It Happens Every Time I Take Vacation.

My chair fills up with boxes and packages. I can't sit down the first hour I get back into the office because I've got to open all the boxes and padded envelopes.

We took the kids to our favorite vacation spot - the Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head - and spent a week riding bikes, swimming, jumping in the waves, waving at the dolpins, and eating seafood.

My chair full of goodies was waiting for me when I got back. Just take a look at what was inside all these packages!

Disney sent me their latest 'tweener CD, the soundtrack from "Camp Rock." My 9-year-old is dying to see that movie, I'm sure she'll be saving her allowance for the CD, too!

Next I found a couple of Advanced Reader's Copies of two new books from Thomas Nelson Publishing. I love the one titled "Boomtown" cuz its author is listed at Nowen N. Particular. This action/adventure novel for kids is set in Boomtown, home to Chang's Famous Fireworks factory, the Slush Olympics and the "Fighting Slugs" football team. Hmmmm, could be an interesting read.

One really cute book I received is "Ugly," billed as "a classic fairy tale retold." Its the ugly duckling story retold as a witty and entertaining novel. I really like this one.

My favorite find in this stash of stuff is "America's Best Zoos" a travel guide for zoo fans everywhere. This would be a great resource book to keep on hand. Going to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a family reunion? Check out this guide to see what they say about the local zoo (they like it!). One weird thing about this book though, the forward is written by Newt Gingrich, of all people. Didn't realize he was such a zoo aficianado. Turns out his childhood dream was to be a zookeeper.

The strangest find in my mountain of mail was a book entitled "Go Team! Mascots of the SEC." This pamphlet-sized book is aimed at kids and details the history of the mascots of all SEC teams including a message to kids from each mascot. The UK Wildcats message - "Exercise to stay healthy. Try something new every day." Not a bad idea at all.

The last box I opened this morning held new DVD from New Line called "The Business of Being Born." From producer Ricki Lake and director Abby Epstein, this DVD "provides a nation of mothers-to-be with insight into the process of childbirth and the various options available when preparing for life's most special event." Hey, where was this 15 years ago when I needed it!

Tune in next week for more Fabulous Finds from Laurie's Chair.

Hey, want a sneak peek into what I'm working on for the July issue? It's a guide to some of the coolest new products on the market for traveling with kids.

One of my favorite finds is the cute little Wildebeest pictured above. He's a Zoobie - a combination backpack, travel pillow and super-soft blanket. These Zoobies come in a huge variety of animals - many of them much more realistic than your average animal backpack. Pick something common like a monkey or a giraffe or something a little more unique like the Wildebeest, the Water Buffalo or the Babboon (love his cute little face).

You can see all the Zoobies at http://www.zoobies.com/ and you can buy them locally at Baby's Room & Kids Too on Nicholasville Rd. next to Gattitown.

Make sure you check out page 3 of the July issue (hits the streets June 26th) because we'll be giving away some cool new products for summer.

I just got the coolest new game in the mail. It's called Think-Ets and its a teeny-tiny game you can stick in your pocket or throw in your purse. It's a tiny little mesh bag filled with 15 little tiny trinkets, so of like the accessories you'd find in a dollhouse.

My little bag included things like a tiny child's letter block, a fake gold ring, an eensy, little horse, a jade pebble, a tiny version of Hamlet, doll-sized scissors.

So what do you do with this stuff? Well, my recommendation is that you just hand it to your kids an see what they come up with, but Think-ets does come with game ideas. For example, Isabella could spread out all the trinkets on a table and have Eduardo look them over. Then Eduardo shuts his eyes, Isabella removes one trinket, and challenges Eduardo to figure out what's left.

Or ask Jedediah to choose one Think-et at random and tell a story about it. I know how my kids would play with them - each little piece would become characters in their imaginary worlds.

The coolest thing about the game is that it's tiny! You can literally play it anywhere - the dentist's waiting room, on an airplane, waiting for food in a restaurant, riding in the car.

The game is only $9.99, and there are many different sets each with a unique set of Think-ets. You can buy them on-line at http://www.think-a-lot.com/. I've e-mailed them to find local retailers.

Were You There?

I have a favorite image from our Camp Fair on April 12. The Sho Stoppas, this amazing group of hip hop dancers from Lexington, performed on our stage during the Fair. They were just unbelievable! These girls won a competition in New York on the BET network and actually got to perform for Janet Jackson.

After they performed for the Fair visitors I sent these beautiful girls over to our Cover Model Search booth to have their photos taken by the Portrait Shoppe. They were all dressed in black Janet Jackson t-shirts and jeans with chains hanging from their waists.

After they got their pictures made the girls met the staff at the Kentucky DanceSport booth which was right across from the photographer. This is a new dance studio in Lexington where they teach latin and ballroom dancing to families, adults and kids alike. They had set up a mini dance floor and were teaching folks to dance. These ladies were dressed in these gorgeous sequined ballgowns. I'm not sure how it happened but all of a sudden the Sho Stoppas were doing their dance routine again just for the Kentucky DanceSport folks. It was so cool to see these two completely diverse dance groups make a connection. And our visitors to the Fair just loved it.

Do you have a favorite memory from the Fair? Leave a comment for me here on my blog and I'll pick my favorite story and send you a special prize.

I Sure Hope You Didn't Miss It!

I sure hope you made it to our Summer Camps & Activities Fair! It was such a blast from beginning to end.

When the Fair opened at 10 a.m. there were 400 people lined up at the door! We were giving away 4 chances to win 4 tickets to High School Musical: The Ice Tour, which was quite an incentive to get people out on a chilly morning. But that wasn't the only thing we gave away - we had a bunkbed from Baby's Room & Kids, Too, and all the stuff you've seen in my previous blog entries PLUS 25 cases of Ale-8 One and loads of giveaways from our booths.

The performances by kids groups were amazing. I hope you saw the Sho Stoppas. They are an amazing group of hip hop dancers who actually won a competition in New York on the BET Network. We also had some beautiful models from Images, gymnasts from Legacy Gymnastics, cheerleaders from Jessamine Ice All-Stars and ballerinas from the Kentucky Ballet Theatre.

Lexington Gymnastics brought a HUGE and I mean gigantic inflatable slide. One of my interns and I had to try it out before the Fair started - what a hoot. You should have seen this 47-year-old sliding down this giant slide. I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but man, was it fun.

We held a Best Booth Contest this year. It was so hard to choose between all the great booths that were set up, but Central Baptist Church's PowerLab 2008 took home 1st prize! There booth looked like a giant mad scientst's lab and it was just as much fun. Gattitown won second prize with a luau theme including inflatable monkeys and palm trees, video games and grass skirts. Kentucky DanceSport was our third winner. Their staff wore gorgeous sequined gowns and spent the whole Fair teaching moms, dads and kids how to dance.

Well, that's all I have time to blog about now. I'll be back later to give you more details.

I CAN'T GET INTO MY OFFICE!

The Camp Fair prizes are flooding our offices. I can reach my desk, my computer is lost in the pile.

You wouldn't believe all the things we have to give away at the Camp Fair (April 12!!!). We've got the newest American Girl doll, Mia, and she is gorgeous. You should see her cute purple tennis shoes. Then there is the huge pile of games from Hasbro, another HUGE pile of collectible model horses from Breyerfest. Then more games and more games, and books and CDs and DVDs and did I mention books?

It's all gotta go! I've got to find families to give these prizes to. So be there on April 12 from 1o a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kentucky Indoor Soccer and Sports just off Reynolds Rd. near Meijer.

Oh, and don't forget! The first 100 kids in the door will get a chance to win one of 4 sets of 4 tickets to see High Shool Musical - The Ice Tour in Rupp Arena on April 17.

See you there!

The Breyer Horses Are Here!!!!

The horses are here! The horses are here! All the beautiful Breyer collectible horses from Breyerfest have arrived in our offices. Some of these will be prizes for our 4-5th grade girls category in our Writing Contest. Others will be given away in drawings at our Summer Camps & Activities Fair. Make sure you visit us there at Kentucky Indoor Soccer & Sports on Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. We'll be drawing for prizes every half hour. See you there!