Smurfs 2 opens in theaters on July 31st. The follow up to the first “Smurfs” movie made in 2011 – which you can get on iTunes if your little ones want to see how it all began. While Smurfs 2 intro into the movie does make it a stand alone film having watched the first Smurfs movie certainly does help.
In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world¹s greatest sorcerer. It’s up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue? Returning cast includes Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Katy Perry as Smurfette and Hank Azaria as Gargamel.
My son really enjoyed the whole movie – he was bopping his head to the music by Britney Spears and was really enjoying the ride. While there is a 3D version of this movie (which we saw) the effects werent over the top and really just added to the experience.
My favorite part was the slow motion Neil Patrick Harris ganster walk with the smurfs to go get their girl back.
If you’re like me you had cell contracts – right?! 2 years for what? Thats why I really like the Virgin Mobile service which offers contract free options. Bottom line is for $35 a month you can rock the 4G Data on up to 5 devices that can connect to the hotspot. Which is great for traveling in long car rides with my son who loves his iPad and streaming videos from Nick Jr.’s new app.
Looking for a contract-free option to connect to the internet while traveling and on the go? Virgin Mobile now offers “Pay for the day” access or monthly 3G/4G Broadband2Go plans. The Overdrive Pro 3G/4G mobile hotspot connects up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices, making it ideal for people on-the-go. The compact device has top battery strength and a 1.7-inch LCD screen that makes setting up a cinch. It also offers a microSD slot for up to 32GB of shared network storage.
My review: I’ve had this unit for 3 months now and I have used it a lot – more then you would think… Whenever I have spotty service with my iPhone – Virgin Mobile was connecting just fine and got me online and able to upload photos, check out facebook and most importantly get me back on to twitter. The data speeds are amazing I was able to stream live tv without a hiccup and my son downloaded a new tv show from iTunes to his iPad. I’ve connected 4 devices at one time to the device and speeds were still holding up strong.
This is a great gift for dads who love tech. For the dads that always is wanting to look something up on his iPad or other tablets but doesnt mobile internet connection. For the dads that love long car rides with quiet kids cause they’re surfing the web (well thats a plus for everyone).
One thing that sucks is having a new baby and having to go into work everyday… such is the life for sooo many (and it was for a couple of weeks of Harper’s life). One simple solution cause you cant really put a new born on the phone to check in is this amazing Samsung SmartCam [Amazon]. Its a WiFi connected Video Monitor – I leave out the baby part cause it could be used for almost anything you want to keep an eye on or an ear on since it transmit sound too.
It took all of 5 minutes to get working (yes it really that simple) but for a regular folk (non techie) maybe it’ll take you 10minutes. It uses Samsung’s hosted solution to communicate to the video device.
This does require an internet connection in the setup mode I have it running in (I dont even know if it would work if you didnt have an internet connect – like if you only wanted to run it locally). There is a free app you download for your iPhone or iPad. The image looks great with settings to reduce bandwidth.
I set this up on my old iPhone 4 (using wifi only) and it worked great in my apartment. The video looked great streaming over AT&T Wireless network on my iPhone 5.
If I have any issue is that even though it has the remember the password boxes in the app – it still requires usernames/passwords/camera password (so you can run multiple cameras) with no centralized login ability (would love to sync it to my facebook or twitter account so I dont need to remember another username/password).
Samsung SNH-1010N SmartCam WiFi Video Baby Monitor
One Push Setup in 30 seconds
Built-in Mic and Speaker for Two way talk
Built-in IR LED Lamps for Night vision
Monitor on PC, MAC, and smartphones
Audio and Motion detection and notification
Free and easy recording on YouTube
Quick Setup and Monitor from Anywhere/Anytime
The SNH-1010N ties convenience and security together to bring you an innovative concept for monitoring your baby’s safety. Instead of limiting you to the range of the parent unit, the SNH-1010N connects to your route with a push of a button. This give you the freedom to monitor your child using your smartphone, tablet, laptop, and/or pc. With extremely quick and easy set-up, a wide variety of choices you can use to monitor, and the freedom to monitor from anywhere and at anytime,
Store and Share Made So Easy
With the SNH-1010N, sharing videos of your baby is made simple. Video clips are stored privately on a personal YouTube account. Share it with your friends and family or make it publc to share it with everyone.
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. June 14th, 2013.
Leave a comment why you want to win this prize and please include some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email).
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information: #BabyMonitor @dadarocks – http://dad.am/14DQEZT #Giveaway and you must also comment with the link to your tweet.
Example: I want to win a Samsung Wifi Video #BabyMonitor from @dadarocks what a great #FathersDay gift – http://dad.am/14DQEZT #giveaway
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You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Samsung supplied the prize for this contest and it is limited to the USA.
When you’re a parent safety is the #1 factor… shortly behind that comes easy of use. Living in manhattan you take certain things in stride – like I’ll just hold my baby instead of carrying a carseat into and out of every taxi from FiDi to the Upper East Side. Truth is we dont lug those things around because of the pain in the neck that is it to always put them in to and out of cars… which is why when my son hit 4 years old (he had already met all the other height and weight requirements) I was happy about moving over to a Clek Olli booster seat.
This is super cool in looks – ease of use is second to none… as long as your car was made in 2003 or newer (select 2001 & 2002) – you have the latch system and its easy peazy to install.
In 2012 Clek announced an Olli that even this papa bear was drooling over the Olli Cooper which is a leather booster seat. You know in modern times colors/fabric choices are how we parents define ourselves and our kids personalities.
Here’s the kicker when is comes to lugging many other booster seats in and out of cars they can be 20 lbs without blinking an eye… you can carry the clek at just 5lbs — thats lighter then most bowling balls.
How do you know if you’re child is ready to move from the convertible car seat to a booster seat – and a back-less booster seat at that… you really need to think about sleep patterns – is your child always falling asleep in the car then switching them over to a backless booster might not be the right fit.
But really – Who Should Use the Olli?
Booster seat laws vary by state. Please check your local booster seat laws.
Height Weight Recommended Age
40-57 in. (101-145 cm)
40-120 lb (18-54 kg)
4 years and up
If you’re a leather guy – like I am – you really need to check out the Limited Edition Black Leather Cooper… but if I had to go in a different direction I’m loving that tadpole green color… but the Jet and Storm also work for me.
Our friends at Clek are sooo cool they’re offering an Olli up as a giveaway prize… pretty simple pick out which olli color you’d like to own (your choice other then the cooper thats off limits because of its limited edition numbers).
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. September 6th, 2012.
You must comment with which color Olli you’d like to own? please include some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email).
There are two things about spring and summer that I love its finally time to get outside and play. This spring was pretty lackluster in NYC as it was raining most of the time but now summer is around the bend the sprinklers are in the park and its a great time to get outside and play. In my mind there are many great outdoor play games…
When you have a young child nothing beats watching them chase after bubbles – it used to be that you’d get light headed after 5 minutes of blowing said bubbles but with recent technology you can have hundreds of bubbles being blown for as long as the batteries last (which will be much longer then the kid who is chasing them will be).
We’ve got the Blastos! Bubble Twister [amazon] here is a demo video by my friends over at TimetoPlayMag.com – clearly this will keep a couple of kids chasing in circles for a good while and good laugh for the parents just watching them do just that. The toy has a few seconds between bursts of bubbles giving a fair amount of bubbles in each burst… This is great because it gives the kids a few seconds to catch their breath too.
When the kids get a bit older you’ll start doing the sports but even when the sun goes down doesn’t mean the play has to end – thats why I love the new Junkball glow in the dark set [junk ball shop online]- its always easy to spot a glowing ball in the field at night. The cool thing about junk ball is that the middle is an adjustable ring that will make the ball do different by changing the air flow that goes though the ball… So its easier to pitch a curve or sinker – its a great concept and I know my nephew loves it.
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. June 9th, 2011.
Tell us which toy you’d like to win, randomly we’ll select one winner to take home a nice little kids prize pack and please include some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email).
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information: @little_kids_inc @dadarocks – http://dad.tc/k86ljD and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want to win the @little_kids_inc spring prize pack from @dadarocks – http://dad.tc/k86ljD
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a FAN on Facebook – facebook.com/DaDaRocks you must comment that you’re a fan
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a FAN on Facebook – facebook.com/littlekidsinc you must comment that you’re a fan (leave a wall post that DaDaRocks.com Sent you)
You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Thanks to Little Kids Inc for provided the prizes for this raffle
