Mommy Reviews the Crayola Experience, Plano Texas

 Crayola Experience

There is a reason for me being M.I.A. Or a lot! Not only did I just published my book 3 months ago…but we also moved to Dallas area! Ya’ll might be thinking it is not too far…but it does feel far from what I knew. I knew Austin like the palms of my hands, I knew the roads and the spots and of course…the parks!

However, this is a new opportunity for us and for our boys. We think this move will be so amazing for them and definitely right for our family. My hope is to keep exploring and going on so many different adventures. Starting with Crayola experience.

The Crayola experience was located inside a Mall. They did a phenomenal job marking how to get there! From which parking and which entrance it was an A+ for me.

There were various fun activities mixed with technology. The activities were better geared towards my 4yo, but the 1 yo also had fun! 😊

We started by personalizing our own crayon! The kids could select their own color and I helped him put his name on the label maker. Then we went to a station to wrap it around the crayon. This was fun. There was a station to take a picture with your kid and it turned it into a coloring page for you to then color on the next station.

We enjoyed coloring and also melting crayon to make beautiful art!

A highlight for the boys was the indoor park as well. It had various slides and the kids stayed entertained for quite a bit! They also had a toddler version of this park, which I appreciate for my 1yo not to be trampled by the older kiddos.

I did dock down a few points on safety, because one of the slides was pitch black and my toddler had a meltdown there due to this. I was there with him but went first with my 1yo. He had never had a meltdown in a slide…so I think it wasn’t tested internally or they might not be aware how dark it really is.

At the end we stopped by the gift shop and got some jumbo crayons and more coloring paper. These were a little over-charged…but what gift shop isn’t?

I would recommend this place if your kids are artistic or to fill a day with a fun activity. Because it’s in the mall, it was easy to go to the food court afterwards for some food.

 Overall: 4.5/5

 

Factor	Description	Rating (Out of 5) 5 Being best
Uniqueness	Did it have that unique vibe? Was it new and interesting or same old neighborhood park? (Nothing wrong with your neighborhood park...but if we took the effort to travel...we want something different and unique!) A value of 1 means it was not unique, a value of 5 means it was crazy unique and different.	5
Variety	Refers to the different areas or different activities that were available. A value of 1, means there was not much variety. A value of 5 means it had a lot of different things for the kids!	5
Safety	How safe was my toddler without me having to intervene much? Did he fall multiple times? Did he hurt himself? A value of 1 is not very safe and probably would not bring the kid back. A value of 5 means safety was in the mind of the designer and pretty much kid proof.	3
Kid Friendly	Was it Intentionally design for kids? Or mostly for adults? A value of 1 would mean that it was fun enough for kids, but not really designed for kids. A value of 5 would be it is designed for kids.	5
Overall	Average of all factors listed below for final overall score	4.5

 

Memories with the boys!

Memories with the Boys!

Brothers. Charles always insists on holding his little brother's hand.

I expected to see more...jealousy, but so far it has been more sweetness and a bit of obsession over his little brother. He does want to be burped just like Camilo and may have requested breastmilk (which he didn't like)...overall, just so happy to see their sweet relationship and I do know things may change 🤪 but just enjoying superrussellbrosthem both at this stage! 💙💙🙏🏾 #superrussellbros

My boys 🤩

When I'm holding Cam, Charlesito says "two boys".

Indeed, I do have 2 boys. I move Cam to one side and tell him I have more space for him too.

"God blessed me with Two boys." I say.

Thanks for reminding me 💙💙

#superrussellbros

My sweet pearls 😍😍

#austinaquarium🐠
#superrussellbros

My boys. Always. 💙💙 Lately I don't know how to label these. Bc my days after work definetly go towards taking care of them and making sure they are good:

✅ Bathed
✅ Fed
✅ Loved

It's like two full time jobs, and I know it's important work. Hard work. Fullfilling work. And all Worth it.

And today, their daycare was open and I took them to have a day off. For myself.

                                                                                    2021

How blessed I am to have them.

Conversations with my 4yo.

4yo: Mommy. You know, you and I have something special?
Me: of course we do...but what are you thinking about?
4yo: well, you and I both like the chocolate donuts with nuts the best.
Me: That is so special!! 🍩(no donut with nuts emoji )

Conversation I overheard my 1 yo have as his dad is reading him a book.

1yo: donut?
Dad: that's the number zero Camilo.

Proud of my boys. 🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

                                         

Back to school. Wait. They've been going to school 🤣 More like, new school! Charlie is doing so well in his Spanish immersion! I thought he'd be upset, but he seems to like it. It's harder for little Cam. Transitions are hard. We are doing our best to support them. ❤

Es dificil decir adios asi que sera vernos de nuevo! Fueron 10 años en Austin y muchas amistades bellas para toda la vida. Los quiero mucho 🥰🥰

Sweet Eats Fruit Farms. Farm day with the fam. The #boys first time riding ponys and horses. 🐴 Super recommend Sweet Eats Adventure Farm in Georgetown, TX. They have various activities pig races, tires to push, petting zoo, and picking seasonal fruits and more! 😊

And the final result for our tie-dye project 🤩 boys loved it and both were very engaged as well. I was surprised we kept the floors dye free! 😅

So much fun @wonderspacesaustin

Charlie asks me why we can't touch the strings.

'I'm confused mami. Why can't I touch it? Can you show me the things I can touch?" He asks... 😅

Fourth of July, 2022

4th of July, 2022

Austin, 2021

Dinner with 2 littles. 🤗🤗 Fancy drinks and peek-a-boos.

Teacher Appreciation Week, 2022

Easter, 2022

Easter,2022

Fall Weather!

Fall Weather

All the fall things. And Christopher Robin is the photographer 😅

2021

Two Boys on a Sailboat--Dos Niños en un Velero

This blog is a bit different than my usual park reviews. I have an announcement: I am now a Children's Book Author! This project started with one simple thought: "I could do better". When my older boy started spending lots of time reading some books that I found to be just ok, I thought "I could do a better job". I had no specific topics at the time, but then the theme came from my older son asking me questions about our day. He would ask me: "Two boys on a sailboat?" when I was strapping him and his brother to their carseat. I knew that he knew that it was a chair, but he was inviting me to go beyond that thought. "Si, hay dos niños en un velero" I'd respond back in Spanish, trying to keep our language alive.

So that's the origin story...Two Boys on a Sailboat (Dos Ninos en un Velero) is about the adventures of two brothers and how they go through the day using their imagination. The normal day to day activities for the mom taking care of the kids, become magical as she is invited to join the wonderful world of her sons.

I was also very intentional in including various underlying themes that came up as my curious boy kept asking questions when we brought his baby brother home. For example: Are you Camilo's (little brother) bottle? I realized none of the siblings' books we'd purchased had shown him a mom breastfeeding or his dad having time to read books with them...so those scenes are included to help normalize breastfeeding and show fathers being involved in their kids' life, among other themes.

Beyond what happens next. The most important thing for me has already happened. Two Boys on a Sailboat is on our shelf, and our boys can recognize themselves in this book :-)

Thanks for all the support. Specially @charles.russell @tracyborgmeyer @carolinadiaz @pdiaz @laura and wonderful designer @bojana for bringing my ideas to life.

Available now for presale at Amazon

Please share with your friends and leave a review once you get the book in your hands! 

Mommy Reviews: The Dino Park

 Map: Dino Park

My 3.5 year old loves Dinosaurs. He had asked us a week ago if there were Dinosaur parks in  Texas. So the search began, and we made plans to visit Dino Park in Cedar Creek. I have to be honest, the entrance wasn't the most pretty, as it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but once we stepped foot through the store, we were transported into Dino land.

Starting with the cute store at the front. There were just Dinosaurs everything. Every price, and every size. Dinosaurs eggs, dinosaurs of all shapes colors and sizes. We paid our ticket and then went to the park.

Inside the park there were various activities. There is an area to dig for bones and fossils, another to ride the dinosaurs. We stayed digging for 10 minutes and then explored the various spot in the park. Charlie loved a big dinosaur T-Rex head, which you could go into as if you were inside its mouth.

Afterwards we started to go through the path which was, to me, the best part. Most of the Dinosaurs seemed to be accurate to their actual size and where just placed all around the path. They also had an I-spy game all throughout which my toddler loved. We looked and found fossils, eggs and other animals and dinosaurs. My son loves to name the dinosaurs he sees, and he could name most, but there were a few that stumped him, and so he was curious to learn the name and what it did. He would stop me and say: "Mommy, daddy is still reading about the dinosaur". 

I would say, overall, we saw more than 20 different types of dinosaurs and there were also a few baby dinosaurs with a saddle that the kids could ride. Overall we had so much fun and will come again (and again and again)!

Overall: 4.75/5

Factor	Description	Rating (Out of 5) 5 Being best
Uniqueness	Did it have that keep Austin Weird unique vibe? Was it new and interesting or same old neighborhood park? (Nothing wrong with your neighborhood park...but if we took the effort to travel...we want something different and unique!) A value of 1 means it was not very unique, a value of 5 means it was crazy unique and different.	5
Variety	Refers to the different areas or different activities that were available. A value of 1, means there was not much variety. A value of 5 means it had a lot of different things for the kids!	4
Safety	How safe was my toddler without me having to intervene much? Did he fall multiple times? Did he hurt himself? A value of 1 is not very safe and probably would not bring the kid back. A value of 5 means safety was in the mind of the designer and pretty much kid proof.	5
Kid Friendly	Was it Intentionally design for kids? Or mostly for adults? A value of 1 would mean that it was fun enough for kids, but not really designed for kids. A value of 5 would be it is designed for kids.	5
Overall	Average of all factors listed below for final overall score	4.75

Cost as of 2/6/22

Stroller friendly? Yes! Wide areas all around, but some gravel.

Restroom? Yes, in the store.