but now I love them all the same and have found myself drawn to cute unicorn products lately so this book was a cute surprise.

This fun and whimsical book is about a horse who enjoys wearing a tall red hat and the mystery of if the horse is hiding something under that hat. Could it be a horn? Maybe he was just having a messy hair day and didn't want everyone to see it. The story follows him along on his activities during the day then at the end you get to see what he was hiding under his hat. The pastels used in the illustrations of this book were pleasing to the eye. Do You Believe in Unicorns is short, each page contains one sentence so this book is perfect for younger kids just learning to read, the suggested age range is 3-7.

Small Foot Movie Review!

**This is not a sponsored post, through another blogger I was able to attend an early showing of this movie and wanted to share my opinions on the movie.**

You may have seen a recent movie preview for Small Foot which comes out this Friday September 28th. The cast is composed of several familiar voices such as Channing Tatum & Zendaya. As you can tell from the preview the movie is set in a Yeti village which I think is a fun take on the traditional story of a human stumbling on a rare Yeti/Sasquatch/Abdominal Snowman.

This movie gave us a lot of good laughs and it had a pretty great story from start to finish, my youngest can get a bit bored when watching a movie and starts to become restless but Small Foot  kept all of us entertained the entire time. A lot of kids movies have a scene or two that parents may not completely approve of whether it is a dirty adult joke or the use of a bad word, however I didn't notice any of this during Small Foot and neither did my mom who attended the movie with the kids and I. The only thing I could think of that may bother someone is the Yeti's thinking they fell out of a Yaks butt or making a joke about "crap" due to a roll of toilet paper though I think both lines are harmless.

Small Foot is packed with a strong character base that everyone is sure to enjoy and connect with. There is a bit of singing through out the movie which my daughter said she found annoying however I think that was due to the fact that for about fifteen to twenty minutes before the start of the movie they had played the songs over and over again otherwise I don't think she would have minded as much. I thought the songs were cute and well sung, one of the main songs was even done by Zendaya herself! The graphics were wonderful, I love how they created each Yeti you could really see all of the detail that went into everything.

I don't want to give away too much of the story line so the movie isn't ruined for you but I will say this is a movie worth seeing in the theaters, my kids are already asking if we can go see it again. If you want to print some coloring pages ahead of seeing the movie or if you want to hear some of the sound track for the movie you can check out the Small Foot website which has a lot of fun and free stuff.

New books from Candlewick Press!

**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 Candlewick Press for the review  free of charge.**

Getting a new book always makes me feel a bit of excitement because you have a new adventure waiting for you and you never know where it might lead. My kids are also little bookworms so they are always eager to add new books to our growing collection. I was recently sent a box of books from Candlewick Press to check out and share with my readers here on my blog, I will be going through and reviewing 2-3 at a time to help break up the posts a bit.

Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise - Retail $16.99 USD. This is an adorable book that actually gave me a good laugh because it reminds me a bit of my kids and how kids can be in general. This book is about a chicken who comes home from school and asks her Papa to read with her so she can find the Elephant in the story. Unsure of what she means Papa asks her what she means, he learns that her teacher taught the class that every story has an "element" as surprise but she thinks it is an elephant of surprise and thus wants to go on a hunt for elephants.

Papa chicken picks out a story he knows has no elephants but his daughter finds the elephant and 'rescues' it, afterwards it is a bit of a back and forth about there not being any elephants and they read two more stories with the same result. After finishing the homework of looking for the elephant "element" of surprise in three books Papa chicken and his daughter make up their own story with a elephant which was quite adorable. Even with as cute as the story is my favorite page is the last, when Papa chicken is ready for bed looking exhausted from doing homework when his daughter says "Now you can help me with my math homework!" this is exactly how I feel when helping my daughter with her pile of homework every night.

I thought this was a sweet book to read with the kids and they got a real kick out of it as well. The imagery is lovely, everything has a almost water color feel to it and the sharp lines used along with color choices are eye catching.

 Night Job - Retail $16.99 USD. This book actually reminds me of a few nights when I was a child. This book is about a little boy whose father works as a night time janitor at a school and he goes with on Friday nights to join his dad for the night to spend time with him. I remember for a while when my mom worked several night shifts and I got to tag along a night or two (though I usually feel asleep on the sofa in the break room after a while) it was always an adventure.

This neat book is done completely in neutral colors giving it the feel of being night time which we thought went extremely well with the theme of the book. The book follows the father and son duo on their night at the school from room to room and what they do while cleaning up such as listening to base ball and playing music. Much like myself when I was younger the son can only stay up so long and falls asleep on a sofa in the library until his dad comes to wake him up to take him home.

Free Museum tickets on September 22nd,2018

The Smithsonian magazine is hosting their annual Museum Day on September 22nd where you can get FREE tickets to any of the participating museums. You can get 2 free tickets per email address, keep in mind most of these museums are first come first serve on the day of to keep from going over their max capacity so get there early. Sorry but this is for US residents only.

Some states have a ton of Museums so there are a lot of options to select from, Arizona for example has 34 museums offering tickets some of which are only open for those participating in Museum Day instead of anyone just walking in.

Click the link below for more info and find a museum(s) near you participating & Don't forget to Share this ...so others can have a chance to enjoy as well. 

 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/search/

 (This is not a promoted post I just love Museums and wanted to share)

Pamper yourself like a super hero with these Incredibles 2 beauty sets!

**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 TownleyGirl for the review free of charge.**

If you haven't seen The Incredibles 2 what are you waiting for? My family and I were all big fans of the movie and we absolutely loved Jack-Jack during the entire film. I would say it lived up to what we were hoping for, although I know a few people were disappointed with a few words that were added into the movie I thought it was a fun family movie.

My daughter and I are big fans of the products created by Townleygirl that center around beloved characters such as super heroes, Disney Princesses, Emojis and more. When we were offered a chance to check out a few of their Incredibles themed items we couldn't say no.

Incredibles 2 Lip Gloss Set with Bonus Tin - Retail $6.99 This kit includes three lip gloss tubes with a character attachment and a carrying tin (plastic) to hold everything. We thought this set was pretty cute when it came to the over all product packaging, even the tubes themselves had a printed pattern that goes along with the movie. I like that the tin can also be used to store cash, jewelry, etc after the lip gloss is long gone. Their lip gloss formula actually isn't bad, normally I don't like lip gloss because it is too thick but theirs seems just right and is actually pretty moisturizing. Plus if you accidentally get some lip gloss in your mouth there is no taste to it good or bad.

Incredibles 2 Lip Balm with Mirror - Retail $5.99 This set comes with a handheld mirror, nail stickers and two lip balms. We did think it was slightly off the set came with nail stickers as it seemed a little out of place, my daughter thinks a comb or some kind of brush would have been a better option. The mirror is pretty sturdy and can stand up to a lot, my daughter has a Trolls mirror just like it which has been dropped several times without breaking or cracking. The lip balms are nice and the nail stickers are fun.



Incredibles 2 Lip Balm Set with Bonus Bag - Retail $7.99 This set comes with three lip balms, three bouncy balls and a storage bag. The lip balms are nice, they have a nice scent the formula seem to be just right to where your lips don't feel greasy or oil. The kids loved that they came with bouncy balls, the little plastic piece on top of the lip balm cap holds the ball perfectly so you can easily take it with you on the go. The kids did think it would be neat to see a set of these with just the three kids on them. The little coin storage bag this comes with is nice as well and can be used for multiple purposes. 

Over all we were pretty happy with these products though a bit bummed Jack-Jack wasn't more predominant on a product or two as a stand alone character like the rest of the family. (Violet isn't really in these products either aside from family shots but she is on other products in this series.) Our favorite thing about TownleyGirl is how affordable their sets are and how much fun they make everything.

Gel Manicure Set Giveaway!

I enjoy when my nails are done and look nice however I don't paint them often since my nail polish usually doesn't last long so I don't always like taking the time to do them just to have them ruined two days later. Gel polish is a great alternative to regular nail polish because it will last longer and I've seen people do some pretty neat art with gel polish so I wanted to give someone a start to their at home gel nail polish collection.

This set includes a 6pc polish set, mini UV nail lamp plus some nail decals and two stamping plates.

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 ends on 08/25/2018
 
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite nail polish brand is. 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Glass Garden at Butterfly Wonderland.

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.I received two tickets to check out the exhibit to take photos and form my opinion on the event for free in exchange for this post no other compensation was given.**

Have you heard of Butterfly Wonderland? It is a unique rainforest experience in Arizona that gives you an up close experience with dozens of butterfly species and plants. While attractions such as Butterfly Wonderland are always enjoyable to visit it is kind of like the zoo after a few visits it all starts to feel a little like the same thing so it is wonderful when they add exhibits, host events, etc. to spice things up. At the moment Butterfly Wonderland is hosting 'The Glass Garden' which is an exhibit on the local artist Newt Grover and his glass works of beauty. Plus if you are like me and haven't been there a while (it's been a few years for me) they also have added a great reptile section plus they still have their bee hive, insects and fish.

Each piece being shown was created especially for the rain forest conservatory where they house their butterflies. The glass pieces blend in and intertwine with the plants and trees beautifully and naturally. I suggest arriving when they first open, Arizona can get pretty hot as is and they keep the conservatory a bit humid with misters to keep the butterflies and birds happy, towards the end of the day you may sweat a bit so beating the heat is a great idea.

I've shared a few of the pieces above but I will leave the rest to be discovered when you visit the Butterfly Wonderland. The experience as a whole is quite unique and is well worth the price especially if you are a big fan of butterflies, you get to see them in various stages and you get to get up close to them.

The Glass Garden is being featured for a limited time so check it out while you can! Even if you miss the glass garden I suggest heading out to check out Butterfly Wonderland anyway because there aren't many changes to be around this many species of butterflies. If you are lucky enough one might even land on you, and many will fly very close to you so you'll be able to make out all of their fine details. Tickets are $23.95 per adult and $15.95 for children, however they also offer combo passes (with Odysea Aquarium, Mirror Maze, etc) and they offer yearly passes.