THRED UP WITH POLARN O. PYRET

Happy Earth Day! I am SURE you guys have heard of the amazing clothing brand Polarn O. Pyret, right? Right. They're clothes are some of our favorites for kids - colorful, great designs and durable. Love! Well they have teamed up with Thred Up to bring us an amazing program for getting some use out of our clothes that don't get so much use any more. We have a ton of clothing that Elliott doesn't fit into anymore but it still (somehow) still looks great. Instead of hefting it down to Goodwill, get yourself one of these bags! Here's how it works. Sign up to have a bag (or 10) sent to you. Once you get it in the mail, fill it with your gently used clothes then follow the instructions on the bag to mail it back to get STORE CREDIT to get brand new clothes from Polarn O. Pyret! Pretty awesome, right? We tried it out and loved it. Also, we miraculously have so much more space in our dresser! Total bonus.

This post was sponsored by Polarn O. Pyret but all opinions are my own. We really do love them! Thank you for supporting the companies that help make And We Play possible.

THE DREAM CAR

Have you guys heard of Dream Car? It's... a dream. Seriously. This is one beautifully made toy! Each set comes with two tops as you can see and they attach to the gorgeous wood base with embedded magnets. It's so easy to snap in and get playing! Perfect for little hands. The tops are obviously chalkboard, but I have to say this and I don't know if anyone out there feels the same. But not all chalkboards are created equally! Some chalkboard surfaces are rough, uneven and don't write on smoothly. These chalkboard cars are amazing. So easy to draw on and wipe off to recreate something new. I love it! And! The Dream Car comes with a set of colorful chalk and an eraser. Pretty amazing, right? The cars are bigger than I first expected them to be, which to me is fantastic. I debated whether to give this to Elliott and have him model the awesomeness of the cars, but in the end decided to hold off and give these to him for Christmas. If you have a little one who you love dearly and want them to have a gorgeous, one of a kind gift this holiday season, this is a great option. They will love it! And so will you.

WE LOVE: PERFECT SUMMER SHOES

School is out for the summer in a few days (huzzah!) and we have already started in on the summer fun. Something that I think is vital for an easy and fun summer are shoes. That might sound a little strange, but since Elliott doesn't tie his own shoes yet, having some great shoes for him to put on himself and go out to play in is vital. These shoes look like Chuck Taylors (which we love so much Preston and I wore them on our wedding day) but they are actually from H&M. I have never been a fan of "knock offs" but these were too good to resist. They look just like the real deal and the price tag couldn't be beat so I gave them a shot and we are loving them. They come in a spectrum of great colors which is perfect for a stylish little one. But the absolute best part about these shoes is the laces are elastic! So Elliott can put them on all by himself. Unlike some other elastic shoes, they velcro at the top to stay secure. I love that the elastic looks like laces though. Finally a shoes that is practical, easy and looks great! We really can't say enough great things about them. Oh, Elliott also swears they make him run at cheetah speed. So there's that. 

WE LOVE: THE DARK

To celebrate Children's book week, here is one of our favorite books! We're huge fans of Jon Klassen, so when I saw The Dark I knew we had to have it. Honestly, I didn't even know what the book was about until I read it for the first time with Elliott. It's a great and kind of creepy story about a little boy who is afraid of the dark. It's cute, funny and a little spooky. Elliott has never had much of a problem with the dark, but he still loved the book and loves reading it with me before bed. The illustrations are fantastic, which is at least half of a good kids book, right? Again, we can thank Jon Klassen for that! If your little one has trouble with the dark, this is a great book for them. We love it!

WE LOVE: THE DRIVE-INN

As I mentioned before, we recently shared one of our favorite summer activities with Elliott - the drive-inn! We had so much fun. It was great being able to experience it for the first time again through him. We piled every pillow and blanket we own into the trunk and cuddled in for the movie. Being in the trunk with all three of us didn't last all that long, but Elliott took full advantage of it! If you don't know already, you get two movies for the price of one at the drive-inn. The first movie was kid-friendly, and we explained to Elliott that the second movie wasn't for him. He did so good not watching it and playing on our phones and eventually falling asleep. It was like a family night and a date night all wrapped into one! I love seeing all of the other families at the drive-inn piled up in their mini vans with snacks and blankets. The drive-inn is such a nostalgic american past-time. Preston and I both grew up in Florida where it's far too hot to go to the drive-inn in the summer. But here in Utah, it's perfect! As soon as the sun goes down it's nice and cool, perfect for sitting in the car for a few hours. We will definitely be going back this summer. It's too fun not to!