Is AKP the BEST?

BEST Day Care

We've been nominated for the Best of Western Washington in the Daycare category! Do us a favor and VOTE!

Living Gluten Free

A diagnosis of Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, or really any other food allergy can be a mixture of the relief of having a solution and the fear of realizing that your life has drastically changed. Food is a central element of our lives and suddenly finding out that we've been poisoning ourselves with our food choices can make our head spin. Our daughter has celiac disease and those first days and weeks following her diagnosis consisted of a crash course in where gluten exists, what alternatives are out there, and some VERY long, expensive trips to specialty grocery stores. OH, let's not forget the guilt that comes with realizing the very things we gave her to make her feel better (crackers and pasta) were exactly what she shouldn't have been giving her. Since we have lived with this condition for the last six years, we are well versed in what works for our family and have been able to transfer that to Adventure Kids by carrying gluten free options for the children in our care that have similar dietary restrictions. Lately, we've had a number of families find out that they have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant. How a family adjusts to gluten free living is really a matter of preference. In our family, Nicole and Ed prefer to stay gluten free (GF) as a matter of choosing a healthy diet. We try to limit ourselves to lean meats, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats (with some GF carbs like brown rice or oatmeal). Our kids aren't quite on board with this set of restrictions though. They want to be kids & enjoy treats! For bread, we make gluten free bread at home. (We haven't found a bread in the stores that tastes decent.) Our bread of choice is called My Favorite Bread from Gluten Free Pantry . We buy it in bulk from amazon.com. Another staple in our kitchen is Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix. We use this mix for everything from pancakes and waffles to cookies and other baked goods. We buy a lot of things in bulk from amazon.com. All things made by Glutino are well made and popular with our family. Gluten Free Pantry is also a great brand, as is Bob's Red Mill. But what about NORMAL foods??? There are a LOT of foods in the grocery store that are gluten free. Doritos & Cheetos, Fruity or Chocolate Pebbles cereal, corn tortillas, and yogurts are easy & yummy. Hershey's chocolate, M&M's, chocolate chips, fruit snacks & even Fruit by the Foot are great treats & make life more normal for children with celiac. We've found gluten free options at some local restaurants as well. Red Robin now has gluten free buns, Pho soup noodles are gluten free, Extreme Pizza has a great GF crust, we've been to Jak's for brunch & they are great at GF food prep. McDonald's french fries are also gluten free - depending on the person we get, we can order a happy meal with two fries instead of a cheese burger. (I still won't let them play in the McDonald's playground though - it's just gross!) Grocery stores vary in their supply of GF foods as well. Safeway has some, QFC is better, & has some sections labeled as GF (don't waste time in the 'natural' section) and Fred Meyer has really stepped up their efforts to serve this sector of the population. Of course PCC and Trader Joe's are better resources, but do tend to be more expensive. There are many resources online dedicated to helping people acclimate to a gluten free lifestyle. Celiac.org is one of my favorites. But ultimately, I enjoy having a great conversation with people in our center about what they've learned along the way. Personal references and ideas tend to be the best way to learn new things available to the GF community. We hope the information provided here is helpful to our GF friends.

What does summer mean to you?

The answer to this question is probably very different depending on how old you are. For kids and parents, there is a MAJOR overlap though. SCHOOL IS OUT!!! For months, parents have been working to make sure their children have things to do to fill up their days. We've researched the camps available, arranged visits with friends, made sure to leave enough free time for family outings, planned a vacation, and so on. At Adventure Kids, we've been spending that much time (and more) planning our Summer Camp schedule and activities. We've changed our format to accommodate as many family needs as possible, offering morning and afternoon camp sessions. Stay all day campers receive an additional discount and a free lunch. If you haven't been in this week, you are missing our first week of camp, Tropical Paradise; complete with a HUGE hand made palm tree at the front desk! The kids (and staff) are having a great time! Make your reservations soon for these awesome camps HERE! .

Health & Wellness

Ed & Nicole have been pretty focused lately on their own health & wellness and we thought we'd share what we've learned. Let's start with vitamins. How many people take a multi-vitamin? When choosing a multi-vitamin, who are we listening to? Until I actually started looking into it, I thought I was doing good by taking the Centrum set that fit my station in life. They have commercials, they are available nearly everywhere and Costco carries it. I have absolutely nothing against Centrum in particular, but rather use them as a symbol of the commercially available vitamins. Overall, I'm sure they are better than what I get from a fast food diet, but really, I'm not sure they are really much better than a 'fast food vitamin'. (That's my own term.) They are kind of a shotgun approach to getting what your body needs. They contain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that I'm not convinced provide my body what it actually needs. There just isn't a clear focus outside of selling vitamins. One thing that seems fairly consistent is the benefit of fish oil. Of course, now I've found out that not all fish oil sources are created equal.

Let's take a look at diet. We've tried several commercialized diets in the quest to maintain our ideal body composition with varying results. Being a small business owner has its challenges in regard to maintaining a healthy diet. Oddly enough, the chicken nugget, pizza diet didn't do wonders for us! We've tried many commercialized diet / nutrition plans. The most effective being the paleo diet, which focuses on lean meat, natural vegetables & fruit and healthy fats. This diet provides a very stable level of contentment and energy, but even purchasing grass fed beef and free range chicken, it's hard to know that I'm really getting exactly the nutrients I need. So I do believe that some level of vitamin and supplement is necessary for optimum health.

And then one day, one of our customers at Adventure Kids introduced us to Advocare. The hallmark of Advocare is their 24 Day Challenge. The challenge is simply ingenuous to me. There is a purchase from Advocare, which consists of Spark, Herbal Cleanse, Omegaplex (Fish oil) and MNS Max (Metabolic Nutrition System) and meal replacement shakes. Spark is probably the most fantastic thing I've ever put into my body! It's a powder that you shake with water for a hydrating, energetic vitamin drink that provides loads of B vitamins and amino acids along with a bit of caffeine. I did mention earlier that fish oil supplements vary. Dr. Oz actually did an independent study of fish oil supplements and the Advocare brand (Omegaplex) was one of only TWO that got his blessing! The meal replacement shakes sounded to me like a waste of time, BUT they don't even come into the plan until after the first 10 days and are actually doing EXACTLY what they are intended to do for me. They provide equal levels of protein and carbohydrates and satisfy me for the first few hours of the day! The supplements though aren't the entire plan. The challenge lays out a nutrition plan that is nutritious and healthy, focusing on lean proteins, vegetables, fruit and fats. In my mind, the food is fairly similar to the paleo diet, only there are some carbs added and the plan has me eating some sort of meal every 2 or 3 hours. It's very well laid out and the instructions are very easy to follow. Three weeks into my 24 day challenge, I find myself nearly 20 pounds lighter and having actually gained muscle mass! My energy levels are regulated, like they were on the paleo diet, except that my energy level is INCREDIBLY high! Last Saturday, I got up, taught my kids' karate class, cleaned up the back yard from the winter, mowed, played baseball with the kids for a couple of hours, washed BOTH cars and barbecued dinner for the family! The results are in and Advocare has my personal endorsement! But why listen to me? Advocare doesn't have any commercials. The products aren't available at Costco. Who is it that really is producing this product? Reviewing their website, www.advocare.com, you'll find that they are guided by a large panel of doctors and health experts, many from some major universities across the country. They are also endorsed and USED by many professional, amateur, and OLYMPIC athletes! I don't really have the time to get a degree in nutrition and supplements, but I do have to say that if a program is good enough for athletes, it's probably going to have the things I need to be as healthy as possible. Advocare is sold by distributors in the community whose sole purpose is to help their clients achieve success. They are trained to help people along the way rather than simply sell some products they don't believe in and you never see them again. I'm actually so impressed with Advocare that I've signed up to become a distributor of their products. Some of them will be available at Adventure Kids for parents who are looking for a specific benefit (such as increased energy, weight loss, general health, etc.) And so, to answer the question I posed earlier about who to trust - How about an average person who has enjoyed great success, has seen others do the same and is supported by a panel of top notch doctors and athletes? Oh, don't worry, Adventure Kids is still our main focus - we're just offering a way to help our families enjoy the fantastic energy provided by this particular health & wellness plan.

Spring Break Camp!!!!

Spring is here, I guess it's time to get ready for spring break!!!

Since we follow Issaquah School District schedules, Spring Break Camps at AK will start the week AFTER our Spring Festival (April 9-13).

The movies have inspired our theme for the week! We'll be enjoying daily themes such as Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean!

This week is going to be a blast!!!

$25 / Session
$45 for all day (includes hot lunch)
Siblings receive 20% discount
Make your reservations today!

SUMMER CAMP SCHEDULE

Our artwork is nearly complete, but we wanted to give everybody a preview of our Summer Camp Schedule!

Adventure Kids Playcare is offering twelve weeks of summer camps with convenient morning (9-12) and afternoon (1-4PM) sessions or you can stay all day as each session changes! A different theme each week featuring pop culture themes that are sure to entertain! Half day session costs $25 / day, full day is $45 / day and includes lunch. Additional siblings receive 20% off. Before and after care available at regular, low rates for registered families!

Week One: Tropical Paradise June 11 - June 15
Aloha! Join us for a week of tropical fun in the sun. You won’t want to miss doing the limbo, hula hoop contests and island inspired crafts.

Week Two: The Apprentice June 18 - June 22
Dreaming of being a doctor, fire fighter or exploring outer space? This week you will be the apprentice and explore future possibilities without having to hear the dreaded words…”You’re fired!”

Week Three: Chef’s Academy: International Week June 25 - June 29
Your budding chef will explore the flavors around the world and learn how to create their own tasty international treats.

Week Four: Home of the Brave July 2 - July 6
You are invited to a celebration of our country, its birthday and heritage. Be patriotic and wear your red, white, and blue!

Week Five: Survivor Campout July 9 - July 13
Come “survive” with us on a summer camp out this week as we celebrate all things cool about camping, nature and the great outdoors.

Week Six: Movie Magic July 16 - July 20
Let us roll out the red carpet for you for a glitzy and glamorous week of movie magic.

Week Seven: Fear Factor July 23 - July 27
Join us for a thrilling week of Fear Factor challenges and games! Kids will love to participate in our SAFE and non-threatening “fearful” challenges and make crazy crafts.

Week Eight: Cartoon Mania July 30 - August 3
Who doesn’t love cartoons? Each day will be themes around your favorite cartoon characters like Pokémon and Scooby-Doo!

Week Nine: Chef’s Academy: Food Network Star August 6 - August 10
Let’s make our own culinary creations just like your favorite chefs on TV with a week focusing on a variety of foods, flavors and treats!

Week Ten: Medieval Times August 13 - August 17
Step back into time and be a brave knight or royal princess. You can even hope to learn a little of Merlin’s magic!

Week Eleven: Blast From the Past August 20 - August 24
Be a time traveler this week as we have fun through the past decades. Each day will bring something new!

Week Twelve: Circus Carnival August 27 - September 1
Come one, come all! Step right up and get ready for a week under the big top with tons of carnival games and silly craft surprises.

Spring Festival 2012!!!

April 7, 2012 is the date for the 3rd Annual Adventure Kids Playcare Spring Festival! The festival will start at 10 am and go till 4 pm! Adventure Kids Playcare couldn't be happier to produce this event for all of our families and the community!

Some things will be very similar to last year... There will be inflatable bounce houses, slides & obstacle courses, an Easter Egg Hunt inside of AKP, the Games 2 U video game trailer, and a number of local businesses onsite as our sponsors, making the entire event FREE to the public! Check out the picture from last year.

Some things will be slightly different.

We've extended the time an extra 2 hours!
We've recruited some volunteers! (Of course there is room for more...)
Many of our sponsors are local business owners and AKP customers!
Games 2 U is bringing a brand new zip-line for everybody to experience!


Sponsorship:
If you have a local business and would like to spend the day with us as a sponsor, please contact Ed Mecum (ed.mecum@adventurekidsplaycare.com) for the details.

Have plans to get fit in January Issaquah?

Adventure Kids Playcare is here to help with your childcare needs! If you are a member of Adventure Kids Playcare, we have several partnerships around town with fitness centers that range from hot yoga to crossfit and whole health planning. If you're looking for a nutrition program designed to jump start your fitness and body composition changes, we really like the Advocare line of supplements and meal plans. Nicole can get you everything you need for the 24 day challenge.

Here are our partners and the discounts on childcare available with each. To be fair, they are in alphabetical order.

Fitness Together offers individual fitness and nutrition training and education. Childcare at AK is free during your training sessions.

Gravity Janes takes Crossfit to another level and focuses on the fit-ness of your exercise and diet routine with a variety of group trainings, private trainings and nutritional seminars. Childcare at AK is half price during training sessions.

Hot Yoga Experience features far-infrared saunas, hatha and power classes and cater to beginners and long time practicioners alike. Childcare at AK is free during classes.

Sound Body Fitness & Nutrition offers a variety of exercise classes and nutrition training. This month, they are offering a free week of classes with free childcare at AK.

Stroller Strides is holding classes at Swedish Hospital with us & we're offering their members 30% off childcare during their workouts and the hour after.

Terra Yoga offers Hot Hatha Yoga, Power Vinyasa, and Anahata Vinyasa as well as Prenatal Yoga, private sessions, workshops and Pranassage®, a combination of yoga and bodywork that produces deep relaxation in the receiver. Childcare at AK is half price during classes.

We hope this information is helpful in your pursuit of health in 2012! Links to each of these partners are provided to the left.

What is a Drop-in Childcare Center???

A lot of people come to us at Adventure Kids Playcare and really aren't sure what it is we do. Usually, their friends have told them that they have to come check us out, but they don't really understand why. Everybody knows how a daycare operates (boring!). Everybody knows how Chuck E. Cheese operates (crazy!). But if you've never had a drop in center, chances are you just don't understand how it can change the way you live your life. There are times I feel like I'm trying to explain to a desert nomad how cool and refreshing a summer time swim can be and they look at me like I'm crazy for wasting the water!

Known as AK if you are texting, Adventure Kids Playcare is a child entertainment center that is also licensed as a childcare care center. This means that parents can leave their children with a care provider whose main goal is to make sure the children have a GREAT time while having all of their basic needs met as well. We provide meals and snacks, take care of hygiene, lead arts & craft projects, lead games, read stories & provide an opportunity for kids to meet new friends nearly every day. We provide bus transportation before and after school to several Issaquah schools and make sure the kids are getting their home work done. We hold camps all the weeks that school is out and are always open if it snows.

I think our only limitations are a defined capacity, children who are obviously ill, have a condition that requires one on one attention or threatens other children, and putting the kids to bed for you (although we do try to get the to sleep later in the evening.) The owners are there most of the time & really do listen to parents if there is a concern and try to find a good solution.

The advertising conundrum

What child friendly sites do most parents trust for valuable information? I know of several as they have all contacted me for advertising 'opportunities' on their sites. Most of the now large advertising companies are mostly run by professionals who may or may not have kids of their own. The thing I can't wrap my head around is that for all of their 'authoritative knowledge' of all things kid related, their e-mails and websites are simply paid advertising. The thing is parents don't actually know that because they haven't been contacted to advertise with them and had their events & venues ignored as a result of NOT advertising. There is actually NO information on most of these sites that isn't a result of a paid transaction.

So who is a parent to really trust???

As far as I can tell, by looking at the Facebook posts from some of these sites, there is little content that isn't paid for. I can say that Adventure Kids Playcare of Issaquah has been the recipient of several unpaid posts from Macaroni Kid and Rely Local, which does make me trust their information as more authentic. Parent Map, Red Tricycle and others have yet to do anything that wasn't every expensive for us to place, so we don't do much with them. We tried to place in Red Tricycle's best of contest, but placed behind other companies we know to advertise with them even though we believe we provide a better service based on the comments of our customers.

Adventure Kids Playcare sends out an e-mail every month or so and we try to highlight some parent oriented activities. It's crossed my mind to start charging businesses for this advertising, but I decided that I really don't want to. I want to keep our newsletter as an honest review of what's going on in our area. Of course that only gets read by our existing customers, so attracting new customers this way is a very slow process, which leads us back to advertising. What else is a small business to do? Please see our ads on Macaroni Kid.

Dangerous times!

I'm constantly reminded of the hazards present in my children's lives. No, I'm not obsessing over stalkers or 'bad guys'. I'm thinking of things like the ever present hazard of being last & instantly becoming the dreaded 'rotten egg.' Or the extreme danger one poses to their mother when walking near cracks!

This weekend at Adventure Kids, children were subjected to the dangers of the age of dinosaurs! Luckily, none were injured in any of the activities! The all seemed very happy when they left! I can only assume they were so happy because they had survived the experience.

Coming up this weekend is an Issaquah AKP original theme of Pokemon Party! Kids will begin their training as a Pokemon Master by developing the tools and skills required to weather the hazards of Pokemon battles! How many Pokemon can you name? Make your reservations at www.adventurekidsplaycare.com/issaquah/reservations.html

THEN, in case nobody has noticed, there are more and more spider webs growing in our center and I've seen some VERY large spiders lurking in the office and entry! I'm sure they will start migrating south after our Haunted Adventure on Sunday, Oct 30, but until then, please be very careful when visiting Adventure Kids.

The King 5 Best of Western Washington contest is starting on Monday and we'd really like to see if we can compete with the places nominated for best fun place for kids! There isn't a category for drop in childcare, so we're up against some tough competition! Prizes for voting by phone app have been approved, so we'll have something in place for people who vote by phone app at least!

Back to School week is proving to be quite active for us at AKP! While we're happy to provide service to as many families as possible, we feel terrible when we have to turn families away at the door when we reach capacity. If you've had this experience, we certainly apologize. Providing you the opportunity to pull up and drop off your children is a service that we love to offer. With school getting back underway, we certainly expect things to settle down enough to allow us to get back to this availability.

With some of our staff returning to school, we are starting to look for a couple of replacements to fill the gaps. If you know somebody who has great energy, loves to play with and care for kids, we would love to talk with them.

This week at AKP

Change is in the winds at AKP this week.  With the start of school, etc., it's going to be a happening week!

To celebrate the Back to School week in Issaquah, we're hosting an awesome Back to School pajama party this weekend!  It's the last chance for kids to stay up later than usual and end the summer with a blast! 

We're going to finish next week with camp life before switching to Adventure Kids University and the before & after school program.  Both of which are really good programs that we are quite proud of.  Fliers should be posted on our website shortly for each program.

We had a visit from our state licensor today.  As much as we love her, it's always a stress factor on us and the staff.  Their visit today has prompted Ed to get involved at the regulation level to champion for the drop in childcare industry to help them create the rules & regulations necessary to keep kids well cared for and safe in a fun, exciting environment.

August already???

It's official, July 2011 is completely gone and it's August already.  Thoughts of back to school frenzies, remembering the busy mornings of making lunches & getting out the door at just the right minute to catch the bus, but not spend extra time standing in the rain.  Ugh.

Oh wait, it's still just August!!!  Sunny forecasts for this week & plenty of summer to go!  Adventure Kids Summer Camp theme this week is FEAR FACTOR!!!  Physical challenges, seemingly grotesque snacks & weirdly intriguing arts & crafts. 

We've gotten a few requests for bus pickup after other summer camps & are more than willing to use the bus to pick up kids from other activities as long as it works out with scheduling.  For scheduling or questions, please feel free to contact the office

Ed and Nicole are taking the 24 day Advocare Challenge!  24 days of healthy eating, great tasting supplements (one that's not so tasty) and a good exercise routine.  If you'd like to join us, we'd certainly welcome the company and can hook you up with the Advocare package. 

Week of July 25

This week, our summer camp theme is Young Chef.  We're going to be doing all kids of food oriented games and activities and will be welcoming HappyFamily in for a special snack time as well.  Truth be told, Mr. Jon isn't that great of a cook, so he thought this would be a great week to take a couple days off.  Ms. Maria and Ms. Megan will be leading camp on those days & we're sure they will be great days!  Those are Thursday and Friday in case you want to show your support for them and sign up for their days.  Of course, we'll have our Beyblade Battle tournament on Tuesday evening at 7 - this is the one time we encourage kids to bring in their own toys.  Somehow, the kids all know which Bey belongs to whom & they all get put back in the right place!  The weekend theme for Friday and Saturday is going to be Mad Scientist!  Although we won't be doing any extreme experiments, we have a slew of fun ones that are sure to amaze and entertain our young visitors...  Thursday also marks Ms. Jennifer's return to AKP, only she just might have a different last name as she's getting married this weekend!  Contratulations Jen!

A little reminder about life before AKP

Today my daughter told me she wasn't feeling well.  She didn't have a fever, runny nose, or any obvious symptoms, but I was planning to work from home, so I let her stay with me.  Then, after his sport camp got over, my son decided that he wanted to come home too.  As I attempt to work through the remainder of the afternoon, I get attacked by armed jedi's; field a myriad of requests for snacks, drinks, permission to go outside; (oh, my daughter finally admitted that she wasn't sick...) serenaded with a song, and visited from neighboring children, run some laundry so my son can have his camp shirt to wear again tomorrow. All the while, I'm trying to figure out HOW IN THE WORLD DO PEOPLE DO THIS????  This has got to be the least productive environment I can think of to sit down and get through a few hours of work!  Hat's off to all of the parents we know who have made this situation work, and again to those who realize that Adventure Kids is here to help them through the days when it simply doesn't work.  Bear in mind that while all of this is going on, I'm completely having fun with them & don't mind any of it, but I do still need to get my work done.

AKP is going to be providing childcare in the KID ZONE at the Be Free Expo on home based businesses next month, and the timing of my experience today couldn't be better.  I'm newly reminded of the struggles parents have when they work from home & are trying to have their children there as well.  If you are considering a home based business, this might be a great way to look at a number of options, talk with experts, and even arrange your drop in childcare!

This week at AKP

Well, our summer camp week got off to an amazing start!  We were able to bring in "The Reptile Man' for a special visit this afternoon.  He brought lizards, snakes, an alligator and was so engaging with the kids!  I have to admit, as the owner of the center, I was a little on edge as the last thing I want is for one of the kids to get too close to one of the vipers he brought & get bitten.  I know they don't have their poison anymore, but still the though of just the bite is scary to me.  But I trusted that he's a professional and goes to many child functions without incident and of course everything was fine & the kids had a blast!  They even got to take turns RIDING the tortoise!  (although not a very fast ride!) 

This week is archaeological and we'll be doing a lot of other activities throughout the week as well.

Thursday is the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce's annual Chocolate, Wine & All that Jazz event.  AKP is providing a 25% discount to attendees who can present their ticket when they pick up their kids, so there's no excuse to not go! 

The Swedish Hospital satellite center will be completely secured tomorrow hopefully with the last touch being the alarm on the front gate.  Our visitors from Friday reported back to us that their kids had a GREAT time & actually wanted to go back there instead of the Gilman center on Saturday!   

Welcome to our new blog

In the interest of communicating better with our customers, staff, and interested people, we're excited to start using this blog site!

This weekend is a circus theme at our Gilman Blvd. location.  We'll be having relay races, painting clown faces and much more.  Nicole and Ed are on staff tonight, so we hope to see you all there!

Swedish Medical Center has officially opened with the first ER visit coming at 12:10 am Thursday morning.  AKP lagged a little behind in the 'ready to go' column, but every day works out another set of kinks & we're officially able to safely and effectively operate.  We had our first 5 kids check in on Friday and all 5 had a great time!  We certainly hope that the new Swedish Playcare spot will be a great service to parents and kids who are attending doctor visits, working out work schedules, or just looking for a little bit of freedom.