Cabin Fever Fighters: Family Fun At Home … and me on the tv!

Heeeeeey y’all!!  How’s you?  I feel like every time I’m able to publish something here, I start the post with something along the lines of:

‘holy crap I’ve never been so busy in my entire life…’

And that’s pretty much still the case.  Except the ‘busy’ I thought I was before is laughable now.  Lots of fun things coming up soon that I’m not quite able to announce yet, but life is definitely busier than ever!!  And with Spring Break coming up, I wanted to share some fun ideas for what to do with the youngins if you happen to find yourself stuck indoors.  The weather has been a little poopy lately, so if I were you, I’d save all this for those potential rainy days when school is out and your hair is just about to be 😉

I’ll be on FOX Charlotte Tuesday morning (tomorrow!!!), March 27 around 8:45 am, showing all these products… so make sure you tune in!

But per usual, here’s the more detailed version of what you’ll be seeing on air, and something to use as a guide while you watch!…

Before I begin, I feel inclined to mention that I am typing this with a lot of balls in the air (did I mention I was busy?)  So this post will be sprinkled with moderate distractions…  I’ve got a chicken roasting in the oven, just pulled out some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, I’m waiting for the dryer to alert me it’s time to poorly fold the sheets, and I’ve already had to stop to help the kids who are making Fruit Gummies in the other room before they gummied our granite countertops.

Ok, here goes.

The first product I’ll be talking about is the Lenovo Star Wars Jedi Challenges.  It’s an augmented reality game powered by your smartphone!  So, what’s augmented reality and how is it different from virtual reality? Well, they’re cousins.  Basically, augmented reality means the game is placed in the space that you’re actually in, instead of putting you inside a completely imagined space.

For instance, we played it early Sunday morning at home… so we were fighting droids right in our living room.

amazing.

And who wants to guess who got first turn on the game?

…could not get this thing away from him.

dad. come on.

yesss…

…

This could have gone on for days, ya’ll.  DAYS.  And let me tell you how entertaining it is to be on the other side of someone inside a virtual reality experience… it’s hilariously so.  Trying to stop laughing long enough to take a decent photo was almost impossible.  But in the best way possible.

Mama finally had a go while the kids were in school…

And then again once my husband came home from work…

And then again after I brought my kids home from school…

Apparently I talk a lot of smack to the game and move around more than necessary and was holding my saber wrong for half of it, but we all have our fighting style, yeah?

I was victorious against the droids on my first try, but was defeated by Darth Maul two times in a row before my daughter took over.

And then I never got it back.

Guys, this is a helluva lotta fun.  However.. I should state that I get carsick in elevators, so I had a liiittle bit of a vertigo experience, but that’s pretty much my normal state.

So, in a nutshell, in order to play this game, you download the app ‘Star Wars Jedi Challenges‘ (it’s free) onto your smartphone… it’s a pretty big app, so it takes a good while for it to completely download… and then the app walks you through how to begin the game… you’re inserting your smartphone into the headset to play.  You have a light saber that requires charging, and the headset does as well, so make sure you’ve got those good to go before you begin.  Note- it uses up a lot of battery when you play, so CHARGE IT AFTER EACH USE!  Same with your smartphone.

Basically, if you ever wanted to know what it feels like to fight in the world of Star Wars…

In the comfort of your living room.

In your PJ’s.

With your cockapoo.

This is your jam.

What could be cooler?

You can buy the Lenovo Jedi Challenges at Best Buy for $199.99…

But right now it’s on a short term sale at Best Buy for $149.99!!  Free shipping if you order now and you’ll get it by March 27!!

<*pauses to make balloon animal for daughter*>

The next fun items I’m talking about are terrariums.

…A big swing from Star Wars AR, yeah?  But just as fun and works the mind in a totally different way.  Terrariums are such a great way to have your kids be creative, and learn about how to grow things on a smaller scale. We had three different varieties to choose from, all from windowbox.com… the Portland Mason Jar DIY Terrarium Kit, the Kokedama Succulent String Garden Kit, and the Beach Terrarium Kit.  They kids chose the beach…

They had the best time putting this together… it’s all so simple and relaxing, with easy to follow instructions…

I didn’t help them one bit.  They were so very proud of their little terrarium!

We made ours a little smaller than the box could allow us to, so we have extra supplies that can roll over into our next project!  We bought the little succulent from Lowe’s, but most hardware stores, etc. would have them.

What I personally love about succulents is that they’re pretty hard to mess up… or kill.  I like those types of plants.

I need those types of plants.

This Beach Terrarium Kit shown above is $21.85 from windowbox.com (but they have a smaller one for $13.97.)

The Portland Mason Jar Terrarium Kit is $12.97 at windowbox.com.

And the Succulent Kokedama String Garden Kit is $29.97.

<*pauses to find missing stick from pick-up sticks game*>

The next item I’ve got is the Chess for Chicas Chess Set… created by a 9 year old named Sophie Gutter.

Yes, I said 9 year old.

She created this custom chess set to get girls to become more excited about the game… she kept seeing only boys in her tournaments and wanted to change that.  Not that she’s intimidated by playing with boys… she’s very clear about that 😉 , she just felt that the game itself was only targeting boy players… so she thought of a solution!

atta girl

And she also wrote a book that makes it easy for younger kids to learn how to play the game.

How adorable is this chess set?

You can buy one from her website for $24.99 and the book, as well, for $19.95.

<*pauses to settle heated debate on who actually won magnetic fishing game*>

The last thing I have for you comes from a company called Olive and Cocoa.  This company is brilliant.  They ship custom wooden crates filled with different themed items, so it’s absolutely perfect for gifts.  We played with the Retro Game Crate…

Um.  Have I told you about my love of packaging? It’s one of my favorite things… I will absolutely love something more and buy it if the packaging is unique and clever and cool.  This totally is that.

The box is just so beautiful, and special… I literally didn’t open it for several hours because I just wanted to look at it a little more…

And then once my kids got involved, they shared my enthusiasm upon busting it open…

But let’s not forget how much fun ribbon can be…

Inside this box, you have the most adorable collection of old fashioned games and candy… everything is technology-free, hands-on, and wholesomely lovely.

And let me tell you something… my kids are very aware of modern technology and know their way around handheld devices and television and all that jazz.  But when they started playing with the things inside this box…?  They didn’t stop or ask to do anything else.  They played all day with things made of cardboard and wood, and they loved the heck out of it.

They asked several times in one day to play ‘the fishing game’…

The suckers were a sweet bonus.

And who doesn’t love a slinky?  Or, in this case… ‘magic spring’ is the correct name 😉 …

so much enthusiasm.

My personal favorite was the Pick up Sticks.  I used to play that one as a kid at my next door neighbor’s house and it brought back just fond memories.

*pauses to untangle slinky magic spring*

And that’s it!  Those are all my fun cabin fever-fighting games and toys!!

Guys, this entire collection of fun was such a joy to experience.  With so much going on around us these days, we forget how easy it is to hunker down and have some serious fun with the family.  So, whether you’re going on vacation, or planning a staycation this Spring Break, please consider checking out any of these games and activities!!

Much love, ya’ll.  See you on the tv.

TOMORROW!!! TUESDAY, MARCH 27 – FOX 46 CHARLOTTE… my segment will be airing around 8:45 am!!

I always have the best time with those guys.

xo