Thomas the Train comes to Baltimore {Baltimore, MD} #DCNoVAadventures

A Day Out With Thomas is coming to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and while it is an expensive outing, this penny-pinching mom thinks it is well worth every penny!

We first heard about A Day Out With Thomas last year, at the height of our Thomas obsession. The stars aligned – hubby was home, we loved Thomas and I had a special coupon code. I hesitated for half a second only because it isn’t cheap, but I knew this would be a special family day experience. We had never been to the museum there, however I had heard that it was a pretty cool place to visit for train loving people. There are several vintage trains to venture into, a hands on station for the kids, lego and train building stations and docents. As part of the special “TDO” events there were pictures with Sir Topham Hat and story times. These were both organized extremely well, with fast moving lines and pleasant workers. We weren’t forced through the lines either. The kids got to hug him, high-five him and we took our own pictures! That was a pleasant surprise.

The fun didn’t stop there. Once you headed outside there was a whole world of fun waiting for you! There were several rides for the kids (that usually cost money but were included in the special admission). They had bounce houses set up as well as musical entertainment. Outside they had food vendors that were fairly reasonable and places set up to eat.


The ride on Thomas was an in and out type deal, and actually the policeman on their motorbikes were quite the entertainment. The kids loved them!!

There was plenty of staff, lots of security and the organization was fabulous!

If you are looking for a very special experience in your hometown you can’t find anything better than this. It was a wonderful time and I would absolutely, four star, recommend this event to you. Grab your tickets soon!

Thomas is coming to Baltimore April 24-26th and May 1=3rd
You can purchase tickets here 

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Apps for Kids: Kids Academy Educational Apps

I love apps, I’m addicted.  Having an Iphone obviously feeds that habit, or created it.  I’m not really sure at this point. None the less, here we are.  With a huge amount of Apps out there you could spend days picking and choosing apps, trying to decide which one is a good one for your child. When I have the opportunity to check them out I make sure to share that with other moms; make a little dent in the mom to-do list.

Kid’s Academy is the creator of apps made just for the education of our little ones. These apps are highly rated, including being an Editor’s Favorite from Appysmarts, which has lots of great app reviews. The apps are available on IPhone/IPad, Adroid, as well as through Amazon and for Nook.

I was able to review their Kindergarten Learning app, Learn to Read and Write app and Kid’s Puzzles app.

All of the apps have wonderful colors and imagery.  An adorable dog and owl take the kids through mazes, rhyming words and their letters.  Kids learn to shape the letters in an easy and fun way. My two year old was able to navigate the app, with only minor instruction and assistance throughout.  They also kept the attention of my five year old. The large age range in an app is important for me.  Its something I typically look for before a) I’m cheap and can’t go around throwing money at apps – and frankly I don’t want to; and b) I’m not going to eat up all the room on my devices with stuff for my kids.  Not only do the apps have to be affordable, but accomplish a lot to be something I will download.  Even if its free, if it doesn’t meet the second criteria its not for me.

Kids Academy apps meet both requirements and I appreciate that.  You get a lot of bang for your buck in a free app; and if you are typically someone who looks to purchase educational apps for your kids, then Kids Academy provides you those at a relatively good price-point. It also keeps track of what your kids are doing and keeps you up to date on how they are doing as their playing.

These apps get a five out of five rating from me for a couple of reasons:
1) price is good -the paid version is affordable at $2.99, however you get a 
reasonable quality for the free version if that’s what you choose.
2) the sound is pleasant and not annoying – I can’t tell you how many apps I’ve deleted
because I cringe every time I hear them come on.
3) It is user friendly for a wide range of ages
4) the animation and colors used are fun and interactive for kids
More apps I’ve reviewed 

**This post contains affiliate links
**this review was done in partnership with Sverve. This is sponsored post and review, and I was compensated for my time. As always my reviews containing my thoughts and opinions are my own.

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