Tree Lighting Celebration at Pier 39 in #SanFrancisco Review

Now that my son is old enough to understand the holidays and all the fun times we have during this time of year we are finding new things to do. My husband and I did not realize how each year we have been doing the same thing. This year we wanted to do something really fun and travel a bit to do so. One of our favorite places to visit is San Francisco. I love the way the ocean air smells and the excitement of such a big city. We always visit Pier 39 when we go to San Francisco. Its a great pier filled with shops, restaurants, family activities all in one spot. You could spend all day on the pier and we did!

When we found out that on November 20th Pier 39 would be having their annual Tree Lighting Ceremony we knew we had to go to celebrate my son's birthday. I have not attended a big tree lighting ceremony like this before nor had my husband or mother in law and of course not my son. We were all very excited for this new experience.

When we first arrived there was a bustle of people, holiday music, picture taking and even Disney characters! It felt very festive to be there. There were booths for kids to do activities, sign up for local deals (we were considered locals even from Sacramento which is great!). We donated some toys to the Toys for Tots bin as we signed up for the deals email list. There was a meet and greet with the Disney characters where you could get your picture taken but we missed it since we got out of line to change my sons diaper! Next time I will have my family wait in line while I go to the restroom.

The tree at Pier 39 with the city in the background.

Right before the tree lighting everyone gathered waiting for the Disney characters to arrive.

As the Mickey and Minnie came on stage all the kids were super excited.

The Tree Lighting Ceremony took place at 5:30 just after the sun went down over the ocean horizon. The event was filled with so many people. All the singing and kids bundled up from the cold was great. The wonderful thing was there were people from many different cultures. I overheard at least 7 different languages and saw people dressed in all sorts of ways, even cowboys! There was Christmas carols sang before Mickey, Minnie and Santa Goofy arrived on stage for the count down to the tree lighting.

The Pier 30 Christmas Tree all lit up

The tree was beautiful when it was lit. Everyone cheered and Mickey, Minnie and Goofy started to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  The Tree Lighting was a very memorable event. We had fun singing and spending time as a family and community while we waited for the big moment. The tree is up and waiting for you to come see it. While your there you can enjoy the holiday festive atmosphere of the Pier and enjoy San Francisco.

There are many great deals if you are planning a trip to San Francisco and Pier 39:

1. Visitors to PIER 39 can download a coupon good for a free PIER 39 Fun Pack by visiting pier39.com and clicking on the special offers page.  Inside the Fun Pack is not only a ton of money saving coupons to most of the shops, restaurants and attractions, but also a coupon valid for 2 hours free parking in the PIER 39 parking garage.  Fans of our Facebook page can also check-in to PIER 39 and receive the free Fun Pack coupon on their mobile as well.

2. Locals (anyone living between Sacramento all the way down to Monterey/Salinas) can sign up for special local discounts throughout the year at pier39.com.  Right now we're offering Holiday Half-Off offers, which will be released on Nov. 11.  We also do Kids Eat & Play FREE, as well as Buy One Get One FREE offers.  You should sign up so you receive the coupons in your inbox on Friday too!  

3. AAA members can show their card at the California Welcome Center for 20% off at participating restaurants, and other great discounts.

4. Groups can take advantage of our meal voucher program, for overall savings and added convenience http://www.pier39.com/GroupPrograms/mealvoucher.htm

For all Pier 39 special offers, visit the Special Offers page.

*We were not paid for this review. We were provided passes to enjoy attractions on Pier 39. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Plasma Car Review and Giveaway Birthday Bash

I have found a super cool ride on toy that I cannot stop telling people about. The PlasmaCar by PlaSmart is my sons new favorite toy to ride. He yells "weeeee" as he rides it, too cute!  The PlasmaCar is maneuvered by your kid placing their feet on the front and turning the wheel back and forth. The car gets going very easily and fast! 

The PlasmaCar says it works by "the natural forces of inertia, centrifugal force, friction and kid power! Its sleek, aerodynamic design allows you to reach an exhilarating speed of 10 km (6 miles) per hour. All you need is a smooth, flat surface".

It was easy to put together and for my son to use. I love that it is kid powered. My son can get his body moving to get the car to go instead of just pushing a button or pedal. He can use the car two ways. The way its intended with using the force of him turning the wheel back and forth and also like a regular ride on toy by using his feet. He has fun both ways. I showed him once how to use it by putting his feet up and he got the hang of it in no time.

 

We took it to the park and he had a blast riding around on the tennis court. Other kids were asking what it was and how he could make it go. He had fun being the center of attention with his new toy. I know he will be able to use this toy for many years to come.

GIVEAWAY

Win a PlasmaCar in your choice of color.

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*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts November 27, 2011 and ends on December 5 , 2011 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

ZipBin Review and Giveaway Birthday Bash

My son likes Choo Choos, Vroom Vrooms and all things with wheels. He makes me laugh that he likes to call them by the sound they make more than what they are. Car to him is what we ride in to the store and Vroom Vroom is his toys. He enjoys playing with his wheeled toys making them drive all over the house and even on the walls. Often times he cant find one since it has been lost in the huge pile of other toys he has. He will ask me over and over Choo Choo Mama? I look and look and do eventually find them usually after stepping on it. We have been wanting to get him one of those rugs that have a printed road on it for him to play with but they can be rather expensive and then I will really have a floor of toys. But then we found the perfect solution to what we wanted for him.

The ZipBin toys were the perfect car and train toy for him since its a floor mat but also a zip-able bin that I can close his cars and trains into when he is done playing for the day. ZipBins are made by Neat-Oh! International and they really are neat-oh since they are tidy and cool! They make Barbie, Hot Wheels, Lego and other animal or road themed ZipBins. Also they make backpacks that your kid can wear and then unzip to play while on the go, they have a really cute firefighter one I would love to have.

My son received the ZipBin Road and Rail set for his birthday. As soon as I showed him that his cars and trains go on it he was super excited. We played cars, trains and action heroes for at least an hour. I had so much fun seeing him play make believe and hearing his sound effects.

This is definitely a great item to give as a birthday or holiday gift this year.


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Win a ZipBin of your choice.

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Which ZipBin product would you love to have?

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*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts November 26, 2011 and ends on December 5 , 2011 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

Think Geek Air Swimmers Shark Review and $50 Giveaway Birthday Bash

For my son's birthday we went to the Aquarium by the Bay in San Francisco and I knew we needed to get him some cool ocean toys to play with when he got home. We looked around at figurines and plush toys that we cute but we found a WOW item that we had to have for him at ThinkGeek.com the super cool Air Swimmers Flying R/C Sea Life.

You do need to have your shark inflated with helium. Easy to do at home with a balloon kit or at a local grocery store or florist.

Sharks at your birthday party! How cool is that!

We have seen the Air Swimmers at the mall and on tv but did not expect it to be as cool as it really is! You really do have a big shark swimming through your house. My son loves the Shark Air Swimmer and can even control him. My husband and I have been having a blast making it chase my mother in law and swimming near one another while were busy. There was even a shark attack on Thanksgiving as I came out of my office lol.

At times I would make the shark fly higher than normal to keep my son from beating up the shark lol

I kept saying Da-dun Dun-dun lol

Even my son as little as he is could control the shark and make him swim through the house.

This is one of the few toys that is a cool idea that lives up to the hype around it. It was a bit time consuming to put together when you have a kid standing there waiting for it so I suggest putting it together before hand and then swimming it right over to who ever is getting this cool gift.

I have noticed there are less and less of them available in stores. Think Geek has them online along with hundreds of other awesome gifts. Many of the adult "toys" are now on our Holiday Wish list! The Clearance section is full of great geeky finds for anyone on your gift list.

GIVEAWAY

Win a $50 Gift Certificate to use at ThinkGeek.com

To Enter This Giveaway:

What would you get from Think Geek if you won?

*Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

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*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts November 25, 2011 and ends on December 5 , 2011 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

Disney Wii Games: Cars 2 & Disney Universe Review

We are big gamers in our house. My husband and I have been playing them together for over 12 years. Now that we have our son the games we play have became a bit more family friendly. We have found many of the rated E for Everyone games to be really fun. They have easy game play and are games you can play for a bit than easily come back to another time. We have loved playing our Wii system since my brother and my sister in law gave it to us. We have made many fun family memories playing cool games together.

The Disney Universe game is really fun to play. As a classic Disney fan I liked how it has characters from many Disney movies. You get to enter the Disney movie themed worlds to rescue everything that has gone wrong from a not so nice character! You get to battle bad guys, do mini games, find items that you use within the game and so much more. Its an adventure game kids and adults can have fun with. My son was good at the jumping and beating up bad guys while I was the puzzle and mini games solver. He was so sweet playing the game then handing me the control when it was a part he couldn't do. We even played this game on Thanksgiving for entertainment since it was raining outside. I love having fun games like this one to play when we can't play outside. We have so many other levels to discover on this game and I look forward to playing it in the many different character costumes. This is a great game for any Disney fan.

Picking out our characters costume to play in

Disney Universe in an off-the-wall non-stop action adventure where Disney worlds and characters mix up for the first time. Suit up in iconic costumes and face challenges in legendary Disney worlds. Defeat enemies, collect coins and powerups, unlock new costumes and explore with friends as you battle in a mix-up of worlds inspired by numerous Disney and Pixar films. Suit-up for action as more than 40 classic and contemporary Disney characters including Alice, Mike, TRON, and Stitch. Mischief, magic and mayhem reign as players explore 6 different worlds. Team up with four friends to solve puzzles or defeat enemies or toss your friend into trouble!

We are Cars movie fans. My son likes Vroom Vrooms and my husband likes race cars. We just bought the steering wheel for another game we have so I was excited to have the Cars 2 racing video game to try it with. The game was fun to play with easy game play. My son could use the steering wheel to drive Lightening McQueen all over the tracks. The graphics were good as well, very bright characters. I liked the story line that they are in a training mode to learn how to be super agents. Its a cute game and was fun to play. Racing games are my husbands favorite so he even got into this Disney Cars 2 game.

My son sat on my lap so I could help him play. So cute!

Driving with the Wii steering wheel

From the makers of Toy Story 3: The Videogame comes Cars 2: The Video Game, where players can jump into the Cars 2 universe with some of their favorite Cars personalities in locations around the globe. Train to become an agent of C.H.R.O.M.E. (Command Headquarters for Recon Operations & Motorized Espionage) and take on dangerous missions, compete to become the fastest racecar in the world, or use your spy skills in exciting, action-packed combat racing!


Both of these games by Disney Interactive Studio are a great addition to any Disney / Pixar fans game collection. They are available on PS3 and XBX 360 as well. We had a blast playing these games and I must admit I stayed up playing Disney Universe even after my son went to bed. I am still a kid at heart who likes to play games!

You can stay up to date with Disney Interactive Studio game info and new releases on their facebook page.



* I was not paid or compensated for this post. I was sent the games in this review for free by the Company/PR company. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others