KizVuz Holiday Party 2014

This was the second year we were lucky enough to go to the KidzVuz Holiday Party. I can only hope we're lucky enough to go again next year, because my kids are already planning on it! 

After posing for pictures at the step and repeat, we went into the event space at Chelsea Piers. Which was awesome, by the way. The first thing we did was get frozen yogurt from 16 Handles. In addition to their awesome name, they had awesome yogurt too. 

Before their yogurt was even finished, the Ubisoft video game area had suckered the kids in. Hugmonkey was in such a hurry that he let me finish is frozen yogurt, so it was a win for everybody. I let the kids play for a while, they checked out the new Rabbids game and Monopoly. They enjoyed both and I didn't understand either, which seems to be how video games work at our house. After I pointed out all the kids waiting eagerly for their turns, the kiddos agreed to check out the rest of the party.

Ironflower spent a lot of time at the School Specialty craft table. She made flowers and picture frames.

We also saw our friends from BatteryPop, where they were playing the promotional video Ironflower appeared in. Then it was on to iScream, where Ironflower asked me to add all of the cute pillows (especially the donut shaped one) to her Christmas list. We did get one of their blankets in our swag bag and Ironflower is totally in love with it. And if she wasn't? I would totally steal it because it is super soft and warm. 

While the boys weren't as into iScream's products, they were very happy with the candy art at the iScream table. 

I felt like this year I really got to talk to all of the people sharing their products and ideas and that made me so happy. Once again I didn't talk to other bloggers as much, except I finally got to chat with Gay NYC Dad, which made me so happy. I also had a nice talk with Jill from Scary Mommy, who was there to talk about her Thanksgiving Project. It's such a great cause, if you can help, please do. 

I managed to have those conversations while the kids were back with the video games. Because of course they went back to the video games. 

Before that, though, Ironflower got a braid from FiercelyFabNYC, which she really liked. We also talked to Emily from Ribbon Barrettes; definitely the most inspiring 5th grader I've ever met. She is selling ribbon barrettes (my fave thing in 1980) to raise money to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. 

We spent a very long time in the HP area. First it was the art project while I talked to someone about printers. I really want a new printer. From HP. Then we played with the HP Stream laptops and tablets. I couldn't get Hugmonkey to ditch his long enough to make our Flipbook. Which is not surprise, except that later he was all about dressing up at the Broadway Kids Night table. 

The kids also had a lot of fun learning about the Gamma Heroes and playing an app involving them. 

Perhaps my favorite thing was discovering Sweet Loren's. It's frozen cookie dough, which normally doesn't thrill me. Not that I won't eat it - because of course I will, I love cookies - but there's a lot of bad stuff in most pre-packaged foods. This dough, however, is made with whole, unrefined ingredients. It's dairy free. And the cookies taste like Famous Amos ones. For real. They sell it at Whole Foods and I'm definitely going to buy some the next time the kids want cookies. 

I'm sure I've forgotten something, so make sure to check out more from the KidzVuz Holiday Party on Facebook.