We’ve made one of our first “big” purchases with our Save-On-Foods ‘More Rewards‘ card. We are notoriously bad at taking along the coupons that could get us a lot of extra points, but now that we have Aiden, I’ve been at least trying to be consistent in this area. At the very least, we can translate those points into Gift Cards for restaurants.
However, we recently cashed in 22,000 points to pick up a Little Tikes water table, the ‘Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark‘. I’d been on the hunt for a water activity table and, though this one had a few more toys than I thought were necessary for Aiden to enjoy it, it was FREE. So, Yay!
I can’t wait for more sunny days for us to play outside on the patio!
Have you ever purchased anything with rewards points programs?
Did you know that most malls have themed strollers available, often for free? If you head to guest services at most malls, you can inquire after stroller availability. At some malls, you will need to rent them at a fee. At others, they are available by securing the stroller with a piece of photo ID.
For children like mine who don’t like strollers, the car-themed strollers are a fun alternative. Kids can use the steering wheels while adults have some bag-space in the rear. Mind you, your child may end up coming and going from the stroller still, as mine does, but it’s nice to know your options!
Here’s a list of the malls in the Lower Mainland and my knowledge on their policies:
Tomorrow is Disney Day in Canada! Two new Disney stores in Canada will open simultaneously in Mississauga and also here in Vancouver at Metrotown. I had a chance to get a special preview of the new store to let you know what to expect.
The Disney store is a re-launch in a whole new location in Metrotown – this time on the bottom floor under the food court, by the Bay (park in the underground parkade under the food court for easiest access). The location is better and is re-imagined, from the 3 foot height of a child. And boy was it ever! It felt like a little piece of the Disneyland magic had appeared in the mall. The mural was even customized to feature Vancouver landscapes mixed in with Disney characters, so take a look to see what you can recognize when you are there.
Marketed as “the best 30 minutes of a child’s day,” the new store featured neighbourhoods which cater to the imagination – from the Princess Castle that, with the wave of a wand, will signal a Disney princess to tell a story to the CARS-branded Ridemakerz station where you can build your own car. There are cute stops along the way, including a colouring station and theatre.
Aiden’s favourite station was the plush helicopter – it was a toddler’s dream. There were buttons everywhere to press (I wish they were louder, he could barely hear the response sounds) and wheels to turn and a fun tunnel to crawl through. He was fascinated by the spinning helicopter, saying “Whee” anytime he started it up.
As far as the merchandise goes, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. The much larger store carries a wide variety of merchandise, both marketing the most recent Disney movies as well as Classic Disney characters. I was really happy at this change, as we only know Disney through books, and thus are most familiar with Pooh. I was also really pleased that they had more boys’ clothes. There are walls and walls of stuffed toys in all sorts of sizes, so you have many choices!
The only obvious omissions to merchandising were wall art and infant clothes, though both are available online. These were also missing from the previous Disney Store iteration, which made me disappointed when I was nesting before Aiden was born. The store should also consider placing their ceramic mugs higher up, as little grabby hands almost broke two today!
Disney Store Opening Photos
Tomorrow, you too can celebrate the new Disney store! The opening ceremony begins at 9am and the first 500 guests get free gifts (more gift options here). On April 16th, there will be an official grand opening as well, with more gifts and appearances by Mickey and Minnie.
Don’t expect to find any helpful info on the Disney store at the Metrtotown website. Instead, you can keep in touch about upcoming store events via the main @DisneyStore account or Facebook page.
My little dude loves hats. Heck, I think he’d wear his bike helmet most days if we let him. It has lights! Oooh, lights! And, while he’s just grown out of his newsboy cap (don’t worry, I’m getting another of the same one next week!), he’ll generally wear any hat we offer – outside the house. Once in the car or inside, he takes off the hat. But still, not bad ‘training’, hey?
When we were at H&M this week, mostly killing time, he nearly jumped out of my arms when he saw these hats. He loves to try on most hats he sees. This one, however, was a keeper. $12 – hard to pass up!
I love to read to Aiden, and love going to bookstores to find some new gems for our collection. I don’t feel guilty about buying books, I see them as more of an investment. If I’m going to spend over an hour a day reading to Aiden, I may as well choose books I like too!
Lately I’ve tried to go outside of Chapters to see what other books I can find. I’m getting tired of the flashcard-y “first words” / “first colours” etc books – there’s no story to them! Aiden’s taken a fancy to books that have more of a rhyme to them, so we’re exploring longer nursery rhymes and some stories too.
We shop for kids books at:
Costco (though they tend to be more gimmicky books than story books)
Tomorrow is Disney Day in Canada! Two new 
Marketed as “the best 30 minutes of a child’s day,” the new store featured neighbourhoods which cater to the imagination – from the Princess Castle that, with the wave of a wand, will signal a Disney princess to tell a story to the CARS-branded Ridemakerz station where you can build your own car. There are cute stops along the way, including a colouring station and theatre. 
