When we had a little boy, we knew what was coming. Planes, trains and automobiles!
Like any little boy, Colin is completely obsessed with trains and has been since he was two. We have picked up a few pieces at consignment sales and have received a few as gifts, but we’ve never actually invested in a full train set.

So we were thrilled to try out the BigJigs Town & Country rail system. With over 100 pieces, it had everything we needed to make a whole village!

Let me tell you, we’re in the middle of a huge heat wave and this train set was a lifesaver! All three of my kids sat and played with the Big Jig set for an entire afternoon. (Veteran parents will recognize how miraculous that is!) They had characters, storylines – it was a blast.

BigJigs train sets are very high quality, made with real wood and made not only to just survive preschoolers, but made to last for years and years. These are toys that will last through my three kids, get passed on to nieces and nephews and still have life in them! They were fully compatible with all of the other train tracks we have – you can see Colin’s electric Thomas in the picture worked just fine (which is more than I can say for some other brands of tracks we have).

We highly recommend BigJigs – it is one of my favorite toy brands. Every product we have from BigJigs has been exceptional and stands out from the masses of toys we’ve tried. These toys are classic – no fancy bells and whistles or batteries – toys that develop kids creativity and imaginations! And putting tracks together and dealing with the smaller pieces is great fine motor skill development to boot!

The Town and Country Rail System retails for $89.95 and includes 101 pieces. There are lots of other sets at many price points, starting at $16.95 for My First Train Set.

disclosure: we received this product to facilitate this post. as always, all opinions are my own.

When my husband’s grandmother passed away earlier this year, he was given a folder of letters he had written to her over the years while he was living overseas. They were such a sweet peek into his childhood. When he was growing up a world away from his grandparents, phone calls were very rare, as they cost several dollars per minute. Even after we got married, the majority of our communication with his parents, who still live overseas, is via email. Occasionally they would call, but not often. Now the cycle continues.
Yesterday my in-laws left. They flew back to India. And won’t see then for 11 months. My kids are devastated. It is so so hard to say goodbye. Colin was crying last night because he misses Grandpa already and the girls are both so sad.  They miss their grandparents so much. Miss going to their house, miss playing games with Grandpa, miss taking knitting lessons with Grandma, miss seeing them…

But wait – we still see them.

Isn’t that amazing?!?!? With Skype, the kids can video chat live with their grandparents who are on the complete other side of the world! If it wasn’t for that pesky 12-hour time difference, we could share even more – school events, concerts and such. I love the ability to live stream a dance performance or piano recital to all our family who can’t be there via the Skype app on my iPhone.

And its great for when you’re traveling!! We used Skype in Jamaica to share our time there with family… with no expensive roaming charges! We put or phones in ‘airplane’ mode and logged into the hotel’s wi-fi to use Skype. It saves us so much money! We are always video chatting when my husband or I travel for work – its a great way to help the kids deal with us being gone and for us to feel connected to what is going on here.  And the group chat is by FAR the easiest way to plan a family vacation without having to fill everyone’s email boxes with 8,635 emails about what to pack!

And I’m not alone – moms everywhere are discovering how valuable Skype is in making deeper connections:

I highly recommend the Skype app. That app has been so valuable to me. I use it daily personally, to chat with family and friends, but it is amazing professionally. I’ve video chatted via Skype while on vacation with my family and been able to work with clients while sitting at my kid’s swim lessons. Its a great way to stay connected and get work done – while still prioritizing and protecting my family time!

disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Skype. I received Skype credits to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.