Last weekend, Lisa and her family spent the weekend at our house. We all had a wonderful time – especially the kids. In the morning we went to a fabulous family fundraiser at CMEE (Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton). After a yummy lunch of dosa at Hampton Chutney in Amagansett Square, the kids swam, ate popsicles, had Jedi light sabre fights, and made s’mores in our makeshift firepit. As a special treat (while the grown-ups drank champagne to toast GIFT HERO), we let them go night swimming. I think that was the highlight of their weekend — although 7.5 year old Josh said it really wasn’t dark enough yet to be night – next time he wants to stay up later so it is pitch black out!

This week, Benjamin received a major consequence for some “not so great” behavior. He loves LEGO and Star Wars, so we took away his bricks, kits and action figures for several days. So what did he do??? Well, necessity definitely is the mother of invention…and he turned his Zoob into light sabres (a red one, a green one and a blue one – all with silver “handles”).

Zoob from Infinitoy is a very cool building set where kids can actually play with their inventions after building them. Zoob sets have 5 different pieces that snap, click and pop together 20 ways. It’s a great open-ended building system that encourages kids to learn, explore, create and use their imaginations. The pieces move after they are put together so there are endless ways to play with Zoob. Light sabres are only one of the things Benjamin has created with Zoob. They had Zoob in his nursery school classroom the past two years and the children made animals, bugs, balls, buildings,vehicles, and dinosaurs.

At GIFT HERO, we sell several different Zoob sets – Zoob 75, Zoob 125, and the Zoobmobile Dragster for ages 6 and up as well as Zoob Jr for younger children. This holiday season we will be adding even more Zoob sets, including one designed especially for girls.

Summer is in full swing and kids are headed for the beach, lake or pool. What girl wouldn’t want to make her very own pair of flip flops? Fabulous Flip Flops makes a great birthday present for 6-8 year old girls.

With this kit, girls can create two pairs of custom-designed flip flops using sequin trims, trendy yarn and sparkling appliques. Includes 2 pairs of 2-tone flip flops (sizes — pink dot: 11-2, striped: 4-7), sparkle yarn, 2 strips of sequin trim w/self-adhesive back, 2 butterfly appliques and 2 sequin appliques. Small and medium flip flops are designed to fit different size feet. Perfect for a family with an older/younger sister!

Other great summer fashion birthday gifts for girls are Surfergirl Beach Beads, Tiki Girl Jewelry and Quick & Easy Tie Dye Deluxe.

I struggled with my kids most of last summer to find a pair of goggles they would actually wear (their swim instruction required it). Everything was either too small, uncomfortable, you name it. I was at my wit’s end when a friend introduced us to Aqua Sphere. This company makes the most comfortable children’s goggles. They are very soft, flexible and durable. My kids won’t wear any other type. Too bad they don’t really make a great birthday gift or we would sell them on GIFT HERO.

You can buy them online on the Aqua Sphere site, or if you are in NYC, visit the lovely folks at Empire Divers on East 81st Street, where I buy Josh and Maya’s.

Maya and I love to play this game together. I suspect that she loves it primarily because it involves pretty clothes, but I love it because it is a great strategy game in the guise of fashion. Clothespins! makes a great birthday gift for a 5-7 year old girl.

The object of the game is to be the first to fill three “clotheslines.” To do this, you have to fill each clothesline with matching items – a match is either the same design/pattern or three of one kind of clothes. For example, you can have three shorts with different designs or you can have shorts, shirt and dress from the same design. The game is a little tricky at the start, and it’s definitely not for under age 5. But Maya quickly got the hang of the game and soon began beating me!

The game is great for 2-4 players. It comes in a small, sturdy cardboard box and is great for travel.

I can’t think of a boy I know who doesn’t love cars. Car was one of Benjamin’s first words – he would look out the window of our apartment and point and say “cars” for what seemed like hours. Many of his favorite toys have been cars starting with big chunky plastic ones when he was 1 to the complex vehicles he builds from LEGO now that he is 5.

When Benjamin turned 3 he received an Automoblox car for a birthday gift. He (and his father) were enthralled by how cool this car was. The design and quality were beautiful, like a post-modern wooden car. It was easily taken apart and put back together – and when we added more to his collection, he was able to mix all of the parts together to create cars of his own design.

When selecting the perfect gifts for boys , I knew GIFT HERO had to carry Automoblox. We sell the awesome C9-R Sportscar which has fabulous retro styling. My personal favorite for boys 3 and up is the Automoblox Mini 3 Pack. These vehicles are hand-sized (about 4″ L x 2.5″ W x1″ H) and have all of the functionality of the full-sized cars but are ideally sized for little hands. Each car has at least 8 pieces all of which are interchangeable and very easy to assemble (and disassemble over and over again). These products are built to last and are destined to be family heirlooms.

Today I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook who I haven’t spoken to in 15 years! I learned amazing things like he and his wife have triplets – wow! Through Facebook, I am now in touch with many, many friends who I had lost touch with over the years. It really is incredible.

GIFT HERO has a facebook page too – so we can keep you up to date on all of the latest greatest GIFT HERO news and special offers only available to our Facebook fans. Become our fan (or if you already are – invite your friends), post a comment on our page through August 3rd and you will be eligible to win a $50 gift certificate to GIFT HERO.

Today is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the original moon landing. It’s so interesting to hear people reminisce about where they were and how they felt when the astronauts spoke from the moon. It really was a “giant step.” It’s amazing how much time has passed and how much has changed in those 40 years.

It’s funny, some things never change…which is a good thing. Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd first published the classic book “Goodnight Moon” in 1947. 62 years later, it is still pretty much every young child’s favorite bedtime story. More recently, the amazing game makers at Briarpatch, turned the book into a terrific first game. To play the Goodnight Moon Game, beginning players match identical pictures. With six ways to play, the game adapts for different skill levels. It promotes visual, matching and manual dexterity skills. This was one of the first games Benjamin ever received. It was given to him as a gift from a classmate for his 3rd birthday. We played this together many times as a family.

Now that he’s 5, Benjamin is a few years past the Goodnight Moon book and the game. He still loves to do things together as a family so tonight we are going to watch the news together. I’m excited for Benjamin to see some of the original moon landing footage. James vividly remembers watching it (live) with his parents, when he was 5 too!

I have been spending a lot of time at the beach this summer. This past weekend, we visited friends and went to the bay beach nearby where Maya and I found the most beautiful shells. It reminded me when I used to collect shells as a child and make my own jewelry, and sometimes sell it to the neighbors!

The Surfergirl Beach Beads set makes a great birthday gift for an 8 to 10 year old girl. The kit includes real sea shells and everything else she will need to make bracelets, anklets and necklaces. There is enough stuff to share with a bunch of friends, too!

My son Josh discovered this Geosafari Talking Microscope last year when we visited friends. He was 6 years old at the time, and was enthralled with it. He not only enjoyed looking at bugs through the lens, but also learning about them and taking the “quizzes” this talking microscope asks. I am not usually a fan of toys that talk (we avoid them when we can and usually I “forget” to replace the batteries as long as possible. But in this instance, the talking function is absolutely wonderful and engages young children in scientific learning. I have personally given this as birthday gift for 6 year olds.

AT GIFT HERO, we think that science toys make great birthday gifts for children. Kids love them and they are entirely educational. In addition to the Talking Microscope, some of our other favorites are the Magic School Bus Science Kits and Volcano Madness, which are great for ages 5-7. For children 8 years and older, the Young Scientist Series Minerals, Crystals and Fossils is a favorite.