Have you passed by the Teatro ZinZanni historical spiegeltent on Mercer Street in Seattle and wondered what on earth went on beyond those brightly colored walls? 
Now is the perfect chance to check it out with the whole family with Teatro ZinZanni’s new family show, Lighter Than Air. Featuring Seattle’s own kiddie rock band, Recess Monkey, this new show has something for everyone. 
As soon as you enter the lobby, you know you are in for a treat. The lush lobby of Teatro ZinZanni is full of color and excitement, just begging kids to dress up, relax, play pretend, and even grab a snack from the old fashioned snack bar before the show. 
And, then you step inside the gorgeous theater – a lofted tent filled with booths, chairs, and for this show, a “mosh pit” where kids can enjoy the show while they dance.
Leanne
Let girls build with Roominate Studio DIY designing kits
Have you taken a stroll down the pink side of the toys stores lately? Slowly but surely, the days when all girls have to play with is dolls and princesses are coming to an end. Recently, there has been a huge shift in girls’ toys, and the result is really awesome.
As the revolution takes place in toy stores everywhere, we are now seeing products specifically marketed towards girls offer so much more substance than ever before. Thanks in part to companies like Roominate, girls are now hearing a message that they should have been hearing all along: girls can build and design, too. 
The story behind Roominate begins with two women, Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, who met and became friends in the master’s engineering program at Stanford. When they got to talking about why they had pursued engineering, they both said they were inspired by the toys they played with during childhood. While looking at current toy offerings for girls and boys, they saw huge gaps in toys marketed towards the different genders.
Together they set about to change it by creating a product that was not just pink and pretty, but also had a basis in STEM subjects {Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math}. And, with that, the idea behind Roominate was born. 
5 minutes until dinner with the Black + Decker 5 Minute Pizza Oven & Snack Maker
Like most kids, my kids would eat pizza every day if I let them. Since the term “pizza” is so incredibly ambiguous, I typically make them a “pizza” variation of sorts every few weeks. Sometimes we make our own dough for crust, sometimes we use wheat pitas, English muffins, or pre-made crusts, and occasionally we get a frozen pizza as a treat. And, as varied as the crusts are, the toppings are even more so and they can change depending on our moods or what we have to get rid of in the fridge. Basically, as long as you call it pizza, it will get eaten.
For us, a pizza oven actually makes a lot of sense because it allows us to take pizza to a whole new level. As soon as I saw the Black+Decker 5 Minute Pizza Oven & Snack Maker, I was already sold. I could take something that was already easy to make and make it even easier. 5 minutes to bake a fresh or frozen 12" pizza easy. That’s about the length of time I typically spend looking for matching shoes each morning. So, to make dinner in 5 minutes? Amazing, I tell you.
Think Portrait Innovations for family pictures this fall
Did you read my post last month about our awesome photo sitting at Portrait Innovations and have been meaning to make an appointment? Do it now, seriously. Trust me when I say that the holidays will sneak up on you and before you know it you will be ordering holiday cards wondering why you don't have one single picture of your family with everyone smiling {nicely} at the camera with their eyes open. I know this because that was me last year, and the year before, and the year before…
But not this year, because I thought ahead and scheduled a fall sitting at Portrait Innovations that gave me lots of pictures to choose from when it comes time to order holiday gifts, prints to frame, and finally, holiday cards. 
The family photo shoot was easy, it was professional, but most of all it was actually fun. Yeah, I said fun. With three kids under 7 you rarely hear the words "fun" and "photo shoot" in the same sentence, but it was surprisingly enjoyable and the pictures really speak for themselves about what kind of shoot it was.
One whole hand big – happy 5th birthday to my sweet boy!
5 years. FIVE YEARS. How on earth is my baby boy FIVE? I remember announcing his birth on this site like it was last week, and I remember thinking that the baby stage would last forever. Two in diapers will do that to you. 
But, now I know better. I know that even the most stubborn kids are potty trained eventually, and the diaper stage is over quicker than you know it. Even the "I do it myself" stage doesn't last forever and soon you find yourself needing to use Google for all their questions because even you don't know all the answers to the things they think up. 
And, just like that, five years goes by in a blur. Even though I'm very much back in the baby stage with my youngest, I know better now than to wish time would pass quickly. 
Enjoy the season with the new Glade® Limited Edition Fall Collection scents
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GladeForFall #CollectiveBias 
My grandma always told me that they ended up in Washington for a number of reasons, but the big selling point for her was that it had all four seasons. Like my grandma, I love the changing seasons so I am very appreciative that they decided to put down roots here. But, as much as I adore spring, summer, and even winter, my favorite is fall.
Fall is bursting with promise. The promise of crisp air and cooler nights, colorful nature walks, road trips to see the foliage, and of family days spent walking corn mazes in tall boots and enjoying this beautiful place we call home. Fall is the month we get to enjoy all of that and more, and we get to do so with a steaming mug of coffee and a knit cap. 
Gearing up for fall with the Lumix G7
I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Panasonic. I received product samples as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. 
Like all good things, summer must come to an end sometime. While it’s only officially fall as of today, it’s easy to get in the mindset that summer is over as soon as school starts. I get it, trust me. As much as I love fall, I really don’t look forward to the back to school season. At all.
So, how was the first two weeks of school? It actually hasn’t been so bad because we still say it’s summer until the weather gets cold and the days get short. Even after school is back in session, we make a point to keep up with our summer activities as much as possible so we can enjoy the beautiful fall weather.
Chicco NaturalFit® Advanced Feeding & Soothing System grows with baby
I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Chicco. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation. 
When I was pregnant with my first child, I was on a forum with other expecting moms where we would share our excitement and fears about motherhood. Of all the things that stressed us out about bringing our children into the world, one of the main concerns was feeding our children. Even though we were a mixed group with about half planning on breastfeeding and the others planning on formula, we all agreed that finding a bottle that would work for us and for baby was top of our list of must-haves.
Fast forward 7 years and now all of those ladies I met in the pregnancy forum are experienced moms of more than one child. But, do you want to know the one thing we message each other about the most often? Bottles. Crazy, right? Whether it’s concerns about baby not taking a bottle for girls night out or it’s a big life event such as returning to work or health issues, all of us have struggled with finding the perfect bottle at some point.
We’ve traded bottle brands to try, we’ve shared pictures of our kids using different types, and we’ve ranted about more bottles than I can count. So, when I found Chicco NaturalFit® recently and loved what I saw, you can bet I shared it with the group.
Out with the old
By Leanne, editor and founder
Want to know what we did all last weekend? We sorted through boxes, dug through our garage, and we did a full closet purge that has been months in the making so we could have a garage sale. Because, apparently we’re not busy enough these days.
So, what prompted this fall cleaning kick? Two people: 1) my step-mom who was kind enough to donate her time, energy, and her driveway to our garage sale, and 2) Clinton Kelly, the co-host of one of my favorite shows, What Not To Wear. 