Most anemic watermelon

I want my $5.99 back! It’s not REALLY seedless either and it’s salty. Blah!

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Call me “sucker”

I was downloading my weekly free music from iTunes when I saw the rectangle at my eye level right in the center – Matt Hires for $7.99. Who is he? I am finding out as I listen to his debut album. All I know so far is that he is 22 (or 23, depends what you read, but who cares?) from Florida and I just purchased his first album. It’s actually pretty good – believe me, I previewed it many times before I actually clicked on “purchase.” And no, I don’t get suckered by infomercials or “as seen on tv” ads, but I am easily convinced by new musicians trying to sell their cds. If you’re playing at the train station or at the park, all you need is a guitar, a good voice, and good music and I’ll probably end up buying your cd. That’s really all it takes. In my pre-kid days, I would follow you to different venues. Now, I’ll just follow you on Twitter or Facebook.

Kid Idol

I should have known better than to bring Mads to this event, but I thought she might enjoy watching the local kid version of “miracle idol.” Instead, she kept wanting to be a part of it. Unfortunately, it is meant for performers 5 and up and, of course, she’s only 3 1/2. Had we waited until the end (4:30 pm) she may have had the opportunity to show off her moves (yes, there were dances, too). Too bad, 45 minutes into the show, WZR didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. So, we had to go. What we did see was pretty good. Kudos, kids!

Playgroup success measured by mess

This is the first playgroup we’ve hosted, and quite a while since we’ve had people over our house. I purposely wait until the night before to tidy up the playroom because like the birds who know when you’ve just gotten your car washed, my kids know my every move. Well, we had 6 kids altogether today and it seems everyone had a good time. You can tell by the mess factor; the bigger the mess, the more fun they had. I had snacks from Trader Joe’s: veggie stix, ginger cat cookies, snapea crisps, apple slices, and fat-free muffins. The most popular? The fat-free blueberry muffins. Smart kids.

Snacks to get from Chinatown

Very random, I know. The funny thing is, these aren’t even products of China, except for the dried pork, which is excellent with congee (rice with water), but I like to stay stocked with these. The panda cookies have chocolate inside the cookies. The gummy candy is addictive. There is even a milk-flavored Pocky now. Pocky was sighted at Caraluzzi’s when I was last there.

SBC Restaurant and Brewery is kid-friendly

On Sunday, after doing some light damage at the library book sale in Southport, we headed for an early dinner at the Southport Brewing Company. Ok, 5 pm is really early for us, but actually is a great time for families to dine. Although we were one of the first to be seated, the dining room gradually filled up with other families. While I didn’t particularly enjoy my mahi sandwich, my husband liked his burger and beer samples, and Mads did her best with her tray of salmon, steamed vegetables, french fries, fruit cup, ice cream, and chocolate milk (all for $7.95, mind you). Their kids’ menu is pretty extensive spanning from mac and cheese to salmon. There is also an infant and tots menu with just a few items (eg a box of cheerios). Mads’ meal appeared with our appetizer (we didn’t even ask for that). Other signs of kid-friendliness include a changing table in the main restroom and plastic flatware presented with the tray. Our waiter was hopefully new at his job, and he was lucky that the manager was very attentive to our needs (mostly because of Mads). Overall, we enjoyed our reasonably-priced experience and would go back for their brunch or family nights (Sundays).

The Greatest Show on Earth: BOOM A RING!

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s BOOM A RING runs through September  7th under the big top, and it was really worth the trip to Coney Island (only took us about 90 minutes to get there from Weston). In fact, Mads had been talking about going to this for DAYS. Before that, she would beg to go see it every time the commercial came on TV. Can you blame her? She finally met and interacted with the stars during the “all access pre-show” and then sat 6 rows behind the ring to enjoy death-defying acts, “flying princesses”, funny clowns, bicycle antics, and animal tricks. Ok, Mads was a wee-bit overwhelmed at first, but then she realized that THIS IS REAL! Her favorite was the “rope girl” and the “rings girl,” who also tamed the white tigers. For my husband, he took it all in as this was his first ever circus experience. MY favorite was the bicyclist, but I enjoyed it all, even with 30 pounds on my lap the whole time. Actually, WZR was VERY well-behaved for 99% of it; amazing in itself since the lights went out, there was loud noise, and large animals were in the ring. This was my second ever RBBB experience, and I’m glad I got to share it with my family. We highly recommend this show! Make sure you arrive an hour early to take advantage of the pre-show (try on a costume, swing on the mini-trapeze, take pictures with the stars, etc.). There are also mini-acts by the stars that are different from the actual show, like amazing rope jumping and other acrobatic acts. Ticket prices are really affordable ($25 for lower bleacher seats). The tent is small enough that all seats are good, so don’t miss out! We’ll probably visit the Barnum museum in Bridgeport at some point.

Moms (Twitter/Facebook addicts), want to win tickets? Just send an email with a link to your page and they’ll choose 5 random winners for 4 free tickets. Good luck!

Awesome iPhone photo app

Autostitch is really amazing! Two of my posts have panoramic photos so far, thanks to my iPhone and this new app my husband found for $1.99. If you like taking photos, especially at parties, this is a good one to add to your collection of apps. There IS really an app for everything!

Books, cookies, and food, oh my!

Tents on left sell food and baked items. Large tent on right holds entrance/exit from book sale. There is a larger tent to the right (not shown)

If you haven’t made it to the Pequot Library Book Sale, yet, Sunday is kids’ day. There will be live music at 1:00 PM and kids who dress up as their favorite storytime animal (or who bring a stuffed animal with them) get a free children’s book. Don’t forget to pick up some cookies from the tent on the left of the entrance (ginger snaps or molasses cookies for 25 cents each). Then after you’ve spent all your energy (and money) on literature, audio, or prints, you can refuel with a hot dog, fruit salad, cold drink, or other snacks from the food tent (prices ok). Hurry, books are moving out of the tent QUICKLY!

Scissor-proof scissor pack

This is a great pack of 3 multi-purpose scissors with a sharpener. They are durable, sharp, blah blah blah. All for a great low price of $9.99. Only one problem: you can’t open them with the blunt scissors that you wanted to replace with these. Brilliant, huh? Yes, you can use a knife, but that could dull the knife in a second. I eventually got the package to open, but not without some heavy-duty ripping.