The New Kissimmee Lakefront Park Playground: the Perfect Place for a Party or Playdate

It was a beautiful day today so we decided to head down to Kissimmee Lakefront Park to check out the new playground. Kissimmee has put a lot of renovations into Lakefront Park the past few years and the new playground and splash pad are the latest additions. While it was a very nice park before, with the addition of the splash pad and playground I think it is going to be one of our new favorite places to play!

Before adding this playground and splash pad they added another playground on the other side of the park closer to the library and downtown area. That playground is very modern, colorful, and great for all ages but it frequently becomes very crowded in the summertime and doesn't have a whole lot of parking directly by the the playground. It is also set back quite a bit from the lake, making it hard to enjoy the lake's natural beauty and breeze. The new park has ample parking and is very close to the lakefront. Unfortunately I can't say it won't be overcrowded during the times kids are out of school because I have a feeling it will be a very popular spot for local families to play!

The new playground and splash pad have plenty of parking spaces on the street right in front of them but if they're full there is also a parking lot a short walk away.

If you park on the street you'll cross a sidewalk and small "boardwalk" to get to the park. While there is no fence around the playground to keep tots from wandering out, the park has a bit of a natural barrier to it. The "boardwalk" crosses over some sunken grass that separates the playground from the street. The other side of the park has a short concrete wall around it. In addition to the short concrete wall there are also plenty of benches scattered around the perimeter of the park for parents to sit on.

Next to the playground and right across from the splash pad there is a pavilion with bathrooms and plenty of shaded places to sit. The pavilion has not only adult sized picnic tables and tables and chairs but a few kid sized ones as well. There are two water fountains on the side facing the playground and not only men's and women's restrooms but a family restroom as well. This pavilion would be the ideal place to have a birthday party and I'm sure you'll have to book it well in advance in the summertime!

If you are unable to book the pavilion or are simply looking for a free option there is also a large grassy area across from the playground and seperated from the splash pad by a sidewalk. This grassy area also has adult and kid sized picnic tables and grills to cook on as well. One major drawback to this area vs the pavilion is it really does not provide you with a lot of shade.

On the day we visited the splash pad was not operational. There was a sign apologizing for the inconvenience but no explanation as to why or when it would be turned on again. This wasn't an issue since it wasn't a particularly hot day. If there was a price for the splash pad or only certain hours it will be operating they were covered on the sign by the sign saying it wasn't currently operational. It did appear, however, by the set-up that the splash pad would be free.

Instead of a fence surrounding it there are short walls and on one side of it is a raised grassy area where you could leave your towel and other things. The grassy area slopes down to the splash pad and once the trees grow in it will hopefully have lots of shade.

The splash pad itself has a natural Florida theme to it with statues of several animals you'd find in Florida. I'm looking forward to bringing my daughter back to try out the splash pad when the weather warms up. 

Instead of using the splash pad we played on the playground today. The playground has an astroturf surface so no worries about little ones putting pebbles and sand in their mouths. It has a woodland theme to it and contains several play structures as well as swings for babies and older children. My little girl really enjoyed crawling through the log!

For younger kids there is a tepee structure with a smaller slide that is a bit lower to the ground than the larger playground structure. Kids of all ages, however, seemed to enjoy playing on both this and the larger structure. The biggest hits for the babies and toddlers seemed to be the baby swings and crawl through log.

There are several paved trails surrounding the lake that would be perfect for walking, jogging, pushing a stroller on,or riding a tricycle or bike. Many people were doing these things and enjoying the beautiful day.

My daughter enjoyed the playground so much we never got any further because she started to get hungry after several hours and we had run out of snacks. (Definitely bring food if you visit. The only food options are the ice cream truck that stopped by briefly and a very small cafe with very limited hours that is a bit of a hike from the playground. Most families enjoying the park had brought lunch from local fast food places or there are the grills if you'd like to bring your own picnic.) 

The only things I can think of that would make this playground better is to have easier access to food and have better covering over the top. Although the playground has a shade over the top it is extremely small and not one solid continuous surface so I highly doubt it will provide much shade and keep the playground from getting too hot to play on without burning skin once the weather starts to warm up. 

We will definitely be visiting again soon to explore the walking trails and hopefully the splash pad. The city of Kissimmee put a lot of work into this park and made it a wonderful place for kids to play. The pavilion between the playground and splash pad is the ideal place for a birthday party or other gathering. I can definitely see it becoming a very popular spot in the summertime!

Paddington Bear the Movie With A Preschooler

When grandma and grandpa went to London this summer they came back with a stuffed Paddington Bear and a board book telling his story for Alyssa. We read that book many times so she was super excited when she started seeing commercials on TV for the Paddington Bear Movie. Although at 3 1/2 Alyssa still doesn't quite sit through entire movies without losing interest I decided to take her.

I chose a Tuesday matinee showing because a) it meant less money wasted if she didn't sit through it and b)I figured most kids would be in school so the theater hopefully wouldn't be too crowded. We invited grandma to come along for a three generation girl's afternoon outing.

We bought Alyssa a big bag of popcorn (the key to keeping her quiet during a movie) and settled into our seats. I was right in thinking the theater wouldn't be very full but I was surprised by how diverse the small audience was. Everyone from families with young children to single young adults to several elderly couples were there to enjoy the movie. After watching the movie I can truly say that Paddington is one of those rare movies that appeals to all ages.

The movie began with a full 25 minutes of previews and commercials. If you are bringing a very young child and have another adult along with you this is something you might want to keep in mind if your child doesn't sit still for long periods of time or has a shortened attention span. The previews were all family friendly but a lot of them were for movies geared towards elementary age kids and above vs toddlers and preschoolers. By the time the previews and commercials were over Alyssa had already started to get antsy, told us in a not so quiet voice all about her morning at preschool, asked several times where Paddington was, and eaten her way through a very good portion of her popcorn. In hindsight I wish I'd taken her for a walk in the hallway outside the theater until just before Paddington started because it was definitely way too many previews for her to sit quietly through.
Once Paddington finally started Alyssa's attention span got a little better. The bears appear in the movie right away and that captured her interest right away. Alyssa was very excited to see the cute bear characters. Without giving the movie away I will say the first part has a slightly scary and sad part but it didn't seem to bother Alyssa too much. Death is implied but it never actually outright says they died and I'm pretty sure that inference was over my 3 1/2 year old's head. She enjoyed watching the bears' antics and following along with Paddington's adventures.
After the slightly scary and sad part was over and Paddington ended up in London Alyssa momentarily lost interest. She seemed to be the exception though because the other little kids in the theater were all quiet and most were still focused on the screen. Alyssa was content enjoying her popcorn and studying the back of the theater in an effort to figure out where the movie was coming from (typical of her...she has always been very interested in how everything works).
Once Paddington started interacting with his new family more and getting into some sticky yet humorous situations Alyssa's interest returned. She laughed a lot while she watched Paddington's behavior in the bathroom that eventually ended up with him flooding the bathroom and riding the bathtub down the stairs (the scene you see in the commercials). At the end of the movie she declared that this was her favorite part. This part of the movie was funny and fun and appealing to all ages. Nothing overly scary about it.

Shortly after this we are introduced to the villain. Alyssa knew she was the villain but for the most part (and most of the movie) was not very frightened by her. The only times she found the villain to get a little scary and buried her head in grandma's lap were the times when the villain was going directly after Paddington. We reassured her that Paddington would be okay every time and all was fine after that. As it true of most kid friendly movies this one had a happy ending and Alyssa liked that very much.

Paddington Bear is rated PG but did not contain any vulgar language. I believe the PG rating is due mostly to the very mild violence, and very mild it was. There was one scene where characters are playing a drinking game and another where the villain threatens a taxi driver and we don't quite know his fate but they were minor parts of the movie and both were over my 3 1/2 year old's head. There is also a scene that involves cross dressing that my 3 1/2 year old just found to be funny like everyone else in the audience and the shooting that occurs is with tranquilizer darts vs actual guns. Alyssa understood that they were something bad but the darts didn't look really scary and I know she doesn't understand the whole concept of taxidermy yet.

Paddington was funny, fun, and full of adventure. Other than briefly in the beginning when Paddington first arrived in London it held my 3 1/2 year old's attention very well. All three generations of our family really enjoyed it. It is definitely a family friendly movie that can be enjoyed by all ages. I give Paddington the movie two thumbs up!

Playing on the Playground at Disney's Art of Animation Resort

My little one wanted to put on her Tinkerbell dress and go to the Magic Kingdom today but it's been incredibly busy due to the holiday weekend so we compromised and I told her she could wear her Tink dress and go play at one of Disney's playgrounds instead.

Many of the resorts at Disney have playgrounds for the little ones but they vary greatly in how much they have to offer. Although it is adorably themed Art of Animation's playground is so small it can barely be called a playground but I chose this resort anyways because Alyssa likes to wander the grounds and look at all the character statues and also because we had an arcade card with lots of points on it and Art of Animation is one of the few resorts that still has its arcade prize counter before they all get removed at the end of this month.

Art of Animation consists of 4 themed sections-Little Mermaid, Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars. I parked by the Little Mermaid section because the statues in this section are Alyssa's favorite. She spent some time having fun running around the treasure chest statue with some kids she met. We took pictures with some of the other statues as well.

After Little Mermaid we walked through the Lion King section. This section has one of the "playgrounds" but it puzzles me as to how it can actually be called a playground. The bone theming is a little scary for young children and it doesn't consist of anything more than a cave and some bones to run through. Although it is supposed to be a play area there are signs posted that say "No Climbing" and there are no slides or other play features. It is good for running through the cave a few times but it honestly doesn't hold Alyssa's interest for very long. 

Alyssa enjoyed some of the other statues in this section more than she enjoyed the "playground." 

The Nemo section is the next one after Lion King. This is the main section of the resort and the one that has the main playground. The playground is located right behind the awesome splash pad but unlike the splash pad, which is fenced in and only accessible by room key, the playground is accessible to everyone.

The playground is very small and says it is for children up to age 12. In reality it is geared more towards children from about ages 2-5. It is themed to finding Nemo and consists of one really big piece of coral with a few slides coming out of it. There are also a few tunnels to crawl through and areas to climb on.

Benches surround the area for parents to sit on. The surface underneath the playground is a soft, spongy material, which is great during cooler weather and prevents things like mulch, sand, and pebbles from getting into the nearby pool and splash pad but in the summer the surface and the playground itself can get really hot.

The smallest of the three slides is off to the slide and perfect for very young toddlers. It is very low to the ground and easy to climb up on. Alyssa enjoys climbing on the coral and anemone behind it but the slide itself really is too small to hold a three year old's interest.

The other two slides you have to climb up stairs to get to. The first one is just your typical traditional slide but you can also continue climbing the stairs to the second slide, which is an enclosed circular one. Alyssa really enjoyed playing on both of them but I think she liked the enclosed slide more. Neither slide us really high and the stairs to both are wide and easy to navigate so they are perfect for young children.

This playground is so small I thought Alyssa would quickly get bored with it. I couldn't have been more wrong. What it lacked in things to play on was made up for by her big use of imagination. Nemo's reef somehow became pixie hollow in her eyes and she spent almost two hours playing on the structure, gathering up "pixie dust" in the little coral "bowls" and running and hiding from trolls and other scary creatures. Playtime was even more fun when numerous kids stopped by to play for a little while on their way to the pool or back to their hotel rooms. Most of the kids playing were between 2-6 but a few 7-9 year olds joined their younger siblings as they played and using their imaginations seemed to have just as much fun.

Alyssa played on the park until the sun started to set and I told her it was time to go. She reluctantly left and we walked through the final section of the resort, the Cars section, where she had fun running around the statues.

We grabbed a quick snack in the reasonably priced food court before heading into the nearby arcade to use up our points. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun Alyssa had on such a small playground. Although this playground doesn't really look like much if you have a young child with a big imagination you will probably have a hard time dragging them away!

A Parenting Perspective: Yes, the Bathroom May Have Been A Disaster but the Kingdom of Albador and the Tiny Plastic Animals Were Saved!

Yesterday after a looooong day hanging out with my 3 1/2 year old (you know the ones when you are counting down the hours until bedtime!), the clock finally struck the magic "let's get the bedtime routine started" hour and I hustled her into the bathroom to get ready for her bath. We played, I washed her, we argued about the water in her eyes and the need to clean her fingernails, we talked a little about our long and busy day. It was almost time to get out of the tub when I realized I'd left her nightgown and towel in the other room and decided she'd be fine left alone for a few minutes while I went to get her things.
Now, before I get flamed for leaving a young child alone in the bathroom for a few minutes, let me remind you that this is not a really young baby. She is almost four and at an age where she has started routinely asking for privacy when she uses the bathroom. She was still full of endless energy and showing no signs of sleepiness or sickness. Our house is a very small one story structure and the noise in the bathroom can be heard from any other room you are in not to mention the baby monitor I had nearby amplifies that noise. And, on any given day, I usually leave her alone in the tub for five minutes to play while I hang out in the next room trying to get a few things done so I can get to bed at a decent hour myself.
So off I went to get her towel and nightgown and decided to use the bathroom while I was at it. I figured it would be nice to use my own bathroom instead of the one with the pretty pink princess toddler seat on the potty with said child playing in the tub as my audience.
While I was in the bathroom I could hear her playing in the tub both through the walls and on the baby monitor loud and clearly. Playing indeed she was. I heard a lot of splashing and shouting and laughter and it sounded like she was having a grand old time.
That was all fine and dandy until I returned to the bathroom less than 10 minutes later to get her out of the tub and OMG! It looked like a pipe had burst in my bathroom. There was definitely more water all over the floor than there was in the tub and all of the rugs were soaked through completely. Thrown in the middle of it were some of her favorite little tiny plastic animals.
I did what probably any typical mother exhausted at the end of a long busy day walking in on this type of situation would do. "Get out of the tub!" I screamed. "What on earth do you think you were doing? Take this towel and clean up this mess right now!"
Her lip quivered. She knew she was in big trouble. "But momma," she told me. "I was saving all the animals. The kingdom of Albador got hit by a huge wave. The animals were all getting washed away. They needed me to save them!" (Did a mention that this 3 1/2 year old has an amazing imagination that rivals that of kids at least twice her age?)
As I watched her attempt to mop up the mess I thought back a few minutes ago to all the noise, laughter, and splashing I'd heard over the baby monitor. I realized what a wonderful time she'd been having interrupted by the mean old mommy who walked in on it. I realized how blessed I was to have a little one with such a vivid imagination whose evening could be filled with joy by the simplest thing like small plastic animals that almost got washed away by a tidal wave she created in the tub. I wished for a moment that I could be 3 1/2 again and find so much joy and fun in such a simple little game.
"Well did you save the animals from the big wave?" I asked. The little lip stopped quivering.
"Well the cheetah and the elephant..." she began. I knew I was in for a long, drawn out story that wouldn't make much sense to anyone except the 3 1/2 year old telling it. Together we cleaned up the bathroom as I listened. The animals she saved finally got placed neatly in a row on the windowsill to watch as I helped her finish getting ready for bed.
A few years from now small toy animals and a kingdom that exists only in her imagination will no longer be cool. The 3 1/2 year old will be replaced by a girl who probably wants her mommy nowhere near the bathroom door while she is showering.
Until then Albador and the kingdom of little tiny plastic animals await although they will promptly be moved outdoors to the water table on our back porch as soon as the sun has risen.

An Evening Out With My Little One at Ringling Bros Circus Extreme

I was lucky enough to win tickets to last night's showing of Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus Extreme show. It was opening night in Orlando and the show began at 7:30 pm. I think my husband was even more excited than my 3 1/2 year old daughter to go!

The show was held downtown at Amway Arena. We arrived around 6:30 and parked in the lot that is across the street underneath I-4. Amway Arena has its own parking garage but we prefer to park across the street not only because it is cheaper ($10 vs the $17+ to park in the garage) but also because we find it takes a lot less time to get out of the lot & onto I-4 after the show. The only annoying thing about parking across the street is you have to walk past all of the PETA supporters (who were very vocal and seemed to push their thoughts onto the children & hand out their leaflets directly to them this year instead of the adults they were with). While I completely respect their views and think it is wonderful that we live in a country where everyone can make their own decisions about things like whether or not to take their children to the circus, my daughter is at an age where she asks tons of questions and I'd prefer the opportunity to discuss things with her in an age appropriate way at home myself vs having a stranger thrust a pamphlet into her hands and having her repeatedly ask me what it says. Luckily it is a quick 5 minute walk so I was able to pick her up and shield her for the most part from the PETA protestors shouting and trying to get her to take their leaflets.

Bags are checked outside the Arena. No outside food and beverages are allowed inside and I saw them make several people throw food and water bottles away. If you have a baby, toddler, or preschooler with you, however, they seem to be a little more leniant with the content of diaper bags. I've always brought in sippy cups and several snacks for my little one in the individual size toddler containers and never been made to throw them away, even now that my bag no longer contains diapers because my little one is potty trained. When she was a baby I was always allowed to bring a water bottle in as well (probably because they assumed it was going to be used for mixing her formula). Food and drinks are very pricey inside so I try to avoid buying more than one treat.

Once we made it through the bag check we showed our tickets at the door and were told how to get to our seats. Many people ask if you can bring a stroller indoors. The answer to that is yes. Personally I think it would be a lot easier to leave it in the car if you can but if you absolutely must bring a stroller they have an area where you can leave it that is inside the Arena but outside the seating area. 

The seats I won this year happened to be on the 4th floor club level. This was our first time having seats on this floor and I learned you need to take the elevator from the ground floor to get to it. The line for the elevators moved very quickly and we had no problems getting upstairs to the actual section. I really liked being in the club level box because the view is awesome, there is only one row of seats in it with a shelf for food and drinks in front of you, and there is plenty of floor space in the room behind the seats for little ones who get antsy to stretch their legs and wander around a bit without worrying about them wandering out of the room or disturbing others.

I have now seen shows with my daughter from every level of the Arena and if you have a child preschool age or younger and can not get box seats I highly recommend skipping the 200 and higher section and spending the extra $ on seats on the lower level(s). The view from the 200's section is very high up and slightly obstructed and my daughter definitely does a lot better and enjoys the shows a lot more when we have better seats where she can see the action well (there are no large screens the show is projected onto for the circus).

After we found our seats we took our daughter back downstairs to participate in the pre-show. If you have a little one with you I highly recommend attending the pre-show, which takes place from an hour before the show begins until 15 minutes before showtime. The earlier you get to the pre-show the better because it does get more crowded the closer it gets to showtime. During the pre-show our daughter had the opportunity to meet some of the performers as they wandered through the crowd (lots and lots of clowns!), try on part of a circus costume (ie a cape or jacket), see some of the animals (ie elephants) up close, and dance and interact with some of the performers in a specific area.

They also had a free photo op set up, a place to register to win a painting done by one of the elephants, a place to get free tattoos and clown noses, and my daughter's favorite thing, a bounce house. The bounce house was $5 for one run through or $6 for unlimited run throughs, so we paid the $6 and let her run off some steam before the show. (There is a minimum height but I'm not sure what it was. She is just over 38 inches tall and seemed close as she rushed past the marker so I'm guessing 36 or 38 inches.) She was able to go through the bounce house several times and still have plenty of time left to see everything else on the floor.

When they made the announcement that the pre-show was ending we headed back to our seats. Be forewarned that unless you are sitting on the first level there are lots of stairs to climb and you will get quite a work-out, especially if you are carrying a child. Lines were shorter now to get refreshments so we stopped to get popcorn and a drink. Popcorn was $8 for a typical box of popcorn but also being sold elsewhere for $10 and up if you wanted it in a bag or with a little souvenir. Soda was around $4 for a regular size cup so I was glad I'd brought my daughter's drink in her sippy cup from home. The box we were sitting in had drink and food service but it was VERY expensive, so everyone I saw brought in food and drink from elsewhere in the Arena. I did take advantage of the plates, cups, and ice in the box to split up the popcorn and drinks amongst our family.

Finally it was time for the show to begin. The show opened with the ringmaster and typical animal and multiple performer act. My daughter enjoyed watching all the lights and colors and watching the camels parade around. Acts after that were a mixture of animals, clowns, acrobats, and other performers. The focus of Circus Extreme was definitely more on the human performers than the animals. Unlike other Ringling Bros shows we saw in the past this one was centered on the performers and while there were a few animal acts they were pretty few and far between and there was a lot of commentary going on during them that was not the easiest to understand. BMX bicyclists replaced the motorcycle act, which was one of my daughter's favorites last year. she didn't find the bicyclists' stunts to be quite as exciting and I would have to agree.

Tightrope walkers, strongmen, a human cannonball and clowns you'd expect in a traditional circus all made an appearance during the first half but they also included some more modern and exotic acrobatic acts. The only animals featured in complete acts were camels, elephants, tigers and poodles, which was a bit of a disappointment to both me and my daughter. She asked several times if she would see a lion or bear but one never appeared. During the elephant act they had a long running commentary going on about the elephants' backgrounds, care, how they were trained, etc.  The information was way over my daughter's head and I found it to take away from my concentration on the act a little bit. The elephants performance was pretty short but fun to watch. The finale was a bit interactive with the audience with the elephants all lying down and the audience screaming "wake up elephants!" to have them all return to a standing position. It was cute but I very much preferred the wooly mammoth and unicorn act they did in last year's circus.

Before the tigers came out they had an act with a man on this big spinning double wheel. It was interesting at first but seemed to drag on a bit. I think the main reason it dragged on for so long was because he was performing while they were bringing out the tigers and setting their area up. I think he was supposed to distract the audience from looking at the tigers but it didn't work out that way. Most people seemed to be more interested in watching the tigers walk out so this performer wasn't getting a lot of attention by the end of his act. The tiger act was interesting to watch but it also included a running commentary from the (tiger tamer?...not sure of the proper name!) and a lot of it seemed to be in Spanish. My daughter kept asking me what he was saying and I honestly had no idea.

After an hour of acrobatic acts with the few animal acts mixed in it was time for intermission. One advantage to being on the club level is it has a really nice bathroom accessible only to people on that level without the usual enormous lines. I took advantage of the intermission to take my daughter to the bathroom and wander around the floor and explore a bit. The 4th floor also has its own grill with a menu similar to the ones on the other floors and the same high prices. Close to it was a souvenier stand with the typical circus souveniers (programs, light up items, stuffed animals, etc) for $10 and up. My daughter is young enough that I can still bring my own light up items from the dollar store and give her those instead of spending the money on the high priced items they sell at the circus. I promised her I would give her a light up toy when we returned to our seats where it was hidden in my purse. The bounce house was set up on the floor below us but I have no idea if the wristband she got at the pre-show was still good or you had to pay to go in it again because I somehow managed to convince her that only the big kids were allowed in it now since the little kids were allowed in during the pre-show (looking down it was mostly much bigger kids in it that I would not want her playing in it with). They made the announcement that the second half was starting soon so we headed back to our seats.

The second half of the show began with a lot of clown and acrobatic acts. My daughter is obsessed with mermaids and she enjoyed looking at the colorful mermaids hanging from the ceilings. There was this futuristic boat/car involved with the act and I think there was supposed to be a storyline that went along with the whole thing but if there was it was hard for me to understand. That is about when my daughter and all of the other kids in our section started to lose interest. There were several other acrobatic acts after this one but much as we and the other parents tried to bring them back to see the show they would look for two minutes and decide they'd seen enough of the same old stuff and it was more fun to run around in the carpeted area at the back of our box and bounce on the couches, build tunnels with the tables, and play hide and go seek. The only animal act featured during the second half (other than the finale) was a poodle show which held their interest a little bit longer but they still weren't interested enough to watch the entire thing. I spent the second half of the show half trying to keep an eye on my daughter, half watching what was going on in the arena. The other parents in our box all were doing the same and attempts to get the kids (who ranged in age from about two and a half to eight or nine) to go back and sit down and watch never lasted more than a few minutes. Most of the parents ended up giving up and leaving early so by the time the circus ended at 9:30 we and one other family were the only people still remaining in the box. We cleaned up our trash, made a quick exit, and were home and in bed by 10:30.

When I asked my daughter what her favorite part of Circus Extreme was she said it was the bounce house, tigers, elephants, and dogs. She remembered in detail the human cannonball and the mermaids but her recollections of everything else were very vague. This was a big difference from last year's Barnum and Bailey Circus where at 2 1/2 she sat quietly in her seat through the entire show and talked about it for days afterwards. Overall I would only give Circus Extreme one thumb up. We had a great night out as a family and the acts were entertaining. I honestly thought, however, that it lacked a lot of the excitement of last year's show and last year's acts like the human chandelier, mythical creatures, and motorcyclists were actually more extreme. I hope that next year we will see a return of more animal acts and less acrobatics. Circus Extreme was fun but far from the most amazing and extreme Ringling Bros show I've ever seen.

Ten tips for bringing a little one to Ringling Bros Circus Extreme at Amway Arena:

1. Park across the street instead of in the garage. It's a short walk and you can use the $ you save to buy a treat at the circus.

2. Strollers are allowed inside the arena but leave yours behind if you can. You can't bring it on the escalators used to get to most seats so you will have to wait for the elevators. It will be parked out of your sight during the show and you will have to claim it afterwards. If you have a really young child consider bringing a baby carrier because there can be a lot of walking up and down stairs.

3. Outside food and drink is not allowed indoors. If you have a little one bottles, sippy cups, and the small individual toddler snack containers are fine. Bring a few treats so your little one can snack.

4. Buy a light up toy from the dollar store or Target beforehand and pack it in your purse. They are a lot less $ than the ones they sell at the circus & little ones don't notice the difference. Same thing would work with a small stuffed animal.

5. Arrive early and enjoy the pre-show. It's interactive and lots of fun for little ones. Most of the stuff is free. If you pay for the bounce house pay the $1 extra for unlimited runs through.

6. The show is approximately two hours long with a short intermission in the middle. It is not the most exciting Ringling Bros show we've seen and a long time to hold a little one's attention. Don't feel bad taking a short walk during the show. The bathrooms won't have the long lines they'll have during intermission anyways and with a potty trained little one that can be important.

7. Most but not all vendors take credit cards. Bring cash with you so you are prepared.

8. The show contains a lot more acrobatic acts than it does animals. Prepare your little one for this beforehand. My little one was expecting to see a lot more animals and kept asking when we would.

9. Take advantage of the intermission to explore a little and let little ones stretch their legs. It is a long time for a little one to be sitting and little ones don't necessarily understand the concept that intermission us supposed to be in the middle of a show, breaking it up into fairly equal parts. By the time you get to intermission many little ones may think they've seen enough.

10. Don't feel bad leaving early if you have to. The first half of this circus was a lot more exciting than the second half. Your child will still have seen and enjoyed the circus. Next year they may be able to sit through a little more. Better to get up and leave than tough it out while your antsy child possibly disturbs others around them and ends up melting down.

Have fun!

Resurrecting this Blog

So it's been a really long time since I've written anything in this blog. My goal for 2015 is to update it more often, which shouldn't be too difficult considering there is only one published post right now from all of 2014 :-) . (I have one post about holiday activities from Dec 2014 I plan to finish up & publish but not counting it since it hasn't gone live yet!) Not that 2014 wasn't a busy, active year for us full of adventures. My daughter is now 3 1/2 and loves exploring new places and visiting old, familiar ones. 2014 saw not only visits to the beach and local theme parks but also some fun new places like a real, true, pick your own pumpkin off the vine pumpkin patch. Who knew that such a place existed in Florida? I hope that 2015 is filled with just as much fun and adventure but in the interest of writing more I am going to expand the blog a little to include things like more of our everyday adventures, favorite deals I find, and reviews of some of our favorite kid friendly products. Welcome back, I hope 2015 is a great year for you as well!