ParkMobile: Making Parking Easy

November 26, 2019

*This post is sponsored by ParkMobile*
Parking can be such a hassle when going into the city, a busy place in town, or anywhere with a parking meter. I always forget to bring extra change or I have to try to remember to run back to my car before the meter runs out. But, I recently discovered how the ParkMobile app makes it so much easier! When you see the green sign on the parking meters that say ParkMobile, you can use their app to pay for your parking. No more change to bring or running back to your parking meter to add more money. You can pay by using Visa card, major credit cards, and even Paypal at some locations. ParkMobile also offers the ability to reserve spots ahead of time at select locations for sporting events, concerts, etc. They have more than a million spots and 3,000 plus locations in North America! It's perfect for our on-the-go lifestyle.



Fresno, California has added ParkMobile to many downtown Fresno locations. My friend Nicole and I parked in the zone 10679 by Chukchansi Park and the courthouse and it was a five-minute walk to the stadium. Download the free Apple or Android app today! You will be ready for a Smarter Way to Park no matter where you need to go in downtown Fresno.


This zone is the perfect spot to park before a baseball game or anything fun at Chunkansi Park.

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Love,

The Snows


Healthy Easy Snacks with Beech Nut® Naturals

October 9, 2019

(This is a sponsored post by Beech-Nut Naturals®)  As a mom, I’ve always found it important to feed my babies healthy food that will lead to them growing stronger and getting a better love of good food. Obviously every child is different and will only eat something that they find to taste good. Our first son has become quite picky and it has made it difficult to feed him a balanced healthy meal at times. Luckily for us our youngest loves to eat almost everything that we are eating which makes for lots of opportunities to try new things. 


I am so excited to be able to work with Beech-Nut Naturals® because although my youngest likes to eat meats, vegetables, fruits, and dairies during meals it is hard to find nutritious snacks for him.  Beech-Nut® Naturals is baby food made with real ingredients, gently cooked over indirect heat to preserve color, flavor, and nutrients. By real ingredients they really do mean it by using natural fruits and veggies. These foods and snacks are delicious and are never made with anything artificial. It’s simple, they are only made with natural fruits and vegetables. All of the Beech-Nut® Naturals and Organics are Non-GMO Project Verified. And many products are available in Organics. Oliver has really enjoyed the Fruity Oat Bars and the “just pumpkin” organic puree. Just in time for the fall season.  Beech-Nut® is a great brand and is easy to find. We found them at our local Target and Wal-Mart. These snacks will now be a staple for our shelves at home, so that my baby and toddler have healthy snacks to choose from. 



#Infantfluencers   You can sign up to the Beech-Nut Naturals® Family to be in the running to win prizes if they tell their #influencers story at: https://www.beechnut.com/infantfluencers





I love that sweet face looking up at me.

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The Snows

Family Themed Halloween Costumes

October 1, 2019

Thank you  Party City for collaborating with us for our Halloween costumes this year!

We love doing family themed costumes every year and this year we are...

.... 




SUPERHEROS!


Our four year old toddler Henry came up with our theme this year. He first said he wanted to be Spider Man but once it came time to order our Halloween costumes he said" No mama I just want to be Superman" He never even saw the costume online but he knew he was super strong like him. Every time he wears it he says "look at my muscles" haha too cute! Henry then mentioned how we could all be Superheros!
Party City  has the best Halloween costumes every year. The previous years we always went and looked at all the costumes for fun at Party City. We have purchased so many classic Halloween costumes there. This year we browsed their website by themes. I love how everything is organized. Make sure to sign up for their text message reminders for coupons! Text FUN to 94467

Meet our Superman & Baby Robin!



Dressing up as  Wonder Woman makes me feel like a super mama! I love being surrounded by my little super heroes everyday! My costume is the only available online and I am wearing a size medium for reference. Order it in advance to be ready for your parties this year. 



I spy with my little eye Superman flying! Dressing up as a family is one of my favorite traditions.





Here are the links to our costumes:
Wonder Woman
Superman
Batman
Robin

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The Snows

The Westin Pasadena

September 29, 2019

Thank you The Westin Pasadena for hosting us. I love writing about our favorite hotels in California.


Old Town Pasadena stole my heart. I already want to go back and explore the city. There was so much to explore and cuisine to try. It was a beautiful and clean city. It was a short 15 minute drive to Universal Studios Hollywood. We didn't get any traffic and it was lovely. We brought a jogging stroller and took an hour walk exploring Old Town Pasadena with our boys during the evening.


The Westin Pasadena was the perfect location with our room having a view of Pasadena City Hall. It was so beautiful and the sunset there was gorgeous. The Westin Pasadena is a 4 star hotel that smells absolutely lovely when you walk in to the main lobby entrance. I love their signature scent. I love their flowers, Green Wall, and ceiling fixtures. My oldest toddler said wow it's so beautiful when he walked in and we agreed with him.



Our room was a king size Banquette room with a view of City Hall. They have cribs accessible for the guests and they brought one to our room for our baby. We were right by the Pasadena Hotel Pool and we had the best time swimming with out boys and lounging on their comfortable pool recliner chairs.







We explored the fitness studio and wow they had the best equipment I have ever seen in a hotel. Plus that view of the hills while working out. They even had Peloton bikes!


We absolutely love Marriott Bonvoy beds! They are the most comfortable beds to sleep on and we always get an amazing night sleep with them.

-Dining: They have a restaurant at the hotel called The Ventanas Restaurant & Bar. We had breakfast there before checking out on Sunday. We ordered bagels with cream cheese and a fruit salad for the kids on the kids menu.




We loved how clean, beautiful and how friendly everyone was at The Westin Pasadena. Amazing hotel!



That view from the hotel!



Express Checkout is our favorite to use!



We will be back Pasadena! Such a beautiful city to explore and The Westin Pasadena was gorgeous.

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The Snows

Universal Studios Hollywood with small children

September 18, 2019

Thank you Universal Studios Hollywood for providing these tickets for our family and hosting us.

We love Universal Studios Hollywood! My husband Jacob and I have been here five times without children over the past eight years. Last year we came with our toddler and family that was visiting out of state for Christmas break. This last time was our first time with both of our toddlers. Our kids ages are four years old and 14 months.
The first part of my post will be the best attractions for small children and the second part will be our favorite of all time rides. After eights years of coming we don't even need a map. It has been fun to see the changes that Universal Studios Hollywood has made consistently since the first time we came 8 years ago.

Number 1 Tip:
The biggest game changer this visit was our Universal Studios Express Passes. These passes with small children or even no children is absolutely amazing. It means you get one-time express to each ride, attraction and seated shows. The longest wait was the new Jurassic World Ride. I waited 15 minutes with my Express Pass. Every other ride we just walked on and we felt like celebrities. The wait in the regular lines were 30+ minutes usually in the hot sun.
Number 2 Tip:
Utilize the Child Switch at the park. Let the team member at the beginning of the ride know that you want to use the child switch. We didn't use it because of our Express passes, but during Christmas time with our family that was visiting, it was wonderful to be able to use it!


Favorite attractions/shows for small children:
  • Despicable Me Minion Mayhem (40 inches tall to be able to ride in the moving seats)
  • Silly Swirly Fun Ride (no height requirement to ride with adult) my baby rode it with me
  • Super Silly Fun Land Wet Zone ( make sure to pack water shoes/towels/bathing suit) it includes 80 different water play features
  • DreamWorks Theatre Featuring Kung Fu Panda (no height requirements) my husband sat in a non motion seat with our baby right next to us
  • DinoPlay kids area with ropes, slides, dinosaur bones for the kids to play and get their energy out
  • The World Famous Studio Tour (No height requirement) We love this tour so much! Save it for the middle of the day and it's the perfect break. No height requirement and it's so entertaining. You sit in a tram on a guided tour of the back lots and get some behind the scene information on some of the movie industry secrets. We brought snacks and lollipops for our boys and they were so well behaved on it. It includes two rides during the tour. (King Kong and Fast & Furious Supercharged)
  • King Kong 360-3D: Our four year old's favorite ride! We told him it was like a big movie and it might be a little scary. He wasn't scared at all and loved it.
  • Fast & Furious Supercharged 
  • Universal's Animal Actors : My toddler and I went by ourselves since our baby fell asleep and no stroller are allowed inside. We absolutely loved it!! We sat on the front middle row and the show was so funny! The animals were adorable!
***Warning with this one*** Flight of the Hippogriff: (39 inches tall to ride) Our toddler previously loved the ride the last time we took him for Christmas break. It was our last ride of the day and by the time we rode it was even dark outside. We rode it during the day this time and he silently cried the whole time. He turned four and he is now afraid of heights which we didn't know until he rode this one. We might wait a few years for him to enjoy this ride again. It broke my mommy heart riding this one next to him.






-Character Sightings :We got to meet Poppy, Gru and his Minions, Po from Kung Fu Panda, Woody Wood Pecker, and Curios George!! The lines go very quickly which is so nice!  






The only adult ride we had time to ride that day was the new JURASSIC WORLD- RIDE!
-Jurassic World -Ride: It has only been opened since the end of July. The classic 85 foot drop is still there at the end, they added Jurassic World actors Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard from the movie into the ride. They have a new introduction, aquarium, new dinosaurs, and the same ending with the T Rex appearing from the ceiling. The ride is dark when you fall into the 85 foot drop. I am scared of heights and I did it! I was so afraid to have to ride it by myself since my husband was with the boys. I made my husband ride it first to tell me if he thought I could do it, and he loved it. My toddler gave me the courage to ride by saying I was the bravest mommy in the world.

Our favorite rides/attractions for adults:
These are our top favorite rides from the previous visits. (not including all the ones for kids, because we like those ones too.)
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey 
  • Transformers The Ride-3D
  • The Simpsons Ride
  • Special Effects Show
  • Jurassic World-The Ride
  • Revenge of the Mummy - The Ride
-Dining/food: We always eat lunch at Universal Studios and save dinner for the food court at Universal City Walk. Our favorite place for the price and size of plate is: Cletus' Chicken Shack across from The Simpsons ride. We love to eat in the Simpsons themed Springfield U.S.A. My husband can't resist going to Krusty Burger. They also have Bumblebee Man's Taco Truck, Luigi's Pizza and Pasta, Sud's McDuff's Hot Dog House, and Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor. We have eaten at ever location in Springfield U.S.A and have never been disappointed. If you enjoy the Simpon's TV show you will be amazed when visiting this area of the park. I would recommend doing a show or The World Famous Studio Tour after lunch or you might get motion sickness on your next ride. Also don't forget to stop in The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter and get yourself a Butterbeer. It's non alcoholic and so delicious. We love the frozen one during the summer and the soda during the winter. We haven't tried the hot butterbeer yet.




The Snow family absolutely loves Universal Studios Hollywood and had the best day with our little ones there! Follow us for more travel & posts!

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The Snows