Who said playing dressup was just for girls?

Connor loves playing dress up. Ok, not the typical lets put on makeup and princess dresses sort of dress up but who said that dress up outfits just had to be princesses and ballerinas? Connor loves to play superhero or monsters and of course anything that involves him dressing like "daddy". Whole days are spent wearing a cape or monster gloves or one of our all time favorites the Darth Vadar mask with nothing else but a diaper.

I won't ever knock the importance of technology in children's toys but there is really something to be said about good old fashioned role playing. So many things can be learned and understood from something as simple as playing house to dressing up like "Daddy" and learning a little more about what Daddy actually does for a living. Connor received something truly special from Aeromax New World Toys, a jr. police officer suit. Now Connor can get ready for work just like Daddy does down to his own badge! The set comes with a really cool one piece police officer's uniform, duty belt, baton, radio, police hat, hand cuffs and whistle! Everything you need to start a little miniature make believe crime fighting career! No jaywalking stuffed animals are safe anywhere near my little man these days. I think Connor was most excited to see the small police officer's hat as that is the one thing that he constantly attempts to steal from his Daddy. We received the suit in a 2/3 and Connor is a little short for his age so we have to roll up the pants a bit but the good thing is he will have plenty of time to grow into the outfit. Plus absolutely nothing is cuter when Connor tells me he has to get ready to work, just like Daddy does.

No matter what your child inspires to grow up to be I'd be pretty certain you could find something for them at Aeromax. Anything from spacemen to princesses to pirates I would love to own a whole closet full of play suits from Aeromax! You can even have many of the items personalized just for your child! One really unusual thing is the range of sizes available in the costumes at Aeromax. I know when we went looking for Halloween costumers for Connor we had a really difficult time finding cool options in the 24 month range. It seems like so many

Visit Aeromax to see the entire selection! I know we will be back to buy new costumes in the future as well!

Magic Cabin is good for the imagination!

Easily on Connor's top ten favorite things includes trucks and dinosaurs so it was only natural that many of his birthday presents this year involved cars and trucks, dinosaurs, bubbles and outdoor toys. We have plenty of cars and slowly that collection of little miniature dinosaurs are building as well but something just seemed to be missing from our collection. That's when I remembered I saw the perfect thing for Connor in one of our favorite catalogs, Magic Cabin.

Magic Cabin's website and catalog reminds me a bit of going back in time where catalog pictures were hand drawn instead of photographs like the sort of clothing catalogs I remember coming across in my grandmother's drawers. Though the online website does offer photos of the products as well there is something magical about all of the hand drawn looking illustrations for the toys and products they sell. I had recalled seeing a little boy dressed up like a dinosaur in the catalog and seeing as Connor likes to run around the house with a dish towel on his head screaming RAWR I figured it was about time to upgrade his normal dishrag with something really amazing.

We got a Dinosaur Make Believe Hood from Magic Cabin and lets just say there is often a blue headed dinosaur running around this house attempting to "bite" innocent victims. lol. Ok Connor doesn't actually bite people, at least not hard, but seeing him in that hood is really hilarious. Pretty generously sized it will easily fit a 2 to 12 year old with no issues. I tried wearing it myself and I could get it on my head but just couldn't pull it down all the way. Included is a pair of gloves which is still too big for Connor and a tail that just hooks around your waist that easily will fit pretty much any kid. It's a little big on Connor but we just tie it tighter with no problems. Connor absolutely loves it though his friend Melos (my chihuahua) is not so sure about this new blue thing running around the house.

While I was over at Magic Cabin I spotted something we have been looking for a very long time! Connor has a plastic car transport and I've been on this mission to replace as many toys as we can with wooden/eco friendly toys and though I've found plenty of wooden trucks/cars that we have been slowly replacing his hand me down plastic cars with I've not been able to talk him out of this car transport and finding a wooden one has been difficult. Needless to say I was downright giddy when I spotted the Woody Click Car Transport. Far prettier than the cartoon looking plastic transport Connor currently has and it is sized much better to fit his other wooden cars as well. The set comes with two wooden cars that fit into grooves on the transport that allow you to move the transport around without the cars coming off but we've found that it works just as well with other brands of cars that are simularlly sized as well the just might not fit in the grooves. The unique thing about Woody Click toys is the fact that they come unassembled and can be easily assembled by children by just clicking them together a little like blocks. Now the challenge is just trying to find a good time to sneak his old car transport out into his day bag so he can take it to his aunts house and hopefully leave it there. heh.

You really have to go check out the Magic Cabin online catalog. I find myself lost in my print catalog for both Magic Cabin and their sister company Hearthsong all the time drooling over all the beautiful toys we'd love to add to our household!

Magic Cabin is offering to give away a Woody Click Car Transport to one lucky reader!


To enter : (MAKE SURE YOU READ THE BIRTHDAY POST!! You must be entered into the birthday bash to win this contest!)

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out Magic Cabin and their awesome product selection. Then come here and tell us which product you love or would like to try and why!! Make sure you read below to earn extra entries including a scavenger hunt entry.
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
  • For an extra entry :
  • Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
  • Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  • Answer the I Spy trivia question "Check out Magic Cabin's website and take a look at the products! I spy a costume that reminds me of my favorite story as a child where a brave man stole from the rich and gave to the poor with his merry men! Do not leave this entry in your comment all trivia question answers go to contestsatsevendogs@gmail.com. Use the subject "Seventh Generation" Posting "I spy" answers in comments will disqualify you!
    
  • Let people know about the giveaway on Twitter with a link to the giveaway!
    
  • THREE extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  • This contest will end May 15th at midnight!

Looking for a great halloween costume?

I know I personally have a thing for Halloween costumes that can be used well after Halloween is over. The problem with many of the costumes you can get cheaply at many stores is the fact that they are so cheaply made you barely make it through Halloween before they are worn out. Plus who wants a Halloween costume you can only wear once? Half the fun of a costume is using it for dress up well before Halloween and long after all the candy is gone.

I actually came across Little Adventures when I was looking for items for my holiday guides for dress up, but why not "dress up" for Halloween? Inspired by our newest plush friend a huge green dragon puppet we have been playing "knights" an awful lot these days and I almost hate to admit this but its not uncommon for you to find both Connor and myself sitting in the living room floor both of us wearing our own knights capes. My cape this week is courtesy of Little Adventures and is their prince cape model. Sized fairly generously the neck is stretchy so it easily fits Connor though at this point its floor length and I've tried it on a five and seven year old and again it fits perfectly it just gets shorter as the child grows. It actually comfortably fits my neck as well heh.

I absolutely love the prince's cape and I couldn't be happier with the quality as its certainly not the cheap satin material that you find in many Halloween costumes that barely last through a few wears. The Little Adventures cape is made of a crushed velvet on one side and a soft silk on the other. The neck velcros on and is adjustable for little people and stretch for older children. I have a feeling Connor will be easily wearing his cape until he no longer has any interest in wearing a cape anymore as though its a little short on me it easily fits my neck as well. At about half the price of many of the boutique styled capes that have become popular lately its a great and quality option for parents looking to add to their dress up collection.

The coolest thing is next year I can add a few more accessories and easily make a pirates or knights costume for Connor to wear next Halloween as well! I would use it as part of his Halloween costume this year but seeing as its pretty much floor length I didn't want him to drag it around in the grass and ruin it.

If your looking for some costume ideas that you can use far past Halloween night that are actually very very affordable head on over to Little Adventures right now!