Imagine 3D mini golf in Gilbert,AZ!

We love spending time together as a family & are always looking for fun activities to do together. One of our favorite past times to do together is mini golf! A while back I posted a review of a spot we like to visit called Imagine 3D mini golf in Scottsdale. If you'd like to see that post you can do so by clicking here. They have a secondary location in Gilbert (785 W. Warner Road #A-107 Gilbert,AZ 85233) that we decided to check out when we were in the area. 

Both locations have completely different themes which are all hand painted & built by the family who owns the facilities, along with help from their staff. This location starts off with a fun pirate & ocean theme with sharks on the floor, a skeleton pirate crew & more. Through out the facility you'll also find beautiful space & nature paintings, dragons, unicorns and more. The decorations are a mixture of paintings and physical decorations to immerse you into the experience. 

As you move along the eighteen holes each one is set up differently, some will be relatively easy while others will need a little thought but into them to get the ball into the hole in the least strokes possible. The amount of other players on the course will vary depending on the time & day of the week that you visit, when we've visited the other location in the past it was usually during a busy time which means there were several groups in front of us & a few behind us. We generally get stuck behind large groups which obviously take a bit longer than the four of us, the staff will tell you at the front that you are free to play the same hole as another group. However we don't want to come off as rude or trying to rush anyone in front of us, after all they paid to play as well. Typically we find that most groups will either play the same hole they are on a second time, or stand off to the side to wait for the next hole to open up so no one feels rushed. 

This time around when we went there were only a few people in front of us that were already almost at the end so we pretty much had the course to ourselves. As we were in the back half of the course closing in on the last six or so holes the power shut off, thankfully there was a back up generator that kept a few lights on so that the building wasn't completely pitch black. It was due to some work being done on the shopping complex so the entire complex had the electricity turned off. The staff member & owner let us know that since we only had a few holes left in the better lit area we could continue playing our game. They also gave us two passes for a free game for two people on a future visit & offered to give us our money back for that days visit which we declined as it wasn't their fault the power went out and we were still able to finish our game. 

We really enjoy playing mini gold at the Imagine 3D locations & if you are close to either one you should go check them out as well. It is a great date night or outing for a family to enjoy any time of the week and it is a great way to escape crappy weather conditions like hot summer days or days when it is raining. At the end of the course is a small gaming area where they have a few arcade games & an air hockey table you can play.

- This isn't a sponsored post, It is just me sharing a fun local activity we did as a family.

Sprout & Blossom Kids Gardening Subscription Box!

Sprout & Blossom is a company based out of Redlands, California that offers a monthly gardening activity class for anyone who lives in the area & even if you aren't in the area, you can still participate by signing up for their monthly subscription box that allows you to complete the activities in the comfort of your own home. Each box comes with five to seven activities & is geared towards children ages three to ten years old. You can purchase a onetime box for $48.90 or get a small discount for buying a longer subscription. Every box includes a craft, a book, a gardening or science activity, links to educational videos, & a free gift from a small business/etsy shop. 

For this review my nine-year-old son was the one who used the box & completed the activities inside. One of the crafts had you make a worm "mud" pile by using the brown paint included to paint a paper plate, then use glue & nature items you've found in your yard to create a home or playground for the fake worms included in the kit. My son opted out of gluing the worms down so he could still play with them after. His only negative comment on that craft was that the paint being in a zip block bag made it a little difficult to get the paint out properly using the paint brush, we ended up cutting the bag in half & doing a smash paint type of motion with the baggie itself. 

Our gardening craft was to plant some peas! I love that everything needed for this is included we were given a baggie of soil, a planter, lava rocks to help irrigate the bottom of the planter, three pea seeds and a popsicle stick that says "peas" to use as a marker. My kids enjoy gardening so this was an activity he enjoyed & was excited to watch the peas grow to see how big we can get them to grow. As you can see above, it is already growing quite well. However, you may need to remind them to water it, my kids might like gardening, but they often forget to water the plants & I end up doing it to keep everything alive. 

The science-based project was to create some colorful wiggling worms/caterpillars using markers, water & paper towels. You'll need some markers, some water & a bowl or plate to place your critters. This is a fun little activity I have seen online before but haven't done with the kids yet, so we had fun with this. You'll wrap the paper towels around a straw, then scrunch it up & slide it off which will leave you with a small caterpillar looking critter. Once you add a few drops of water to it, the critter will start to expand and wiggle. This is particularly fun for small kids to watch & participate in. 

It also came with a number of paper activities to get your kids brains active & engaged while they learn and have fun. The book is a nice addition, I am always encouraging my kids to read more so I love that the owner includes a book that has to do with the theme of the month. Also included is one or more free gifts, our box game with some stickers that smell like cherries (it smells so good), a magnet that looks like corn & a stuffed veggie toy. 

This is a cute subscription that I think would be good for any kids interesting in gardening or for parents who do home schooling as this could help fill in some extra activities & hands on learning for the month. You can do everything in the box in one day or you can spread them out to get the most out of your box.

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Sprouts & Blossom 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.

Destinies a fantastic table top game!

 

I have had the pleasure of testing out a few games sold by Lucky Duck Games & while I have enjoyed all of them, I have to say that my favorite by far is Destinies. If you enjoy a D&D style game with dice rolling, a choose your own destiny design & extremely well done figures this game is for you. Along with having a mixture of physical game parts such as map pieces, coins, treasure cards and more it also has an interactive app that really brings your adventure to life. 

You can pick up a copy of Destinies for $54.99 on their website or anywhere Lucky Duck Games are sold. To some this might seem like a high price for a board game but trust me it is worth it. My favorite part of the game is all of the figures it comes with, each one is a unique character that can be found throughout the game. For how small most of the figures are they are extremely detailed & well done, none of the feature's meld together so you can easily pick out who is who. You can't quite tell by looking at the photos, but some of the figures are actually smaller than the dice! 

The game is set up to have one to three players, since there are four of us, we swap out who would be on a team together to discuss what to do for the story. There are five different stories to play in this box, each one features three distinct characters with their own goals they must complete to win the game. Each player will get their own player board which allows you to track your abilities/strengths, how many dice you can roll, etc. each story will typically last 120-150 minutes. 

Using the app it will tell you how to set up the playable map for each story you'll play. It will show you exactly which map pieces need to be laid down to start off, then as you explore each section of the map it will tell you which figures, game pieces & map pieces to add to the map as you progress through the story. Each time you visit a new destination on the app's map you will move your real life figure to the same location on the map tiles to keep track of where you are, each player can only move a certain amount of map spaces/tiles so knowing where your character currently is will help you decide where to go next.

I really enjoy playing this game, everything is set up to make it easy to understand. It is always fun trying to race to see who is able to figure out how to connect the in game world places, people & clues together in order to get what you need before the other players do. There can only be one winner! Sometimes depending on where you go & what you do, you might inadvertently end up giving the other players something that they need for their quest and vice versa so be sure to pay attention when the other players are going as well. My only issue with this game? I wish it had more stories to play, with so many amazing figures and game pieces it would be wonderful to have a few more stories out of it. I think after a set amount of time of not playing this that we might forget what the characters quests were & be able to play again without remembering the last role we had & what they needed/where to go. 

Lucky Duck Games has a few other games similar to this & they also have a nice variety of other game types so there is something for everyone to enjoy. If you want to check out some other board game reviews type "board games" into the search bar or look on the right hand side of my blog for a link which will take you to all my board game reviews. 

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Lucky Duck Games 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.

Halloween Town Pumpkin Patch in Chandler,AZ!

 

Halloween Town in Chandler is open again for the Halloween season. This mini carnival is perfect for parents with small kids as this pumpkin patch is specifically geared towards children ages 2-8. There were about twelve different rides set up for kids to ride on along with a mini maze & large slide.

Know Before You Go:

• Admission is $5 per person for ages 2+, Children under two are free. Parking is free.
• All you can ride wrist bands are $25 - I suggest buying them only for the smaller children, most of the rides are set for specific heights + weights. My nine year old son was too tall for a few of the rides & the only thing us adults went on was the burlap sack slide. 
• Game tickets are $1 each, I believe they may sell them in a cheaper bundle if you buy a certain amount. - There are five different games, the cheapest one cost $3 or 3 tickets 
• Food Prices range from $5-$16 and drinks range from $3-$4. I would give the food a two out of five stars, three of us ordered pizza which was a little burnt & I was told had tasted like it wasn't fresh. My chicken tenders basket was $16 it came with three small chicken tenders and some fries, the fries weren't hot. I do not see any thing on their website about not being able to bring snacks, small children tend to snack a lot through out the day so I would bring a snack or two for them to enjoy while waiting in between rides.
• If you plan on eating at the event there are hand sanitizer stations, however I recommend bringing some wet wipes or baby wipes to clean your hands before eating. 
• There is face painting, a pumpkin patch, pumpkin painting, a mini hay maze, bounce houses & fun photo opportunities. 
• The pumpkin patch is located in the parking lot of Chandler Fashion Square - 3111 W Chandler Blvd Chandler, AZ 85226
• They open now until October 31st. M-F they are open 4pm-10pm & weekends from 11am-10pm.

Halloween Town was busy, but it wasn't overly crowded. The ride lines, food lines & game lines were short which is great when dealing with small children. I liked how they had everything laid out, the pumpkin patch was easy to navigate & there were plenty of areas to explore. Everything was very straightforward & easy to understand as they had plenty of signs letting you know how much everything was and if you did end up needing help there were staff members all over who were friendly & there to help out. 

Some of the games are a little more challenging than the others so a few of them offer small prizes even if you only score a point in the game. Each of the kids ended up winning a small ice cream shaped stuffed toy, a lollipop stuffed toy and they also have a dragon plus some cotton candy and a small pumpkin.

We thought that Halloween Town was cute & it is perfect for families with small children. If you have a mixture of ages the older kids will have fun playing the games, although they may not be able to go on many of the rides so I'd see how many they could go on before buying older kids a all you can ride wrist band. Older kids can also still enjoy face painting & the pumpkin patch where you'll find dozens of pumpkins of assorted sizes, shapes and colors to choose from. 

Disclaimer- Tickets & Ride Bands mentioned above were provided by Halloween Town 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.

Champions of Magic are coming to a city near you!

 

The Champions of Magic are a team of  five illusionists from all over the world who have come together to put on an exciting family friendly show & is currently touring around the US. We received the opportunity to go see them live last Friday when they played here in Phoenix, downtown at the Orpheum Theatre. Ticket prices range depending on the city they are visiting, I clicked on a few of the upcoming dates they are playing and tickets ranged from starting at $29.50 to starting at $40 a ticket so unfortunately I can not provide you with an exact price however I can offer you a discount code for 25% off ticket prices (valid up to two days prior to the show you want to see), that discount code is TRUST. 

Before getting into our review & thoughts on the actual show, I just want to comment on how beautiful the theatre they performed at is. The Orpheum Theatre is nearly a hundred years old, it was built in 1929 & I had never been to it before now, the inside is stunning & the updated red velvet covered seats were comfortable for the duration of the show. The kids were very excited to go see this show as were we, it is always enjoyable being able to attend events like this that are great for the whole family.

We each had a different favorite part of the show & favorite performer. Each performer had stage time to do an act by themselves & then they had several acts where they worked together. The show had a great mixture of illusion acts, mentalist acts and escape acts. During certain acts members of the audience may be selected to come up & be part of the act which is fun to see and it is even better if you are one of the lucky participants selected to go up on stage. The show lasts for two hours and fifteen minutes with a short intermission to allow the audience to use the bathroom, buy food or drinks and visit the merch booth set up in the front. You'll be enjoying the show so much the time will seem to fly by. 

The whole show was a high energy event from the music they played while performing to the performers themselves really getting the crowd into the acts with them. It isn't noted on the tours website, but I would put up a small warning for anyone prone to seizures, through out the show there are a lot of flashes of bright lights, light changes & on stage fire works that are a little intense with how bright they can get when you've been sitting in the dark. 

It is one thing to see a magic act on TV, but it is another experience seeing it live & up close. These performers are well experienced and will leave you wondering just how they were able to pull off the tricks right in front of your eyes, they are quick, skilled and engaging. I'd love to go into more details about the tricks they did, but that would ruin the magic of seeing it live for yourself so I won't give away which acts they performed during this show. We had a lot of fun & would recommend this for anyone who enjoys magic or wants an exciting night out with the family.

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by US Family Guide 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.

Body Exfoliation just got easier with MicrodermaMitt

 

Exfoliating can help make quite the difference in your skin, plus it can help prevent ingrown hairs from shaving. A company called MicrodermaMitt wants to help make exfoliating easier + faster so they created a unique mitt designed to help remove dead skin cells from the top layer of your skin.  Have you ever noticed that when you are drying off after a shower & rub your towel back and forth in one spot that you can see the dead skin coming off? This works the same way, you will use this mitt in a motion that helps create a small amount of friction to help exfoliate. The mitts cost $30 via their website or $26.99 on amazon. 

It came with instructions on how to use this & that it needs to be washed with water then air dried before your first use. When needed you can hand wash it in the sink with some water & soap, which I did however I didn't like how this smelled when I first received it so I threw it into the wash. I let it air dry after & it is still in the condition it is supposed to be in. Some beauty & skincare products can seem a little gimmicky such as those clear pimple patches, but end up working amazing, so I was curious to see how well this actually works. 

I am impressed with the results! Using the right amount of pressure & getting used to the best motion to use, you'll start to see instant results in the form of all the dead skin coming off. Yes you'll be able to physically see it, it can be a little gross but also pretty satisfying knowing your skin will be softer after. My skin can be a little sensitive sometime so even with a light amount of pressure certain areas of my body such as my chest & neck will be slightly pink/red after using this, however it doesn't last long. The mitt I received is a body mitt which is good for all over, but I found it can be a little rough on the face so if you want something specifically for your face they sell a mitt that is just for your face & is a little softer. It would be neat to have a mitt that is more like a glove that you can slip on for a snug fit as the mitt is a little large so I usually end up using one corner of the mitt on most my body. 

For the best results they recommend using this 1-2 times a week, I like using this before I shave. The mitts are dermatologist recommended & they are also hypoallergenic which is a big plus. If you'd like to learn more information they have a great FAQ page that covers exactly how the mitt works, how to use it & more. I look forward to adding this product to my weekly skin care routine & enjoy using it, the results with this have been better than several body scrubs I've used in the past. 

Disclaimer- MicrodermaMitt 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. 

Monster Jam - A review of the October AZ show!

 

Monster Jam has come back to Arizona & has several more shows around the US to finish off this years tour. This is a fantastic event for families to attend even if you aren't the biggest fan of monster trucks, the energetic shows & crazy stunts the drivers are able to pull off with these massive trucks will keep you engaged with the show. 

Watching these giant trucks is exciting, but the fun begins even before the drivers get in their trucks & bring the engines to life. Most of the show allows you the chance to purchase a "Pit Pass" in addition to your normal ticket which will grant you access to the pre-show pit party. Pit Party passes are $20 each. You'll be able to see the trucks up close, take photos in front of them, meet the drivers to get photos with them or have them sign something, participate in activities like the drawing area for kids and have a chance to buy some cool merch to take home. It is a neat experience to do at least once with your kids & you'll have some awesome photos to keep to look back on the memories for years to come. We were able to participate in the pit party & my kids wanted to get a photo in front of Grave Digger which is the truck I wanted to & did take a photo in front of when I was about the same age as my daughter. 

Ticket prices vary depending on where you sit, but it doesn't matter where you sit if it is in the front row section or at the top of the stadium in the upper half you'll have a great view of the trucks and the course they perform on. What is cool about the course is that they bring out some construction equipment in-between the different rounds & they change the course by moving the dirt around to get rid of smaller jumps and make other sections wider. The trucks & drivers will change from event to event, however they have a online section where you can view the current drivers and trucks that will be appearing at the moment. My daughter was a little bummed the two trucks & one driver she really wanted to see were not at this event, but there were a few new trucks we were able to check out.

The show starts off with some head to head races, the winners of each head to head will then go against each other until it is down to the final winner. The race includes them making two laps & completing two jumps, the one who does it the fastest is the winner. After this it is time for an intermission which allows them to work on the trucks & repair anything that might have broken or needs to be re-charged from the races. During this time they have some entertainment happening down in the race area, they had some adorable small children come out on mini monster truck electric cars and race down the track.

The second half of the show is a free style competition where the drivers will attempt to complete two tricks within a set amount of time. They show you a list of tricks they can attempt on the board before the competition starts & will go over which tricks they attempted/completed once the drivers are finished to help you understand which tricks you saw if you aren't familiar with each one. Monster Jam has a website that fans can visit during the event called The Judges Zone, this is for the free style competition. When the driver has completed their round fans will have sixty seconds to lock in a score on the website which is then calculated & will give the driver their score for the round. Wrecks happen, but that doesn't mean you'll get a low score, you can really tell the fan favorites.

We saw an absolutely insane stunt while we were there pulled off by the driver of The Black Pearl. When attempting to do a back flip in his truck, the Black Pearl started rolling onto it's back. It happens, especially when drivers are attempting to do a flip, usually it means they are out since their truck crashed. That wasn't the case this time around, he actually managed to get himself out of the situation & correct the truck back to being on its tires and continued on with his round. I could not believe what I saw with my eyes nor could the crowd, everyone was going nuts & many people even jumped to their feet cheering & screaming. In case you are wondering, yes, I did manage to capture it on camera & will have a reel of it up on my instagram page so you can see it too. 

My family had a fantastic time at this event, it is a great family friendly event. My kids can't wait to see them again. A quick note before I finish off this post, this event is very loud!!! It can be a little overwhelming for children and some children may not like how loud it gets, I highly suggest bringing a pair of headphones to protect their ears or buy one when you are at the event. Also don't forget to check the website of which ever venue they visit while in your home city to check for any rules you may need to be aware of, for example our venue does not allow backpacks, purses, etc your belongings need to be in a clear stadium approved sized bag. 

Disclaimer- Monster Jam provided tickets for us 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.