Quick Tips for the Des Moines LEGO Creativity Tour

* I received complimentary admission as a US Family Guide Blogger.  
All views and opinions shared are my own. *

We packed up the van last night and headed down to Des Moines for the first night of the LEGO Creativity Tour.  We had a blast and a lot of family fun!

We had to take a family selfie in the Big LEGO Brick Pile!

I know there will be hundreds of family visiting today and tomorrow, so I thought I would share a few quick tips to make your visit fun & efficient:

• Preview the Map:  Once you arrive at Hy-Vee Hall for the LEGO Creativity Tour you'll receive a map of the show floor.  But you can preview it before you go by checking out their website's Plan Your Day tab.  We looked at the map before we arrived at the show and it was great to know what sparked interest of our kids before we got there.  Because once you get there you'll be in amazement of everything and won't be sure where to start.  But if you remember some of the locations that your kids were excited about, it'll help you get a good start.  

  

  One of the first places LP wanted to go
  was the Race Ramps!

  I will also let you know that the three hours per session is just about right.  We didn't have time to do everything, but we had time to do everything we wanted to and more.  None of the kids got bored or tired, it was just the right amount of time.
• Know where the Freebies are:  There are a lot of activities and races you can do at the LEGO Creativity Tour and the best part is that they're all included with the price of your ticket!  Make sure to go to the Community Build.  After completing a fun build project, you'll receive a free mini Lego City kit and have a photo opportunity.  And by the way, wherever there is a photo opportunity, the staff there will take your photo and give you a copy of it afterwards.  Last night they were working through some glitches with their printers, so hopefully there won't be any for the the rest of the weekend.  

  

  Here is an example of a photo opportunity
  LP, MP and I had fun showing LEGO Iron Man
  our Community Build projects

  If Lego kits are something you're interested in, then head to the LEGO Friends area next.  They will give you a mini LEGO Friends kit and there is a photo opportunity there too.  I also think there are mini LEGO kits at the Challenge Zone in the back of the show, but we didn't personally make it there.  And I think the Brick Battle Zone gives LEGO kits too, but those races and activities seemed to be better suited for kids older than ours (ours are 4, 2 and 8 months).  The next place you should stop by at some point in time is the LEGO Club.  Your kids can sign up for a free LEGO magazine that will arrive every other month at your house and at the show you can receive a free magazine and a little LEGO man kit.  Another fun photo opportunity is at the LEGO Super Heroes area, and finally, you can get a poster at the LEGO Bionicle location.  So just be aware of some of the free souviners you can bring home, and of course they have souviners you can buy at their LEGO Store and Marketplace ;)

  

  This isn't necessarily a freebie but at the
  Construction Zone you can have your
  creation displayed for all to see

• Watch The LEGO Movie before you go:  We have 100 miles to travel to Des Moines, so it was just about the perfect drive to fit in The LEGO Movie on our trip to the LEGO Creativity Tour.  This is just a fun way to get in the mood for the show, and as soon as you enter the event you are greeted by characters from the movie such as Emmet, Lucy and Lord Business.

  

  MP wanted to take her photo with Emmet
  in the Model Museum location

So are you excited and ready for your visit this weekend!  There are still tickets available for some sessions both today and tomorrow so you aren't too late to get in on the fun.  What are you looking forward to?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

What I've Learned About the iPad Since Christmas

Did anyone get an iPad for Christmas this year?  Well, my family did, in a way.  One of the seed companies we bought corn from gave customers a new iPad 4 - 32 GB, as a thank you gift.  I say thank you loosely because in the end, we really paid for it, but it was a nice perk from buying from them this year!  Anyways, My Farmer and I have always been PC people and have stayed far away from any Apple/Mac products.  But we are happy with our new iPad and have enjoyed using it.

LP might just enjoy the iPad the most out of the whole family

I figured I'd share a few tricks to the iPad we've learned by "playing around" on it and by going to an iPad class offered through an area Verizon dealer store, Cell Tech in Hampton and the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, along with some of our family's favorite apps.

iPad Tips and Tricks:

• To move an app to a different location or different page, hold down on the app till it starts shaking, at this point you can move it to where you'd like.
• To make folders of apps, for example - we have all of my son's apps in one folder, make the apps shake, then drag apps you'd like grouped together on top of each other.  This will create a folder that you can then give a name.
• To multi-task, double-click the home button and it will bring up all your apps as a bottom scroll bar, you can then bring up another program while saving your spot on another app.

Favorite iPad apps:

• My Farmer's favorite apps:  
• AgPhDMain - farming programs and tools from the Hefty brothers
• AgPhD Fert. Removal - you select a crop such as corn and it tells you the fertilizer removal information for it
• Angry Birds - My Farmer use to have this game on his phone but deleted it because it was so addicting - he says it is even better on a bigger screne! (we might need to delete it in the future... and not just because of him, we all play it!)
• LP's favorite apps:  
• PBS Kids - if you're traveling this is great because it has full episodes of all the PBS Kids television programs - LP loves "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood"
• Farmyard - this is wear you build your own farm by adding animals, farmers, tractors, etc. - everytime you add something to your farm scene it says what it is and makes the sound
• I Hear Ewe - it has a variety of farm and jungle animals, as well as different forms of transportation on it and as you click on something it will say the name along with the sound it makes
• My favorite apps:  
• Evernote - if you're a note taker this is a great program that sinks your To Do list between your phone, iPad, computer, internet, etc.
• Bible - a nice tool to easily search for a bible verse, bible chapter, etc. or just to read the Bible from
• Ant Smasher - this is another addicting game that the whole family enjoys playing where you smash ants, but watch out for the bees!

Do you have any iPad tips or tricks that you can share?  What are your favorite iPad apps?