More Product Recommendations

Here comes another week (hopefully) of some great product recommendations! We've done this in the past and just shared the products that we were loving at that time. Mostly, we'll share "kid" related products, but we'll try to think outside that box and include some others as well. You can use the category list in the right sidebar to search by topic and see what we've recommended in the past. Or you can just click here for all posts labled as product reviews.

1. GeoTrax by Fisher Price
This past Christmas, we wanted to get Will a train set. Not necessarily a wooden one, but something a little age appropriate (he was 2.5) than he had. I perused Craigslist for a few days and found a listing for some GeoTrax. Not knowing what it was or whether it was a good deal, I looked it up and LOVED it. Basically, the track pieces snap together more securely than wooden track pieces. The train cars are either remote controlled or not. There are tons of "sets" you can get that all go together. We have added a track expansion kit that I got on clearance after Christmas and a few trains. This is hands down the favorite toy right now. The favorite toy of Will and his Mom and Dad. We love coming up with new track configurations.

And since we don't have a lot of room - it gets set up on the kitchen table. Out of the reach of babies...To store it, I use a stacking basket on wheels that I found at Target. It's very portable, yet not huge. I actually have four of these for storing larger sets of toys and for now they work great!


2. Melissa and Doug Fold and Go Dollhouse

Will was given this dollhouse as a gift at Christmas. We knew that Will was getting into more pretend play. We also knew that he loved the old fisher price dollhouse (old, like from 1978) and plays with that at both Gigi's house and our sunday school room at church. He loves to play with this thing! We love that its not girly colored or themed and is very neutral. I'm sure Adeline will love to play with it too when the time comes. Right now, she just chews on the heads of the people!

3. Eddie Bauer Harness Buddy (aka. child leash)

I'm kidding about it being a child leash. However, I know there are mixed feelings on this product. I am sold after taking our kids to Disney World. We got this one at Target (they have other animals too) and it was reasonably priced. What we found is that you cannot use it like you would a leash on a dog. Allowing him to "roam free" while we held the other end of the harness was very frustrating for Will! (And teaches him its okay to do that normally!) Instead, he still had to hold a hand or the stroller, but this was just an extra safeguard in place while we were somewhere like the Magic Kingdom with HUGE crowds. Because he is still young and huge crowds would literally swallow him in SECONDS, this ensured that he wasn't going to get away. (He did ride in a stroller some, but the strollers can't go everywhere.)

Since Disney World, I've found it very helpful while taking out three kids at once. I keep another little girl who is a little older than Adeline. She walks (very well) and Adeline does not. In situations where I can't (or don't want) both in the stroller - I can use this harness to be sure I don't lose someone. Really, it is a great product!

Last product...since summer is coming soon!

4. Coppertone Continuous No-Rub Sunscreen

I discovered this sunscreen last summer. (Thanks to my sister-in-law, Brandy who was living at the beach!) Now, you have to be sure you get the clear, NO RUB kind. I promise it does work and it makes applying sunscreen to your own back possible! I remember going to the pool last summer by myself with the kids and not being able to do my own back. Will doesn't do a very good job either. :) Not only can I protect my own back, it is SUPER easy to put on my kids! It goes on evenly and there is truly no rubbing needed. They do make this sunscreen in other SPFs as well, including 30.

(And before you ask, because I know some of you are thinking it...even some of the POH girls.) Yes, I realize there are some concerns about sunscreens and the chemicals they use. But frankly, I'm way more afraid of skin cancer than those chemicals. The one thing we do is actually to not use SPF higher than 30. The higher the SPF, the more chemicals used. And if you use it properly, SPF of 30 is really all you need. Kids included. Just be sure the sunscreen is waterproof (if you're going in the water or sweating a lot) and that you reapply often. So, that's my .02 on sunscreen.

Anyone else have any great products you've found recently?