Monday, January 13, 2014

Our Review of Octonauts: Here Come the Octonauts

The Octonauts!
This month Aaron and I were sent Octonauts: Here Come the Octonauts! for review.  Aaron has loved the Octonauts since the first episode he saw so I was pretty sure this would be a hit!

The Octonauts is a group of adorable animals that are underwater explorers!  They have their own submarine and underwater Octopod that they live in and explore the oceans with.  This dvd has 6 underwater adventures full of different creatures like sea snakes and baby penguins.  It also includes bonus features where kids (and adults too!) can learn about marine life in the Octonauts Creature Reports.

Aaron's favorite episode was the Sea Snake one where a mother Sea Snake sneaks on to the Octopod to have her babies in a safe environment.  The Octonauts have to first find all the babies and then safely get them back into the ocean but there is a whirlpool preventing them from doing so!  Eventually the team figures things out and the babies and their mom are freed safely into the ocean. 

Octonauts is great in teaching your kids teamwork and problem solving while also learning about our oceans, underwater animals, habitats, conservation and more!

So join Captain Barnacles and his team for fun filled exploration, rescue adventures and ocean habitat conservation in Octonauts: Here Come the Octonauts!  You can find the dvd at a retailer near you for a SRP of $12.99 or you can also buy it online directly from NCircle Entertainment (where, shhhhh.... it's currently a $1 off!).     


Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy 5th Birthday to my Big Boy!

Birthday Boy
This is a belated post (I am in a lazy funk) but the birthday itself was not!  

Happy 5th Birthday Aaron!  You're my big boy now!!  It's so exciting to watch you grow and become older.  While Josh and I are always nostalgic for our chubba baby boy, we're also proud and happy to watch you grow and learn!

Aaron wanted a dinosaur themed party and Aaron gets what he wants for his birthday!  Since Josh had to work on Aaron's actual birthday it worked out to Aaron's advantage because he got a full birthday weekend instead of just one day.  On Friday at school it was kind of a party day anyway since it was the last day before Christmas vacation and they had an easy day watching The Polar Express.  They made Aaron a birthday crown and sang him Happy Birthday and I brought mini cupcakes for his class.  On Saturday he had a special day with his grandparents and tia Eva all by himself.  They took him to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time and then to Leatherby's for some yummy ice cream dessert where the entire restaurant sang him Happy Birthday and a young lady who shared a birthday with him bought him a Leatherby's t-shirt!  

Birthday Ice Cream!
On Sunday Aaron had a movie date with just Josh and I.  We took him to see Walking with Dinosaurs in 3D and he loved it!  

Notice the dino t-shirt too?
While we were out watching the movie, the rest of my family was at our house setting up a surprise party.  When we got back Aaron was greeted with a big surprise of family, balloons, streamers, presents and a dino cake!  

Freeport Bakery does the best cakes!
He was super excited and a bit overwhelmed I think but he loved all the gifts and ate part of his cake (he was too excited about the gifts and had to go back to playing with all his new toys, abandoning his cake!).  

So much dino fun!
Josh and I try super hard to make Aaron's birthday stand out since it's so close to Christmas (that's why it's always themed) and even though this year was kind of thrown together at the last minute I think it worked out really well and we all made him feel special.  Thanks so much to my parents, sister and cousin Susie who helped with all the birthday activities.  

Happy Birthday Buddy!  We all love you!