Coast 2 Coast Mom

Stalker-ish In-Person, But Not Online?

This post is inspired by the From Left to Write book club choice, Following Polly by Karen Bergreen. Karen met with some members of our group in NYC last month and she was delightful in person. From Left to Write members chatting with Karen Bergreen at booksigning at the Flatotel in NYC. I'm addicted to technology - not just for the shopping and keeping in touch that I do with my phone and laptop, but because it's an enabler for my curiousity. I surf to confirm schedules and information/addresses, solve mysteries and get answers - and while the main character... Read more →

Instilling Healthy Seasonal Eating Habits

This post is inspired by the Yahoo! Mother Board monthly blogging topic of how we teach our kids healthy eating habits. You can read other members' blog posts on this topic by visiting http://motherboard.yahoo.com/ As technically savvy a family as we are, it's been a priority for me that the kiddo grows up know how to live in the real physical world away from the technology experiences and devices.I basically subscribe to the everything in moderation philosophy and think healthy eating habits can be taught to kids through a variety of healthy lifestyle choices. (Plus, the fact that LI'l Boo... Read more →

Sesame Street Gets Game

Two of the video games that I'm looking forward to checking out in the coming weeks are Sesame Street's Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure, and Cookie's Counting Carnival. The games are designed to encourage math and literacy in pre-schoolers, and what's really clever is that these games come with "helpers" to make the gameplay easier and more engaging for young kids. The "helper" for the Wii, is a soft, fuzzy character cover (imagine a Cookie Monster wrap around the Wii Remote) which not only covers buttons that won't be used for the game but makes it easier for kids to hold. For... Read more →

No Ordinary Contest

A cool opportunity that I wanted to pass along. To celebrate the premier of No Ordinary Family starring Michael Chiklis on September 28th, ABC is looking to send extraordinary families on a VIP family vacation. You'll have the opportunity to spend 5 days/4 nights at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida - all you need to do to enter is go to www.NoOrdinaryContest.com and submit a short video telling everyone what makes your family extraordinary. Gather the fam soon as the contest ends on September 13th. The top videos will be posted on the No Ordinary Contest website from... Read more →

Avery Celebrates Teachers Sweepstakes & GIVEAWAY

Now that Labor Day is behind us, I feel like I can finally turn my attention to what most of the rest of the country has been experiencing these past two weeks already: back-to-school season! With Li'l Boo returning to school next week, we'll hit the stores in search of our list of remaining fall clothes and final school supplies to purchase this weekend. As most of us in Jersey are aware, our state funding for education has been dramatically reduced (and as has been so publicly played out these past weeks, NJ lost out on the Race to the... Read more →

What Else Can We Do With Dinosaurs?

This post is inspired by the From Left to Write virtual book club choice, Dinosaurs On The Move by Cathy Diez-Luckie. I received a copy of the book as part of my participation in the monthly book club. I suppose I should have just started a "dinosaur" category for my blog. Once my son became interested in dinosaurs, we flocked to dinosaur toys, puzzles, exhibits and events like mad. Someone gifted him a book listing 100 dinosaur species and he has learned them all. (Honestly, I am shocked to have learned that there are 100 species in the first place!)... Read more →

GIVEAWAY: Extend Your Summer with Coldstone Creamery and Make-A-Wish

I remember the first time I entered a Coldstone Creamery. It must have been about nine or ten years ago when we walked into the Town & Country location in Palo Alto. The line was out the door, and we could hear the singing staff members announcing to everyone that they’d received a tip. It was a joyful atmosphere, aside from the smiles that a bowl or cone of ice cream can illicit on its own. I waited my turn in awe, pointing out the signs featuring concocted mixtures of candy, pie, cake and ice cream on the wall to... Read more →

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day and Stonyfield Cafe Launch at U.S. Open

Thanks to Stonyfield, we had a terrific time Saturday attending Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the U.S. Open in Flushing, NY. This was our first visit to see the Unisphere and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as a family, and it was a beautiful blue-sky day for all 23,000 people attending. The day started with all sorts of tennis fun for kids: target practice, obstacle course, speed tennis, etc. with prizes sponsored by Hess, Olympus, Nike, American Express, Wilson Sporting Goods and others (They gave 200 kid-sized racquets out to the first 200 kids, but we arrived too... Read more →