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I recently was given the opportunity to try out the newest creation from the Zhu Zhu Pet family, Kung Zhu Pets. If you have wondered what all the fuss is about, let me tell you how these adorable little armed pets can transform a room into an incredible fun activity for the whole family to enjoy.
First I would like to thank the Zhu Zhu Pet family and MomSelect for this opportunity to host a party that was so much fun for everyone, the parents AND the kids! Each child was able to select their very own Kung Zhu pet and then select its armor. The fun was only beginning as each child squealed with joy while opening their new Kung Zhu pet. It is amazing how quickly children pick up exactly what their pet is capable of and the fun watching them share with each other what their pet can do.
After everyone had their pet and armor and had time to play, we then opened an array of battle arenas and gear for the big battle area. Nothing about this battle was too mean for little children and it wasn’t too tame for the older children. The dads willingly helped to engineer the set up quickly and the moms helped the kids figure out how to get their pet armed for battle. Once set up we had a huge table full of battle equipment that kept everyone entertained for hours. Everyone was amused and entertained by these little pet warriors. The dads enjoyed getting to help build the battle area, the moms enjoyed watching the kids play AND get to see the cute Kung Zhu pets roll around in their battle vehicles! The kids were really involved in the battles in the Open Battle Arena as well as in the other chambers of the Battle Area.
I was impressed with how EVERYONE enjoyed these pets. Girls and boys, moms and dads and kids from the ages of 5 all the way up to 12. All those who attended were so thankful for being introduced to the newest members of the Kung Zhu pet world and I know that your children will love them too!
I recently had the opportunity to try out some really cool accessories for the Wii console. Accessories really make the games if you ask me. For instance, I had purchased a sport pack when I first got the Wii. I rationalized the purchase of the Wii by thinking I would use it as exercise so getting the tennis racket, baseball and golf club accessories would make it more real. What I didn’t realize is that these hard plastic small accessories didn’t deliver the realism I was looking for.
The Nerf Sports Pack for Wii provides a much better experience as the attachments are larger and provide a much more realistic feel. The Nerf material provides a sense of safety and allows my child to use these  without worrying that if he gets hit or hits something in the house that it will seriously damage anything, including the Nerf attachments. Also, I particularly like the tennis racket attachment as it is much better in the game playing. The other smaller harder plastic racket wouldn’t face the proper way therefore making my serves and returns off. The Nerf tennis racket attachment is bigger giving a more realistic feel and it faces properly so as that when I go to place a serve, I am hitting it the way I would on the court. It also has a detachable “string” netting which I found to be nice when my son inevitably sliced into same furniture. The string part just popped off and was easily popped back on where it stayed snuggly. At only $19.99, the Nerf Sports Pack is a great buy and only a couple of dollars more than the plastic smaller version that I had tried before.
Nerf also makes a really cool steering wheel to use with all your driving game adventures. You have a choice of colors and the  feel of gripping the Nerf material just doesn’t compare. I think every child and adult just loves the feel of Nerf material and the comfort of white knuckling a Nerf steering wheel adds to the experience. I feel like I had a better grip allowing me to better play the game. Everyone in our house has loved playing with the Nerf wheel. It is only $10 and you can have your child choose their favorite color!
I also highly recommend for your Wii experience the Energizer Power & Play Induction Charging System. That is a lot of words for “ a really cool Wii remote charger”. Here is what I really like about it. I like keeping the silicon sleeves on our remotes. There are many reasons for this, like my son’s grubby hands or the fact that when I work up a sweat playing I feel like I can keep a better handle on the remote. The fact it protects the remotes from the wear and tear of a rough little boy and sometimes rough playing adults. So I don’t really enjoy having to take the silicon sleeves off to replace batteries or to charge them if I were to have rechargeable batteries. The great feature with this induction charging system is that you don’t take the sleeves off. You place the remotes on this nice cradle that holds 2 remotes and you don’t have to attach anything. You also don’t have take off attachments, lanyards or the Wii motion plus. Just finish playing and you lay them on the cradle and then in about an hour or so they seem to be fully charged. We used them for just over an hour and they played wonderfully. The batteries are Nimh rechargeables so once you get them in, you don’t need to replace again, only recharge by lying them on the cradle. Very simple and it looks great. At just $49.99, this will add convenience and ease as well as allow your children to be able to easily place the remotes back for charging without you having to help them.
To get your hands on these great accessories you will want to check out the Performance Designed Products at www.PDP.com. You will find these great items and more for all your gaming needs and at very affordable prices. Performance Designed Products has been providing great quality video game accessories for more than a decade.
Family Fun Event for all ages.
We all really enjoyed the Disney On Ice show. We took the whole family ages 2 ½ to 65 years old. This is a wonderful show, even for grandparents! I would definitely recommend bringing a jacket to the show since the ice tends to cool the arena down a few degrees. There are all kinds of toys/snacks to buy for souvenirs ranging from crowns and claws, to light up toys, so be prepared to fork out some extra money or lay down the rules ahead of time. Another option would be to head over to the dollar store and get some glow in the dark sticks for a buck! We got there a little early hoping for some pictures with characters early, but this show didn’t have any pre-show events. The sign says only sealed bottle water is allowed, but I also brought in some apples and grapes and they didn’t say anything about them. Also if you have little ones who are afraid of the dark you might want to pack a flashlight for them to hold onto. It didn’t seem too scary, but there are times when it got a little dark.
The show itself was wonderful. All seats seemed to be good for viewing (except for the upper, upper deck…. that seemed a little too high). The “Disney” aspect was there with wonderful costumes (not sure how those skaters can do all those tricks with the big costumes, but they did!). There are lots of different characters with Mickey and Minnie Mouse being the main stage setters. I personally thought the Disney Princess act was a little small, but that might have been because my daughter only wanted to see the princesses. It was nice having the multi-gender movies represented. Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Pinocchio , Lion King, Incredibles and Mulan were just some of the story lines that I can remember. My favorite part of the whole production was “It’s A Small World”!! I would give the Disney Show On Ice a thumbs up and recommend this for the whole family.
 “Child’s birthday party” — just the phrase can cause panic for a busy mom like me. A few weeks ago, I was stressing out about what to do for my son’s 4th birthday. It was only two weeks away and I had not planned anything yet. My son loves the big inflatables and slides so I started researching the cost of having his party at one of those great bounce and play places. We had gone to a few different indoor bounce and play places and he always had so much fun. Well, I quickly realized that we would have to spend quite a bit of money to have one of those places host his party. Just like everyone in this economy, we are trying to cut costs as much as possible. But, I didn’t want to short-change my youngest son.
 Well, luckily, a friend of mine told me about an East Valley Slide and Bounce company that offered the perfect solution. Slide and Bounce Around, Inc (www.SlideandBounce.com) will actually brings the bouncy or slide to you, sets it up, then comes back 4 hours later and takes it down! AND, their rates are incredibly reasonable! They have party packages starting at just $159!! That package includes your choice of a bouncy, a concession machine, and a game!! Other packages include dry and wet inflatable slides, tables and chairs, and other games.
 We ordered a big slide, a popcorn concession machine, a spin art game, and a bubble machine for a great deal! We set up the bubble machine right outside the the slide exit and the kids were thrilled to slide into a bunch of bubbles! The spin art game was a huge hit — the kids could make beautiful art in about a minute! And, my older son had so much fun manning the popcorn concession stand! Everyone had a great time — and, we were able to stay within our budget!
 If you are in the East Valley and are looking for a fun, unique, and inexpensive option for your child’s birthday, be sure to check out Slide and Bounce Around, Inc. at www.SlideandBounce.com or call them 480-507-5867.
Mention you heard about them from Mom’s Zone and they’ll even take $5 off your total!!
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