When I think Earth day I remember when I was a kid be talked about saving the earth. Now I feel like earth day is every day about being green and trying to be greener. I recycle, I use green products (mainly because my wife loves them), I shop at green markets (I’ll admit living across the street from one has made it easy) but in the end the things I never thought about were the toys.
I was introduced to Sprig [Link] in the most uncommon way online – the more I read the more I thought wow this is a great company. I started noticing their toys in the stores I shopped in as well. At Toy Fair I had the pleasure of meeting with the CEO Craig Storey (who is also a dad), he showed me around the product line and started to discuss the companies history.
The toys looked amazing… I loved the creative design and I loved that it was imagination play (so much play is structured games these days). The best part was that these toys are totally made from recycled materials (recycled plastics and saw dust).
I was given the chance to see the imagination play with my son first hand using the Dolphin Explorer Boat. Yes, it floats and makes for a great bath toy, but beyond that its just very cool to see my son pick up the boat make motions with it like its on the water then drop the boat (while nothing breaks!).
Sprig is rolling out some new products and two readers will be lucky enough to win one of the new toys each.
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. April 29, 2010.
You must comment telling us you did to celebrate earth day, 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:
@SprigToys @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/c7pUo4 and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want to win @SprigToys from @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/c7pUo4
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 of Sprig Toys – facebook.com/SprigToys you must comment that you’re a fan
You get 1 extra entry for subscribing to our Feedburner digest mailing (right side subscribe by email) – you must also comment that you’ve subscribed
You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Sprig Toys is providing the toys for the raffle.
I have very fond memories of going to Sesame Place as a kid – its right there with Disney world but we went to Sesame Place more times growing up. There were a couple of reasons my sister and I loved it as kids. My mom and dad’s very good college friends lived en-route to the park and their kids were the same age so we had insta-buddies to play with while at Sesame Place.
To the right is a photo from the 80’s I want to say I’m 4 or 5 in this picture… but I’ll have to double check with the folks on that one. We’re totally planning on taking Marc this summer because he’s fallen in love for Elmo (Marc calls him Mo – its very cute). Making a photo like this of Marc will be priceless.
There are some really great things about the park that is not only a park that has rides and parades but one that also has a water park section. Sesame Place also features concerts this summer they will have Choo-Choo Soul, The Fresh Beats Band, Dan Zane and many others.
You could easily make this a day trip since its about an hour and half each way from the city. Then again you could make a weekend out of it and go to another near by attraction.
Sesame Place
100 Sesame Place
Langhorne, PA 19047
(215) 752-7070
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information:
@SesamePlace @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/b4RY4o and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want to win @SesamePlace tickets from @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/b4RY4o
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 of Sesame Place – facebook.com/SesamePlace you must comment that you’re a fan
You get 1 extra entry for subscribing to our Feedburner digest mailing (right side subscribe by email) – you must also comment that you’ve subscribed
You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Sesame Place is providing these tickets for the raffle.
The biggest baby shower [Recap Link] is a twice yearly event put on by Big City Moms [Link]. I’m going to say its the must attend event of the year during your pregnancy or directly following. The vendor list is so massive I’ll just cover it with a quick who’s who…
Skip*Hop, Bugaboo, Mam, Delta, Born Free, Glamour Mom, Maclaren, Ouef, Stride Rite/Robeez, Momma Couture, Nomie Baby, Giggle, Boon, Britax, Destination Maternity, The Bump, Zoli, Teutonia, Orbit, Bloom, and iCandy just to name a few.
There was well over 350 ladies at this event and I’m going to say a little over a dozen guys. Even with this amount of people the space could easily have held another 50 plus.
The VIP tickets gained an extra hour to walk around and a secondary goodie bag. The swag in these bags are off the hook! Easy worth the price the ticket alone, but then you add in the raffle prizes that could win you strollers worth $800 plus dollars, highchairs, car seats, and so much more.
During the event there were 3 seminars going on, which not passed along great knowledge but had their own mini raffles and you guessed it more strollers were given away.
I think its awesome that not more then a year or two ago you wouldn’t catch a guy at this event and now its becoming pretty acceptable and soon it’ll be popular. No matter who you are, reporter/media, trend forecaster, trend setter, mom to be, dad to be, or just a friend – this is a must attend event. Starting looking forward to the next one in the fall!
For my vote the coolest daddy product I saw was the Taga Tricycle Stroller/bike, within a minute you can make a stroller into a trike that would be awesome to cruise around central park. I would follow that up by saying you should check out Fujifilm/SeeHere.com which could out put a picture onto a throw blanket.
We did it! We survived it! It was totally worth it!
Disney world’s Magic Kingdom is an awesome place it for me brings memories of my childhood as I imagine many of you. Yet, 20 years later its still amazing and awe-inspiring.
We stayed at the DoubleTree which was on Disney World property which included bus service to and from the park. If I had to do it again I would have driven to the park. The bus service came once an hour some where between 30-45 after the hour, it would stop at 5 other hotels before our and then head right to the park. Going to the park via the bus was OK, but it was getting home at night that was terrible! First they take you from magic kingdom to another property (say Epcot) then to the first 5 hotels about an hour later you get back to the hotel (uggg). Lesson learned pay the $15 and park using the shuttle bus service (which is SUPER SUPER FAST!).
When you arrive at the park you’re in the middle of nowhere – its just the entrance to the monorails and to where you purchase tickets. Once you figure out the most effective tickets, pre-plan your trip if you’re jumping from Magic Kingdom to Epcot or just staying at one park (there is a price difference) you’ll move to the monorails. The monorails in my mind used to be cooler but I guess when I was a kid I wasn’t jaded by a subway system that moves 8 million people a day. Marc still loved it!
Getting to the park you’re asked to use a finger print scanner (don’t remember that being there when I was a kid) but once you’re past security. It’s go time! You’re on Main Street – something that’s straight out of a small town in the 1800’s maybe early 1900’s I’m not even sure but you’ll still find the Dapper Dan’s Barbershop Quartet performing. Once you walk down main street you see the castle. Its pretty amazing and looks bigger then I remember.
We picked a direction after a few oops and wrong ways, we finally head towards the rides. I’m pretty sure the first was It’s a Small World, which Marc loved! We did the Cinderella’s Golden Carousel which was great both Marc and Suzanne loved being on the ride. We were able to take him on Peter Pan’s Flight, Buzz Lightyear’s – Spin, Carousel of Progress (which really didn’t work out well nor is it updated to be current anymore), Mad Tea Party, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mickey’s Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Tomorrowland Speedway.
We did go to the park with extended family my sister, step father and mother were there too. Which made going on adult rides while Marc napped a piece of cake. We got to do Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain.
In our time there we had two sit down lunches at Liberty Tree Tavern and The Plaza Pavilion. Both were enjoyable but took time away from waiting on lines or seeing a parade/show.
We did as much a family could in the two days we spent at Magic Kingdom and my great fear of Marc being scared of the characters was totally put to rest early on. He was slapping high fives with Chip and Dale right from the get go.
Overall its still a vacation that requires a family to save more then just a few dollars but its well worth it! The memories we created will last a lifetime and I’m very happy to have gotten the chance to do the kids sections with Marc and the adult rides with my wife (and sister and stepfather when they joined us).
A respected early childhood music educator in NYC for nearly a decade, Carlin also has genuine indie cred. (His old band toured with Radiohead and PJ Harvey, among others.) His exciting 6-piece family band is made up of pros, and they know how to rock. In concert, they’ve been known get crowds hopping around like kangaroos, and pounding their chests like big gorillas. With music that’s goofy and groovy, silly and sophisticated, John Carlin & The KMU continue to prove to audiences of all ages why they’ve earned the label ‘one of the best kids’ bands in NYC’. $15 (under 2 free)
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. April 11, 2010.
You get 1 entry for placing a comment your favorite kiddie rocks song is and please use 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:
@joespubnyc @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/anLoJG and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want to win @joespubnyc tickets from @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/anLoJG
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 of Joe’s Pub – facebook.com/joespub you must comment that you’re a fan
You get 1 extra entry for subscribing to our Feedburner digest mailing (right side subscribe by email) – you must also comment that you’ve subscribed
You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Joe’s Pub is providing these tickets for the raffle.
When I think Earth day I remember when I was a kid be talked about saving the earth. Now I feel like earth day is every day about being green and trying to be greener. I recycle, I use green products (mainly because my wife loves them), I shop at green markets (I’ll admit living across the street from one has made it easy) but in the end the things I never thought about were the toys.
