Event Review: Lego Imagine Nation Tour

Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of a team... Our 3 year old has graduated from playing with Duplo to playing with "big boy's LEGO".  When we found out that LEGO Imagine Nation Tour was coming to Vancouver, we knew that we would have to check it out with him!

The first-ever LEGO Imagine Nation Tour is making 5 stops across Canada, with Vancouver being the second last stop in Canada.  Each stop offers 5 timed sessions, over the weekend.

With different experiences and interests of builders in mind, the venue was divided into 9 different themes (LEGO Duplo, LEGO City, LEGO NINJAGO, LEGO Friends, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Elves, LEGO NEXO, LEGO Minecraft and LEGO Video games), some of which had interactive digital experiences where the kids had the chance to turn their creations to life.  Life-sized LEGO models were found throughout the venue for plenty of photo opportunities, a huge Brick Pit was set up for kids to play in and the Master Builder Lab was the place to go to for tips and tricks with a Master Model Builder.

We picked the first session to attend, on a Friday evening from 4pm to 8pm.  We didn't know what to expect but ended up spending the whole 4 hours there! While there were activities that were definitely designed for the older kids like the video game area or the bridge building challenge, our 3 year old still had a great time and has been talking about the tour since.  He really enjoyed seeing his own creations come to life at the LEGO NINJAGO area and LEGO Friends area.  C has also been really into cars lately so we ended up spending a lot of time in the LEGO City area where kids were encouraged to build their own vehicles and have a friendly race with other builders with their creations.

Strollers were welcome but I was glad I had baby C in the carrier rather than the stroller as there were areas which were rather crowded and would have been a bit hard to have to maneuver the stroller if we had it with us. A small concession stand was available on site and a selection of LEGO products/sets were also available for purchase at the Toys R Us mobile shop.


For more information on future tour dates/locations:
http://legoimaginenationtour.com/

Event Review: Gearapalooza 2016 in Vancouver BC

It was so much fun at the Gearapalooza held at West Coast Kids on Main Street in Vancouver BC, presented by Bump Club and Beyond tonight! It's a must for anyone who is expecting, especially for those who wants to learn about all the essentials for the baby.  For me, I found it to be a great refresher on things like what to look out for when it comes to car seat fitting. It was also a great way to learn about the newest products out there!

It started off as a meet and greet with the sponsors of the raffle draw that took place at the end of the show. They were all representatives from the manufacturers themselves so they were all very knowledgeable in the products and were able to answer questions about the specific brands. The highlight of Gearapalooza was of course the presence of Jamie Grayson (TheBabyGuyNYC), the infamous baby gear guru, and the angry baby that he uses to demonstrate the baby products.  Jamie was there to talk about all the different baby gears that are available out in the market. I liked the fact that he didn't only focus on the pricey products out there; he covered products with different price points and talked about what he believed it's the best bang for the buck.  He was super funny and covered mostly on the bigger price tagged items like car seats, baby carriers, strollers, and breast pumps.

         

In terms of the show itself, there were different tickets categories you can choose from when you purchase the tickets. The tickets ranged from $55 to $135USD.  I was a bit hesitant about purchasing a ticket at the beginning because of the higher price points for the tickets comparing to other family/baby shows. 

At the end, I ended up getting a platinum ticket to the show that included a Beco Gemini carrier - which I am now super excited to try out on baby #2 when he/she arrives. The other ticket options would get you either a Beco ring sling (gold ticket) or the swag bag itself. The swag bag itself was stuffed with different interesting baby products, including teethers by Mam and Little Toader, swaddle blankets from Swaddle Designs and Angel Dear, the Halo swaddle change diaper changing pad cover, an Ubbi snack container,  and some utensils by Beaba and BabyBjorn... The only thing I am a little disappointed about the bag was the fact that it was quite gender specific! I wish it could have been a little more gender neutral as they all look like great products to try out on baby#2. Baby#2 is going to be a surprise but almost everything that's in the bag are pink so we will see how that works out!

The other highlight of the show was more personal than anything. I was lucky enough to win a BabyBjorn One carrier at the raffle! Now we just will have to figure out which carrier to keep for Baby#2!

Gearapalooza tours mostly in different cities in US.  The next Canadian city they will be visiting is Toronto in June. If you have the opportunity to check them out,  you should definitely do so because it's well worth it!!