A Taste of Chicago Toy and Game Fair

First of all, I want to extend a huge, HUGE thank you to all of the sponsors who worked so hard to provide such a great experience for me and my family at Chitag this weekend. My children are begging to go again next year and my husband and I have a renewed interest in board games and family play-time.

Here is just a TASTE of what my family personally loved. I guarantee that you are seeing a majority of what will be beneath our Christmas Tree this year...The Razor Rip Rider 360 is INCREDIBLE. Evan and Corinne kept returning to this booth for more and more turns at spinning wildly on the big wheel/Razor scooter. It was invented by the 13 year old son of the owner of Razor! We just happened to sit at their table at the TAGIE awards on Friday night and they are a really, really nice family. If you're looking for a product to purchase as the "big present" for your kid on Christmas morning, consider this bike.

Dado has really cool building materials! With all of the cubes, planks and squares that interlock and stack in all sorts of interesting combinations, this booth held Corinne's (and MY) interest for quite some time! I recommend any of the building pieces for children with little siblings as they're not as choke-able (not a word, I know) as some of the itty-bitty blocks may be but you can still build really cool constructions!
And this game is one that I have to buy TODAY to make sure we have it under the tree on Christmas morning. Justin fell in love with the Catan Histories: Settlers of America. We were at the fair from 9 till 4 and he and his best friend spent TWO HOURS playing this game. TWO HOURS!! Combine history and a game and you've got my attention; Make it interesting to my kids and you've got my money!
See? TWO HOURS!!!
Did you know that Silly Bandz makes new bracelets that STAND UP?!? They do! They stand up a tiny bit so that you can see the design while it's on!! You have to see it to understand it, but it's awesome and a certain girl in our house is getting a pack for Christmas... Evan wore their sticker on his mouth and for some reason, it's the only picture I have from that booth, but I HAD to mention it for stocking stuffers. Plus, my kid is cute.
Apparently, we are big Star Wars fans...
Really big...
Extremely BIG.

Ahem. I didn't WANT Evan in the picture, but the guys in the suits thought that that was what I was asking for. Once they realized I had wanted a picture of just ME with them, they thought that was pretty damn cool. They kept on raving about how awesome it was that I was the one who was excited about Star Wars. In fact, I do believe a Clone Trooper tried to pick me up...
Patrick worked really hard to get the raffle tickets for the Star Wars drawing and HE WON!!! We are now the proud owners of a collectible light sabre that my kids can't play with.

It's currently on display on top of my entertainment center. Pat has been zapping invisible evil forces all morning and making the sound effects because we don't have the batteries, yet. YET. Once it's juiced up, it will not only light up but also make the zzzzrrr zzzzzrrr noises when he waves it around. The anticipation is palpable.

Sigh...

Maybe I should have discouraged the raffle tickets?
About $20, Munchkin is a card game that Justin has played with his buddies many times. Our library even hosts a monthly Munchkin marathon every month. Needless to say, this is a definite purchase for my eldest this Christmas!
Patrick will NOT be getting this under the Christmas tree... But Daryl Hannah has some really cool games that are out including LIEbrary and Call It.
He WILL, however be getting THIS game! The two of us played Scrabble Flash for about 30 minutes and sufficiently ignored our children in a massive sea of people. It was AWESOME. Even Corinne butted in and got a round with 6 words! Also, any game that I can beat Patrick at is one that I like. Shhhh.... Keep it on the down-low.
Evan so, so wishes this Electrix RC car was going to be under our tree, but it's a bit high for our budget this year (about $120). Maybe a birthday present, though! Or perhaps for my tallest "child" who was also hoping to get a helicopter by the same company...
Cuponk! Ping pong balls and cups. Voila! A game that everyone likes! It's around $10 so it makes a great present for anyone.We already have Citiblocs at home but the exhibit at the fair has THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of Citiblocs to play with! Just look:Don't know what Citiblocs are? Check 'em out!
I have GOT to find this for Corinne. I do believe my dear daughter monopolized this Strawberry Shortcake remote control car on Saturday. But when we walked in and saw that they now have an entire LINE of the itty-bitty Shortcake dolls, including a HOUSE, I couldn't drag her away. LITERALLY.


Also loved but not pictured are Mega Bloks' Dragon Universe, Dig It! Games (I am so excited to try out the Roman Town Archaeology game! Evan will love it and I am going to love the history lesson it provides. Muwaaahaaaaahaaaa!! A Homeschooling mother is never off-duty!), and Top Trumps war games (with themes for every child - Corinne and her friend played the Dog themed game while eating lunch).

I'd also like to extend a thank you to the other sponsors at the Blogger Brunch:

Cold Stone Creamery - they have an 8 layer cake available now! EIGHT LAYERS. I tried the toffee one and it was absolutely divine!

Mary Kay - as always, they sell beautiful make-up while providing profitable careers for women. I am personally interested in trying their pressed mineral make-up.

Restaurant.com - An old-time favorite of my household! We used Restaurant.com for many Christmas presents last year! We used so many ourselves at all of our favorite places. You can usually purchase a certificate for around 50% off the value! Seriously, how could you NOT love that?

Playtex Baby - They've gone and updated the Diaper Genie. A foot release to keep hands on the baby, where they belong (Thankfully, no one's wearing diapers in my house!!)

InZone Brands Beverages - Juice on the go bottles with reusable and fun squirty lids. Very cute and very fun. As an endorsement of how tasty they were, all of my kids downed their juices in the fair after jumping on a big old bouncy thing!



The Fair is open RIGHT NOW!! There's still time to have a great time at Navy Pier's CHITAG 2010....