Tag: sponsored content

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Back to School Health Needs? MinuteClinic Has You Covered.

Two weeks from today (eek!) the kids will go off to school for the start of another school year. Where did the summer of Six and Nine go? It took forever to get here, and now it’s winding down.

As we get ready to for back to school, I’m glad the ages of six and nine don’t require any immunizations- fitting those in with everything thing else back to school brings is never easy. Last year, the boy went to kindergarten one immunization short, and I got weekly notes from the school nurse until I (well, BgK) got it taken care of. Little did I know, the MinuteClinic (inside CVS), which we pass two times a day en route to school, could have taken care of that for us. For real. Had we only known. 

We’re in the clear for a couple more years, because in Indiana, it seems that sixth grade is the next “big shot” year. I won’t tell the kids if you won’t. As much as it’s a pain (literally and figuratively for all involved), I know it’s important to vaccinate. Do you know who the biggest pro-immunization person I know is? My grandma. At nearly 101, it was her friends and siblings who fell ill (sometimes fatally) with diseases that are now vaccine preventable. It comes up in conversations with her, oddly enough, more often than you might think. She remembers quarantine signs and the terror that came with disease outbreaks. It’s amazing that now my family can get all the immunizations needed at our local pharmacy.

ChalkboardCollageCVSKeep the MinuteClinic in mind as you see what immunizations your child may need to start school- no appointment is necessary and most insurance is accepted. MinuteClinics are also open seven days a week, which can come in handy when trying to fit in medical needs with everything else. The other thing I really like about the MinuteClinic is the price sheet. I know it’s unheard of, but they actually have, available online, a price sheet for their services. Even if you’re submitting to insurance, this handy price sheet can give you an idea of what kind of bill you’ll be looking at. Also accessible through their website is a list of which immunizations are required by state. Handy, right?

Other services offered at the MinuteClinic near you (chances are, there’s one near you- there are 5 of them within 5 miles of my house) include:

Right now, any visit to the MinuteClinic will net you a coupon book worth $22 in savings. MinuteClinic will be hosting a Twitter Party on Monday, July 28th at 1pm filled with information to help all kids #GoBackHealthy. Join in the the discussion about back to school health & safety, and you could win some fun prizes.

Disclosure: Thanks for Minute Clinic for sponsoring today’s discussion.

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Need Perfect Popcorn? There’s a Secret App, Just for That

Ok, the app isn’t really a secret- it’s actually called Perfect Pop, and it’s made by Pop Secret. Read on to see how it improved our Kahuna Family Movie Nights!.

The Summer of Six and Nine has brought a lot of new experiences for us- including a two week stint of being down one kid or another. That’s right, both Mam and the Fox got a week of what they’re calling “private time” with Grandma and Grandpa. It’s been fun on both ends- they’ve loved the time away and the time of ruling the roost at home. But this weekend we picked up the boy and now we are back to what we affectionally call “everybody all together.”

On evenings after a long day away from home, we love to do what we call a “movie dinner”, which means, you it- eating in front of the television! After dinner, we typically pop popcorn, and munch on that until the movie’s over. We learned early on that on movie dinner nights, mom and dad get to pick a family movie, so we’ve been having fun sharing some classics like Honey I Shrunk the Kids and the original Karate Kid.

Tonight we added some fun to the movie dinner tradition, and I showed the kids the Pop Secret App I had downloaded to go with the popping of the popcorn. They oohed and aahhed as the app ran along with our microwave, and were sufficiently freaked out when the app “knew” that the popcorn was done. While we were waiting (longest less than three minutes ever!) we got to see some fun facts about movies display on the app.

popsecreappshot

 

The Pop Secret App is a free download in the AppStore, and works whenever you have a bag of Pop Secret to pop. It’s a fun way to prevent ruining movie night and the next ten times you use your microwave by making sure the popcorn is done to perfection.

popsecretwithboxandtv

Oh, and for the record, we always eat popcorn of these containers- because once you have, how could you not?!?!?

Goodbye-Burned-Popcorn

 

Thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring this post AND saving our future movie nights! 

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Bounce U is Open in Fishers {with Giveaway}

Edited: This giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified! Thanks for playing!

Last week we had a giveaway for grown ups to kick off summer- this week, there’s one that ‘s more for the kids!

Bounce U has reopened in Fishers, and their open bounce sessions are out of this world!

The kids and I stopped in afterschool for an open bounce session, and bounce we did. Yes- I said we! They hooked me up with some happy socks (available for purchase if you forget yours at home), and all three of us had a blast. Kids need to be 34″ to bounce, but there’s no upper limit, meaning the whole family can bounce together. If you have small-fry with you, there are soft-mat areas for mobile babies and toddlers in both stadiums.

bounce U

Bounce U’s open bounce sessions run for two hours each, and the kids did not stop moving the entire time. Their energetic staff not only supervises the open bounce, they also interact with the kids. By rotating through the two stadiums, the kids were happy and on the move  for 120 minutes straight. I bounced along with them for awhile, and then had a seat in their parent’s area.

This summer, Bounce U not only offers multiple open bounce sessions each week, they are also offering a summer camp called “Create and Bounce”, that will appeal to the active and artistic. They also offer the occasional Parents Night Out, which lets the kids bounce for four hours on a Saturday night (how brilliant is that? seriously!).

They are also offering a Summer Bounce Passport, which grants admission to one child for unlimited open bounce sessions now through Labor Day. The pass is $79, and will ensure a summer full of active fun.

Have a birthday party coming up? Bounce U offers private parties (your party doesn’t share the inflatables with any other group during your bounce time) and takes care of all of the details, down to keeping track of the birthday child’s presents.

 

THE GIVEAWAY

Want to win a Summer Bounce Passport, good for one admission to open bounce sessions all summer long? Leave a comment below, telling me something about your summer plans. I will pick a winner on Friday, May 24th, around 9pm. The winner will have 24 hours to get back to me, after which I will pick a new winner if there’s no response.

There are 3 additional ways to enter:

1) Follow me (@gotchababy) on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you did.

2) Follow Bounce U (@bounceufishers) on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you did

3) Like the Bounce U of Fishers facebook page  and leave a comment telling me you did

Good luck, and keep bouncing!