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Children's Museums, Christmas gifts, Christmas list, Christmas shopping, gifts for families, Memberships, Merry Christmas, Season Pass, Thinkery, toy-lending library, Toybrary
That Hatchimal on their Christmas list gone out of stock? Tired of kids with their eyeballs glued to a video game? Or (in our case), does your toddler actually play with the box more than the toy inside? Consider giving the gift of shared experiences this year! –Not only shared experiences, but a gift the whole family can use year ’round. I’m talking about the gift of memberships: wether it be season passes to a local amusement park or an annual family admission package to their local zoo; memberships are a unique way to ensure you give the gift that keeps on giving. Here are a couple GREAT options local to Austin:
- Thinkery:
Austin’s official children’s museum is a wealth of opportunity for fun & learning for families with kids of all ages & stages. They put on a slew of summer camps, reserve a “Baby Bloomers” morning just for the littlest crawlers, host a number of special events throughout the year, etc. As my “Community Placement” with Junior League of Austin, I volunteered there a couple years ago to help with summer camps and kinda feel in love with the place. Their exhibits are rooted in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education — it’s almost as if you can see the little cogs spinning in their minds as they interact & play. The Family Membership is $99/year and grants general admission for a family of four at each visit BUT there are a number of pricing options to suit each family’s needs, including monthly giving.
- Toybrary: A library is to books as Toybrary is to toys. –Super-cool concept, right!? Toybrary is a toy-lending library and kids’ birthday party venue that also offers drop-in childcare. Parents and children can stay & play and then check-out their favorite pieces to take home for awhile.
Here’s the dollar-by-dollar breakdown: the average family in the U.S. spends $740 a year on toys if they have one child, and $1,200 a year on toys if they have two children. (PRWeb.com) With Toybrary memberships at $40 per month & a year’s membership adding up to $420, the savings most families see is over $300 per year! If you go once a week, and check out 3 toys each time, the kids get to use 12 toys per month. But don’t forget, families can visit and exchange toys as often as they like.
Pure products — it’s that simple! For over 25 years, ABBA has made a commitment to formulating products with the cleanest ingredients available, while never sacrificing the performance that their customers demand. Where possible, all ABBA products are formulated to be 100% Vegan, Gluten-Free and made without Parabens, DEA, Phathalates, Synthetic Color Additives, Sulfates and Sodium Chlorides. Plus, the brand has a strict policy that animals can NEVER be used for testing in the creation, development or formulation of the products.
Looking for all-day odor and wetness protection from a natural product? –Say hello to Schmidt’s Deodorant! Available in six alluring signature scents, Schmidt’s classic stick (pictured) and sustainable glass jars have earned their reputation as the natural deodorants that actually “get the job done.” Schmidt’s award-winning formula starts with plant-based powders and moisturizing butters to ensure odor and wetness protection that allows for the body’s natural process of sweating while still keeping you dry. Amazingly, Schmidt’s effectiveness can not only match that of chemical alternatives, but can actually outperform them without the use of aluminum or other controversial chemicals! Available in both Stick & Jar application at 
This little berry not only has over 190 phytonutrients and fatty acids (ALL the omegas: 3, 6, 9 and the rare Omega-7) that help protect against many diseases (including breast cancer). SeabuckWonders, the original sea buckthorn company, has been providing maximum potency sea buckthorn products for over two decades now. Their products are natural, non-GMO project verified, cruelty-free, too!
This selfie snap = my mood driving from home this morning: angry Mozart on blast and wearing head-to-toe black, almost as if in mourning for the future of our nation. Well, the Lord has a way of speaking to our hearts at exactly when we need to hear Him, amen? I’m thankful the Pastors at 
The full video of their 17-minute message is linked above, but from my notes, I wanted to share some Scripture-based takeaways that helped me begin to Keep Calm and Carry On:
Us girls had a short, whirlwind trip to Montreal…I landed the afternoon of the event and we packed a lot into those few hours we had to spare. After meeting up downtown, we beelined to the perfect gourmet bistro for a fancy French-inspired lunch, complete with foie gras and rose’! Then, she treated us to massages at the most unique spa concept: a historic river ferry turned into a luxurious floating day spa in the Montreal harbor called 
We arrived to the venue a mere seconds before showtime but it was perfect timing! Our seats were pretty high up but very close to the main stage. And of course the sound, lighting, visuals, etc. were all stunning. One thing I appreciated was that her face was up on the big screen the whole time…you could see up close how she sang each note & the emotion she put into every lyric. No costume changes, just the right amount of pageantry, nothing superficial, perfectly classic timeless Adele.
She performed for a full two-hours and showed us lots of personality in between sets! Adele is very very funny, y’all! We were cracking up — she was talking about how she’s trying to keep up with her work-outs on this tour but then she discovered 
All the big chart-topping hits were sung, there was a short acoustic set, a couple covers, and best of all: she told us the back stories. She writes most of her own music and she really exposed herself emotionally by going in deep: where she was living, at what point she was at in her career, where she stood in her love life, all of the nitty gritty & many times sad feelings that inspired her writing. –Ah, Queen Adele crying, cold & wet, living and writing her songs in a dank, dark English basement…say it ain’t so!
A few insights: she told us that no, contrary to the tabloid reports, she is not pregnant. She apologized for going away for so long but warned that she will go away yet again…that she needs & wants to be connected to her family and to live a real life and have real feelings in order to produce art that speaks to us.
My favorite song of the night was
We recently had the special opportunity to shoot our family holiday photos at 
Although it’s private property and you do need an appt./permission to shoot there, I spoke with the owner at length before our session & he is opening it up as much as he can for photos. The venue (his home) is his labor of love and called it like a cultural center…holding weddings there is donation-based, for example.
It’s sad, really: due to some city zoning issues & complaints from neighbors, it’ll probably get all torn down and turned into condos soon. You can read more about the plight of the our community’s “secret theater” 
Today, I’m sharing photos from inside the greenhouse, but more moments from the rest of our shoot will be shared here on the blog & 
Blog Joie de Vivre 