Ferdinand

The other day, I took 5 children to see Ferdinand at the movie theaters. I had my 3 year old nephew, 5,8 and 8 year old nieces and my 14 year old cousin. The 14 year old was coming more to help me with the little ones, but she ended up enjoying the movie as well. All 5 kids were laughing and fully engaged in this movie! I highly recommend this to anyone!

The movie follows a young bull, named Ferdinand. He starts out in a bull "training camp", Casa Del Toro, with others his age and his father. Ferdinand is a flower loving, pacifist. Ferdinand's father was the best in the "camp" and went out to fight the Matador, but does not come back. That day, Ferdinand decides to run away. He escapes and finds a farm to live on. Juan, his daughter Nina and their dog Paco welcome Ferdinand into their lives. Ferdinand and Nina create a loving bond. One day, Nina, Juan and Paco go to the city for the flower festival. Ferdinand is left behind this time because he has grown to a full size bull. He decides to follow anyways and chaos ensues.  First he is the literal bull in a china shop, then he is stung by a bee and  unintentionally wreaks havoc around town. The town folk are scared and he is captured and brought back to Casa Del Toro.  Upon arrival, he meets and befriends Lupe, who is a crazy goat. Lupe believes she is a therapy goat for unruly bulls and then insists on being his trainer for bull fighting. Once settled in, Ferdinand finds the bulls from his childhood have grown up and added a few more bull to the group plus 3 hedgehogs who sneak through Casa Del Toro.

One day, a legendary but egotistical bullfighter named El Primero  arrives at Casa del Toro to choose a bull he most admires to fight with so he can retire. When the bulls fail to impress him on the first try, Guapo is suddenly taken to a nearby slaughterhouse and the other bulls tell Ferdinand that it will be their fate once El Primero chooses a bull to fight. Although Ferdinand manages to earn the respect of the other bulls except Valiente after a dance-off with three German horses, they still hold on to the belief that fighting is the only way for them to live. Ferdinand manages to convince Lupe to come back with him to Nina's farm and the hedgehogs help them escape but when Ferdinand is close to freedom, he sees his dad's picture on a wall with his horns mounted on a wall, along with dozens of other horns, making Ferdinand realize that the bull who is chosen to fight will be slain by the matador.

Ferdinand tells the other bulls about how they will still be killed even after they're chosen to fight, but Valiente is the only one unconvinced and charges Ferdinand outside where Ferdinand inadvertently beats him in a fight and knocks off his right horn. El Primero witnesses the scuffle and chooses Ferdinand to fight after seeing him defeat Valiente. When Valiente is taken to the slaughterhouse, Ferdinand rallies up the remaining bulls to escape but goes to the slaughterhouse to break out Valiente. He is at first unwilling as he believes that the slaughterhouse is his fate now, but they discover that Guapo is still alive, and Ferdinand questions Valiente's courage.

When Ferdinand tries to save Guapo, he accidentally activates a series of deadly contraptions but, with the help of a now-friendlier Valiente, escapes the slaughterhouse and the bulls, Lupe, and hedgehogs steal the training area's company truck to escape, resulting in the head of the area, Moreno , and his employees to chase them after El Primero threatens them.

The animals try desperately to lose the humans and wind up at a city train station in Madrid that Ferdinand sees is his ticket back to Nina. When the bulls push a small railroad cart to catch the train back to Nina's home, Ferdinand sacrifices himself so the other bulls can escape (except for Lupe, who stays behind in shock after Ferdinand's act) and is captured by Moreno and his employees. When news of Ferdinand's upcoming fight with El Primero makes its way to Nina's home, she and Juan set out to Madrid to find and retrieve Ferdinand.

At the bullfight arena, Lupe tries to urge Ferdinand that he must fight in order to survive, but Ferdinand is silently unsure. When Ferdinand is released into the bullfight ring, he gives out a feeble performance with his pacifistic nature and accidentally causes El Primero to fly into the bull pen. El Primero angrily tries to attack Ferdinand with two barbed sticks (knowns as banderillas) and in the process, strikes Ferdinand in the shoulder, who almost retaliates against the matador, but sees a carnation underneath his hoof and sees that he's being the fighter he was unwilling to be and lets El Primero live. Regardless, El Primero tries to slay him to finish the fight, but upon seeing Ferdinand resigning himself to it and the crowd, moved by his gentle nature, wanting him to live, he refuses to kill him and leaves with dignity. Ferdinand is reunited with Nina, who embraces him and everyone throws carnations to the ring to praise the bull. The other bulls finally arrive too late to save Ferdinand, but instead witness Ferdinand making history as the first bull to ever make it out of a bullfight alive by being himself.

In the end, Ferdinand returns home with Nina, Juan, Paco and Moreno allows his fellow bulls, the hedgehogs, the Bunny and Lupe move into the farm with him. The film ends with Ferdinand, Lupe, and their bull friends watching the sunset over Ronda from a field of flowers.

America's Stonehenge, Salem NH

Monday, right before the new school year started, we visited America's Stonehenge in Salem NH.

Prices: $12 for adults, $7.50 for 6-12 year olds, $10 for seniors, Free for under 5. (some libraries have FREE passes!)

My sister-in-law brought her 3 kids (8,5, and 3) plus another 8 year old. This was the perfect outing! Educational, hiking, and fun all wrapped up together!

The kids all loved the Kid's Gemstone Dig. Here the kids dug in the dirt to find pretty rocks, which they were allowed to take 3 home each. Any other artifacts had to be left on the bench. We spent a good chunk of our visit digging in the dirt.
 

After the kids finished their digging for gemstones, we started a little hike to the different sites:

 

 

We got to view the ruins and explore. There was an informational sheet that explained each site.

We found a rock that said Share A Smile, each of the kids HAD to share a smile! :)

 

 

After hiking around the place, going off on different paths that followed the sun sets during times of the year, we ended with the Sun dial.

All in all, we had a very fun visit. We will defiantly be visiting again! We highly recommend this place for any age, but keep in mind it is a lot of walking. We should have used the back pack carrier for the 3 year old, next time we will make sure we bring it!

Hydren Photography. Richard Hydren

Sunday afternoon, we met with Richard Hydren for a photo shoot of my 2 nieces, nephew and Brother and Sister-in-law. We had the shoot at Marini farm, mainly because my mom loves it there. Normally Richard does his shoots on Plum Island.

We got there a few minutes early and Richard was setting up his camera equipment. He was very nice, and very professional. My mother really wanted the large chair that Marini farm has as the back drop. Richard made that happen for her, plus he took some photos in a few other sections of the farm to have more options.

My nieces and nephew are 8, 5 and 3 and Richard worked really well with them. He positioned them in ways that will look great in photos, but then let the kids come up with their own shots at the end.

I saw a few of the photos on him tablet as he was taking them and they were gorgeous! I cannot wait to see the final product. I will post some on here as soon as we get them!

I highly recommend Richard for any family! He is patient with children, but has a real eye for his work! 

He also does weddings, horses, properties, and products for businesses. 

Check him out on Facebook: Hydren Photography or online at gallery.hydren.net

Disney's Descendants 2

Last week we watched the new Descendants 2 movie and the kids LOVED it! Yes, all 4 of my nieces and nephew LOVED this movie.

Plot:
Descendants 2 follows Mal, who is still at Auradon Prep and dating King Ben. At the beginning of the movie, several months after moving to Auradon, Mal starts to feel like she doesn't belong and that she doesn't know who she is anymore. She admits her issues to her friends, Evie, Carlos, and Jay, but they are content with their new lives in Auradon and do not wish to return to the Isle of the Lost. Evie scolds Mal for relying on her mother’s spell book to solve her issues. Ben eventually discovers Mal’s reliance on magic, and she comes clean about her insecurities, causing the two to have a falling out. Mal returns to the Isle, now ruled by her former friend Uma, the daughter of Ursula. Ben, Evie, Jay, and Carlos learn of Mal’s departure and sneak onto the island to find her, but one of Uma's gang recognizes them. Ben confronts Mal, who rejects his feelings for his sake and Auradon’s. Ben leaves dejected, only to be captured by Uma, who orders Mal and her friends to retrieve the Fairy Godmother’s wand or Ben dies. Carlos and Jay return to Auradon Prep, where they create a replica of the wand using a 3D printer. Uma speaks with Ben, bitter that she and the others were not chosen to go to Auradon. Ben takes this into account and invites her to Auradon, but Uma instead plots to make her own way there. Mal’s group return, handing over the fake wand in exchange for Ben, but Uma realises it is a forgery. The group flee back to Auradon, but Mal and Ben’s relationship is still on the rocks. Aboard a ship during the Cotillion, Ben stuns everyone by appearing with Uma, who he declares as his true love and announces he will destroy the barrier on the Isle. Jane unveils a stain glass display Ben commissioned to show his affection for Mal, who realises he loved her for who she was all along. Suspecting Uma has given Ben a love potion, Mal kisses him, breaking it. Uma leaps into the water, using her mother Ursula’s magic seashell to transform into an octopus, Mal fighting back by transforming into a dragon. Ben intervenes, quelling the battle, and Uma swims away despite his offer still standing. Mal and Ben reunite, Mal surrendering her spell book over to the Fairy Godmother. Mal and Evie request that Dizzy be allowed to attend Auradon Prep.

This movie was cute, as all Disney channel movies are. The music was fun, which is what my nieces and nephew liked the most (obviously!). They were singing and dancing to the songs, their favorite was What's My Name that Uma sang. Check out the videos of them having a blast! I feel like we will be buying this sound track to listen in the car!

Despicable Me 3

We just saw Despicable Me 3 and it was super cute! I took my 7 year old niece to see it and she loved it!

This movie follows Gru, who is now an agent for the Anti-Villain League (AVL) and he and his wife Lucy are sent to foil the plans of Balthazar Bratt, a supervillain who was a former child actor who portrayed a young supervillain in a popular television series before the show was cancelled as a result of his puberty, and his waning popularity led to him adopting his former persona to become an actual supervillain. Gru manages to stop Bratt from stealing a very expensive diamond, but is unable to capture him. As a result of constantly failing to capture Bratt, Gru and Lucy are fired from the AVL by it's new director Valerie Da Vinci.
The family is approached by the butler of Gru's long-lost twin brother Dru, who lives in a country named Freedonia and longs to meet him. Stunned at this revelation, Gru confronts his mother who reveals that after divorcing Gru's father, they agreed to keep one child each. The family decide to meet Dru and they are surprised at his immense wealth which the butler attributes to their pig farm business. Dru quickly charms Gru's family despite turning off Gru due to his flamboyant personality. Meanwhile, Bratt manages to steal the diamond once again as he intends to use the diamond to power his giant robot to destroy Hollywood as revenge for cancelling his show.

 Dru reveals to Gru that his immense wealth is due to his father also being a legendary supervillain. As Dru was constantly dismissed by their father as a disgrace, he turned to his brother to teach him how to be a villain. Gru is unwilling to revert back to his old ways. To persuade him, Dru brings him on a joyride around Freedonia in their father's car where the siblings bond. Meanwhile, Lucy tries to balance being generous and implementing discipline as a mom which she exhibits after turning away a young boy who had fallen for Margo.

Having discovered that Bratt has stolen the diamond, Dru convinces Gru to steal the diamond for one last heist with Gru secretly intending to bring it to the AVL to reinstate his work. Despite several setbacks, they manage to retrieve the diamond back, but they are rescued by Lucy who had followed them earlier. After finding out Gru's true motives, Dru confronts his brother on why he lied to him with the latter insulting him in the process and deciding to leave Dru's mansion. Bratt infiltrates Dru's mansion by disguising as Lucy, kidnaps the children, and once again acquires the diamond which leads Gru, Lucy and Dru to resolve their differences and pursue him.

With his robot powered, Bratt terrorizes Hollywood. Having watched Bratt's show as a child, Dru deduces that Bratt plans to re-enact the episode where Bratt cuts off Hollywood and uses inflatable gum to elevate the city to outer space. Lucy saves the children while Gru and Dru weaken Bratt's robot with the weapons of their father's car. Gru is knocked unconscious when the car is destroyed and Dru destroys the robot's core from the inside when Bratt threatens to kill Gru. When Gru recovers, he battles Bratt in a "dance fight" which ends in Gru trapping Bratt in his own gum. The Minions, having rendezvoused with Gru, manage to destroy Bratt's gum covering the city.

Gru and Lucy are reinstated in the AVL and the newly united family celebrate in Gru's home. Lucy is acknowledged by the children as their mother. Dru, having embraced the family tradition of villainy, steal Gru's car, accompanied by the Minions. Gru and Lucy decide to give them a five-minute head-start before engaging pursuit.

My favorite characters, the Minions, were hilarious! After not being able to convince Gru to take up villainy again, they walk out on him. The Minions are arrested after trespassing, but stealing the show, at a talent show set. The Minions exert control among the prisoners at their jail, but their longing for Gru motivate them to escape the prison. In the end, they reunited with Gru and his family after helping them save Hollywood.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loved the first 2 Despicable Me movies and/or the Minions movie! If you haven't watched any of those 3, I suggest you do as well! These movies are great for older kids!

Don't Hire Derek Fuller from Royal Painting and Building out of Ipswich, Ma!

This blog wasn't meant to do this, but since they keep deleting my reviews, I wanted to warn people in our area about him!

We hired Derek's company, Royal Painting & Building to do our roof back in April/May of 2016. He had a great quote and was a customer of ours (he used to shop in our store 3-4 times a week!). He took a little longer than quoted to finish the roof, which we assumed would happen because once they started we had a heat wave, so they moved slower (which we were fine about).

A few weeks after they finished, we had our first rain storm. The ceiling in our living room was slightly leaking. We called him and he said he would send someone out ASAP to fix it. We called a few times, and he kept apologizing because they were busy and he had a death in the family. My grandmother passed the same time period, so we gave him another chance. It didn't rain the rest of the summer (other than maybe a light rain), so the leak of "out of sight, out of mind". 

In October, we had another big rain storm. The living room was still leaking slightly, but my niece's bedroom ceiling collapsed in from the rain! We didn't even know there was a leak until it was too late! This was a Sunday night (Monday being a holiday). We called their 24/7 emergency number they had listed online. No one answered or called us back. We called several times between 7PM on Sunday and about 1PM on Monday. We finally hired someone else to fix the roof area of that side of the house and fix the damage of my niece's bedroom. Derek finally called us back on Tuesday and said he would fix it, we told him we hired someone to fix because he didn't get back to us fast enough (We had a HOLE in our ROOF and it was supposed to rain again!). Derek was fine with that, and said he would come look at the pictures and the damage and that if we gave him the receipts/invoice he would pay for the damage. About a week after we saw and spoke to him, we email his wife Jessica (she answers the phones and emails), the invoice and he refused to call us back to set up a payment plan. My mother called a few times and Jessica would tell her he would call her back, then they stopped answering when she call all together. I tried from my cell and they called back within 5 mins (right after my mother called them!).  Jessica said they would have to talk to their other partner then call us back to set up a plan. I have called a few times since then with no return calls. It is now May and they are still refusing our calls and have yet to pay us back!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not hire them! Don't fall for their low estimates! They claim they use products, bought specifically for our house (that we paid for) and turns out they weren't put down! Take a look at the following photos of some of the damage!

Slight leak (June 2016) in the living room, the reason we called them.

This is what my niece's bedroom ceiling looked like the night it caved in!

This is a new(ish) leak we found during the snow/rain storms this winter (Feb-ish) of around our sky light,

We will need to re-do our whole roof this summer! 

We recently saw Smurfs: The Lost Village and LOVED it!

The movie follows Smurfette and a few of her friends on finding the "lost" village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. 

Plot:
The movie starts out explaining all the Smurfs are named after their characteristics (Brainy is smart, Clumsy is a klutz, Hefty is strong, etc) and Smurfette feels a little out of place. Smurfette is the only female in the village, but she was created from clay by the Evil Gargamel. While Smurfette is out playing near the forbidden forest (along with Brainy, Clumsy and Klutz) she sees another female Smurf.  Smurfette ends up being captured by Gargamel and at his castle, she ends up inadvertently revealing the hat, enabling Gargamel to mix up a brew that causes him to locate the village on a map.  Soon enough Hefty, Brainy, & Clumsy who followed Smurfette, help her escape and return to Smurf Village, where they are punished by Papa Smurf for disobeying his orders and confines them to their houses while dismissing their claims of a lost village filled with Smurfs. Smurfette decides to break out, with the help of Hefty, Brainy, & Clumsy because they are "Team Smurf". The four best friends follow the map and end up in various adventures, like being attacked by monster flowers and getting caught in a stampede of luminescent rabbits, one of whom they befriend and name Bucky, who helps them on their quest. After setting sail on their handmade raft along the river, they encounter Gargamel, Azrael, and Monty. Following a brief chase, Gargamel was thrown out of his own raft. Hefty and Smurfette convince the others to help save him. They do so but instead of thanking them, he pushed them out of their raft, leaving them to plunge down a waterfall. After surviving the waterfall and washed ashore, they are soon captured by the leaf-covered creature from earlier along with a few others and they soon reveal themselves to be female Smurfs. They are taken to their village, which is called Smurfy Grove, in the trees and get to know all the girl Smurfs, including the leader Smurf Willow, the tomboyish Smurf Storm, the hyperactive Smurf Blossom, the gentle Smurf Lily and the music-loving Smurf Melody. They all welcome the Smurfs, especially Smurfette, to their humble home. After a while of showing them what they do, Smurf Storm and Clumsy come back with her telling that Smurfette was created by Gargamel. Before they can attack her for being considered a traitor, Papa Smurf appears (after realizing Smurfette and the boys are missing, he goes out to find them), and the female smurfs accept him into their home. Then, Gargamel comes and destroys Smurfy Grove, capturing all the Smurfs, all except Smurfette, who is now alone, feeling guilty for her actions. However, Brainy's pet Snappy bug shows her a picture of her and the others, and she soon realizes that she is not a real Smurf, and heads back to Gargamel's lair with Snappy and Bucky to save the Smurfs. At Gargamel's lair, where all the Smurfs are, Brainy makes a plan to escape. Papa Smurf hears their plan and he and Smurf Willow decide to help them. Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, and some of the female Smurfs succeed at the plan until Gargamel and Azrael spot them and put some of the female Smurfs and Clumsy into his Smurfilator, extracting their essence. Smurfette appears, tricking Gargamel that she wants to be an evil smurf again. When Gargamel tries to turn Smurfette into an evil smurf, he realizes that Smurfette is absorbing his magic powers instead, a skill she found earlier after destroying Brainy's invention. The lair explodes, sending Gargamel, Azrael, and Monty into a lake full of piranhas. Unfortunately, Smurfette has reverted to her original lifeless clay form. Papa quickly tries to find a spell, but Brainy states there's nothing they can do to save her, leaving everyone, especially Papa, heartbroken.

Back at Smurf Village, all the Smurfs, boys and girls, mourn the loss of Smurfette. Using their energy, Smurfette comes back to life and becomes a Smurf again and everybody happily celebrates. After which, Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove become united with each other and Smurfette finally became the new leader of the Smurfs and most of all, true-blue Smurf.

I took my 7 and a half year old niece to this and she LOVED it! She was giggling the whole time! We highly recommend seeing this to everyone! She even told me she liked this version better than the other movies (Smurf 1 and 2, both were live action)!

Boss Baby

So, it is April school vacation week for us this week and, of course, it is raining! So, what do we do? We go to the movies!

We saw Boss Baby!

This movie was very cute! It starts out with a 7 year old little boy named Tim. He has a loving family, his parents work at a puppy company. Tim's parents play with, sing to him, read to him at bed time. He is happy. Until the baby arrives. Boss Baby arrives at Tim's home in a taxi, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. Boss Baby takes over all of Tim's parents' love and attention. Tim begins to think that his parents don't love him anymore, and they only care about the new baby. One day, Tim discovers that Boss Baby is actually spy from Baby Co, trying to get more attention/love for babies instead of puppies. Tim still tries to get rid of Boss Baby, even going up against his team of babies in a hilarious "battle". Tim's parents catch on and ground him. Tim and Boss baby put aside their rivalry and work together to thwart a dastardly plot that involves an epic battle between puppies and babies. Through their battle against Francis Francis, they bond. The ending of the movie is pure love!

I took my 7 year old niece to see this. Her mother is expecting a baby in a few months. When the movie began, I was like "Oh no! I hope she doesn't feel unloved like Tim!" but as the movie progressed, I started to hope she has the same love for her little brother that Tim developed for his!

I recommend this movie for any child, but especially ones with siblings!

Recycle!

With Earth day coming up, I wanted to talk about recycling. Everyone talks about recycling plastic bottles/cans or paper. Not a lot of people talk about recycling (or reusing) children's things! The Children's Orchard is all about recycling and reusing items!

Did you know, we buy and sell children's things that they have outgrown?

1. Clothing/shoes: Children, at least twice a year, grow out of their clothing! Some items, like fancy dresses and suits, they only wear ONCE! We buy season clothing/shoes!
1. Spring/Summer
• bathing suits and cover ups
• shorts/capris
• t-shirts/tank tops
• sun dresses
• sneakers
• sandals
• water shoes
• rain coats/ boots
• Light weight jackets
• Dressy clothing and shoes for Easter/Mother's Day/ Weddings
2. Fall/Winter
• t-shirts/sweat shirts
• pants
• Halloween costumes
• sneakers
• rain coats/ boots
• Snow gear (jackets, snow pants, winter boots)
• Dressy clothing and shoes for Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years/ Weddings
• Bathing suits (year round: for swim lessons or the hot tub/pool on vacations)
2. Equipment: swings, exersaucers, high chairs etc. the children only use for a few months (if they even like it). We buy gently used equipment (as long it hasn't been recalled)
• swings (inside and outside)
• exersaucers/ jump a roos
• high chairs
• changing tables
• pack n plays
• cribs (no drop sides)
• Strollers/joggers (single and doubles)
3. Toys and Books: Children have so many toy options these days! Typically, a child will lose interest in the toy after a few months! We buy them if they have all (or most) of their pieces!

When you sell to The Children's Orchard, you are recycling your children's outgrown items! Unless you give them to friends, the things your child outgrew sits in a landfill!

When you buy items from The Children's Orchard, you are reusing someone else's items!

Both are good for the environment!

Fairy Tales Lice Prevention Rosemary Repel conditioning spray

Right around back to school time, I decided to try Fairy Tales lice prevention spray. I was skeptical at first, but man am I glad I bought it! I use this product every morning before heading to work! I also put it in my 7 year old niece's hair every morning!

Over Thanksgiving break, I went away with my other brother, his wife, 3 kids and my other niece. I cuddle with the kids, and my niece slept in a bed with her cousin. Tuesday after the long weekend, my sister-in-law called to tell us her oldest had lice! Turns out, all 5 of them had to some extent. She told me to check my hair and my other niece that went up to visit with me. Thankfully, neither one of us had it! Why? Because we used the lice prevention spray!

Fairy Tales lice prevention spray is a leave in conditioner that detangle and protect the hair. Lice do not like the rosemary, citronella, and tea tree oil scents.
This product is gluten, soy, dairy and nut-free!

I highly recommend this product to any adult whose children go to school, day care or camp. I also recommend to any adult who is near children!

The Children's Orchard in Rowley, Ma carries these for sale!

Imagine That! Lawrence, Ma

Yesterday, during NH school vacation week with my 3 nieces and nephew, we went to Imagine That!

Let's start with, I have 3 nieces (age 8, 7.5, and almost 5) and a nephew (age 2.5). This was my first time going to Imagine That, along with the 7.5 year old girl. My sister in law and other 3 kids have gone once before.

This place was a fun day time activity. We went got a pass from our local library, which got 2 adults and 3 kids in FREE, so we only had to pay for 1 child! However, price wise, this wouldn't have been too expensive anyways. Children are $10 and adults are $1!

As you walk into the shoe less room:

1. There is a jumpy house. The kids LOVED this! They could probably spend all day in a jumpy house. I would only suggest you pay attention at this section because no one is monitoring the jumpy house. At one point, I saw too many children in the house at once. We just suggested the kids move onto another activity, so they wouldn't get hurt.
2. A "Doctor's Clinic" is next. Here, the kids got to play with baby dolls and bring them to the doctors. They had a few Doctor coats for them to wear while they pretended to be the doctor. This was a cute pretend station.
3. Next was a wooden ship. Here, the kids got to climb on and in the ship and pretend to steer the ship. On the wall was "windows", that when opened gave facts about different sea creatures.
4. Next was a little sitting area with large blocks for kids to play with..
5. Connected to the sitting/block area was the climbing structure. This was the kids' favorite section! My 2.5 year old nephew was the perfect size for it this year, my sister in law said last year he needed help climbing through it. This has climbing, tunnels and a slide. All 4 kids enjoyed this!
6. In the middle of the room is a pretend grocery store. Here, they have bins of plastic or wood food that they can "buy" from whoever is pretending to be the cashier.
7. The last section is the arts corner. This was the only section I thought really needed some work. They had a big roll of brown paper for the kids to paint or draw on, smocks, a wall of art supplies. You do have to pay for paint though, which was only 50 cents for a plate of paint.

They also have a small snack bar that sells food and drinks. They had an okay selection of snacks (oreos, gold fish, cheez it, etc) plus chicken fingers, pizza etc. They also had cans of soda, juice boxes, water, etc for drinks. They have a section for the kids to sit and eat their food or drink their drinks as well.

All in all, I really enjoyed the place! I think we will definitely go back. I do think the older girls, 8 and 7.5 years old, are probably aging out of this place, and would highly recommend it for 6 and under, but they did have fun!

The only real suggestions I have before you go there

1. Pay close attention to your kid(s), especially if they are fast and you are alone with more than one child. The people by the door don't stop children from leaving, even if the adult is not near. My experience: my 7.5 year old niece, when it was time to go, was out the door before I was even half way across the room. I'm not sure if the lady would have stopped her if she was younger though.
2. If you have them, have the kids wear the socks with the grippers on the bottom. The place is a little slippery, especially with the kids running.
3. Dress lightly. The room was pretty warm inside yesterday. And a few of my friends who have gone different days, said the same.

Online Selling?

Are you selling your children's stuff online? Facebook groups, craigslist, even yard sales are a lot more work for less money! Did you know, you could easily bring your child's clothes, toys and equipment to us and get money right then and there?

I have spoken with friends who sell online or at yard sales, and I have also sold at both. Here are a few things that is better when selling to The Children's Orchard!

1. Less time spent dealing with selling!  Between taking photos, posting to the numerous sites you use and waiting for people to respond or show up, selling things can take hours or days! If you brought the items to us, you could save yourself some time. We look at it when you bring it in, and let you know right then and there if we can buy it!
2. Meeting a stranger somewhere or having them come to your house can be dangerous! Selling to us is safe and convenient. We are located in a plaza with many people around plus we have only a few buyers, so you work with the same people over and over again

When you buy online:

1. You never know if the item has been recalled, unless you constantly check the list of recalled items. The Children's Orchard does that for you! We NEVER have recalled items in our store!
2. You can't return something if your child doesn't like it or it doesn't fit! Here, at the Children's Orchard, we allow you to return things! We know it's hard to shop with and for children. Kids are picky and they grow fast!
3. We go back to meeting a stranger somewhere. You never know who is placing the item online! We live in a dangerous time, why risk it?

Why waste your short time with buying and selling online? Come into our store and do both at the same time!

Support small and local businesses before they all close up!