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Gabe and I managed to convince Aunt Kristin to babysit for a few hours, and we headed to see Up. We opted to see the non-3D version as neither of us are extremely impressed with 3D effects. I mean, it’s cool and all, but wearing the glasses for an entire movie is a bit of a pain and literally gives me a headache. Just wearing the glasses and looking for the effects makes me far too aware that I’m watching a movie. It’s more difficult to immerse myself into the fantasy this way. So while I didn’t see this movie specifically in 3D, I will claim that I prefer the plain old-fashioned movie viewing.

I knew I had to see this one. I haven’t missed a single Pixar film in the theatre. We have missed some movies that we really wanted to see, but I made this one a priority. Shockingly, we saw it during opening weekend. This was just a coincidence as it was one of the only times we could arrange to have Kristin come over and babysit.

The short before the movie was Partly Cloudy about storks delivering various types of babies created by the clouds. It was cute and quite amusing in places. It didn’t skyrocket to the top of my favorite shorts, but it was still pretty good. Cute.

I’m amazed at Pixar’s ability to put out quality films every single time. I keep waiting for the movies to disappoint, but they never do. Up did not disappoint, though my expectations about an old man who ties a bunch of balloons to his house and flies away were a little low. I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it, but I loved it.

I didn’t know very much about the movie going into it, and I was delighted to find the talking dogs. The dogs were equipped with a collar that translated their thoughts into speech. The movie has some very funny bits with the dogs!! Something tells me that the DVD will have at least one bonus short featuring the dogs.

The movie took me through an array of emotions. It has parts to make you sad, parts to make you happy, parts to make you laugh, and parts to make you angry. I enjoyed the roller coaster of emotions.

I am definitely putting this movie on my Christmas list! I thought it was great!

We had heard about Royal Caribbean’s partnership with Fisher Price and Crayola and were excited to try out the Royal Babies and Royal Tots programs on our cruise in May. Maddie fit into the Royal Babies age group which contained babies 6-18 months old. I’m not sure that the two groups vary that much in activity as we accidentally attended one of the Royal Tots (18-36 months) sessions. I think that she may have liked it even better, but I don’t know if it varied at all from that day’s Royal Babies session.

Royal Caribbean makes the program sound more organized and educational than it really is, but we expected that going into the trip. The ship provided 3 activities for these age groups each day. In the morning, they had an hour long playgroup. They had a stroller walk late morning. In the late afternoon, they did a combined art session (Crayola Beginnings) followed by a story time.

Other Babies on the Cruise
Five other babies were in Maddie’s age range and five babies were in the Royal Tots age range. I believe that we saw many more younger children on this cruise than we did on our Alaskan cruise, which is not surprising. I was excited to meet the other babies through the Royal Caribbean organized programs.

Playgroups
We attended two of the playgroups – the ones that were offered on the “at sea” days. I think that the playgroups were offered each day, but we didn’t have time on port days to attend. These sessions consisted of the Adventure Ocean counselor providing toys which seemed to fit into the same theme.

The first session’s theme was animals which had toys that I felt were still good for Maddie though more suitable for younger kids. This makes sense since the starting age range is 6 months. Four total babies attended this session, and Maddie seemed a bit overwhelmed. She mostly sat in my lap and watched the other kids. The counselor would try to get the kids involved by showing them a toy and telling the kids about that toy. She did a pretty good job with that (and apparently they are required to have degrees in childhood education or similar). Maddie was the oldest in this age range and the only child walking.

The second session that we attended was in the Royal Tots slot, and she had a bunch of Little People in a sort of travel theme with airplanes and campers and such. None of the Royal Tots showed up for the session, but one of the other Royal Babies showed up. Maddie played a lot more this time and seemed to have fun with the familiar Little People toys.

Stroller Walk
This session is clearly intended to be a workout. Gabe and I were thinking more along the lines of a social visit with other parents. Only one other family attended the one session that we tried, and the same counselor had us “race” on the track on the 10th deck. Needless to say, we didn’t mind that the other “team” won. The race was only one lap, which I think is a quarter mile, but we all opted to go a second lap. I guess it’s fair to say that this wasn’t what we expected and it was a little disappointing. We didn’t get a chance to really chat much with the other parents, which is what would have been more interesting to me.

Crayola Beginnings
We attended both sessions on the at sea days. On the first day, Maddie was the only one who attended. She seemed to have fun playing with the Crayola Beginnings stamps and the crayons. They had butterflies for the kids to decorate. We had to help her do most of it as the stamps are a bit difficult for a one year old to press onto the paper. Lots of kids attended the last session! Some of the older kids were in attendance as well. This time they had some other shape (I think a ship) for the kids to decorate. I guess they also had some sort of postcard type thing with places that the kids could color in the lines. They had a few other art supplies this time, including these paintbrushes that had paint in the “stick.” Pretty neat, but much more suitable for older kids! The babies kept trying to eat the paint or got it all over their hands. The stuff is washable, but only to a certain extent (and I’ve seen firsthand that washable markers do not come out of clothing). I was irritated that it seemed like Maddie had another marker or paintbrush in her hand every time I turned around. I even snapped at Gabe and said, “don’t let her have the marker!! Geez, how hard is it to keep it from her!” Poor Gabe. Turns out that the counselor had given it to Maddie. I felt a little embarrassed later when Gabe told me what had happened, but I also felt like the counselor should know that markers and one year olds do not mix!

Story time
After the Crayola Beginnings session, the counselor would read one “bedtime” story. I can’t remember the first book, but the second one was I love you, Stinky Face. It was cute. The only problem is that the counselor had an accent, so even I had trouble understanding her sometimes! It didn’t really matter – the kids paid attention as best as one year olds can.

Since joining the library, I have been checking out a bunch of books. I had been intending to read the Shopaholic series and had bought the first book a few months ago. Considering how quickly I anticipated that I would read this series (and that Gabe most certainly will NOT read these), I decided that they would be perfect to get from the library. The Shopaholic series had a little waiting list, so I signed up for a few more of Sophie Kinsella’s books while I waited. I’ve been in the mood to read some fluff!

I enjoyed Remember Me?, though I can’t say that I will remember much about it over time. It was exactly the sort of thing that I was looking to read – easy beach reading (well, without the beach). Much of the story is difficult to believe, but that’s not really the point is it?

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

Lexi Smart’s life is far from perfect. She’s struggling in her budding career, her boyfriend is called “Loser Dave” by all of his friends, and everyone calls her “Snaggletooth.” She wakes up in the hospital after a crazy night out with her friends and suddenly she’s a successful businesswoman, has expensive clothes and accessories, shiny new hair and teeth, a well toned body, and a handsome husband with quite a bit of success and money himself. She has no idea how any of this happened. She doesn’t remember anything that has happened in the past 3 years. And apparently, almost everything about her life has changed.

Of course, the book is fairly predictable. You have an idea that it will end happily and that everything will get sorted out, but it is fun (and mindless) to piece together what the heck happened in the 3 years that she cannot remember. I thought that the book was good – nothing special or incredibly memorable, but it was exactly what I was in the mood to read! I would recommend it to others looking for a fluffy piece of chick lit.

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a few months. We have been playing Animal Crossing quite a bit since we started in January. We both had the DS version which got quite a bit of play. It’s too bad that we sold the DS version since you can apparently load your catalog (and maybe other things) from the DS. Considering that the Wii version is very similar to the DS version, this isn’t a huge deal. I think we’re having a better gaming experience by not loading the old files. It’s more challenging to start with a blank slate and rebuild our collections.

For those not familiar with Animal Crossing, your character has just moved to the town (which you name) and buys a new house. You are free to furnish your house with whatever you like, and one of the “subgames” is to get a high rating from the Happy Room Academy. They base their scores on the completeness of furniture sets, feng shui, the inclusion of certain “lucky” items, as well as other various bonuses. This is just one of the many goals that you can complete in the game. Gabe and I tend to like to collect everything. In order to buy things, you have to make some money. The primary way to make money is to sell stuff. You can fish in the rivers and ocean, pick fruit from trees, collect fossils, catch bugs, pick up shells, as well as find random furniture items in various ways. All of these can be sold at Nook’s who offers a limited selection of products that differs from day to day. The game has many furniture sets that coordinate together to decorate your house, complete with wallpapers and floorings. You get a bigger house as you pay off each mortgage, giving you more space to decorate your house. You can also donate items to the museum, creating another goal of collecting all the possible bugs, fish, fossils, and paintings. Another store sells clothing items which you can use to coordinate your look. These clothing items often contribute to an overall outfit or costume.

The game is in real time. When an animal says that something is happening tomorrow at 5pm, they really mean tomorrow at 5pm. This can make for a big time waster! Certain things happen at certain times, stores are closed during the night, and some things even happen on specific days throughout the year.

The game has endless possibilities. You can plant trees and flowers around town to create a pleasing environment, improving your town ratings. You also have a responsibility to water the flowers around town to ensure that they continue to live – this part of the game can be a bit of a pain. I never got into creating hybrid flowers in the DS version, but we’ve been trying to create hybrids in this version. Plant two flowers next to each other, and a hybrid flower may grow nearby.

You can interact with the other residents of the town. Different animals have different personalities. You can send them letters and gifts, and they will send you letters and gifts. You can greet them around town and chat about various things. They will start to give you nicknames, ask you for “cool” greetings, and then go around town shouting out your catchphrases. Our animals tend to be a bit rude as we give them phrases like “who smells?” and “bloody hell.” This amuses us.

In the Wii version, you can have up to 4 players who each get their own houses in the same town. It’s fun to share the same town, but it has a few drawbacks. The biggest drawback to sharing a town is that we share the same stores. Since we only have one Nook’s, we have to wait much longer to complete our sets. On the DS, we visited each other’s towns and were able to trade for items that had not appeared in our store yet. We also share the same museum and “dig spots,” so each player may not get to dig up fossils and other buried treasures each day. During the winter, only one person a day can build a snowman. Since this is the only way to earn the snowman furniture collection, it makes it difficult to collect more than one set. The only furniture sets that we have been able to complete have been a few special sets available only at certain times of the year (the snowman set, for example). We have created four players in our town – one for each of us in our family plus an additional character. It doesn’t bother us that we can only collect one full set for the special sets since we prefer to decorate all of the houses differently. Maddie has the full snowman set in her house.

The Wii version gets its “City Folk” name due to the city that you can visit by riding the bus. In the city, you can visit the sketchy Redd’s shop (he used to come to the DS town periodically in a tent). In this version, he offers 2 pieces of furniture and a painting that may be a forgery every week. Considering that many furniture sets have several items from Redd’s, collecting those sets is a bit tedious. In the city is a very expensive shop, and they offer four different furniture sets throughout the year (corresponding to the appropriate season). Currently, we’re collecting the princess set for Maddie. Between the snowman set and the princess set, she has the nicest looking house in town!

I have seen complaints that City Folk does not utilize the Wii controls and that they didn’t really improve the game significantly from previous versions. This hasn’t bothered us too much. The game was very strong when we played it on the DS, and enough time had passed that we were ready to enjoy a new incarnation. A few sets have been added. You can use the WiiMote’s motion capabilities to cast your fishing pole and catch fish, but this is just about the only thing unique to the Wii that they have added. We’re not too disappointed. Overall, it’s a great game, and I hope that we will continue to play it throughout the year. Different items are available at different times of the year, so we will have to stick with it if we care about collecting everything!

These days, I have enough trouble keeping up with book club (not to mention attempting to read a little for the Mothers & More book club, outside of my regular one). I have been able to depart from my book club selections more recently, which is very exciting! I thought that Coraline would be a good choice. I knew that it would be a fairly quick read, and I have been wanting to give Neil Gaiman a shot. I loved Coraline, and I intend to try more of his novels.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

Coraline is a children’s book with elements remniscent of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Lion, The Witch, and The Warddrobe. Coraline discovers a door in her old house that leads her into an alternate universe. Her normal world consists of some fairly interesting characters, and the alternate world is a bit more bizarre. The mood of the novel is quite creepy! Things in the alternate world seem better than the real world, but they take some dark turns. Her real mother and father seem quite wrapped up in their own lives, often too busy to pay attention to Coraline. In the other world, she finds her “other mother” and “other father” who resemble her real mother and father but with button eyes and paper white skin. They want to play games with her and fix her delicious dinners. Too good to be true? Coraline finds that things are not quite right when her other mother wants to sew her a set of button eyes. Um, yikes!

Coraline successfully avoids this and returns to her world where she finds her parents to be missing. After determining that her parents are trapped in the alternate world, she sets out to save them. She starts to see the other world as what it really is – a terrifying version of reality. The world seems to be unraveling, and she wonders how she ever thought her other parents looked anything like her real ones. She’s scared, but she knows that it is up to her to save her parents (and a few other children who were captured by the other mother).

As I mentioned, the book was rather creepy, and I wonder whether it may be too creepy for some children! He seems to use spider analogies in various ways quite often, which amplifies the creepiness for me quite a bit (scary for me to even read the word late at night, just before bed! Yikes!). I’d be curious to get kids’ opinions on it. I thought it was great, and I would recommend it! I hope to give the movie a try, too.

I have read Emily Giffin’s other novels, so when our book club decided to read chick lit this month, I was happy that several people suggested this one. I have been wanting to read it for a while, but I was holding out for the paperback version. Well, that version doesn’t come out until the end of April, so I had to break down and get the hardback version. No big deal, but it just doesn’t match my other Giffin books. They were going to be so pretty together, ha! After reading this one, I’m still a fan of the author, though I think it is my least favorite of the 4 books. I would recommend this book to others who enjoy the genre.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW – DON’T READ IF YOU PLAN TO READ THE BOOK!

Giffin’s first two novels, Something Borrowed and Something Blue were related. Her third, Baby Proof had nothing to do with the first two, and Love the One You’re With stands alone as well. Ellen is a fairly successful photographer with an awesome and very stable husband, Andy, who just happens to be her best friend’s brother. Her life seems to be going very well, and she is really getting everything she wants from life. And then, she runs into Leo. Leo, Leo, Leo. Leo was THE significant relationship before Andy, and their relationship could only be described as “intense.” The chance meeting with Leo brings back old feelings. They exchange a few phone calls and end up (not so coincidentally) doing an article together for a prestigious magazine. While Ellen was aware that Leo arranged the photoshoot, she was not expecting him to be doing the interview. I didn’t start to fault her for her actions until the plane ride home, though I felt that she should have been open with her husband every step of the way (running into Leo, suspecting that Leo had something to do with her “big break” and HOLY CRAP that she saw him when on her photoshoot trip and ended up on the same plane together).

When Andy convinces Ellen that it is time to move to Atlanta, away from the exciting NYC life, she blindly agrees, partially due to the guilt that she was harboring for not mentioning Leo and, oh, the photoshoot that she did with him across the country. Her quick decision to agree to the move to Atlanta leads to feelings of resentment which she uses to justify some of her next actions.

I was annoyed at Ellen quite a bit throughout the novel! She was making poor and dangerous decisions, and I’m not sure that I feel that the outcome based on her actions is realistic. I feel like keeping these sorts of secrets from her husband and dwelling on her feelings for Leo was a very bad idea, and then actually going to the city to see him was an even worse idea. I guess that I could maybe buy that Ellen being in such a risky situation was what she needed to realize that she really doesn’t want to screw up what she has, but I just don’t think that it is the normal course. I think once she got that far into the deception, it would have been hard to just easily repair the relationship and pretend like it never happened. I guess I feel like Giffin made things a bit too tidy in the end. Overall, I think that her writing was good and I will continue to read her novels. They are a good escape from reality.

The Magician’s Assistant was this month’s pick for the Mothers & More book club. I had attended this book club once (when they were discussing Twilight, which I had already read). This is the first time that I actually read the book specifically for the book club. I enjoyed it, and I would recommend it. It’s not a masterpiece or one of my favorite books ever, but I’m glad to have read it and liked it well enough. How’s that for a glowing review? I also felt that we had a good amount of material to discuss at book club, which is always good.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

The main character, Sabine, was a magician’s assistant for many years (as the title of the book suggests). She had been in love with the magician, Parsival, for as many years. Parsival does not return the same types of feelings as he is in love with another man, Phan. Sabine and Parsival get married shortly before Parsival’s death, which I saw as a way for him to easily pass along his assets and business to Sabine. He loved her, but his love for her was more familial than romantic. Speaking of family, he claimed that his family had died in an accident years ago. When Parsival dies, Sabine discovers the truth: his family is still living, and he has left an inheritance to them. She meets his family and attempts to unravel the mystery of Parsival’s past life.

I enjoyed this novel, though I feel that it will be unlikely that I remember much about it in a few years. I did find some of it to be a bit contrived towards the end, but overall it kept me reading to find out the truth about Parsival’s past. The pacing was a bit slow at times. Also, the book was divided into sections, but it did not have real chapters. I didn’t realize this until towards the end of the novel. These days I really appreciate chapters, and those of reasonable length. With so many frequent distractions with the baby, I like being able to complete a chapter before I put down the book. I hate stopping in the middle of a page or even the middle of the chapter. The lack of chapters made it really tough to put down the book in a way that made sense.

In February last year, our book club tackled Jane Eyre. I actually enjoyed it and finished it the day before Maddie was born (actually in the exam room, just before the doctor came in and told me that we should come in the next morning for an induction). We have since decided that February is Classics Month for our book club, and this year we selected To Kill a Mockingbird. Several members had not previously read the book, some declared it as one of their favorites, and others knew that they had read it in high school but did not remember many of the details about it. Since reading it for the first time in high school, I have always said it is one of my all time favorite books. I was looking forward to reading it since I really didn’t remember much about it at all!

I enjoyed reading the book, and I thought that it had a lot of potential for discussion at book club. I have to admit that I’m not sure that I felt as strongly about it being one of my “all time favorites” when rereading it. I still think it is an excellent book, and I would even read it again some day, but I don’t know if I feel as adamant about it being “one of the best books ever!” It will always be listed among my favorites, but I think maybe it has lost a little bit of its legendary status for me.

We didn’t actually end up discussing the book as much as I had hoped. Our book club has a tendency to chat about a wide range of topics. This time we did talk about books quite a bit, but we just didn’t talk that much about To Kill a Mockingbird. We did have a brief discussion about our favorite characters. I would have to say my favorite character is Atticus, though perhaps that’s an obvious choice. I’m impressed with how much of a role model he was for his community and for his children. I love how he sticks to his morals and beliefs and truly believes that each person deserves respect and a fair chance.

I feel like I have more to say about the book, but I’ve had this review sitting in draft form for weeks. I’ll just say that I’m glad that I reread this classic. I wonder what next year’s classic will be for our book club!

I can understand that times have changed since I was a kid, but it seems like the core Girl Scout cookies remained the same until recent years. I hadn’t noticed differences in my favorite Tagalongs, Samoas, Do-si-dos, or Thin Mints since I was a kid. I had noticed the changes in prices, but that is certainly to be expected. I think when I sold my first box of cookies, the price was less than a dollar. Now they sell at $3.50 per box. I’m not complaining about the price, and I am supportive of the Girl Scouts organization.

In recent years, they changed the names. Tagalongs are now Peanut Butter Patties, Samoas are now Caramel Delights, and Do-si-dos are now Peanut Butter Sandwiches. They will always be Tagalongs, Samoas, and Do-si-dos to me, but that’s ok.

Costs of making the cookies have risen, and I hear that there’s less cookies per box than there have been in the past. I can understand this change as well.

I even understand the need to make the cookies “healthier” in order to continue selling them effectively, though I would prefer they offer some “better” choices and leave the old fatty cookies alone. Offer the original Tagalongs and a new Tagalongs Lite, if you want. If given a choice, I’d buy the original recipe cookie EVERY TIME. The Girl Scout cookies have been under scrutiny for excessive calories, trans fats, etc. I even noticed that a few varieties have high fructose corn syrup. Let’s be honest – we’re not ordering Girl Scout cookies because they fit into our diets. It’s a darn good thing that they only arrive once a year.

I really miss my old Tagalongs. I hear that they made a huge change to the cookie recipe last year, and they claim that the old recipe is back. It is still different. I’m just glad that I didn’t try it last year. Having eaten MANY boxes of Tagalongs through the years, I contend that the peanut butter is NOT the same. The consistency and flavor is different. The cookie is smaller. Also, it used to be one of the most satisfying snack foods for me, given my weird snack food tendencies. The edges no longer have peanut butter, only the center. This makes it almost impossible to peel away the chocolate (and formerly peanut butter) edges first, then the chocolate/peanut butter in the center, then eat the cookie insides. I know, this probably doesn’t make sense to most of you, but it’s just not as satisfying. It’s not quite as tasty, either. I have to say that it didn’t keep me from consuming an entire row on my way home from work yesterday. They are still tasty…just not the cookie I have known and loved for so many years.

I may have to choose a new favorite. The Lemonades are quite the candidate. I had a box of those for the first time this year, and I’ve already put in an order for another box. I hear I will love the Thanks-a-Lots as well. I’m looking forward to trying those, too.

In this area, the Kids Exchange consignment sale is the big topic in the Mommy community twice a year. Thousands of consignors submit their items. Pretty much anything kid related is fair game, and item condition varies quite a bit. The most recent one was last month.

I went to the sale for the first time last summer, and I was overwhelmed. I only went on the last day of the sale, midday, when almost everything is marked 50% off. I could not believe the amount of kids items. They had tables and tables and tables of toys, books, games, linens, and baby items. They had racks and racks and racks of clothing. It was unlike anything I had ever seen and a bargain hunter’s dream (though I’m not sure I’m patient enough to be that bargain hunter). I found a few cheap items including some age appropriate toys for Maddie, a few articles of clothing, and a baby scale.

The Kids Exchange public sale is 3 days long, and it is preceded by two special sale days. The first day is reserved for volunteers only, and the second day is reserved for those who consign at least 10 items. The volunteers must work 5 hour shifts (a special two hour block is reserved for those who work two shifts). I heard that the best way to shop the sale was to volunteer, so I decided to give it a try. I signed up for a special split shift, since I wasn’t sure what Maddie’s schedule would be like when I made the commitment. My shift was Thursday night during the consignor sale and Sunday afternoon at the end of the 50% off sale.

The volunteer sale was on Wednesday night, and Gabe, Maddie, and I attended the sale. Wow. I thought that last year’s final day had a ton of stuff, but I had no idea where they started. I cannot even begin to adequately describe what we saw. It was extremely overwhelming. Tables were piled so high that you had to be very careful when trying to grab a particular toy. I, myself, caused several toy avalanches. In addition to 3-foot high piles of items on top of every table, the items were stacked under the tables as well. They had many of every type of major baby equipment. Do you need a bouncy seat? They probably had no less than 100 of those. An exersaucer? At least 100 of those as well. A crib? Over 50 of those. Little People farm? You can choose from at least 20 different ones of varying prices, condition, and completeness. We were quite overwhelmed!

We ended up buying about a dozen different items of clothing, a few Little People sets (airplane, bus, zoo), a little baggie of spare Little People, a few wooden puzzles, some childproofing items, and a few other random odds and ends. We started out trying to find a wagon (none seemed to be available), safety gates (we didn’t look in the right place and missed out on these entirely!), and a stroller (well over a hundred strollers – too overwhelming). We turned to toys because we felt we might be able to accomplish something in that section! We then tackled clothing last as I knew that would be exhausting.

I worked the sale on Thursday night, and I was astounded by how much of the stuff had been sold between the time that we arrived at 5pm on Wednesday and arriving for my 6pm shift on Thursday. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the items had been sold by then! Anyone who is remotely serious about getting great deals at this sale should consider volunteering or at least consigning items. Oh, and I should mention that I didn’t have to wait in hardly any lines. I think we had to wait maybe 20 minutes on Wednesday night (and had no wait at all on Sunday).

As a volunteer, we also had the benefit of shopping an hour early on Sunday’s 50% off sale. As soon as we walked in, Gabe said, “there’s nothing left!” This is a very funny statement considering the massive quantity of stuff that still remains at this point. Compared to the first day, there really is nothing left! Coming in an hour early is a big benefit as you are able to find the best deals on the items that were mispriced. Suddenly, something that was deemed too expensive at $20 is a steal at $10! We found the Drop and Roar Dinosaur for $7.50, some cheap clothing, some cute puzzles, and a few other miscellaneous items for cheap, cheap, cheap!

Stay tuned for my experiences as a volunteer as well as some things that I learned for consigning items and shopping the sale. I’ll be posting 3 more posts about the sale over the next several days or so. In the meantime, here’s a photo from Sunday when they had “nothing” left (you can’t even see the racks and racks of clothing in the back):