The many characters of BlogHer10
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Wandering NYC and better NY State license plates
On Friday, I wrote about the ugly new license plates in New York State. If you missed that post, you need to check out how far we came over my lifetime, only to go back 10-15 steps. Ugh!
While in NYC for BlogHer, TechyDad and I opted to walk around the streets by the Hilton for a little while. Please note, we were so close to everything it was amazing. We walked a block over to Broadway. First, we saw this:
We opted not to have pizza there and continued to walk down. . .
I drooled and wished that we had tickets to see this:
Sad to say, we did not get to see that or the following:
We kept walking down and saw marque after marque of plays we would not get to see along with other interesting signs. Then we went into the Hershey Store for a few minutes.
There was a lot to see, but it was nothing like their home store in Hershey, PA.
Across the street was another chocolatey retail wonder. Here is the sign as it changed outside:
We had to go inside to wander around the three stories to compare it to the Las Vegas store. Not quite as much, but my oh my a lot of M&M packed into one NYC store!
While there, we saw the solution to the UGLY new New York State license plates. Here they are:
After this, we went back toward the Hilton and stopped by Ray’s Pizza for some slices to go. We wandered back around the corner to the Hilton and went back to the 31st floor to inhale, and relax before day 2 of BlogHer.
More on BlogHer10 coming soon.
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Swimming in our little pool (w/linky)
P.S. Be sure to enter my two current giveaway for Breyer’s Smooth & Dreamy (4 winners) and for the book Potty Animals (5 winners). Oh and TechyDad is also having a $25 gift certificate for ABC Neckties!
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The Kung Zhu time has come in the Zhu-niverse
If you have been inside a store that sells toys in the last year, chances are you have seen Zhu Zhu pets. Each of our boys has a Zhu Zhu that they received as a gift from us for Passover. They really enjoyed playing with them, especially on the wide open kitchen floor at Nana and Papa’s house. Soon after this, I was contacted by Mom Select apply to throw a party for the latest in the Zhu-niverse.
The Kung Zhu line was recently released and have taken on a storm. Geared more for boys, the Kung Zhu line has several commercials that we have seen on television and they are in all of the stores (Target, Toys R Us, CVS and more). To help us to throw the ultimate Kung Zhu party we received pretty much everything you could imagine – LITERALLY. This is the box that arrived and everything out on the floor at Nana and Papa’s house (note how large it is compared to JSL standing next to it):
The trick has been getting kids together for a party. Kind of a nightmare when school is not in session. Since NHL really wants a Kung Zhu party, we will have it on August 22 for family and friends (many more kids in attendance). That is the day that we will break out all of the Kung Zhu games and make some Kung Zhu edible critters. For now, we decided to have our own party this weekend. This would allow us to set everything in the Kung Zhu-niverse up, test run items and celebrate JSL’s potty training success. Let me take you on a tour of the items we have.
First, meet the Kung Zhu’s themselves. There are eight Kung Zhu hamsters. The Kung Zhu Ninjas are Drayko, Yama, Azer and Thorn. The members of the Special Forces are Stonewall, Rock’O, Seargent Serge and Rivet. NHL selected Stonewall (blue) and JSL wanted Sgt,.Serge (green).
When these ordinary looking members of the Zhu-niverse put on their special armor, they turn into fighting warriors ready to do battle. Here are the battle armors that are made for each of the eight Kung Zhu’s. Scorpion Tank and Rhino Tank. Beware: the moving parts on the tanks really catch the eye of little people. . . they will not want to stop playing with these.
Once the Kung Zhu members of the Ninjas and Special Forces are all dressed, they can head into the Battle Arena. Meanwhile, the other Kung Zhu’s can man the battle area in their Spider Tank, Buzzsaw Tank,
Of course, you must also have your Special Forces HQ and Dojo for the Ninjas. These, along with the Combat Bridge, really help to get things ready for the Kung Zhu hamsters.
No Kung Zhu Ninja or Special Forces member can be ready for battle if they are out of shape. To help with this, they have multiple options for training.
Individually, TechyDad found that the pieces were not too difficult to assemble. The hardest part of the assembly was making sure that the items worked together for maximum fun for the entire Zhu-niverse. Here are some photos of our mini Kung Zhu Party.
NHL especially liked putting Stonewall through his training session. Check out the video of this member of the Special Forces team. As you will see, he is a persistent little hamster that is not intimidated by some bricks. (Please note the laughter from the kids – this will no doubt be a lot louder for the big party coming soon).
Of course, JSL had to put Sgt Serge through the process as well. Here is his little guy – note how he comes to attack me at the end of the video.
So, there you have it for now. This is just the start of our Kung Zhu party fun. In a few weeks, we will share more of our adventures with you as other children join our Kung Zhu-niverse for NHL’s 7th birthday party.
Disclosure: This review and party (part 1 – and 2 coming soon) was made possible by MomSelect and King Zhu. They provided me with all of the items shown above to throw the ultimate Kung Zhu party.The opinions of this review were mine and I received no other compensation.
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Ramona and Beezus – The Movie!
As much as I love to read now, I was a reluctant reader as a child. I did not like teachers telling me that I had to read so many books each month, or a specific title. Thankfully, there were books out there that made me want to read and keep at it. Beverly Cleary is an author that saved me for years. Thanks to her books, I was able to find characters that would keep me engaged in reading and laughing while I went. If you are not familiar with the name Beverly Cleary, you may remember her infamous Ramona Quimby. Ramona was the Junie B. Jones of my generation – only she keeps on giving. Ramona and her family and friends continue to keep generations of kids reading to see what quirky adventure she will go on. I have secretly been wishing and waiting for NHL (almost 7) to be ready to read the Ramona books to share the experience with him.
Several months ago, I heard that they were finishing up a movie called Ramona and Beezus. I had mixed emotions. Movies that are based on books often do not live up to my expectations (see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs – my favorite picture book). Of course, the Harry Potter movies have created a new level of book to movie phenomena. While teaching, I also did comparisons of books and Hollywood versions with my students (perfect Vehn Diagram opportunity for pre-writing). I knew that I had to see this movie.
Time went by and I heard bits and pieces about the movie. Then out of the blue, we were invited to a pre-screening of Ramona and Beezus (rated G) last week (it opens TODAY). The boys and I went, along with my Aunt S and grandmother to see Ramona and Beezus on the big screen. Thanks to the quick nature of this, I did not have time to reread the books, so my memories of Ramona are sketchy at best. When the movie began, I was instantly brought back to my childhood. Here was Ramona, Beezus, Picky Picky, Henry Higgins and the rest of the gang in front of my eyes. Thanks to Selena Gomez (Beezus in the movie), I have the official Ramona and Beezus Trailer to show you. Sit back, relax and enjoy!
What we thought:
Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed the movie. Every time a new actor came onto the screen as a familiar character, I was taken a bit more into the wonderful and wacky world of Ramona Quimby. While watching the movie, I made a mental note that I had to find my old copies of the books to reread. The story of Ramona and Beezus is classic. There are two sisters realizing the important family bond as they move through some struggles in life to save their home. The movie really lives up to the tagline: "A Little Sister Goes A Long Way."
Joey King was Ramona and did a fabulous job in the role. She was cute, spunky and had the Ramona timing down. It really is hard to believe that this is her first motion picture appearance. The chemistry between Ramona and Beezus was also special in this film. Selena Gomez takes on the role of big sister Beezus and plays the perfect teenage counterpart to King’s Ramona. The two young ladies without a doubt brought the world of Ramona from the pages to the big screen.
Simply stated, director Elizabeth Allen created Ramona’s world in this film. She did a great job going from the serious scenes about the family losing their house, to Ramona’s day dreams and back to the silly water fight and lemonade scenes.
In addition to Joey King and Selena Gomez, the cast of actors in Ramona and Beezus helped this classic book come alive for fans of all ages. I am a long time fan of John Corbett and enjoyed seeing him as Robert Quimby. He showed his softer side and really had nice chemistry with Joey King, especially during the drawing scene with her. Bridget Moynahan was Dorothy Quimby. She played a serious mom, who could see the humor in a the antics of her quirky little girl. One of the best surprises in the movie was Ginnifer Goodwin in the role of Ramona’s beloved Aunt Bea. As a big fan of Big Love, it was nice seeing her spread her wings and show more of the comedic timing that is sometimes hinted at when playing Margene. Josh Duhamel as Hobart is a great counterpart to Goodwin and works well with the kids in the film. One other big surprise to me was Sandra Oh (Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy) as Mrs. Meacham. As a teacher, I loved her portrayal of the straight-laced and slightly sarcastic Mrs. Meacham. Of course, I have to admit, I did see hints of Dr. Yang coming into the role – especially when she rolled her eyes a certain way.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I do believe that Ramona fans of all ages will appreciate the book coming alive in front of their eyes. On the flip side, my almost seven year old son now wants to read the Ramona books. He had never heard of Ramona before the movie and is now excited to read more about this quirky little girl. Today, I will be heading out to get a copy of the book to use as the perfect summer read aloud now that we have seen the movie. Oh, I am purposely not telling you my favorite scenes from the movie since I do not want to spoil anything for you when you go and see it.
I highly recommend the movie Ramona and Beezus to people that grew up with Ramona and new fans alike (also a great summer family movie). The storyline and acting will help keep you in the land of Ramona Quimby and begging Beverly Cleary for more wonderful literary creations.
Disclosure: I received complementary passes for my family to see the pre-screening of Ramona and Beezus from the PR agency releasing the movie. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine. All pictures used with permission. Photos by Alan Markfield.
2010 Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media, LLC. Was given special permission to use these photos after viewing the pre-screening of the movie as a member of the media.
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