Classic Movies

Every once in a while, we have  family movie night.  The kids can stay up a little bit later an watch a movie.   I have been scheduling various children and family movies to be recorded on our DVR.  Our kids have really enjoyed some of the classic movies.  They have really enjoyed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, and Black Stallion.

RoboGames

RoboGames is coming to San Francisco in June.  A few years ago, I went and had a blast.  Maybe this year I will take our son.  I think that he would love it.

[via GeekDad]

[picture by Scott Beale]

Cars Soundtrack Sale

Amazon is selling the Cars soundtrack
for $1.99.  The kids like this music, when ever they hear songs from the album, even the youngest one says "Lightning McQueen"

[via PC Stuff for the Average Guy!]

One

This week we bought the book One
, by Kathryn Otoshi.  This is a great book that talks about bullies.  The best thing about the book is the beautiful water color illustrations.  I would definitely recommend this book.

Y! Lil' Kidz Tunes

Our kids like to listen to Kids Place Live on XM Radio, while we are in the car.  At home we have purchased some kids music that we play in their rooms.  The kids have started to get tired of the music that we have (and so have we.)  We play Pandora on our Squeezeboxes, but unfortunately Pandora doesn't have children's music.

I was browsing the radio stations that we have on our Sqeezebox, and I found Y! Lil' Kidz Tunes.  This is one of Yahoo's children's radio stations.  The kids like it, I like it because I don't have to listen to the same songs over and over again.

10 stories behind Dr. Seuss books

This post has some interesting stories behind Dr. Seuss books.

[via Strollerderby]

Qimo

We are thinking about getting our kids a computer to replace the, now, non-functional iBook that they used to use.  Qimo looks interesting for our kids.  Qimo is a Linux distribution that has been customized for kids 3 and older.  The launcher has been customized to have larger icons, and comes preinstalled with games for kids.

You can run Qimo from the CD, so I will probably check it out before installing it.  One thing that I hope to be able to find is a modified browser where I can specify the sites where they can go, and it will ask for a password if attempting to navigate anywhere else.

time lapse video of 9 month old

This is a pretty cool video of a 9 month old playing over 4 hours, compressed to 2 minutes.

 
http://www.youtube.com/v/8vNxjwt2AqY

[via Boing Boing]

Rocketship Run

We are fans of Laurie Berkner and the Laurie Berkner Band.  Her music has always been something that we can sing with the kids.  Buzz Buzz and Victor Vito are great albums.  A few months ago, I saw that Laurie Berkner had a new album.  I purchased Rocketship Run
from the Amazon MP3 store.

So far, I don't like this album.  The kids do like it, and keep playing it on their SqueezeBox.  I am not sure what it is about the album th at I don't lik, but I would recommend getting her other albums over this one.

Dog Train

There is a lot of kids music that I can't stand listening to.  For example I don't like Raffi and The Wiggles.  XM Kids, Kids Place Live now, plays songs that parents don't mind listening to.  For a while, they have played the song "I Need a Nap", which is a pretty funny song sung by Kate Winslet and Wierd Al.  Last week the DJ mentioned that that song is on the album "Dog Train"
.  All of the songs on this album were written by Sandra Boynton, who is the author of a lot of the children's books that we have.

I purchased the album from Amazon MP3, and I like it a lot.  The songs are sung by some well known artists.  The kids like the album as well.

RV Vacation

We rented an RV for vacation this year, and we had a great time.  We were going to vist family for the holidays, and we wanted to have a less hectic drive down there.  Normally we would have all piled in the minivan, and driven down in one sitting.  We would have either driven down udring the day, but the kids would get pretty restless, and we would have to deal with that.  Or we would leave when it gets dark, and the kids would sleep the whole way down.  The only problem is that when we got there, the kids would be up, while we would be tired.

We thought that we would rent an RV, and take our time on the trip.  On the way to the Palm Springs area, we spent a night in Big Sur, a couple in Pismo Beach, and a night in Pomono.  This was wonderful, as we were able to play in a river in Big Sur and play on the beach in Pismo Beach with the kids. 

In addition to those stops, we were able to stop at various places along the way.  We stopped in Solvang, which is looks like a Danish village.  Outside of Solvang is a Ostrich farm called Ostrich Land.  Also we stopped at the Dinosaurs in Cabazon, which is was shown in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

Greenhorn Creek Guest Ranch

When I was a kid I heard, and saw on tv shows and in movies, where people would go on summer vacations where the kids would go fishing and swimming, spending time with their parents. I never really went on those type of vacations when I was a kid, and didn't think that they really existed.

For the past three years, we have gone to the Greenhorn Creek Guest Ranch.  This dude ranch is right outside of Quincy CA.  We have had a blast every single time that we have gone.  The kids love it, even though they are too young to ride out on the trails.  They go fishing, catch frogs, go swimming.  There are wagon rides to cookouts.  One night a week, the kids are able to race the frogs that they caught.  There is a game room with various games, that our son loves to play.  For the kids over 6 years old, they can ride their horses on the trails.

For everyone, in addition to the riding, there is a softball and volleyball games against the staff .  There is also a card night, a karaoke night, a guest rodeo, and a bunch of other activities.

For us, the best part about going is that we can go and have fun with our kids, and not have to worry about making food or cleaning up the room.  And we know that when we are on our rides, that the kids are safe and having fun.

We would recommend the Greenhorn Creek Guest Ranch to everyone.

Helping with the dishes

Our dog was helping with the dishes.  (Of course it is easier when the little one drops the bowl on the floor from the high chair)

TotSpot

TotSpot is a site that wants to be the place where you share informartion about your kids, as they grow up, with family members.  You can share photos, journal, or milestones with family.  Also, TotSpot is trying to be the place where you can keep these record for your own purposes.  They will soon be adding the ability to order baby books that contain the information and photos that you have uploaded.  These could be some very nice books, assuming that you consistantly enter information for your kids.

TotSpot allows you to specify access controls for who can access the site that you have set up.  In addition to that access controls, you can see a log of who accesses your site.

[TechCrunch]

My Own Shower

Our kids don't really like showers, but they don't mind baths.  Unfortunately, their baths take a lot of time, and use a lot of water.

I saw the My Own Shower at Smarthome, and I thougt that it would help the kids take showers.  I installed it on Saturday, and the kids seem to like it. We'll see if their current tendancy towards showers continues.

Bing Bang Boing

Now, this looks like a fun game.  Now why don't they make any games like this any more?  I mean, don't you miss the games that teach physics like this.  How bad are flying choking hazzards anyway?

http://www.youtube.com/v/58-LXdEkLtY

[via Boing Boing] 

Simpler Family Life ideas

This blog post has some very good tips to make family life easier with kids.  I really like these suggestions:

1. Self-sufficiency


2. One Calendar


3. Quiet bedtime routines


4. Reduce Commitments

[via The Blogfathers]

Adult lollipops

This post on Strollerderby mentions some hilarious, but real, lollipops.

The Kid's Song

Yesterday, I decided to listed to last.fm, which I haven't done in a while.  While listening, I heard The Kid's Song by Moxy Früvous.  This is a pretty fun song, that I think that the kids would like, and I don't mind.  I am going to check out the other songs on the album, to see if we want to get it.

http://xml.truveo.com/eb/i/2732558404/a/58ef677afb89fc040e3dec6de7dd6c26/p/1

Britax Sale

Amazon is having a sale on Britax products.  We really like the Roundabout, and have two of them.