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Thomas and Friends

Thomas Live Tour!

June 29, 2013 By Lena

Okay party people, I know many parents out there who’ve spawned Thomas & Friends fanatics, so this one’s for you. (My advice: pawn this one off to a well-meaning grandparent, aunt or uncle.)

The Thomas Live Tour is an interactive, entertaining, musical show that brings Thomas to life and also features Sir Topham Hatt and Driver Sam. The tour will be travelling to various shopping malls, fairs and different events across Canada throughout the year – and just may be rolling into a city near you!

The entire show schedule can be found here. Apart from the Thomas & Friends Personalized and Interactive Thomas E-Story, my boys have just never taken to Thomas; instead, they’ve been obsessed with Disney Cars ever since they could say “Lightning McQueen”. However, I can certainly appreciate the fascination – hey, if I was a little dude, I’d want to play with toy trains too.

As you can see from the poster above, if you’re in Calgary, Belleville, Edmonton, Toronto, London or Lindsay, you’re in luck; the live tour will be visiting your city shortly. This is a great chance to take the kiddos to see their favourite locomotives from the Island of Sodor! I’m a huge fan of live shows; it’s quite an experience to see the characters come to life, and helps foster imagination and creativity. Until then, Thomas lovers, toot toot!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: #FisherPriceMoms, Fisher Price, Thomas and Friends, Thomas Live Tour

Step Into A Story with Thomas & Friends…

February 12, 2013 By Lena

One of my pet peeves, as a parent of young children, is bedtime.

(Whoa! That just came out WAY too nicely. Let me try again, this time keeping it real.)

I freaking hate bedtime.

The thing about my boys is that they literally have no use for slumber. In fact, they would much rather fall asleep at 10:45pm – standing up – wearing a shirt and jeans, instead of snuggling into warm pajamas at a decent hour, allowing mommy to tuck them into bed and sing a sweet lullaby.

To say it’s a struggle is an understatement.

We even moved both boys into the same bedroom, because I simply had enough of trying to keep them from wandering into each other’s rooms well after lights out. Nowadays, I begin the bedtime rituals, kiss them both goodnight, and pretend I don’t hear the giggling, padded footsteps around their room, and the telltale sound of markers colouring paper. Usually, I’ll find one or the other asleep on the floor (see: fall asleep standing up) or curled in a ball on the bed. It’s just the best I can do and I’m totally cool with that.

However, bedtime just got a little easier thanks to the NEW Thomas & Friends Personalized and Interactive Thomas E-Story.  You and your little ones will be able to add details such as your child’s name and a name of a family member or a friend – and a personalized story will be created just for them. My boys love being part of the story, and since Ryder is old enough now to recognize his name, he truly believes the tale was written just for him!

For bedtime reading you’ll want to load the E-Story on a tablet, as there are interactive features which allow the child to connect with Thomas and his friends. And there’s no fancy registration or sign-up involved; simply input your desired name and start reading. Bonus: each month, Thomas will launch a new E-Story! So you’ll always have new tales to share with the kiddos, and less repetition = happy storyteller. At the moment, you can choose from “A World of Imagination” or “Let it Snow”.

(On a related note, let’s welcome Thomas & Friends to Mattel. The well-loved company has officially acquired the Thomas brand – which of course, means tons of innovative and imaginative products are on the way, I’m sure!)

So, although bedtimes are still a struggle, the new interactive Thomas E-Story has made it a little easier – my boys willingly climb into bed to hear the story. Now, I just have to figure out how I can get them to stay there.

 

I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Ambassador program and I receive special perks for my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: #FisherPriceMoms, Interactive E-Story, Mattel, Thomas and Friends

The Incredible, Inevitable Thomas

February 29, 2012 By Lena

When Ryder was a wee one, I had little knowledge about the toys he would eventually come to love. After all, I spent most of my time trying to prevent him from putting batteries in his mouth (yes, he could pry open every remote control cover known to mankind), and therefore was just happy with him gumming normal, FDA-approved toys.

But seasoned parents knew better.

“Is he into Thomas and Friends yet?” they’d ask.
“Not yet…” I’d respond with hesitation.
“Oh, he will be!” they’d cry with jubilation, rubbing their hands together in delight.

I later learned that their joy was not related to the prospect of my son having an enriching experience with toys, but rather that I too would be sent straight to the poor house trying to afford the extensive collection of trains, tracks and paraphernalia.

(True story: the first time I laid eyes on the $249 deluxe train table, I yanked Ryder so quickly in the other direction, he may have caught air time.)…

Read More

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Fisher Price, review, Thomas and Friends, toys

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Lena Almeida

Toronto Blogger, Social Media Strategist for Listen to Lena Inc. Television & Radio Personality, Columnist and Speaker. Family Travel Expert. Star Wars Fanatic. Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion. Read More…

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