Photos Archives - Page 28 of 60

Review and Giveaway: Aerobie Sprint Flying Rings

May 3, 2011 TechyDad Fun, Giveaway, Photos, Review

Now that spring is here, we can go outdoors for extended periods of time. This means playtime at the park: slides, climbing, throwing frisbees. What could be better? How about tossing an Aerobie around?

You see, NHL and JSL haven’t quite gotten the knack of throwing a frisbee. NHL’s throws tend to not travel far and JSL’s barely leave the ground. So, while we do have fun, there isn’t any distance involved. Enter the Aerobie Sprint flying ring.

The minute the boys saw the flying ring, they wanted to try it out. I had them wait until we went to the park. Good thing too, because that disc can really fly! NHL was able to send it quite some distance. I didn’t measure, but I’d guess his throws easily topped 30 feet. JSL had more trouble, but he also had a few successful throws. His only went about 10 feet or so, but I’d call that impressive for an almost-four year old. As for me? I got some seriously far throws in as well.

This is definitely something you’ll want to play with where there’s plenty of room. At one point, NHL threw the ring towards me when we were too close to the edge of the park and it almost went into the road. After that, I made sure all throws were directed into the park and not outside of it.

We all loved playing with the Aerobie and it definitely attracted attention. Before long, two other kids in the park joined our game of catch. I’d definitely recommend this for anyone with kids (or even just adults) and a large amount of land to toss the ring across.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint, one lucky winner will receive an Aerobie Sprint flying ring. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What activity do you and/or your children like doing best in your local park or playground?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete. (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Have some fun in a local playground with the Aerobie Sprint flying ring from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/iphzny #Giveaway
Subscribe to my RSS feed or let me know if you already are. (1 bonus entry)
Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from March/April/May. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, May 3rd and ends at Noon EST on May 17th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

A Look Back At Disney: Kilimanjaro Safari

April 28, 2011 TechyDad Animals, Disney, DisneySMMoms, Photos, Vacation, Wildlife

One of my favorite “rides” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is Kilimanjaro Safari. I use “ride” in quotes because, despite the “chase the poachers” storyline at the end, it feels more like an actual African safari than a ride.

Of course, a big reason why I like it is taking photos of the animals. This can be a bit frustrating, though. The car you’re riding in goes over bumps and doesn’t always stop for every animal. Some animals might be right in the clear, giving you the perfect shot.

“Who says I need a bath? Want to come closer and say that?” *sharpens nose-horn*

Other animals hang back and make you use your camera’s zoom to the fullest… and then make you wish you had an ultra-super-mega zoom lens you could attach.

I promise there’s an animal in there. Lying down. No, really, there is.

Of course, when you go on safari, you never quite know what to expect. One trip can be a washout for elephant sightings while another one can have the most unexpected cuteness around!

Yes, that’s Mommy and Baby Elephant walking to the pond. Isn’t Baby Elephant so cute?!!! Lots of awwww’s were uttered, I assure you.

The big things (like elephants) are great, but it’s the small touches that turn this from a “ride through a glorified zoo” into “African safari moved into Florida.” Small things like these termite mounds.

Given Disney’s quest for realism, we’re left wondering if that’s a fake termite mound or if they imported actual African termites. I’m leaning towards fake only because real termites would be tricky to keep confined. They’d tend to get out and munch on other sources of wood. Pretty soon you’d have these mounds popping up all over Disney World and that wouldn’t look too good. As a side note, while impressive, I’d *hate* to see one of these pop up in my yard. I think I’d just wave a white flag and surrender my house to the wood-munchers at that point. Those things can clearly out-build me!

If you find yourself in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, whatever you do, don’t miss the Kilimanjaro Safari! But before you get on, make sure your camera is ready. You’ll need it!

The Beginning and Ending of Passover

April 26, 2011 TechyDad Dessert, Family, Food, Holidays, JSL, Judaism, NHL, Photos

Today is the last day of Passover. During the day, we’ll eat up some of the remaining matzoh and dream of the bread-filled meals coming the next day. Technically, we can break Passover tonight, but, practically, eating dinner after 8:30pm isn’t worth it, even if it will be our first non-Passover meal in 8 days.

I was going to end with a Cooking With TechyDad post on how to make matzoh brie, but I realized that I did that last year. So instead, I’ll give you a quick photo tour of our Passover experience.

The day before Passover, we mostly spent cleaning and shopping. However, we did have one unexpected treat. As we pulled into a local Target’s parking lot, we saw a familiar pink truck. It was the Fluffalicious cupcake truck!

We decided to get the boys one cupcake each and split a giant cupcake between the two of us. NHL got a S’mores cupcake. JSL chose a chocolate banana cupcake. B and I split a giant cookie dough cupcake. (Let me tell you: It’s torture to go through these photos during Passover!)

The morning before Passover, I went to temple very early. You see, because one of the plagues was death of the first born, first born Jewish males have to fast the day before Passover. However, there’s a way out of this obligation. If you attend a special learning session, you have to celebrate afterwards by participating in a celebratory meal. And once you eat, you’re let out of the fast for the rest of the day.

After temple, we went out to Friendly’s for breakfast. B had eggs and french toast (which I don’t have a photo of), I had eggs and pancakes and the boys had M&M pancakes.

Sadly, while delicious, this was our last non-Passover food for the next 8 days.

That night, we went to B’s aunt’s house for the Passover seder. We had a great time with family and had fabulous food.

The next night we had the second seder. In many ways, it was a repeat of the first. Lots of good times and good food with family.

During the rest of Passover, we dealt with a finicky child’s hunger strike (luckily, it turns out he really likes matzoh pizza), a lot of exhaustion and a lot of matzoh. Tonight, we’ll pack up our Passover pans, cooking utensils and the like and put them away for another year. I can’t say we’ll be very sorry to see it go. Passover is fun, but by now we are all dreaming of our favorite non-Kosher-for-Passover foods!

Wordless Wednesday: Cupcake Head and Cute Cousins

April 20, 2011 TechyDad Family, JSL, NHL, Photos, Wordless Wednesday

A French Cake Wrecks Meetup and Disney Steampunk Inspirations

April 14, 2011 TechyDad Cake, Dessert, Disney, DisneySMMoms, Food, Geeky Pursuits, Photos

Have you ever read CakeWrecks? If not, you definitely should. People from all over send Jen and John photos of badly designed/executed cakes done by professionals. These might be funny on their own, but Jen and John don’t simply post the photos. They include hilarious commentary as well. The end result is a website that can often result in you laughing out loud thus alerting your co-workers to the fact that the website you’re on is not work related. (Not that I’d ever do that, mind you!)

Anyway, as we were planning to go to Disney World for DisneySMMoms, I noticed a Cake Wrecks post that mentioned that Jen and John reside in Orlando. I asked if they’d be interested in a meet-up and they said yes!

While walking through Disney World, I was so looking forward to meeting the folks behind Cake Wrecks that I began seeing Steampunk influences in various locations in Disney World. Ok, this might require some explanation.

Many of you are probably saying “What the @%^# is Steampunk?” First of all, you should all be ashamed of yourselves for using that kind of language. That aside, Steampunk envisions a world in which steam powers everything. (For a detailed analysis of Steampunk, consult Wikipedia.) From many readings of Jen’s other blog Epbot, I know that they like Steampunk. So my brain seemed to home in on Steampunk elements.

One thing about Steampunk is that gears and bronze coloring are big.

Those shots are from the Dumbo ride. Yes, the ride known for letting kids of all ages fly atop an elephant is secretly a Steampunk ride!

This robot can be found outside of House of Blues in Downtown Disney right near where La Nouba is located. I’m not positive that Steampunk includes robots, but if it did, I think this is what one might look like.

Of course, my imagination being what it is, I couldn’t help but expand on Steampunk. Introducing Junglepunk!

These are from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. The river turns the big wheel which pulls ropes to move a series of buckets. The buckets collect water, get lifted high up and then spill their contents onto a series of drainage gutters which lead to a storage vessel in the kitchen. I’d bet you could design a whole series of “technology based on running water” I believe Futurama has already provided one:

Getting back to the Swiss Family Treehouse (which my boys loved so much that we walked through it twice back-to-back and then they complained when we didn’t go through a third time), I loved the look of this piano.

Getting back to the “*punk” genre expansions, though, how about “Toypunk”?

I’m thinking that the Lincoln Logs could be miniaturized and used to replace gears in a Steampunk-esque design. Steampunk meets Toy Story!

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Cake Wrecks-TechyDad/TheAngelForever meet up. We had agreed to meet in Epcot’s France area. Twice prior to this, the boys and I (and B on one of the occasions) ate at Patisserie. Both times, the boys had Cheese Tartine – French bread topped with a touch of sauce and some cheese. No, it’s not pizza. That would be found in Italy and this was France! Both times I had the vegetable quiche. Both times, I eyed the pastries. Please excuse the drool as I think of them again.

When we met, we got a seat and then John, the boys and I went to procure some snacks. JSL wanted chocolate cake, NHL saw John getting a strawberry tart and wanted one. Me? I had my eyes on the Napoleon. (There’s that pesky drool again.)

As good as it looked, it tasted even better. As we ate, we talked about various subjects both online-related and offline-related. A good time was had by all. Even when JSL – with perfect kid-timing declared he needed to use the restroom and I had to walk all the way from France to Morocco to find one for him. The lengths dads will go for their kids and I didn’t even get any frequent flier miles!

Pretty soon the snacks were consumed and it was time to head out. We said goodbye and went out separate ways. Here’s hoping we can meet again the next time we go to Disney or if they happen to be in the Upstate NY area!

« 1 … 26 27 28 29 30 … 60 »