Coast 2 Coast Mom

GIVEAWAY: 4 Tickets to Walking with Dinosaurs at MSG

Oh! Oh!! As if US attending Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular at Madison Square Garden wasn't enough excitement for us this week, I'm hosting a one-day giveaway for one lucky family to attend too! A family four-pack of tickets is up for grabs today for the 3 p.m. matinee show on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.

That's right - your entire family can marvel at the heart-pounding roars, and life-like movements of the 17 life-size dinosaurs, based on the award-winning BBC television series. I know that Li'l Boo can't wait to see it himself.

Not that you'll need it, but just in case you're looking for a way to get the family excited about the show, try your hand at the dinosaur name generator, DINO-NAME-OSAURUS, to find out your own dinosaur name.

To ENTER: Just provide a comment below, and be sure to enter your email address into the required box so that I have a way to contact you if you win. The winner will be chosen randomly using Random.org. This contest will end at Midnight tonight, July 20, 2010 so that I have time to email the winner and they can make plans to get themselves to MSG to pick up their tickets at Will Call in time for the show. Winner must provide a valid photo ID to claim the tickets. Good luck!

Spectacular Macy's July 4th Aboard the Norwegian Epic Cruise Ship

WOW.

It's July 6th and we're still coming down from the high of our super swanky Fourth of July night. We were so excited about the event that we cut short our vacation in Michigan to awake at 3:30 a.m. on July 4th and drive back to NYC to make the party. Oh, and we splurged on a new DSLR camera so we could take better photos of the fireworks (so excuse the abundance of photos here, we had to practice!). You see, Macy's, Inc. invited us to celebrate the Fourth of July right on the Hudson River aboard the brand spanking new Epic cruise ship, the newest and largest ship to set sail from Norwegian Cruise Lines. DOUBLE WOW!

Needless to say, it was a night to remember. The combination of the freedom of a night away from the kiddo, the crystal clear summer sky, the balmy yet breezy air, our front row seats for the fireworks and the eighteen stories of luxurious merriment for us to explore left us feeling like we were kids let loose in a high-end resort.

Math, Gilbert Gottfried, Big Apple Circus, Little Boy Voices and Me

Add to that mix: Britney Spears, Cyberchase and 45 weeks and you'll get a taste of the panel I was exposed to last weekend at Cyberchase Saturday. It was a quintessential New York experience, all thanks to PBS THIRTEEN WNET, Tribeca Cinemas and math. Yes, you read that right: MATH.

Saturday I had the pleasure of moderating a celebrity talkback panel with the cast of PBS's Cyberchase at the famous Tribeca Cinemas, as part of Tribeca Cinemas' Kids Club program. Cyberchase is one of the only children's programs where the heroes use "brain power" and math in everyday situations to save the day. It was a fantastic opportunity for fans of the series to see a sneak peek at episodes from the new season, meet some of their favorite stars and learn some behind-the-scenes secrets of the show. So much goes into the production of such a high quality show like this one, and as a PBS Kids Club 13 Ambassador, I was delighted to be asked to participate in the event, which featured:

Secrets, Sneak Peeks & Behind the Scenes Family Fun in Tribeca This Saturday

Secrets. Sneak peeks. Exclusive previews. They're the social equivalent of riches. They provide fodder at your next social event, and when you learn new bits of information it many times cements a long-lasting loyal relationship with whomever spilled the beans to you.

Well, get ready to become my new BFF. This Saturday I'll be moderating the talkback portion of the Tribeca Cinema Kids Club Cyberchase Saturday with series stars Gilbert Gottfried ("Digit"), Matt Wilson ("Harry"), Annick Obonsawin ("Inez") and Ellen Doherty (senior series producer). Cyberchase was developed for children 8-12 years old and airs on PBS. It's the only children's program in the U.S. to feature "brain power" and math as the solution to everyday life situations. 

The evil villian ("Hacker") is voiced by Christopher Lloyd - no relation to Christopher Lloyd the creator of ABC's Modern Family. (Just a little something I learned behind the scenes at PBS myself. ;-) )

I can promise giggles, guffaws and gossip (of the Cyberchase kind). Come join me . . . you know you want to.

Meeting Dr. Scott and Learning Dinosaur Train Secrets

On Sunday we drove into NYC to visit the World Science Festival Street Fair for a screening of the PBS children's series The Dinosaur Train, as well as a booksigning and discussion with Dr. Scott Sampson (aka Dr. Scott to many 2-6 year old kids!). L'il Boo was so excited! On our drive in, he was all "I'm going to meet my first paleontologist!" Which made me giggle hearing that in his little four-year old voice.

Most of the audience was families with kids around Li'l Boo's age, and Dr. Scott was clearly impressed, but not surprised, to be talking with kids using such big words. I think about every preschooler or early elementary kid in the audience could name Triassic, Jurassic and Cretacious when asked, and knew the difference between herbavores, carnivores and omnivores. Li'l Boo answered a warm-up question saying his favorite dinosaur was the Velociraptor. I was shocked that he didn't say the T-Rex. Perhaps he's maturing beyond the T-Rex? I mean, he has a book listing over 100 dinosaurs . . .about time he became interested in one of the others ;-)

Keep Cool at AMNH's Race To The End of the Earth

One way to beat the heat in the NYC area this summer - or at least think "cool" - would be to head to the American Museum of Natural History to check out the new exhibit, Race to the End of the Earth, which opened this weekend. It chronicles two teams, both led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Britain’s Royal Navy Captain Robert Falcon Scott in their historic race to reach the South Pole and back during 1911 and 1912. I'll be taking Li'l Boo along with me next week once the preschool year ends so I can check it out for myself, and he can get another look at the Lizards and Snakes exhibit. ;-)

Race to the End of the Earth details the logistics required to undertake the 1,800 mile feat which took place almost one hundred years ago. Photographs, paintings and rare historical articfacts from both camps help bring to life the trek, tools and turmoil over decisions that each team made to reach their goal.  Interactive feautres, hand-on activities, and an impressive life-sized recreation of a portion of each of the competitor's base camps bring you closer to the action, making you feel as if you were there. When you visit you're given a card featuring one of the members from either the British or Norwegian team to get an up close and personal experience of how they lived during the expedition.

The exhibit runs this weekend through January 2, 2011. Tickets are available at the American Museum of National History or online through their website.

Thrilled to Be a PBS THIRTEEN Kids Club Ambassador

As the conductor calls out "Next and final stop: Penn Station," L'il Boo jumps up and grabs my hand to make our way off the train. "Watch the gap, mom," he says beaming as we make our way amidst the crowd toward the stairs. He's done this so many times that he knows exactly where to go and what to do. Moments later he leads me up the steps and outdoors to the taxi line awaiting our next adventure around NYC. . .already an old pro at manuevering around the city at a mere four years old.

I certainly never saw myself as a bridge and tunnel person, or raising a city boy from the suburbs, but then again, I never thought we'd live in NYC! We're here though, and I want to make sure that we savor as much of the experience that living so close to The Big Apple can offer. I don't want to regret living so close to the abundance of  world-class museums, shows and sports teams and not visit and learn as much as we can from them. The alternative would mean that our lives in North Jersey wouldn't be that much different than living in any other suburb around the United States. . . So we explore the American Museum of Natural History, The Bronx Zoo, Central Park, the Rubin Museum of Art, and the New Victory Theater among other amazing places to take a kid in NYC.

If encouraging kids and families to explore our world is a primary goal of PBS THIRTEEN in NYC, then they have surely succeeded in encouraging discovery in our house. Li'l Boo has imaginatively traveled the world watching along with Franny's Feet. I credit World World and SUPER WHY with him hearing me ask c2cDad if he "wanted to do a m-o-v-i-e that afternoon," and Li'l Boo perking up with "Yes! Let's go to a movie!" when he was only three years old. And don't get me started with The Dinosaur Train. In our Tivo'd television viewing, The Dinosaur Train was the first show Li'l Boo realized airs at a specific time each day - and he made sure we were home in time every day last fall when the show premiered!

What I love most is that PBS offers background information on each kids program online so that parents, teachers or childcare providers can choose which programs or episodes are most appropriate for their kids. By doing so, PBS has helped us to extend the learning and entertainment experience in each episode with hands-on activities such as the printable coloring pages and online educational games for Franny's Feet.

Now with the Kids Club membership and discounts, parents like us can take the learning into the real world - further supporting the learning opportunities with first-hand real-world experience for kids, while making memories for families too. Most of the Kids Club exclusive NYC-area events, character meet-and-greets and attractions are places that we were already naturally planning to visit, or are well on our way of becoming experts on visiting.

So this is why I'm thrilled to have been asked to be a PBS THIRTEEN Kids Club family ambassador. I can continue enjoying the things that we're already doing, and we get the opportunity to share it with other families. I'm honored to be associated with such a respectable organization as THIRTEEN WNET/New York and excited to be a part of such a fun group of parent ambassadors.

Still Gleeful After Seeing Glee Live Tour

c2cDad and I celebrated my birthday by attending the Friday night showing of the sold-out Glee Tour 2010 at Radio City Music Hall. Yay! Glee Live was a high-energy show and the atmosphere around our seats in the orchestra section was electrifying. Seriously! Everyone stood for nearly the entire show . . . I think we sat for part of one slow song. We were surprised - though not shocked - to see so many tween-age girls there with their moms.  Admittedly, we seriously aged-up our section of the orchestra level. ;-)

I think that attending the concert with so many tween-age girls in the audience screaming at the sight of a different character, or a new song, added to the excitement of the entire crowd. It would not have been the concert experience if it was a crowd of adults. There were several moments when some of the cast appeared amused because of the roar of the crowd - like when "Fin" laughed at the beginning of their Bon Jovi number. I'm not sure if the rest of their tour stops reacted with such enthusiasm for that song, or if it was the result of being such an NJ/NYC area group and song. There was a bit near the end when "Sue," Jane Lynch and "Will," Matthew Morrison appeared live on stage and they cut their bit short because the crowd was literally cheering so loudly that you couldn't hear what they were saying anyway. It was funny. I wonder if any of the cast ever envisioned themselves performing to a sold-out crowd at Radio City.

Join me at The Mommybites Summit in NYC tomorrow night!

While traveling home from the Sandbox Summit in Boston (I'll post about some of my fantastic learnings soon!), what got me through the train ride home, was picturing Babybites' Mommybites Summit: The Ultimate Moms Night Out coming up later in the week. I'm excited for some socializing and shopping tomorrow night!

The Mommybites Summit is an evening of parenting discussions led by some local parenting experts, shopping from some of the fabulous vendors and sponsors in attendance (I'm eager to check out several things for my pregnant sister, and did you see that Totsy is a sponsor?), and of course mingling with some inspiring local moms (I'll be making a beeline to meet @MyMomShops in real life, that's for sure).

So it should be a fun evening at the Columbia Faculty House in NYC. Tickets are $50, and $60 at the event, which runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow, May 20th. Won't you join me?

When Mom's Away, Spooky Tigers Come Out To Play

So . . .yeah. This is what happens when daddy watches the kid while Mom's away. Yesterday was a busy day in the city starting off with the annual AIDS Walk New York with around 45,000 in Central Park, followed by a BMS afterparty at the Central Park Zoo. Li'l Boo wanted to actually see all of the animals first - not as interested in the food or activities, but then upon return to the party tent, he himself requested a "spooky" face.

Now let me stop you right there becaue if I'd have been with Li'l Boo we would have skipped over the face painting station. I'm generally not a big fan of the activity. It doesn't seem to last very long, and tends to wind up getting wiped off or smeared onto hands, arms and clothes. However, when c2cDad emailed me a pic of this scary tiger while I was at the SV Moms party on Sunday, I laughed out loud. It looked fantastic, and lasted until they met up with me two hours later, and better still, lasted well enough for us to Skype with both sets of grandparents to surprise them with his colorful face at the end of the day.

Come to find out my Li'l Boo and c2cDad actually walked down 5th Ave to FAO Schwarz after the zoo to pass the last hour while they waited for me to head home to Jersey. They were getting looks and getting stopped along the way by passerbys asking where his face was painted. So Li'l Boo was actually prowling NYC like this on Sunday afternoon. Lol! He just loved it. I have to admit that I loved it too. I also loved that it came off easily with water in the bath.

The name of the company that did this to Li'l Boo is Agostino Arts where they specialize in "transformation facepainting." We thought it's pretty cool. Oh, and they do parties and events . . .seriously, check out some other faces on their site. It's CRAZY!