A Day at the Lake + WeeSprout Food Pouches Review

Before having Cora, one of our favorite ways to spend a day where we had nothing going on was to head up to the lake and hike, picnic, and swim. Last summer after Cora was born, we made it there once! Adding a baby means brining along so many more things and adds so much more uncertainty to every trip. Are they well rested? Will the car ride go smoothly? Do we have enough diapers? You get the idea. This summer since Cora is older we were determined to make it there more than once so we decided to gather a bunch of things that make summer trips easier with kids.

Our first trip this year was so much fun for everyone. We drove to a lake about 20 minutes from our house. Instead of hiking we went straight to the water because Wisconsin has been so hot and humid. Cora had a great time in the water. When she is in deep water she just wants to cling to you. We mostly just walked around in the water and did some bouncing. After we swam we enjoyed some healthy snacks on the shore. Almonds with an apple for mom and dad and Cheerios with mixed fruit applesauce for Cora.

So what made this trip with a 1 year old easy for us to do? Our top 3 summer trip must haves are WeeSprout reusable food pouches and silicone baby bibs (which I totally forgot to bring!), Munchkin snack catchers, and a Little Unicorn outdoor blanket.

WeeSprout reusable food pouches are a must have with kiddos. You could spend a fortune on pouches from the store, but think of all that waste you are tossing into the garbage. We prefer these reusable pouches! They are a breeze to clean because there are NO CORNERS and they can even go in the dishwasher. We usually rinse ours out in the sink then throw them in the dishwasher. WeeSprout offers 3 different sizes (3.4 oz, 5 oz, and 7 oz) We have the 5 oz. option and this suits us well. Cora can easily eat a full pouch and be full so we haven't needed to go up to the 7 ounce size yet, and I know the 3.4 oz would be much to small. Plus, whatever she doesn't eat in one sitting just goes in the refridgerator for the rest of the day for later. If it isn't finished by the time I load the dishwasher at the end of the night it goes in!

WeeSprout also makes silicone baby bibs which make life so much easier than the cotton bibs we had been using for way to long. We were going through 2+ bibs a day because of this adorable messy eater, but now we can just wipe the mess away after each meal and use just 1 bib a day! The bibs are ALSO dishwasher safe so just toss in at the end of the day with your pouches and you are good to go the next morning.

Our other adventure favorites are the Munchkin snack catchers, which make minimal mess for things like crackers and dried fruit, and a Little Unicorn outdoor blanket, with a water-resistant surface it wipes clean when spills occur and we can sit on it in our wet swim suits without a problem. The blanket also folds up on itself into a carry case. We keep it in our car at all times in case we ever need a blanket.

Look at those wrinkly toes and beach hair. Sweet girl doesn't care, she's just having a blast outside, and boy oh boy does she LOVE the outdoors.

We are actually headed up for our SECOND trip to the lake today. Our goal was once a month this summer so we are happy we're making it work. No matter what kind of fun you and your family have, make sure you have products that make the fun things you do EASIER!

What are your must-have products for adventuring? Share below!

Happy Monday! -Kayty

disclaimer :: this post was sponsored by WeeSprout, all opinions are 100% my own, we do not support brands unless we think they are a great fit for our family so you can be sure this is an honest review

Noobie Box Play Review

If you know me, you know how much I love getting stuff in the mail. So, subscription boxes are super fun! Guaranteed happy mail monthly or seasonally? Yes, please! I stumbled across Noobie Box and they make boxes celebrating the life of your new baby, in 4 different milestones! Each box is dedicated to point in a baby's life when they are learning and exploring new things. Each new stage of Cora's life has been a blast, I keep thinking to myself, "This is the best age yet!" Watching her change daily, weekly, and monthly bring so much joy into our house! 

Noobie's Nest, Eat, Play, and One, all coincide with the milestones that occur around those ages. Each box contains at least 5 full size products & tips relating to baby's current stage. Each new stage of Cora's life has been a blast, I keep thinking to myself, "This is the best age yet!" Watching her change daily, weekly, and monthly bring so much joy into our house! Spread out to celebrate over the course of a baby's first 12 months these would make a great baby gift for mama's! You can either order the boxes individually or order all 4 boxes as a subscription.

 

Cora just turned 9 months old so she is in the age of the Noobie Play box. Noobie Play is designed for little ones 7+ months when everything is full of wonder and they are starting to become so curious! Our box had 5 products in it for engaging different senses.

Bow | Bumblelou // Onesie | Carter's // Jeans | BabyGap // Booties | BirdRock Baby

What's Inside Noobie Play?

First of all, we loved the outside of the box. It gives a little bit of detail about each of the 4 boxes and is beautifully designed. Inside the Noobie Play is a card giving more detail about the Noobie boxes plus a card on some tips on playing with baby which I found super helpful as reminders plus some things I had not thought of before!

The products we received were:
1) Wrist Rattles by Lamaze which has some fun sensory tags on the bugs plus different types of fabric for sensory development

2) Fabric book by Sassy with lots of colors and patters for baby to look at and a handy hanging hook to attach it to a carseat, high chair, etc.

3) Rattle Cones by KidO which were a super fun shape and concept. Most rattles you shake and baby just hears the noise, but with the cones baby shakes them, hears noise, and sees what is causing the noise.

4) Plush toy by SigiKid that rattles when you shake it and is the cutest little penguin. We really like to stick the hat in our mouth and chew on it. Bonus points for this toy being machine washable!

5) Butterfly Mirror by Plan Toys which Cora loves to look at herself in. The butterfly is made of wood and its wings of fabric and it also rattles when it is shaken . We have a few other Plan Toys products and they are all wonderful!

So far Cora's favorite has been the book. It has peek-a-boo's on each page to reveal an animal and she loves to lift the flaps and hear mama say, "Boo!" I like to keep this one in our diaper bag since it a nice compact and quiet toy. The plush penguin from SigiKid has been deemed the diaper changing toy. We're in the wiggly giggly diaper changing age now & this little guy is perfect to keep her attention for minute or two. Plus, it's machine washable so if it lands in something it is easily cleaned!

Everything inside our box has been super fun for Cora and there were some awesome brands included both that we already love and some we had not heard of but now know more about!

I was a little disappointed that all the toys were rattles which seems like toys for much younger children than the recommended age of this box (7+ mo). I would love to see some different forms of toys switched out in the box & a little more diversity, whether it is a ball, a teether, stacking toy, toys for crawlers, bath toy, etc.

Overall, Noobie is a super fun year-long subscription or one time purchase. Buying Noobie boxes for a friend (or yourself!) is a great gift idea!

x, Kayty

Thank you Noobie for sending us your Noobie Play box to review. All opinions are 100% our own.