Stylish Must Haves For Camp

Camp Essentials

The time you spend preparing your little ones for camp can be a great opportunity to spend quality time together before they go. We put together this list of a few special items that can go along on the journey.  

Camp List

A great backpack

While Dakine backpacks may be a bit more pricey than the average sack, the quality and construction makes this bag last and last. I bought my Dakine years ago and it still looks brand new. Like the boy’s pack featured below, my pack has two adjustable straps on the front which are designed to hold a skateboard. I actually use them to strap in my towel after a day at the beach, that way no sand gets inside my bag! 

1.      Boy: Dakine Point Wet/Dry: This pack is equipped with a waterproof pocket designed for a wetsuit, but is perfect for a camper’s soggy swimsuit. We like it in the Fremont print.

2.      Girl: Dakine Prom 25L: Comes complete with insulated cooler and deployable water bottle pockets perfect when hunger strikes on the trail. The Lolani print is our favorite. 

Shoes

Back in the day, my water shoes were not only a style nightmare but also offered about as much foot protection as a sock. These new shoes are quick drying, with strong rubber soles. So feel free to skip through a stream and run up rocky terrain with no worries.

3.      Boy: Columbia Youth Drainmaker, a quick-dry shoe perfect for running or puddle jumping

4.      Girl: Adidas Kids Boat Lace, Breathable open mesh shoe to eliminate soggy steps

Hydration

Bobble water bottles filter water in every sip with a replaceable carbon filter. “Every filter equates to 300 single-serve bottles. After a year, you’ve removed thousands of bottles from the environment.”

5.      Bobble Water Bottle, Stay hydrated with this BPA, PVC free bottle

Name Bubbles

Of course you want everything you send off to camp actually making its way back home. Label your camp gear, toiletries, and backpack with our waterproof, weatherproof labels. They even stand up to sun block and bug repellent!

6.      Name Bubbles Camp Pack, 108 waterproof press-and-stick labels

Parent Tip!

Mail a letter the day before your camper heads out so it arrives on his/her first full day of camp.

Tough & Tested Laundry Labels

As warmer weather takes hold -- and as water shoes, swimming suits, and towels start making an appearance -- the Name Bubbles Team would like to remind parents that our laundry labels (and all of our waterproof bubbles) are laminated for extra durability. And they are not affected by insect repellants or sunblock, which is important now that mosquito season is approaching!


We’ve recently redesigned our Bubble Toes with a cute flip-flop shape. Thanks to a new lamination process they no longer need the protective overlay step, so affixing them is a single-step process. Bubble Toes stay firmly stuck to the inside soles of any shoe. It’s also a fun way to remind kids which shoe is left and which one is right.

Don’t forget! While they’re designed to remain stuck to items permanently, all of our labels can always be removed with intent, which also makes them a perfect choice for clothing handed down to family members, donated to charity, or sold at consignment shops.

Enter To Win Our "Awesome" Daycare Labels Pack

Hi, NameBubbles aficionados,

I wanted to let you know about a wonderful review we received for our “awesome” Daycare Labels Pack in 365 days: +30 Mommyhood (excerpted below).

There’s also a NameBubbles giveaway afoot on that site, and it’s open until this Friday (April 2, 2010). To learn how to enter to win a FREE Daycare Labels Pack, just visit 365 days: 30+ Mommyhood (http://365daysofbeing30andamommy.blogspot.com/).

Good luck with the contest! I also hope you enjoy reading these excerpts from our fabulous 365 days: +30 Mommyhood review – we sure do:

In the daycare pack you get dishwasher safe labels so that you don't have to worry about relabeling bottles, as well as laundry safe labels so all of Abby's extra clothes won't get lost (and I don't have to use the old school "write her name on the label with a sharpie" thing). And you also get some fun water resistant stickers to put on odds and ends that may be left at daycare like diaper cream or lotion bottles or her personal toys.

And of course I had to test them out for you. So here are some shots of the dishwasher name bubbles. And trust me, they are before and after, though you can't really tell the difference, b/c they are just that awesome...

I tested putting the name bubbles directly on the clothes as well has the separate label, and they each did perfectly fine. And again here, you can't tell the difference b/c they are just that awesome.

Overall, I was really impressed at how all the laundry and dishwasher labels performed. And the dishwasher ones have gone through several more times after the pictures above were taken and they are still securely on.

Name Bubbles also has some other packs that I think I will be getting in the future as Abby grows like their school pack and their camp pack. (Though they have loads of other packs to choose from.) I have a feeling we are going to become fast friends with this company.

Bubbles To Share

Keep Your Friends and Family Sticking Around

During our first year of business we received a lot of feedback from our customers, and I want to thank those who took the time to call and write us about products they wanted or product and Web site improvements that you thought we should make.

One request we received from more than a few parents, was the ability to order a few labels for each child or have the ability to give labels to friends and family members as gifts. Because of this feedback, we created our Sampler Pack, which includes 6 personalized sheets of 14 labels (a total of 84 labels) for $18.88. The sampler pack allows six friends or family members to have 14 personalized labels of their own, -- three different styles of labels for each individual.

All of our labels are waterproof vinyl and laminated for extra durability. Each sampler sheet includes two Bubble Toes or shoe labels, six Bitty Bubbles for a child’s garments on the go, and six dishwasher safe Mini Bubbles that can be used on sippy cups, water bottles, and toys.

So, if you love to bubble, we now have bubbles to share. To see our Sampler Pack and Name Bubbles labels, visit http://www.namebubbles.com/labelpack/sampler-pack.html or http://www.namebubbles.com/

A Big Boy Day

It was a big day on Friday. Two childhood hurdles were taken on; things we have been waiting many months for took place spontaneously and quickly.

My son is three-and-a-half and has been slow to embrace the “Big Boy” underwear. For many months we remind him about the time and using the potty, he hasn’t been very interested in tackling the routine and has preferred using his pull-ups rather than taking time away from his toys. Everyone (even the pediatrician) has told me, “It will just happen one day or as soon as he feels like it.” We’ve done our best at getting the ball rolling and being patient but he’s in control and he lets us know it.

During this time we’ve also enrolled him in swim lessons, the earlier he is a strong swimmer the better (more for safety reasons than anything else, but he also happens to love it). For six months my husband and I have sat up in the bleachers at our local YMCA during Cooper’s weekly class. We watch him climb up the racing platform, agonize about jumping, and then he quickly climbs down to jump from the side of the pool.

Something happened on Friday, I am not sure what it was but he insisted on wearing his “Big Boy” pants that day. I quickly ran to his drawers and pulled out three extra pairs of underwear and pants to pack in his bag for daycare. I also labeled everything to make sure I didn’t lose anything, if there were a lot changes. On the way to school I reminded Cooper many, many times to let his teachers know if he needed help going potty – I was not very optimistic about the laundry pile. When I picked him up I was thrilled to see that he only had one accident.

An hour later my husband and I were sitting on the bleachers watching Cooper swim up and down the pool. The class climbed out to do their jumps, on queue he climbed up the racing platform. He agonized a little but quickly jumped with his arms spread out like his was going to fly. When he popped out of the water (thanks to his floaty), his mouth opened in a smile and he let out a squeal. My husband and I grabbed one another and started screaming like our son had just won a gold medal, he turned to me and chuckled, “Honey, are you crying?” I have to admit that I was a little misty. What a day.