Random Pix
08
Nov, 2010
Aubrey's Mickey Mote Review
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Aubrey is ready to get started!
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Today Aubrey and I received a new Disney Mickey Mote to try out and Aubrey’s review is in!
The Mickey Mote is a preschooler remote control device that allows the viewer to interact with special Disney DVDs in a “Discovery” mode. The lucky preschooler’s parent or caretaker gets to program the Micky Mote with the DVD remote and then you are pretty much ready to get started. Also, you are able to play the interactive Discovery mode games with your regular DVD remote arrow buttons.
The Mickey Mote seems fairly simple, and not to brag, but my kid’s no dummy, so I thought she’d pick it up quickly. Aubrey is just under 3-1/2 years old and this product is being marketed to children between 2-5 years of age.
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She really wanted to “do the star”
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She loved the packaging and couldn’t wait to get it out of the box!
She loved the buttons and wanted to “do the star” immediately
There were a couple issues getting started: The Mickey Mote requires 2 AAA batteries which aren’t included and I didn’t have on hand. I had to charge up our rechargeable batteries and this made Aubrey really antsy having to wait. I popped in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Numbers Roundup DVD but apparently I programmed the buttons in the wrong sequence because I feel the directions weren’t written in the best sequence. When we tried to answer the first questions on the DVD, it wasn’t reading correctly, so this caused a little more lag time. (see the video)
I had to reprogram it and then we had it right. By this time Aubrey had lost a little bit of interest in answering the questions and simply wanted to watch. She also wasn’t very interested in answering the questions correctly, but just wanted to click the characters or pictures she liked the best. Aubrey is a girl with strong opinions, much like her mother.
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Aubrey tries it on her own
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Now, before I go any further, I should mention that I have the world’s CHEAPEST DVD player. It was the cheapest one you can get at Best Buy about 2 years ago, so maybe it’s a little slower than others, but Aubrey seemed to be a little impatient waiting for the questions to load and then go back to the cartoon action. It was like a pause, then the question, then a pause before returning to the actual cartoon. I also felt there was a bit too much cartoon in between each question and the questions weren’t worded really well for a preschooler. I had to really help Aubrey understand what they were asking.
One other negative is that even though the remote is easy for little hands to hold, my 3 yr old didn’t quite understand the concept of pointing it right at the DVD player to get it to work. Once again, my total piece of doo-doo DVD player might not respond quite as well as others’ DVD players, so you might not have a problem with this, but it seemed like it didn’t work very well unless it was pointed pretty directly to the player.
Now, for the good part… it’s Disney and my kid loves anything Disney. As a test, I started out working with her, helping her answer the questions and prompting her to push the correct buttons and then I let her go and sat back to observe. Once she was doing it on her own, she wasn’t getting the answer correct most of the time, but she still enjoyed playing with it and pretending she was doing even more than just answering the actual questions.
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Who doesn’t want to see this face on their TV?
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She loves Mickey’s Clubhouse and really enjoyed watching the DVD, even if the Mickey Mote wasn’t quite up her alley. She dances and sings along to the songs and bottom line, I think this will be a lot more fun and appropriate for her several months from now. This is the first kind of “video game” she has been introduced to at home, so I think she’ll catch on with a little practice. I’m thinking four and five year olds will really get this right away and for two and three year olds, it’s something you and your child will probably have to play with together and learn as you go. Nothing wrong with that.
Just in time for holiday shopping, the new Mickey Mote will be available beginning Nov 16, 2010, packaged in a DVD Play Set with either Mickey Mouse: Clubhouse Numbers Roundup or Handy Manny: Big Construction Job. It retails for around $29.99 and the other Discovery Mode enhanced DVDs are already on the market and ready to use with your new Mickey Mote, including Handy Manny’s Motocycle Adventure, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally, Little Einstein’s Fire Truck Rocket’s Blast Off and six additional titles.
I hope you found this review helpful and happy Mickey Moting everyone! Woohoo!
I was not compensated for this review and I did receive the product to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed on this blog are completely my own. So there.
Tags: Amy Anderson • dismmdvd • Disney • Disney Interactive • DVDs • Handy Manny • Little Einsteins • Mickey Mote • Mickey Mouse • preschooler activities • video games
05
Nov, 2010
It's Raining, It's Snowing, It's The Road
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| Ball State University Campus – Nov 5, 2010 |
Just a quick note to say hello from cold, wet, slightly snowy Indiana. I’m in Muncie, IN and was in Fond du Lac, WI last night. I’m so grateful for the work, but this weather blows. I’m really not used to the cold anymore and I’m such a wimp about it, it’s pretty pathetic. I’m not sure why anyone gets out of bed in this kind of weather. It makes me want to lie in bed and watch Oprah all day with a box of candy and a cup of tea. OK, I fantasize about this at home in SoCal when it’s 100 degrees out, but the cold adds a little something special to the fantasy.
Next week I’ll be on the road all week in Wisconsin and I’m sure it will be even colder, but despite the cold, I’m grateful for the work and hanging out with college students reminds me just how old I am, which is always a treat. Tonight, I mentioned to a student at Ball State University that I recently went to my 20th high school reunion and I’m pretty sure I heard her gasp a little bit.
I’ll be making a quick pit stop home this weekend before heading back out for the week and I’m looking forward to seeing my sweetie and my little Aubrey.
I hope you’re keeping warm, wherever you are.
Tags: Amy Anderson • Ball State University • comedian • comedy
03
Nov, 2010
Fresh Brothers Pizza - Play With Your Food!
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| Aubrey calls him the “Pizza Guy” |
I’ve heard people talk about Fresh Brothers Pizza but had never been to one. Well, lucky me, a brand spankin’ new location just opened in my hood so Aubrey and I went to check out the grand opening!
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| The artist hard at work |
To celebrate the new spot, kids got to decorate their own pizza boxes and then make their own personal pizza. We got to sample the cheese and pepperoni pizza as well and check out the new restaurant.
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| Doing it all by herself! |
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| Ta-Da! Ready for the oven! |
Aubrey had so much fun at this celebration, that she requested to go there for her special treat after her first dentist appointment yesterday! She ate MORE pizza and when we went in to use the bathroom, she was beyond thrilled to find out there was a tv in there. This is pure magic for a three year old. OK, I got a little excited too.
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| The finished masterpiece |
Fresh Brothers is fresh pizza, salads and wings. Simple and good. Good ingredients equals good food and they also have a full gluten-free menu which I think is so awesome. We are not a gluten-free family, but I know it’s a big concern for many families today. The other super cool thing for all you parents out there, is the kids’ special pizza sauce that they make – it has several different veggies blended into it and the kids don’t even know. It really is delicious!
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| This is fun!
Click HERE to see their entire menu!
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We don’t eat out a lot as we are trying to save money spend more time together at home as a family, but this is the kind of place that is fun to go to as a family. The kids get a ball of dough to play with while you wait for your meal, the food is delicious for adults and kids and the prices are reasonable. The walls are also lined with plasma TVs so you can watch Nick Jr, CNN and ESPN all at the same time.
Fresh Brothers also delivers and there are now five different SoCal locations to choose from: Redondo Beach, Marina Del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Westlake Village and Calabasas.
I was not paid for this post – just got some awesome pizza samples and a child with a messy, happy face. All opinions expressed here are my own. So there.
Tags: Amy Anderson • family dining • Fresh Brothers Pizza • kid friendly restaurants • pizza • pizza delivery • restaurant reviews • salads • wings
