Floam (PlayFoam) was in my hands for the first time today, and it is magical. Floam is made for kids, but I have a little kid left in me, and when I got my hands on this stuff our little bean ended up only watching for a while. You can sculpt, tear, break, squish, bounce, throw, etc… This stuff does everything. The first thing I made was an Easter Island sculpture and my little bean loved it, it was like a new doll. Then we made a shark, and a dinosaur, and we continued on and on. When my bean and I were  done with Floam I took just a little piece with me and continued to squish it in my hands as a stress reliever. I love Floam.

Our family visited Toys R Us on La Cienaga today armed with my 20% coupon that came in the mail  to get our little bean a Buggy and a Swing Along Castle. Since the weather has been so nice, I felt that little bean should go out and play. I am sad to report that none of the items we wanted to get were in stock. Maybe they haven’t received any shipment since Christmas? Or maybe the recession is over.

We got a coupon from Toys r’ Us today for a See ‘n Say. I remember this toy from when i was a kid, I’m sure you do too. Pull the cord and… Mooooooooo…. the cow goes Mooooooo. Awesome toy. As soon as we saw the coupon we rushed out to TrU and were determined to purchase one for our darling little girl. When we got to the store the only See and Say that I could find was this one……..
Here is how this See ‘n Say basically works:
1. Select girly object
2. Speak ‘n say says “I’m a princess”
3. Select another object
4. Speak ‘n say says “I’m not smart enough to use the real Speak ‘n sSay”

Okay okay- it really doesn’t say what I wrote above, but it might as well. I’m sorry that I even have to call this the “girl’s version” but its the only thing i can think of hat Fisher Price was thinking. This toy is insulting to anyone who has a girl and doesn’t believe in inbreeding nor in beauty pageants- and I apologize to the in-breeders for grouping them with the beauty pageant people.

We were extremely disappointed with this toy. The selectable objects were basically shoes, mirrors thrones and other princessy girly things. Thankfully, after some looking we found the real Speak ‘n Say and purchased it. Please Fisher Price discontinue producing toys that dumb down girls- its really unattractive.

I came across LIKEaBIKE on the web today and thought this would be a great gift for a child who wants to ride a bike like his/her mommy or daddy but not yet old enough to do so.

For a toy bike, it’s definitely on the expensive side but when it is not being used it will look great as a decorating piece for your house.

Anything and everything Anime. If your kids are into video games and Anime characters then this is a great place for them. They have all sorts of Anime books, DVDs, and action figures. When we visited there was a life size (okay maybe not 100% to scale) Princess Leia action figure in the window.

If Leia doesn’t clue you in, then I’ll just flat out warn you. Not all of this stuff is for kids. The back of the store has lots of Anime dolls in scandalous poses and not so dressed. Depending on your tolerance for that kind of stuff you may want to stay towards the front.

This place had some kids toys, mainly stuffed toys. Their stuff was cute but they did not have a great selection of kids things. It was actually a strange mish mash of stuff. They sold trophies and various nick knacks so this place is not necessarily where you will find all your kid shopping needs. They have a sister shop in Beverly Hills. I’ll make sure to link it to this post.

Linens et al West.

11740 San Vicente Plaza