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    Hotel Review: AC Hotel Marriott Cincinnati at Liberty Center

    AC Hotel Cincinnati at Liberty Center, Hotel review, Kings Island, Ohio, Summer Vacation, Marriott Hotels

    A week ago we went to Kings Island amusement park in Ohio ( here’s that post ). I mentioned in that post about the hotel we stayed at and this is it! We stayed at  AC Hotel Cincinnati at Liberty Center.  It’s a new hotel located in the beautiful area  of  West Chester, Ohio. It’s about 20 minutes drive to Kings Island, not so bad and its definitely worth it, i guarantee. The hotel is right by the Liberty Center, it’s a nice and posh shopping district with various shops and restaurants. It’s also a beautiful place to stroll , shop, a nice backdrop to take your ootd shots if that’s your thing. They also have a family park nearby where the kids could play with the water sprinkles, they even have a miniature train display….so cute.

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    Our Kings Island Adventure

    *This post is sponsored by Kings Island, all opinions  and photos are mine. 

    Last week, we have the opportunity to visit Kings Island amusement park in Kings Island, Ohio. We are from Michigan, so it’s about 4 1/2 hours drive all the way there from our house. We stayed at this nice contemporary family friendly hotel that is not far from the amusement park ( i will make a separate post for that). Then we went to Kings Island the next day. It was during the weekday when we went, so it wasn’t that crowded but i highly recommend a two day ticket, it’s a better value for the 2nd day. Plus you can totally utilize the rides and water park as many as you can for two days. Here is the ticket information. I also highly recommend getting the Souvenir Bottle and All Day Dining , with a 4 years old and 9 years old who is in a growth spurt, it’s always good to be prepared. You are not allowed to bring food and beverages there so an All Day Dining is the better option. I can’t believe how many times we refilled that bottle of beverages, it was super hot that day and knowing we will be there all day till night, it’s definitely worth it.

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    Home and Lifestyle, Kids, Travel

    Underwater Discoveries at Sea Life Michigan

    This is a continuation from my previous post which is our visit at Legoland Discovery Center Michigan. Read about my last post here ,  if you want to know more about our Legoland Michigan adventure.

    Today, I’m going to talk about our visit at Sea Life Michigan . Like I said from my previous post, you can do both attractions in one day but we did ours on separate weekends because we started late when we went to Legoland and we didn’t have enough time left to go to Sea Life. But you can definitely do both in one day. I believe we spent 4 hours in Legoland and 2 hours in Sea Life. So, whatever works for you.

    What can you expect in Sea Life Michigan ?

    The exhibit have over 250 different species . They have both fresh water and salt water exhibit. A total of 10 exhibits you can explore. As you go to every exhibit, children are also encouraged to collect stamps when they find the special stations. When they fill their books, they are awarded a special take-away for their achievement. It’s pretty cool, the kids get excited everytime they spot a stamping station.

    At the Interactive Touchpool , you can touch crabs, starfish and sea urchins. The kids were so amaze with the starfish. Just don’t touch the corals and don’t forgot to wash your hands after, there is a sink right next to it.

    We love the educational talks and feeding demonstration time, it’s quite interesting to learn a thing or two about some creatures. Like how to feed them, how they live and just fun facts about the specie. The staffs are also friendly, accomodating and thoroughly know their craft. Check out the demonstration schedules here. Your tickets are already included in this, you don’t have to pay extra.

    Among all the creatures here, my kids love the sharks, stingrays , turtle, starfish and jelly fish.

    Can you spot Dory?

    The Sea Life Michigan exhibit is not comparable to any aquarium exhibit you see elsewhere because it has it’s own unique twist to make it more fun, enjoyable and interactive for everyone most especially for the kids. Each exhibit is elaborately designed with its own theme. My kids enjoyed the shipwreck exhibit because it looks like you are in a pirate ship. One thing you can’t do on some exhibits is taking flash photography, that explains why some of these photos are kind of dark.

    Sea Life Michigan is not just an aquarium that you only get look around but also they made it fun and interactive for young kids. It’s like a big underwater playground for them. Their favorite thing to do is to go in the tunnels  of the aquariums (which they have tons of them) to get an underwater view. It’s actually pretty cool.

    After we did the aquarium, the kids went to the jungle gym playground, they played there for 15 mins. As we headed out, we went to the store and they were rewarded with medals when they submitted their stamp books.

    We had a great time at Sea Life Michigan and it’s something we would love to do it again! Also, if you want to have a birthday party here, they can cater  to that too. Go here . I hope you find my post helpful in giving you an idea on what to expect in Sea Life.

    Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!

    *This is a sponsored post by Sea Life Michigan . As usual, all thoughts and opinions are mine.

     

     

     

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    What to do at Legoland Discovery Center Michigan

    Spring is just around the corner and so is Spring break! For us parents with little ones and opted for a staycation in Michigan, it’s always a great idea to take our kids for a little weekend adventure.

    My kids are Lego fanatics, so when we got the opportunity to partner with Legoland Discovery Center Michigan they were jumping with joy and excitement. Every kid or atleast most kids love Legos. Well, this place is a gem to all Lego lovers out there!

    First of all, I was really amazed with the interactive models of the Detroit area landmarks. We were in awe, on how they create and build these models and also I’m wondering how long it took them to put all these little bricks together. It is just amazing ! Anyways, let’s cut to the  chase and proceed on….

    What to do in Legoland Discovery  Center Michigan

    1. Discover Miniland – this area is an art show gallery of all the models that are made with Lego bricks. We love the interactive models featuring Detroit area landmarks, the kids had fun playing with them. Their favorite is the Comerica Park. Also, it’s so cool to watch the miniland changes from day to night.

    How cool are those skyscrapers made with Lego bricks behind my kids’ photo. Yes, they are huge. It’s mind boggling how they do this. It took me forever to build just a house that one time, I’m just not so patient. My husband is the one who assisted my kids with their Legos. But my son  Lucas, is the Lego expert in our house. He is so patient and so good in building his Legos, his desk is filled with Lego models he built himself. I’m so proud that he is passionate on what he likes to do and also credits to my husband for helping him build his Legos when he was still 3 years old. As time goes by he learned and he started to create and build things on his own.

    2. Creative Workshop – A master builder is assigned for you to learn some Lego building techniques. It’s pretty cool to watch the participants did the workshop. You just have to watch out for the time slot of the workshop. We intend to do the workshop but we keep missing it, but it’s a great thing to do.

    3.  Play at the Duplo Farm, Earthquake tables and Lego Friends – My kids had a blast in this area and the most we spend our time on. They go back and forth going through the Duplo Farm, Earthquake tables and Lego Friends. They are all right next to each other, so it wasn’t hard to keep an eye on both kids.

    This is the Earthquake table, when you press a button the table will mimic an Earthquake movement. By that, it will shake the blocks. The kids enjoyed this a lot, especially Olivia. As you can tell by the picture on top.

    This is the Lego Friends area, my little girl enjoyed playing with the villages, buildings, cafes and automobiles. Olivia was in Lego Friends high.

    This is the Duplo Farm, they have a mini playground for the little kids and huge Lego blocks, almost like a life size. Olivia made a chair out of these giant blocks but I didn’t get to take a picture of it, blogger fail. I wonder what I was doing that time. I can’t believe i didn’t get to take a picture of it, that would have been so cool. You know the saying nowadays, if there’s no photo it didn’t happened.

    4. Lego Build and Race – This is my son Lucas’ favorite area of all, he probably can hang out here all day. You build your own race car then you race it. As you can tell by this photo, he is in deep concentration and determined to win a race. Go Lucas go!

    5. Watch 4-d Cinema – in this Cinema we get to experience with rain, wind and even snow, all under one roof. We watched the Legends of Chima at that time and my little girl was so funny, she keep on trying to reach the 4d characters, thinking she can grab it with her hands. It’s so cute to watch her.We all love this 4D theater experience.

    6. Ride the Kingdom Quest and Merlin Apprentice Ride – we had a blast on these rides, I love the Kingdom Quest the most because all four of us can get into one ride. The Merlin Apprentice is awesome too. Ofcourse, the kids had the time of their lives. Who doesn’t love rides? Most of us do!

    7. Eat at the Cafe – if you are hungry or your kids are hungry, you don’t have to go out to grab something to eat. They have sandwiches, salads and sweet treats. They have coffee and other beverages.

    8. Play at the Jungle Gym – the fun never stops with these two kids. They were happily climbing, sliding and playing with other kids. If you got toddlers, it’s better to have them play at the Duplo Farm because even my 4 years old was having a hard time here. Unless if you want to go in the jungle gym too with your little one. The school aged kids had a blast here though.

    9. Shop at the Lego Store – after all the fun activities, it’s time to go shopping. Shop till you drop !

    We truly enjoyed our experience at Legoland. As you can tell on my sons’ photo on top, he looks tired and worn out but his eyes and his smile is glowing with happiness. My little girl on the other hand, was already in her stroller and kind of cranky. She was ready to retire from a long day of fun.

    This smile from my son is truly the joys of parenthood that outweighs the stress of parenthood. We all know that our day to day life as parents is not easy breezy but moments like these that we get to spend time with our kids and seeing them all happy, is just priceless and something we wouldn’t trade for.

    Up next, will be our visit to Sea Life Aquarium Michigan. So stay tune for that post. I believe that you can do both Legoland and Sea Life in one day, plus you can also get a better deal on that and save up to $10 per person. Check out the tickets HERE .

    Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!

    *This post is sponsored by Legoland Discovery Center Michigan .
    I accept services/products that I believe would benefit my readers. As usual, all opinions are mine.

     

     

     

     

     

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    Home and Lifestyle, Travel

    Christmas 2016 Travel Diary

    It was our first time to be away from home for Christmas and we celebrated it in Florida, where the weather is warm and sunny. We live in Michigan and it’s really cold here around winter time. So if you are dreaming of a winter wonderland Christmas, Michigan is the place to be! My son Lucas said it feels different to have Christmas with no snow but he doesn’t mind at all celebrating it in Florida, most especially when they get to visit Disney World!

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    Weekend In Chicago

    Last weekend, we took a short weekend getaway to Chicago, Illinois. Our original plan was to stay at downtown Chicago because that’s where we were going to spend most of our days. But to the last minute, we decided to booked a hotel in a nearby suburb by downtown Chicago and we were sooo glad, we made that decision. Because we couldn’t handle the traffic in downtown and it was too crowded for us. So although, I love the energy in the big city. It’s nice to go back in a quiet, serene environment of a suburb. It makes us feel more at home. The Le’ Meridien Hotel in Oakbrook met exactly that criteria. It’s a new, nice and cozy contemporary style hotel situated in Oakbrook,which is forty minutes away from downtown (if you count traffic). It’s not bad at all. The hotel is right next to Oakbrook Center, a beautiful outside shopping mall. They have everything from affordable to luxury stores. They also have snack bars, coffee shops, quick meals and  full service dining. The hotel we stayed at, is right next to Cheesecake Factory. Right when you step outside the hotel door you can actually smell the aroma of yumminess and I love it! Now, I’m hungry.

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