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The Indoor Pool at Harrah’s Casino & Resort
During our Atlantic City Trip we stayed at Harrah’s Casino & Resort so we could review the Family Fun Zone. A big hit for my daughter was the indoor kid’s pool. There is a cool fountain in the middle of the pool. Right outside the pool on the rooftop of the hotel was a shuffle board game and basketball court along with some other fun things for the children to do during the day.
The Rooftop Play & Sun Bathing Area
The Family Fun Center at Harrah’s Casino & Resort
Also on her like a lot list was the indoor arcade area where we played games and earned tickets that we later traded in for small prizes that ranged from candy to ipads. We spent hours at the arcade having so much fun! They even had machines that counted the tickets for us, a very nice feature.
The room was beautiful as we stayed in the new tower everything was clean and the decor was pleasing on the eyes. The beds were so comfortable and the staff was extremely accommodating.
I was not compensated for this post, but was given these experiences for review. Special thanks to FamilyFriendlyAC.com for the opportunity!
Thinking about your next family vacation?
I’ll have the family time entree with the side of already known for night life please!
Like date nights, but don’t want to sacrifice family fun? All kidding aside….its tough trying to build a vacation.
Best Vacation Tip I Ever Received
It doesn’t have to be perfect, to be great. So often we set out on planning the BEST vacation that our budget can buy. We spend countless hours reading blogs looking for the one destination that will give us everything we are looking for in a vacation. Finding vacation was a little easier for me prior to having a child. If there was great nightlife, yummy restaurants, relaxing beaches, a day spa and a beautiful pool all for under $1000 and 4 hours fly time, it was perfect for me! I wasn’t interested in sight seeing, activities that made me walk, or events that made me think. I vacationed because I needed to relax. Now I have a child and I vacation for reasons that are very different than relaxing, I’m not sure I really relax at all while I’m on vacation. I’m sure the majority of you Moms & Dads will agree with me on that.
Top 10 Reasons Why We Family Vacation
- Expose my child, myself and my family to new experiences – others behave and live differently than we do and its nice to see that IRL (in real life)
- Quality fun time alone with my daughter – when it’s just her & I, there is no one to distract either one of us
- Family bonding time – it’s hard to not make a family relationship stronger while away for 24 hours in a day, several days in a row
- Get away from the normal daily grind of our lives – just stopping doing something for a few days, takes you away long enough to make a change
- Appreciate successes in our lives – rewarding ourselves with a little trip in celebration makes the success feel sealed and delivered for me
- Sponsors send me away to review their destination, event or activity – it’s a little easier to stop your life, rearrange a schedule when someone else is paying
- Relieve stress – it’s hard to be worried on vacation
- Get me away from technology – some how being charged $2 per minute or 50 cents per text message will make a person power down the cell phone
- Give myself a break from chores – dishes and laundry can’t be done if I’m not there to do them
- Save mileage on my car – It’s a short drive, save mileage on my car. Take that lease!
Family Fun Activities in Atlantic City
- Dolphin watching on Atlantic City Cruises – or your money back guaranteed, $34 adults, $18, 4 and under FREE – tip 1pm cruise is the dolphin watching cruise
- Chicken Bone Beach Concert Series – every Thursday night in July & Aug, 7pm to 10pm on the Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza (Mississippi Avenue) – FREE
- AC Summer Concert Series – Live jazz, R&B, soul and disco concerts at Gardner’s Basin, Sat at 1pm until dusk (raindate will be Sun of the same weekend) – FREE
- Storybook Land – amusement park good for ages 1-10 years old, $21.95pp, under 1 FREE
- Cape May County Park and Zoo – FREE
- The Water Show – Find this dazzling illuminated water effects show every hour on the hour at the end of The Pier Shops – FREE
- Summer International Nights – multi-cultural live music and dance performances at Kennedy Plaza on Boardwalk at Mississippi Wed in July and Aug at 7pm
- Sunday Family Fun Days – AC Free Public Library offers free Sunday programs at the Main Branch (1 North Tennessee Ave), movies, art projects
- Absecon Lighthouse – 228 steps, one of the oldest lighthouses in the country, views of the AC skyline, cool events each month, $7 adults, $5 children, under 4 FREE
- Golf – Atlantic City ranked among Top Ten Golf Cities in America by ForbesTraveler.com
- IMAX Theatre at Tropicana
The theater is located in the quarter on the 2nd floor. It was tricky to get to, so just really plan ahead, heck even call ahead to get walking directions and a good spot to park, so you’re not running all over the Tropicana and then the Quarter looking for the place. In my opinion, it wasn’t clearly marked when we did find it, but again I was rushing from trying to find parking and find the IMAX itself because we parked no where near where we should have. We saw the Coral Reef Adventure and this was my first IMAX experience. Wow! It was amazing! I learned a ton of new information and the movie was breath taking on the IMAX screen. When the movie was over, we were in a rush trying to make it to our next event, valet messed up getting our car to us and we were late, thinking valet was our best bet turned out to be not the best choice. We should have done a little more home work and parked as close as possible to the IMAX theater in the Tropicana. Also, just give yourself a little more time in between activities, so you don’t feel like your rushing all day.
With several touch tanks throughout this aquarium, you and your children get an up close view and feel of many featured fish and animals, such as: sharks, juvenile rays, cow nose rays, and bat rays, horseshoe crabs, living fossils, and invertebrates. Be sure to time your visits around the Live Diver Feeding Show, The Exotic Animal Show and Story Time. For the tiny tots, you’ll want to stop by the Coloring Station, Sea Shell Sand Box and Mariner’s Maze. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children and FREE for children 3 and under. FREE parking. While we were there, this fish took a liking to Al, the sweet man in my life.
Atlantic City Bayside Attractions
After all AC is an island, so there is a bay well known for it’s no no need for a fishing license attitude along the jetties on Maine Avenue and the Boardwalk and also in the inlet off of the Boardwalk. However, if you prefer to fish off a boat on the water, there are many fishing and cruising charters at several city locations.
While visiting Atlantic City, consider checking out the Beach Bars, Boardwalk activities, bay festivities and year round events as well as the beach and the Boardwalk because, from the beach to the bay, Atlantic City is “Always Turned On.”
New Jersey Moms
I was not compensated for this post, but was given these experiences for review. Special thanks to FamilyFriendlyAC.com for the opportunity!
Jennifer Auer shares how she became the mom who shares fun things to do in New Jersey!
This week’s Featured Mama of the Week is Jennifer Auer, the owner and blogger behind Jersey Family Fun and Fairytale Entertainment, LLC. Jenn is the mom to three boys, ages 6.5, 5, and 2.5 who love to read, pretend, and eat! They enjoy taking advantage of their local library’s programs, exploring their neighborhood, and being out in nature at parks.
Jenn’s website, Jersey Family Fun, a site dedicated to providing ideas for fun things to do in Jersey, came to be in a rather creative way. She wasn’t always a blogger and shared the following when asked about how she started her sites:
“I’ve always been involved in volunteer work and community service. That followed me after college. I went to Bryant University for Entrepreneurship. I did a short stint after college at Enterprise Rent A Car as a management trainee and learned that wasn’t a life for me. I was not made out to dress up in suits, wash cars, and try to convince people to buy the extra insurance.
From there I went on to do public relations and volunteer management at a variety of nonprofits. When the turnover and politics got to be too much, I turned my passion for working with families into a career in teaching. Then, three wonderful boys came along and the logistics of working out of the home got difficult. Plus, I wanted to be with my children.
In 2009, through a friend of a friend I was presented the option to buy what was then Elizabeth Norton’s party business, Fitness Playhouse. I renamed it Fairytale Entertainment. From there we added superheroes and other children’s characters to our cast of princesses. It’s grown from there. Now we travel throughout Southern New Jersey to children’s birthday parties making make-believe come alive with characters, face-painting, and theme-based parties. It’s been a great opportunity to do work I love while being home with my children.
During this same time, I was also discovering great family-friendly events in our community. I wanted to share that information with others. I struggled for a long time with the best way to do that. I started out blogging for Elizabeth at Professor of Play, but soon after launched my own site, Jersey Family Fun. I love being able to help families in New Jersey and those visiting New Jersey find family-friendly attractions to visit, restaurants to eat, hotels to stay at. It’s very rewarding to discover a secret treasure in New Jersey and then be able to share that with others.”
Jennifer and Karen Hudson Sweitzer recently decided to launch a new site together focusing upon Atlantic City, called Family Friendly AC. Following the same model as Jersey Family Fun, they intend to showcase Atlantic City in the same way in order to help families discover what they can do in Atlantic City.
When asked about her use of social media, Jenn responded, “I use Social Media daily. Both Facebook and Twitter have their advantages and have helped Jersey Family Fun grow. Twitter has allowed me to form partnerships with businesses I never thought I would be talking with. One of our first giveaways for Sesame Place tickets was the result of a Twitter conversation. Everyday new opportunities open for us because of someone we are talking to on Twitter. Facebook has its advantages too, especially with the new changes. It really allows us to talk with our readers. It opens up the door for communication and the fans love it. It’s great to log on and see our fan count keep growing because our readers enjoy what they are seeing and find value in the information we are sharing.”
Since writing and blogging about events in NJ doesn’t keep Jennifer busy enough, she also spends time tutoring and running her party business on the weekends, Fairytale Entertainment. The majority of her work is done at home, but those two jobs take her outside the home as well. While her work is very demanding, she still enjoys it, as it is also flexible and rewarding. Childcare presents some dilemmas, but Jennifer is able to deal with that by working at night and on weekends when her husband is around to care for their children. This doesn’t always work well when she has to deal with businesses that keep traditional 9-5 hours, but she is able to make it work. (But when Does she sleep??)
Parenting presents its own challenges. For Jenn, the hardest part of being a parent is a balance between all the roles she has along with the responsibilities of parenting. While she hasn’t discovered the perfect answer yet, she works on learning from other parents and not sleeping enough so she can get everything done!
Teaching her children about being socially responsible is important to Jenn. She said, “I want my children to be involved in their communities. I want them to value the opportunities they have and I want them to give back, volunteer. When I look for volunteer opportunities now, I look for ones they can be involved with. Ones they can connect to and understand. I think family volunteer opportunities are so important if we are going to help our children develop the right values. They can’t learn from us unless they are involved in it themselves. It’s not enough for them to watch. They must be doing. Our Soles4Souls shoe drive was a big deal for us. When we started I explained how some children don’t have shoes. We talked about how it would be to go a few hours with shoes and could they imagine not having any shoes at all or not being able to go to school because they didn’t have shoes. As we collected shoes from their collection and their friends, they began to see how each person could make a difference and what those little differences could add up to.”
Thank you Jennifer for sharing a bit of your life and work with Mama’s Little Helper’s readers!
 Jennifer Auer of Jersey Family Fun If you know a mom you would like to see featured here, send an email to Diane@mamaslittlehelper.org.
Regal summer movies for a buck, all summer long!
Summer vacations are about to begin in the Bucks/Montco/Philadelphia region for children and their families. Parents and caregivers are always on the quest for inexpensive and family-friendly entertainment for young children to occupy those hot summer months. The Regal Entertainment Group, which includes 284 Regal Cinemas, United Artists, and Edwards Theatres across the country are offering a solution for inexpensive family entertainment all summer long: kid-friendly movies for a dollar! This is a great way to stay inside a cool theater on a hot morning and provide your charges with a couple of hours of giggles and fun.
The Summer Movie Express will offer selected G and PG rated family movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:00 am for nine weeks, starting on Tuesday June 21st and running through Wednesday August 17th. Each theater will have their own schedule of which movies they are showing each week, so if one lives close to several theaters, the selection of movies each week will increase. In the Philadelphia region there are several theaters participating including in Bucks County The Oxford Valley Theatre Stadium 14 in Langhorne, The Warrington Crossing Stadium 22 in Warrington, and in New Jersey, the Burlington Stadium 22 in Burlington. For a full listing of participating theaters, see the Regal Summer Movies website.
Admission is only a dollar per person and a portion of that will be donated by the theaters to the Will Rogers Institute, who uses the money to fund their mission in the areas of medical research and health education. Regal has committed to donate a million dollars to the Will Rogers Institute from the proceeds of the summer movie series.
Some of the movies included in the Summer Express Movie series are Ramona & Beezus, Open Season (1, 2, and 3,) Megamind, Yogi Bear, Charlotte’s Web, Jason and the Argonauts, How to Train Your Dragon, Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppetts from Space, and Karate Kid. See the Summer Movie Express website for the movie schedule of your local theater.
These are not first-run movies, however, for younger children who may have not yet seen these movies in a theater, it makes it an exciting and different experience than sitting at home and watching on the television. It also is a great way to cool off when its too hot to play in the sun all day! Be sure to get there early, as it’s possible that the theaters will be crowded. Plan your schedule by checking out the full listing of kids movies this summer and making sure to see your kids’ favorites! See Mama’s calendar for some of the theaters schedules.
This is a fun opportunity for kids of a variety of ages, so you can bring all of your kids or grandkids for a morning of fun kids movies this summer. Snacks optional!
~Mama Diane
Blogger Breakfast at Baby & Toddler Expo
Was a Huge Success ~Offline & Online!
Mama’s Little Helper hosted a breakfast meet & greet for the Philly area mom bloggers before welcoming them into the Baby & Toddler Expo in Oaks PA on April 16th at 11am, along with Montgomery Media, Parent’s Express Magazine and The Baby & Toddler Expo. During breakfast we had the chance to mingle with other Philadelphia Area Mom Bloggers that we knew, make new blogger connections from the area and get an introduction to the publisher of Montgomery Media, Betsy Wilson as well as our host, the Advertising Manager for Parents Express, John Bell. John was also my side kick for planning this event.
Philly Area Mom Blogger at Blogger Breakfast hosted by MamasLittleHelper.org
 (Photo courtesy of Andrea from Parentise.com)
Kristen from Small Print donated gift cards and raffled off a fingerprint necklace to one of the Philly Social Media Moms that attended the blogger breakfast. The winning ticket belonged to Jen, publisher of InTheMotherhood.com The fingerprint necklace is one of this year’s hottest Moms Day Gifts. Happy Mother’s Day Jen!, you’ll be rocking a hot gift this year! Please call Kristin to claim your prize and design your Mom’s Day necklace.
Moms were crowding Kristen’s booth imagining their little one’s fingerprints embed in silver (see her site for all available choices). The small print products include, but are not limited to necklaces, bracelets/anklets & key chains. Love a particular piece of artwork or hand written phrase your child has lovingly created for you…turn it into jewelry.
Just thinking about my little girl’s future artwork & her little words (her actual work, just shrunk down to fit) embedded in jewelry I can wear makes my heart melt. I’m imagining around the time my daughter turns 5, I will have some solid artwork she has done for her Mama and what every mom hopes for, lovingly written (read scribbled) “I Love Mommy” notes. The moment I have those in my hands, I will be on the phone with Kristen placing my order for a charm bracelet. I want to get her foot/hand print, a piece of her artwork, a sample of her handwriting and another fingerprint all individually created on charms to add to a bracelet. This bracelet, will be like no other in the world. This is a piece I can add to throughout the years. Anyone that knows me, is thinking…weird that Chrissy is even considering this, a charm bracelet because I’ve never been attracted to jewelry all that much, let alone a charm bracelet. However, the thought of having all those little pieces wrapped around my wrist right there for me to look at and adore whenever my heart aches for my little lady is just priceless to this mom.
Future Gift Ideas for Grammy & Aunt Chele
Grammy would love fingerprints, footprints and/or hand prints of her 3 grandchildren on a necklace to show everyone and my sister would love to touch her children’s fingerprints while she is apart from them during her workday, especially on travel business trips that seem to be happening more and more lately.
As a single, divorcing mom, my daughter is away from me more often than I would like. I’m going to wear my necklace everyday that my daughter is not by my side. When I rub her fingerprint, I will think of her and smile. I can’t wait until my piece is ready. I can actually close my eyes right now and just imagine feeling it and I feel my shoulders relax a bit…this Mother’s Day gift to myself is going to be a special Mother’s Day gift that will last me lots of years to come.
 My Daughter's Hand & Foot Print (Kristen will take these and embed them on a silver charm for me) Make a mother day craft with this Mother’s Day Activity and you reap the reward of a kinda sorta homemade Mother’s Day Gift. Kristen will send you the paper and ink for the hand/feet and you can do those prints right at home.My daughter loved this part, but she also loves doing activities like these with Mama. Next, you need to get them back to her so she can shrink the image, clean it up and make them into jewelry, but when it comes to the fingerprint, she must see your child in person. Kristen came out to my house on Friday after the expo to do my daughter’s fingerprint. I ordered a silver teardrop shaped piece that hangs from a silver chain (you can choose from different lengths and style chains). One side will be my daughter’s sweet little footprint and the other side will be her tender little fingerprint. Then on the other tear drop I will have her fingerprint with the flip side having a special saying she calls me all the time (which I’ll keep special by keeping between her and I <3).
Get started on your gift by emailing or calling Kristen today! She can be reached at 610-550-9119 or by email at kristen.gitler@smallprint.com. Check the your options online at www.smallprint.com
~Bucks County~
Does your family enjoy going out for a game of bowling? Never tried it, but thinking it might be fun to see your kids bowl? Try it for free this summer with two special free bowling programs available at area bowling centers. Bowling is a great fun physical activity that encourages social skills along with sportsmanship. It’s also a great indoor activity when the weather outside is not so nice! Check out these free kids events:
At AMF’s Summer Unplugged, parents can register their children to bowl up to two games per day for free, all summer long. A quick and easy registration process helps parents find the local bowling centers offering this deal along with a quick sign up to get the process started. If parents or older siblings want to join in the fun, there is the AMF Summer 17 Plus Pass. This discounted pass allows parents of kids registered for free bowling to register up to four other people over age 17 to bowl two games per day all summer long for $27.95.
At KidsBowlFree.com, parents can find their local bowling center and register their children to bowl free all summer long.
Select bowling centers and schools around the country are participating in the first ever Kids Bowl Free program. This program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to spend time this summer.
Children whose age does not exceed a limit by a participating bowling center are eligible to register for 2 free games a day, all summer long, courtesy of the participating bowling centers along with the schools and organizations.
With the Kids Bowl Free program, each bowling alley has their own age restrictions and shoe policy…some charge for shoe rentals. There are also specific hours for bowling for free (usually all day.) There are also family pass programs that average at $25 for up to four other family members to bowl with the children who are registered to bowl free. To find your local bowling alley and register, check out their website, Kids Bowl Free.
Using American Sign Language to communicate with your infant or toddler
Signing With a Smile Classes
Have you ever watched your baby and wondered what she was thinking about? Have you ever wished your toddler could tell you what he wants instead of grunting and pointing? Have you ever wanted a system that could help with early literacy development? If so, I may be able to help!
At Signing Time, a popular phrase is “Babies crawl before they walk, and they sign before they talk.” You can see this when babies wave bye-bye or point before they can actually say “bye-bye” or “I want an apple.” It is never too soon to start signing with your baby! The earlier you start signing with your baby, the earlier you will see a response. Of course, every child is as different as a snowflake, so please keep that in mind when waiting for your baby to sign back.
I recently read an article at Signing Time that talked about a book published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The book mentions the use of baby sign language and how it is becoming a more common practice. I would encourage you to read this sign language article if you are interested.
Books can be a good way to teach your baby signs, but what if you could learn using a DVD that will allow your baby to see other kids from 0-3 years old signing? Signing Time has cute and catchy songs that your kids can sing in the car that won’t make you want to pull out your hair and might have you singing along. There are also adorable flash cards you could take with you to the doctor’s office, grocery store or especially use at home to play games with your toddler. You could even attend classes with other moms and have the support of a certified Signing Time Instructor.
There are classes in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware and more! Classes are starting soon in Ardmore, Bryn Mawr and Mt Airy. Class materials are not required, but are great to use at home. You can even sign up to have 1 DVD sent per month to slowly build your library. Class members get an additional discount, so be sure to ask me for a code to shop online.
Your baby has so much to say, let him tell you now! You can check out my SigningWithASmile.com or email me at smile@signingtimeacademy.com.
Be sure and check out Mama’s Little Helper, Places Your Kids/Children Can Take Classes Directory.
Melissa 
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