Regional Events – Nichole Ann blogs

Help Fight Childhood Cancer!

Did you know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month? In an effort to raise the profile of childhood cancer this month, I’ve teamed up with a group of friends and bloggers from the Delaware Valley Area for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s inaugural Million Mile Run.

Together we are aiming to collectively walk 1000 miles during the month of September to raise awareness as well as raise as much money as we can to help fund childhood cancer research.

Thanks to several generous sponsors, we are also raffling off a few great prizes!!!

Find us at one of these events to buy a raffle ticket or DONATE ONLINE RIGHT NOW and get 10 entries! After you donate, simply let us know by filling out the Rafflecopter form below!

Friday Sept. 20th 12 pm – 6pm
Springfield Mall, Center Court
1250 Baltimore Pike, Springfield PA

Saturday Sept. 21st 11am – 5pm
Springfield Mall, Center Court
1250 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA

Saturday Sept. 28th 2pm – 6pm
Springfield Bertucci’s
965 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA

Prizes:

Custom made stuffed animals from Build-a-Bear Workshop

Bertucci’s Gift Basket

Pair of tickets to enjoy a Lunch Cruise on the Spirit of Philadelphia

Love Always little girls necklace from Jennifer Oxenford Independent Stella & Dot Consultant

Happy Family Basket of Snacks/Treats

$25 Gift card to Barefoot Books courtesy of JustChildrensBooks.com

Barefoot Books, Nichole Armstrong, JustChildrensBooks.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best day of the summer! #MightyMike

I highly recommend that everyone take off of work on a Wednesday here and there. I did just that not long ago and brought my 4 year old to go meet Mighty Mike – America’s Biggest, Baddest Alligator – who is on exhibit at Adventure Aquarium on the Camden Waterfront through Labor Day 2013.

It was the best day of the summer for us so far! We leisurely toured the Aquarium, met Mighty Mike, dipped our fingers in tanks filled with sharks, sting rays, sea urchins, sea stars, and more! We watched a mini 4D movie (SpongBob – banned from the boobtube at home but this was a treat day) and met up with a few friends for a little while.

After we had our fill of fishies, penguins, and hippos, we walked a long the waterfront for a little and discovered the ferry that takes you across the Delaware River to Philadelphia. It was set to arrive in a little bit so we made an impromptu trip to Philly! It was a beautiful day to be on the water and my son’s first boat ride.

Once we got to Philly we went on the prowl for ice cream and found the famous Franklin Fountain only a couple of blocks away. I once read a scathing review of the place some time back and was a little leery but our experience was nothing but delightful. TIP: IT’S CASH ONLY!!! (my only negative) After hunting down an ATM we enjoyed delicious ice cream. Simple chocolate for the kid and the special of the day for me.

We then explored Penns Landing as we took our time heading back to the ferry. After the ferry dropped us back off in Camden, the kid asked to go back into the Aquarium to pet the stingrays again. Not a problem since we got our hands stamped before leaving earlier! We “closed” the place down and finally headed home, tired but with lots of happy memories.

Vicks Behind Ear Thermometer

I recently had the opportunity to sit down to lunch with a group of moms and Dr. Meg Meeker. Dr. Meeker is a pediatrician, mother, blogger, and author of several parenting books.

We met at Fork in Philly, had a fantastic lunch, and then Dr. Meeker gave a very informative talk while showing off some of the latest health gadgets by Vicks and Kaz USA.

This luncheon was very timely for me. We just got over 2 months of back and forth illness and it’s been driving me crazy. Having a temp of 104 really SUCKS! And having a significant other than complains of being sick at the same time when the thermometer never read above 99 causes severe bouts of eye rolling.

So yeah, speaking of temperatures, one of the things Dr. Meeker showed us was the new Vicks Behind Ear Thermometer made by Kaz USA.

Let me tell you, it took me FOREVER to find a thermometer I was comfortable with before ending up with our Braun ThermoScan IRT-4520 also made by Kaz USA. I don’t even want to think about how much money I spent on other thermometers that just didn’t work. So after all the research I did on our thermometer (and all the money spent) I was initially a little blasé about the idea of a new thermometer.

But there were some definite PROS to the Vicks Behind Ear thermometer that I immediately liked.

1. No disposable tips which saves money in the long run.
2. Easy color-coded back light.

Green = normal
Yellow = low-grade or slightly elevated temp
Red = FEVER

3. Memory feature which saves the last 8 temperatures taken.
4. Non-invasive. Meaning it doesn’t need to be stuck inside any body part, mouth, rear-end, or ear. This may be especially important to extra sensitive children.

If shopping for a new thermometer today, the Vicks Behind Ear thermometer would definitely be on my radar due to these features.

Other things we learned during our Cold and Flu chat:

What’s the difference between a Cool Mist and Warm Mist humidifier?

Really there isn’t much difference. They are both equally effective in humidifying the air. It comes down personal preference or DR recommendation. Also, I probably wouldn’t put a warm-mist humidifier within reach of a roaming and inquisitive child for fear of burn.

Vicks has 2 newer humidifiers. The Vicks Starry Night model has a projector transforms your room into a starry night sky. Cool! The Vicks Germ-free model has an Ultraviolet light chamber that kills 99.9% of bacteria, mold, and spores that may be in the water. Both models let you put Vicks scent pads on them for soothing scents.

Personally, I like idea of the germ-free one better even though the stars are pretty cool. I always hesitate to use a humidifier because I have that old-school fear that I am just spreading germs around. The UV light would give me a little piece of mind.

What is a Hygrometer?

We were all asked if we had a hygrometer. My response was pretty much a big fat, “huh?”

A hygrometer is a little device that tells you the humidity level in your house! The Vicks HealthCheck Hygrometer tells you both humidity level and temperature.

One study has suggested there may be a correlation between flu virus survival rate in the air and on surfaces and low humidity levels. The study concludes that relative humidity levels between 40-60% are ideal. Having a hygrometer would let you know if the humidity levels in your house have fallen outside this range.

All in all, lunch at the Fork was lovely. Got to chat with moms while the kids played in another room and learned some things. The best advice from Dr. Meeker to parents? Use all the tools you want, they certainly help, but TRUST YOUR GUT! Ultimately, you know your child best so if your gut is telling you something is wrong listen to it.

Finally, I have to give a big THANK YOU to Mommy Entourage for picking me up when I was greeted by a flat tire on my way out the door. Another thank you to Dr. Meeker for sharing her wisdom and giving me a signed copy of The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers. And of course, a huge THANK YOU to Vicks & Kaz for providing lunch and great parting goodie bags that included some of the gadgets mentioned above!

263 Marketplace in Warminster, PA

I was delighted to have the opportunity to organize and invite a group of local bloggers and their families to the 263 Marketplace the other week.

The 263 Marketplace is located at 700 York Rd in Warminster, PA. It’s a growing indoor shopper’s village that opened just last November. You can find a little bit of everything there including: antiques, apparel, children’s boutique items, hand-made jewelry, and local wine.

While the parents gathered and caught up with one another the kids had fun making ornament crafts provided by my shop, Lambkins Children’s Boutique.

After everyone arrived we were given a tour by Sven from 263 Lock & Key who introduced us to all the vendors within the marketplace as well as told us about upcoming events. Everyone happily tweeted their way thru the tour and you can see some of the highlights of our twitter tour here.

The Marketplace then treated bloggers to lunch and some of the family-run business within the Gorgeous Gift Bags from the 263 Marketplace Vendors market contributed to gorgeous gift-bags that were given to each blogger. Other shops provided fun prizes that were raffled off. A random tweet was chosen to win a $25 gift certificate valid at any of the small businesses within the market. Congrats, Karla!

Best of all, the market arranged a surprise visit from Santa. You should have seen the kid’s faces when he came rolling around the corner on roller skates during our tour of the market! The 263 Marketplace Santa is extremely generous; not only can you take free pictures with him but he also gives out stockings full of gifts (while supplies last) to any child who visits.

And speaking of generosity, some of the bloggers who came brought board books or purchased them with at special discount from Just Children’s Books for an amazing local charity called Team Abby. Team Abby provides care packages to families experiencing long term stays at local area pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. Each package includes essentials as well as a board book. When touching isn’t allowed for health reasons, parents can spend time bonding and connecting with their babies via reading.

Big thanks to the marketplace and the following vendors for making this event possible: Uncle Joe Dautcher’s Farm Market, 263 Lock & Key, Hina’s Eyebrow Threading, Crabby Jean’s, Philly Apparel Company, CoolRays Tees, Joyful Teirs, Beautiful Baths, Carpet Buying Services, JMT Awnings, Unique Peddler, Bennick & Co, Malinda’s Eyewear, and Rina’s Rocks for helping to make this a successful and fun event!

See writeup at the Philly Social Media Moms blog too.