A Few Fries Short

Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

I was approached about doing a review for Big Universe and even though I don’t do a lot of reviews, I thought I would do this one as my 7 year old loves to read anything that he can find.  He also takes our small note pads and makes stories for us, page by page.  I figured this would be the perfect outlet for him!

I’m surprised I have not heard of this website before.  It is really easy to navigate around and in a matter of minutes, my son knew how to look for books on any topic he wanted.  I helped him with the first book, one on space which we read to the end, then he kicked me off so he could do it by himself.

There are only 4 tabs at the top of the page: HOME,  READ, CREATE & PUBLISH, SHARE WITH OTHERS.  So it is easy to find the area that you want.  At first we tried looking for a particular book that he was reading at school, but we couldn’t find it.  So we used the drop down menu to find a book that would fit his age, grade level and reading ability.  So if he wants to read about pets at a 2nd grade reading level, he can just start typing Pets in the search box.  The neat thing is that it has auto complete so he only had to type a couple of letters and he found what he wanted and just clicked it.

Making a book was relatively easy too.  While we didn’t create an entire book, we did make the first page.  They have like 7,000 pieces of clip art that you can use.  If you want to make a book more personal, you can upload your own photos.  I was thinking how nice that would be to give as a Christmas gift for his grandparents.  He could make specialized books for all of them.   It was really easy to drag and drop a picture to the page.  We figured it out in under 3 minutes by ourselves.  They also have a demo that you can watch and they also have a link for tips and tricks.

It isn’t a small site either.  Here is a bullet list of information on what they have on their site:

• 16076 members
• 7478 books in bookshelves
• 9124 books created
• 675 books shared
• 1169 books recommended
• 1253 friend connections

I keep a close eye on what I allow my son to do online without supervision.  They are a few sites that are saved that he knows he can go and play games at.  It will be nice to know he has a site that he likes to use that isn’t about game playing, but is educational.

I was lucky enough to be given a pair of the RockBuds to try out.  All because I was taking my wife’s ChicBuds to use with my mp3 player when I worked out.

Well, today I put them to the test!  I worked out for 90 minutes at my gym while using them.  Then I came home and did all my yard work while still wearing them.  Not only were they really comfortable, but when I was doing my yardwork, which included using a gas trimmer, lawnmower and gas blower, I had no problem hearing my music!  That was such a nice change from the drone of the gas engines that I usually have to listen to.  There are several things that I love about my RockBuds. First of all the earbud is actually shaped to fit my ear. The other earbuds I’ve worn are round and hurt my ear after a few minutes. The RockBuds earbud is actually shaped to fit comfortably in my ear. With all my other headphones I’ve ever had, when I was done wearing them, I would just wrap the cord around something and over time, the wire would break or get damaged. With my RockBuds, I don’t have that problem. It retracts and doesn’t get pinched so the cord doesn’t get damaged. Another thing I love about my RockBuds is that it clips on. That way when I am wearing them, they just don’t hang from my ears.

ChicBuds is coming out with more products for guys.  I can’t wait to see what else they come up with.  As I looked around their site, I kept finding things I thought would make excellent gifts for women.  Another thing that really surprised me is that you don’t have to buy them online.  I was amazed at all the locations that carry them, including Best Buy!

I would like to thank Kailynn from ChicBuds for letting me have such a great product for my first review ever!

This hotel ROCKS!   This is where we have been living since the pipe burst.  I think we are going to be here at least 2 more weeks.  I haven’t ever really stayed at a Hilton hotel before and I have been very impressed, not only with the hotel itself, but especially with the employees here.  Our room is about as comfortable as could be, for not being able to be at home.  Here is the link to see our room and view pictures of it.  (OUR ROOM! Although it is not actually our room, it is the same suite that we have)

I will actually miss this place when we have to go home. 

I took my family to see Dora the Explorer live onstage Wednesday night. The tickets were about $28 each. A Boots stuffed animal was $15 and a stuffed rescue pack was $20. Small bottles of water were $2. I knew it was going to be expensive, but since it was for the kids, I sucked it up. I wasn’t even upset until Thursday morning when my son was watching Dora and the episode he was watching was the SAME EXACT SHOW we saw onstage! I think if you are going to put on a show, don’t just cannibalize the series! I want original content! I could have saved over $150 and just watched the episode on TV. Unlike last year when we took the kids to see Thomas the Tank Engine live onstage, Dora left a bad taste in my mouth!