Thomas Tank Engine Steam Team Train Tour

Family Fun

Thomas Steam Team Tour partnered with MBE for this post

Fun for the Family, Ticket & Giveaway Info

Kids have loved Thomas and Friends for generations. I know from first-hand experience my four children certainly couldn't get enough of friendly Thomas and Percy when they were younger. So what could be more exciting than sharing with all of you parents with little kids now that the Day Out With Thomas: The Steam Team Tour 2019 is coming to town, pulling into Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, California this November.
  

You and your little engineers are invited to join the beloved Engine #1 and Percy for a day of engaging activities and fun adventures including a ride on the Thomas Tank Steam Engine train and so much more.

Sneak a peek at what's in store for your kids

So California Stop on the 2019 US/Canada Tour

Presented by Mattel, the 24th annual Day Out With Thomas: The Steam Engine Tour 2019 features 37 stops throughout the US and Canada. SoCal residents are invited to participate in the experience locally when the traveling event arrives in the region at Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, California on November 2-3 and November 9-11 (from 9 am to 5 pm each day). 

Thomas Experience Includes

• 25-minute approx steam train ride on Thomas the Tank Engine
• Meet & Greet with Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of the Railway
• Passport to Adventures booklet for each child to track his/her journey to win a prize after completion
• New "Ask an Engineer" booth for kids to learn about trains and railroads
• Thomas-themed interactive activities like toy play, photo ops, and more fun

Where

Southern California Railway Museum
2201 South A Street
Perris, CA 92570
Museum Information/Directions

Tickets are $25 plus tax for ages 2 and up, service charges and fee may apply

Buy Tickets Here 

or 

Call Ticketweb 866-468-7630

Day Out With Thomas Train Tour  Giveaway

With such fun ahead this fall, we are please to offer your family the chance to win the memorable Day Out With Thomas: The Steam Team Tour experience when it pull into the station in Perris, California. ONE (1) lucky 4-ticket family prize pack winner will be chosen at random with winner's choice of date/time based on ticket availability. See details below to enter for your chance to win this amazing dream prize for the Thomas and Friends enthusiast in your family.

Family 4-Pack Tickets
Thomas Steam Team 

MBE Giveaway

Enter to Win on Instagram

Thanks to Thomas and Friends, ONE (1) lucky MBE giveaway participant will win four tickets to the Day Out with Thomas Steam Team November 2019 event in Perris, California, ARV $100. Transportation to/from event venue not included. This Day Out with Thomas giveaway is open to US residents only and qualifying winners will be selected at random. Hurry, this giveaway ends October 16, 2019 at 12 am PST/3 am EST. Day Out With Thomas: The Steam Team Tour is responsible for providing the prize for winner to pick up at the venue upon arrival.

More About Thomas & Friends

For more information about Thomas & Friends visit the official website, as well as follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. 

Tips to Make Chores Fun for Kids

Parenting

by Neima Pollak
MBE staff writer

Getting Children to Do Chores, Happily

Let's face it, kids do not like doing chores. They will figure out ways to avoid them and if they are stuck doing it they will likely complain the whole way through. But it doesn't have to be this way! You can alter the way kids do their chores so that when it comes time to take out the trash, you will not have to go looking for your kids, rather they will come running to find you.

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Easy Tips to Inspire Kids to Help More

Start with this list of five easy ways to make chores more enjoyable, adapting to your family's lifestyle, and create new ways to facilitate chores at home.

Begin Age-Appropriate Chores Early

The younger the child, the more guidance they will likely need. Although the goal of chores may be to free up your time to take care of other things, you are teaching your child how to do it now so they can do it independently as they get older. For example, to start your young child off teach them to put their own empty yogurt cup into the garbage or place their spoon in the sink. This teaches children the basics of cleaning up after themselves, something that many parents work hard to get their kids to do. 

Make Chores Entertaining

Cleaning up does not have to be a boring and quiet routine. Lighten up the mood and sing a song with your son or daughter while you are cleaning up together or play some music. Feel free to use a cleanup song you have heard before or have your child join you in making up your own lyrics to a favorite tune. No song is too silly, so do not worry because your child is not judging your songwriting abilities. This will make the experience pleasurable for you both, with the added plus that you are spending quality time with them. 

Turn Chores into a Game or Contest

Present the chore as a game or race. For example, ask your child, "How fast can you put away all the toys in the room?" using a timer to motivate them. We love this cute red fox kitchen timer for instances like this. It is a little thing that will make chores all the more fun for the whole family.

Even if you present the chore as a game, your child may say something like, "I know you're only doing this so I clean up!" Don't try and convince your child that you are purely doing this as a game, because they are smarter than that.  Instead explain to your child that yes, you are doing this to clean up, but you are also trying to do it in a way that makes it more fun. If your child does not want to engage in this chore game let them know that the cleanup task still needs to be completed and do they have another suggestion to tackle it?

Use a Sticker Chart with Rewards

Make a chore chart (either together with your child or by yourself) that has clear directions on how each chore should be done. Use a pasteboard and some markers to create a chart that has a list of chores you may ask your child to complete. Underneath each task, write out clear instructions for how the chores should be done. This will help you and your child when they are doing their chores because it will build their independence and it will also give you a few more minutes of quiet to do what you need to do.  

Not into making your own chore chart? Buy one like this cute and colorful magnetic Responsibility Chart with Stickers with pre-made chore labels or this more sophisticated dry erase Magnetic Chore Chart for older children. Every time your child completes a chore, put a sticker on the chart to mark it. When your child reaches a certain number of stickers treat your child to a reward, that you have decided on with your child in advance. 

Doing Chores, Teaching Kids Responsibility Is Easy

Using all or one of these tips will help your child have a more enjoyable time doing chores. It will also, no doubt, contribute to a better relationship between your child and chores. The goal of starting off like this is that eventually they will do their chores without all the added incentives automatically. By doing so they'll not only be developing a stronger sense of responsibility, they'll also be learning first-hand that by contributing to the family household, helping around the house can be also rewarding and gratifying. 

Mommy Blog Expert participates in the Amazon Affiliate program. So, if you make a purchase using one of the links in this story, MBE will receive a small bit of compensation at no extra cost to you.

Tall Girl Netflix Movie Review

Movies

New Movie Tall Girl Now on Netflix

Premiering on Netflix today is the new original coming-of-age comedy romance feature film Tall Girl starring Ava Michelle as Jodi, the tallest girl in her high school at 6'1". It's a familiar tale about how cruel and insensitive teenagers can be to each other and how just about everyone dreams of being popular and simply fitting in. 

MBE partnered with Netflix for this review

Ava, who stands tall proudly in real life at 6'1-1/2" and is an accomplished dancer, singer/songwriter, model and actress at the young age of just 17 years old, is  well-suited to play the tall girl. 

As someone who was once one of the tallest female students in my school, I can personally relate to Jodi's conundrum in the movie of being teased about her height and to her first-hand experiences with prejudice about being different. It also brings to mind the irrational obsessions modern kids too often have about their body images and physical appearances being more important than people's characters.

Tall Girl Supporting Cast

Set against the colorful and eccentric backdrop of New Orleans, as the Tall Girl plot progresses we meet the other characters in Jodi's life. At its epicenter there is her well-meaning family including her mom (Angela Kinsey), dad (Steve Zahn), and beauty queen older sister Harper (Sabrina Carpenter). 

Rounding out the cast there's the handsome tall Swedish exchange student Stig (Luke Eisner) Jodi pines for and the girl Kimmy (Clara Wilsey) who gets the guy she wants, the short and geeky boy Dunkleman (Griffin Gluck) who has a perennial crush on the tall girl, Jodi's best friend Fareeda (Anjelika Washington) and kids representing the full gamut of other male and female high school stereotypes.

Will Jodi ever find a way to be comfortable in her own shoes, to stand tall with her chin up and discover that what she's looking for is literally right under her nose? Will she stop comparing herself to other students and be true to herself to stand up for the young woman she is inside? Watch Tall Girl and you'll discover the answers to those questions and likely also learn more about yourself along the way.

Mom to Mom with Angela Kinsey

Thanks to Netflix, in addition to an advanced screening of Tall Girl, I was invited to join a handful of other mom lifestyle influencers at Duff's Cakemix in West Hollywood to decorate cakes together and chat with Kinsey about her role as Jodi's mom in this new movie. What fun this event was! That morning I definitely channeled my inner tall girl, inspiring me to  create the original pink flamingo cake you see pictured below.

Kinsey is best known for her role on the long-running Netflix hit series The Office. A petite 5'1" tall, she is also a talented cake decorator who co-hosts the baking channel Baking With Josh and Ange with hubbie Joshua Snyder. As the mom of an 11 year-old daughter in real life,  Kinsey grew up in Louisiana so she was able to find a true connection on multiple levels to the caring southern belle mother role she plays in her latest film project.

About Tall Girl

The original movie Tall Girl can be seen only on Netflix. Learn more by visiting the official website as well as following them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.