GameStop has it all!

As soon as the temperature rises and school starts winding down, kids nationwide begin preparing for summer vacation. For us parents, this "vacation" can sometimes be anything but, as those so-called lazy days of summer often mean more time spent shuttling kids to and from friends' houses, the pool, and summer camp. It also means we're on the lookout for fun and safe activities that will keep the whole family entertained and fill the endless days of summer.

As we gear up for summer, MomCentral is spreading the word to moms to think of GameStop as a family-friendly source for video games of all kinds and for all ages, from Final Fantasy VII and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon to Crosswords DS (a nice option just in case Mom or Dad can squeeze in a turn). I also love that the GameStop employees I've run into always seem to have helpful suggestion while keeping in mind the ESRB standards. In fact, they will actually refuse to sell mature-content games to a child who isn't of the appropriate age. And they're also incredibly helpful to a sad mom who doesn't have a clue as to what her teens are playing these days, never mind on what platform. With the XBox, the WII, and Playstation3, I don't know how anyone can keep track of what game plays on what platform, but the Gamestop folks are great with this kid of help!

With the rise in popularity of gaming, it seems like every week there's a new game my kids are pleading for, and yet a week later it's in the corner and they're on to begging for the next one. Thankfully, GameStop offers a trade-in program that lets you bring in the old games and get credit towards new titles or systems (especially important with the way the economy is going). In addition to keeping more money in your pocket, this will help ensure that your whole family has fun all summer long. GameStop also sells used games, which is an excellent option when you're spending money on pricey games. Every used game is checked out before they sell it, to ensure that it works correctly and has been cleaned off the former owners scores.

One of the things we seem to spend Gift money on are the "essential" peripherals, like extra controllers for when you have a bunch of friends over.

Another thing I love about our local GameStop is it's location. Ours happens to be in a strip mall right next to both DSW and Old Navy. If I need to get my teen son new shoes or clothing and he's, say, resistant to shopping, I can always bribe him with a trip to GameStop. Heh. Us moms have to be crafty, eh?

Beaches Family Resort

Recently, I learned about Beaches Resorts from MomCentral. Actually, I knew about Beaches but always thought is was a couples destination, as opposed to a family retreat. I was not only pleased to see how beautiful and upscale the resorts look, but as a parent, I was THRILLED to see that a sponsor of Sesame Street, the resorts offer a bunch of events with their favorite characters. Activities include Sesame Street Stage Shows, Story Time with Elmo, Baking with Cookie Monster, Dancing with Zoe, and more. Kids can even eat breakfast with their favorite Sesame Street friends too! I wish this had been around when I was wealthy and I know my kids would think they'd gone to heaven if we had been lucky enough to visit Beaches.

If your children, like mine, are well beyond the Sesame Street years, not to worry. Though each of the four different Beaches destinations features different adventures, you can be sure everyone will be satisfied. The Negril, Boscobel and Turks & Caicos locations have Pirates Island Water Parks with gigantic waterslides, kid-friendly pools and swim-up soda bars. Supervised kids camps for all ages are available at all destinations, from newborns to tweens and teens. Kids can also take advantage of the Crayola Art Camps and an Xbox 360® Game Garage, featuring the latest video games the entire family can enjoy. Here's hoping they get a WII too, maybe with a WII Fit game.

There's plenty of fun to be had for parents as well. Included in the all-inclusive price is luxurious accommodations, up to ten restaurants (kids-oriented and adults-only), access to the spa as well as activities like scuba diving and golf (additional cost).

And here's the best part - Beaches just announced the unique WonderFALL Celebration, taking place during the off-peak season months of September and October. Not only do you get to enjoy everything Beaches offers year-round but you can SAVE up to 45% off** published rates and get 2 Nights Free**(on stays of 7 nights or more).

As part of this WonderFALL Celebration, Beaches has a great fall line up of special events and activities. From even more Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street® that includes the premiere of a brand new stage show and a new activity with Abby Cadabby, exclusive Gordon and Elmo live performances and special parenting workshops hosted by Sesame educators, to Dive In Movies, "Baby You're A Star Photo Contest"( where your baby or toddler could win the chance to be featured in the next Beaches brochure) and even a celebration for Grandparents, it's all happening this FALL at Beaches family resorts.

Now all I need to know is, who is going to pay for our vacation to Beaches. Oy, do I need one!

Publish Post

Strawberry Season is here!

I recently learned that 88% of the nation’s strawberries are grown and harvested in California and this yeargrowers will be picking nearly 6 million crates of delicious, ripe strawberries.

Tell your kids:

• If you lined up all of the strawberries grown in California in one straight line, they would wrap around the entire Earth 15 times.
• About this guessing game! Have them guess how many seeds are on each strawberry. (There are about 200 seeds on the outside of each strawberry.)
• California harvests over a billion pounds of strawberries annually.
  
• One acre of land (about the size of one football field) grows about 50,000 pounds of strawberries - that's the same weight as 4 elephants!

For us parents, it’s worth knowing:

• Strawberries contain powerful antioxidants and rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange.
• Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure. Not bad for a little red berry!
• The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer's disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function.

There is a web site just for young children called Strawberryville.com, with tons of fun animation, interactive games, activities, recipes(for mom and dad) and facts about the little red fruits of yummyness.

We eat so many strawberries, especially in a low calorie shortcake, I know we're about to turn into strawberries in our house!

The Other Boleyn Girl

Very rarely in my life do I get to use the word opportunistic. But after reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, all I can say is, the courtiers described in this book are the most opportunistic, grabby, ambitious people that might ever have lived. I honestly can't believe that a family would continually put their children's happiness and well-being aside in order to gain power in the court.

This isn't a book you want to pick up lightly. It's 660 pages of deceit, misery, loss, and coercion based upon the story of the very unhappy but ambitious Anne Boleyn as told by her sister Mary. Anything written about the six wives of Henry VII of England has to contain the before and after stories of Henry's continual quest for a son. His first wife, Katherine of Aragon, was a virtuous woman that employed both Boleyn girl as her handmaiden. They lived in her chambers, kept her company, helped her with her tapestry projects, and slept with her husband the king. Katherine looked on as Henry fell in love first with Mary, with whom he had two children, and then the much more ambitious and cruel sister Anne. Mary, who was married herself when her family put her forward as new entertainment for the king, stepped aside as her sister Anne was pushed into the position of his next paramour. Except that Anne refused to sleep with Henry, which drove him mad with desire.

Anne insisted that Henry get rid of Queen Katherine, which led to his request for a dispensation from the Pope in Rome declaring his marriage to Katherine null and void. The Pope took his own sweet time deciding, and years passed with Anne becoming more and more demanding, and Henry more desirous of Anne's obvious charms. By the time the Pope made his decision, Anne was an enemy of the people for usurping Katherine's role. Henry married her anyways, and she went on to conceive a girl child, Elizabeth, who later became the greatest monarch in English history. But girls were of no value to Henry. He only wanted sons. Anne went on to miscarry several times and grew out of favor with the king. Eventually he had her charged with witchcraft and she was beheaded at the Tower of London, but not before Henry had become involved with Jane Seymour, who was to be wife number three.

This book was a real page turner and I very much enjoyed reading it. I love historical novels, especially ones that are both well written and very descriptive of the period in which the story takes place. This book has both. However, it's exceptionally long, and I'm not entirely convinced that some of the many moves from Palace to Palace might have been condensed. I don't think we really needed to hear of every Christmas fete and every Easter ball.

I did very much enjoy Mary's viewpoint on her family, especially her brother George and sister Anne. Using Mary as a central character when describing Anne's sordid court life and nefarious behavior allowed us to glimpse a less glorious world at court than is usually described. Indeed, the misery inside this King's home was legendary and allowing a voice of an insider who is dissatisfied with court life made it all come alive for me.

Road Map to Holland

Road Map to Holland is written by Jennifer Graf Groneberg. It is a moving depiction of the first two years after the birth of her twin sons, Avery and Bennett. The boys were born 7 weeks premature after a difficult pregnancy. Tested in the NICU, it is discovered that Avery was born with Down Syndrome. This book takes the reader through the painful realization that Avery would be developmentally delayed and 'different' than the author's other sons.

Now, to be honest, I have to disclose that I've got twins that were born 6 weeks premature and one child had a fairly severe diagnosis even before she was born. Now my twins are almost 16, they are both special needs children, and I've experienced many of the same things as the author. However, my reactions were radically different and I had a difficult time reading much of this book because I just couldn't understand why Groneberg acted as she did. We're obviously very different people, but I felt that the book was highly self-indulgent and that Groneberg felt sorrier for herself than she did for her child.

I'm unsure why she didn't have the prenatal testing that would have helped her prepare for her son's arrival. I'm not sure why her reaction to having a special needs child was to call him "broken." Why she said that all her hopes and dreams were also broken because she didn't get what she wanted. That was hurtful to me, a parent that never, for one second, felt that way about my own special twins.

This book is well written, the prose is poetic at times, but the underlying 'feel sorry for me' attitude that pervaded the telling of this tale made it, for me, a very difficult read. I realize that I'm personalizing someone else's story, but I have problems with how seemingly ungrateful and downright embarassed she was about her newborn baby. Taking him out seemed almost impossible for her because she was so fearful of the looks she might get. As parents, we know that even the most perfect of children get weird looks. I just didn't understand Groneberg's attitude throughout the book.

As she came to accept Avery's differences and to come to terms with her own seemingly rejecting behavior, it was apparent that the bonding finally happened and her love for Avery grew. I'm happy about that, because no child deserves to be held at arms length by a parent that can't quite cope with the misfortune of rearranged chromosomes. Sometimes it just happens and the child should never be penalized for that outcome.

I'm glad I read this book, however much I didn't enjoy it. I think it has a place in the homes of any parent who has a special needs child, even one without Down syndrome. It is a valuable read, though rarely pleasant, that shows the difficulty of acceptance that some parents feel towards their special children. I think that's an honest representation of one way to look at acceptance, and I hope that those that do read it will glean something positive from the book.

This review sponsored by MotherTalk.

Jennifer Graf Groneberg’s Website
Jennifer Graf Groneberg’s Blog