Coast 2 Coast Mom

Spend Mother's Day with Us and Kids Club Thirteen at the Prospect Park Zoo

Here’s an idea for spending Mother’s Day with the family - and with Li'l Boo and me! PBS THIRTEEN is hosting its inaugural Kids Club Thirteen event on Sunday, May 9th at the Prospect Park Zoo Fleece Festival. Admission will be free on Sunday for Kids Club Thirteen members and you'll get the chance to meet and get a photo with Ruff Ruffman from FETCH! and some other zoo animals. This is the first of many year-round benefits for Kids Club Thirteen members that includes free admission and discounts to NYC-area museums, parks, festivals, etc., and on-air mentions of your kids birthdays! Club activities are geared for families with kids ages 3-11.  

One of the benefits of joining the club is that each month the Kids Club hosts an exclusive event just for its members - 13 events a year (upcoming events include days at the Staten Island Children's Museum, and the Intrepid Museum!) – including chances to meet the kids’ favorite PBS characters. The event at the Prospect Park Zoo on Sunday May 9th, will be the last opportunity to sign up for the Kids Club as a Founding Family member and get for two years at the price of one (a $75 donation). The line-up for Sunday's Kids Club  members-only exclusive activities from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. include:
 

Discounts to Family Favorite NYC Holiday Shows

If you haven't caught these shows yet, there's still time! The Radio City Christmas Soectacular has just been extended through Jan 3rd, 2010. Thought I'd pass along a couple of NYC holiday family entertainment deals and discounts:

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

• 40% off Orchestra or 1st Mezzanine Seats with code SNCHEER through 12/21/09.
• Buy One, Get One Free on Orchestra/1st Mezz Seats with code SN50 through 12/27/09.

Wintuk from Cirque du Soleil

• Kids Go Free with the purchase of one adult ticket with code 50MAGIC through 12/24/09.

Win a Logitech HD Webcam Pro 9000!

Last week I was invited to attend a lunch and briefing at the Warwick Hotel in NYC on the Logitech Webcam 9000 with Logitech Vid and HD. I think that once you experience HD, you can never really go back. We have one HDTV in our home, and it's like night and day when I have to watch something on our older television. The same is true of the HD webcams. The first HD webcam I ever used was the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema - which I LOVED and there was really no going back. Maria Bailey of Mom Select led the briefing, where we installed the Logitech Vid one-click calling software onto our laptops, and installed the driver for the webcam to begin using it first hand during the briefing and lunch. Royee Leung from Logitech provided an overview of the webcam and answered some of our questions via Logtech Vid.

What I really like about the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 was that it was easy to install,the Logitech Vid call software is FREE, and that it runs great on my Asus netbook (usually HD webcams tend to freeze the li'l netbooks as they just can't handle that much at once). I was surprised that the image was SO CLEAR yet didn't freeze up at all, and I've used it to make nearly a dozen calls now. You can vid chat with others regardless of what webcam their using, but they must download the free Logitech Vid software to chat with you.

Something to keep in mind, though: if you're using it with toddlers or preschoolers to video call family members, keep in mind that kids that age tend to move FAST so the HD video - even at 30 frames per second - can look like there's a "shadow" or "wake" following their rapid hand or head motions. This has the potential to be annoying for people on the other end, but we barely noticed it. You can't beat the clarity and sharpness of detail overall, and for teen or adult normal use, I have not encountered any movement issues.

So how can you get your hands on a free Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 of your own? Simple. I received a webcam at the event to giveaway , so just leave a comment below telling me who you're most excited to vid call should you win it (grandparents, sister/brother, son/daughter, spouse who travels?), OR let me know what webcam you currently have and would replace with this. I'll choose a winner on Friday November 20, 2009 at Noon EST via Random.org. You don't have to be a blogger to win, but you do have to leave a comment. Your email address will be kept private, and I need it to contact the winner to arrange for shipping. Use discount code logitech_moms_2009 to receive 20% off your own QuickCam Pro 9000 and FREE shipping on your Logitech webcam purchase.

 

Full Disclosure: I received a Logitech Webcam 9000 and a Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB headset for testing purposes.
 

Stocking Up at Toys 'R Us Board Games Sale

With back-to-school shopping and activities behind us, I've turned my attention to apple picking, pumpkin patch visits, choosing Li'l Boo's Halloween costume and drum roll please . . . holiday shopping and planning!! I'm one of those shoppers who begins shopping right after Christmas perusing online and in stores for great deals on gifts. I've taken advantage of several great deals over the spring and summer so that I have over half of my shopping completed now - and it isn't even October yet! (Of course this means that I'll be tempted to spend more $$ as I see the holiday season sales and purchase more gifts . . . but I digress.)

If you'd like to take advantage of great deals to complete your holiday shopping list (or birthday party gift stash), you may want to jump on the Toys 'R Us children's board games sale going on this week. These are some of the lowest prices I've seen: $4.99 for Candy Land, Memory, Chutes & Ladders, $7.99 for Connect Four, Battleship, Twister, etc., so I'm stocking up for holiday and birthday presents. It makes me laugh that I bought Candy Land for only $4.99 the last time Toys R Us had this promotion, and we play that game at least twice a week - what phenomenal return on investment! At these prices, it may be a great way to try out Mattel's Electronic Toss Across or one of Li'l Boo's faves, Saucer Scramble, both on sale at Toys 'R Us this week for only $19.99. Ooh, and Toys 'R Us is offering an additional $10 off if you spend $30 and sign up for their Bill Me Later service.

BTW, I'm geeked to attend The Time to Play Holiday Showcase in NYC  later this week with a look at this year's must-have toys and lifestyle products, and will be sure to let you know some of my new fave holiday gifts! 

BOB Stroller Sale and Free Shipping now through August 15th!

In case you're looking to buy a new BOB stroller (or know someone who is), they're on sale at Joggermom.com right now - with, get this, FREE SHIPPING too! Sale prices and free UPS ground shipping are good through August 15th.

We LOVE our BOB stroller and just found out about this rare BOB sale through the BookieBoo mom's fitness site. We had a jogger stroller from a local retail chain early on, but it was difficult to push and run at the same time (we were always trying to fix the tracking and our forearms were always sore from trying to correct the direction), and making turns on the sidewalk or path? Fuhgeddaboutit! (So why'd we buy that one? Because Hubby didn't see the point of paying the BOB's price for a stroller at first.) Once we picked up the BOB, though, we'll never go back. It is surprisingly light, and SO easy to manuever. We use it everywhere - yes, even while travelling, and not just for jogging. If you're thinking about getting one, it is definitely worth the investment and a FABULOUS deal on sale! (Hubby now wishes we had invested in the BOB from the get-go.)

The BOB Revolution single stroller (what we have) is normally $389, and is on sale now for $350. The BOB Stroller Strides Double Fitness stroller usually goes for $589, and is now $530! The BOB Ironman single (which is the version Sarah Palin sports in this month's issue of Runner's World magazine) is on sale for only $314, and the Ironman Duallie is only $431!!

Check out Joggermom.com if you're interested in the BOB stroller sale, and don't forget to pick up accessories like the must-have handlbar console, infant car seat adaptor or the rain or sun/bug shield. 

Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cakes for Only $9.99!

I just caught the news this morning that

Baskin Robbins is offering their ice cream cakes for only $9.99 right now. Talk about a sweet deal! Just had to let you know so you keep it in mind for your next celebration. A great summer treat, and one that we probably wouldn't think twice about except for this $10 deal. We spend $10 just going to get ice cream cones these days!

I checked out the Baskin Robbins website and am liking the Brownies a la mode cake, and would love to try one of the fudge crunch cakes w/ mint chocolate chip ice cream . . . or maybe the ice cream float cake. Yummm.

I think I'm gonna have to run in and nab one of these for our family 4th of July celebration. Er . . .that's too far away, I just may have to run out later this week and pick one up for this weekend. Li'l Boo would just love the McQueen race scene cake or this doggie cake, so we'll have to try one of those. He'll be SO excited! The kiddo has a sweet tooth to end all sweet tooths . . . worse than mine!

Thanksgiving weekend ads begin circulating online

Oooh! Not sure how many of the ads are legit, but I am getting super excited for holiday shopping!! Maybe it's the crisp cool air here in Jersey . . .

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- Thanksgiving weekend ads begin circulating online

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Great Deals for Li'l Rockers

City Threads is one of my fave clothing lines for Li'l Boo. We have their San Francisco zip up infant hoodie from our Cali days, a toddler size Chicago one from our time there, and we quickly picked up a New York hoodie and hat from them when we moved here earlier this summer. (I'm obviously a big fan . . . see shots of Li'l Boo below sporting their gear from coast-to-coast.)

So I was excited to get an email for previous and current customers announcing they're taking an additional 25% off everything online including items already marked down 50% . . . making these items 75% off! Click here for these sale items. Enter code: CT25NSX Sale ends at midnight 10/21.

There are several guitar/rock tees I plan to pick up for Li'l Boo and my nephew-to-be. . .

   

Tool Time

I sometimes worry about my son's lack of quality daddy time with my husband working late nights and frequently traveling for business. It worries me because our son has limited interaction with male figures as he spendmost of his time awake with me and his female preschool teachers, language teachers, music teachers, soccer coaches, etc. I want to make sure that he sees positive male role models in action and plays with boys/men doing "boy" stuff like playing in the mud, catching bugs or worms, building things, etc. and just talking, thinking and hanging out with boys.

So I was very excited to learn that while I was at Crate and Barrel Saturday morning, my husband and son went to Home Depot to get parts to fix our upstairs bathroom toilet. Evidently, Home Depot has Kids Workshops once a month, so they invited The Kiddo to join them and "build" his own football hat rack (he hammered in the nails and glued in the pegs). Plus . . . he got his very own orange Home Depot apron with his name on it. Pretty cool - and it's free! We'll definitely attend the next workshop (building a whistle fire truck).