Honea Express

Posts Tagged ‘Contests’

Everything you need to know about this game is in the title:

Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike.

BATTLE. OF. GIANTS: DINOSAURS. STRIKE.

Seriously, it’s all so awesome it makes the “of” look cool.

BATTLE. OF. GIANTS: DINOSAURS. STRIKE.

Add this: For the Wii!

Then people are fainting and cursing the heavens and running in wild circles like so many non-domesticated dogs.

And by people I mean my children.

And by non-domesticated dogs I mean dingos.

MAYBE. THE. DINGO. ATE. YOUR. BABY.

I’m giving away one copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike for the Wii, endorsed by children and dingos everywhere.

Mostly children.

I’m talking about the kids the dingos didn’t eat.

Enter below! Contest ends at 11:59 P.M. PST on Dec. 17.

While Ubisoft sponsored this review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own (except that part about the dingo) and represent my honest viewpoint. Ubisoft, Clever Girls Collective, and I promote Blog With Integrity.

Also, I’ve got a pantload of giveaways all over Gore’s green internet and you should enter them and say nice things about me to people I’ve never met. It’s too late for those that I have, and for that I apologize.

At AOL:

Five Ubisoft games (Wii & DS)

Kipling Travel Bag & Picaboo Gift Card

Ceramic Sauce Pot

BL Body Activewear

At BabyCenter:

Family Fun Night Extravaganza – Over $500 worth Games, Music & Movies!

At DadCentric:

Coming soon

This giveaway isn’t for everyone. Only the young people. Also, young at heart.  So get out there on the Wii and dance. Dance. Dance.

Yes, I’m giving away a copy of Just Dance Kids for the Wii and one lucky reader, and their lovely offspring, will soon be dancing the night away (or until 7 p.m. on a school night).

It looks a lot like this, but in your living room:

When I was contacted about reviewing a dancing game for kids I responded, “but my kids aren’t old enough to drink.” You see, the men in my family don’t dance unless they’re intoxicated, and many of the men in my family don’t drink, so it would be safe to say that we’re not a dancing people.  However, the wife likes to boogie. She likes to get down. I decided to give it a try, maybe the boys got some moves from her.

Eh. It’s too soon to tell.  Honestly, I don’t know what is to become of the boys and their dancing legacy, but I do know that they enjoy it. They enjoy the hell out of it. Our rug is officially cut. I’m sending Ubisoft the bill.

Playing Just Dance Kids was an eye-opener. Also, an ear-opener. They danced. They sang along. The youngest loved the fact that he could dance with Yo Gabba Gabba (which we just saw live!), and the oldest was happy to cringe as I belted out some Beach Boys every time he started to dance to it.

What? I love the Beach Boys.

Bottom line, it’s fun, and the kids have a blast playing it. I tried it out after they all went to bed and yes, I’ve still got it. And now I have a hangover.

If you live in the lower 48 you can win a copy of Just Dance Kids by filling out the form below. My deepest apologies to Hawai’i and Alaska, but not really Hawai’i, because, HELLO, you live in Hawai’i. And Canada, it’s nothing personal. It’s the rules on this one and, as you know, I’m a stickler for the rules.

Enter now!

While Ubisoft sponsored this review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Ubisoft, Clever Girls Collective, and I promote Blog With Integrity.

People often ask me how I pick the items that I review. Easy, I don’t. Well, that’s not entirely true. Sometimes I’ll review an item based upon my own decision, but often I turn to the family and let them decide.  Why? Because this blog, while written by me, is usually about them, and I figure they ought to get a little something out of it.

That doesn’t change my policy regarding reviews (read more in “The Biz” tab above), it just means that there are likely to be items that find their way into these pages that seem like an odd choice for me, and now you know why.

Also, Wii game giveaways!

The Reviews

Toque Blanche was kind enough to send me a black clay La Chamba cooking pot because they believe that “the home chef who is serious about preparing food deserves the best.” I’m more of the home chef who is serious about eating food that someone else was serious about preparing. And drinking.  My wife, however, is a fantastic cook.  She picked the cookware.

And Toque Blanche only carries the best, so that’s why they were the company to send said La Chamba. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it. The clay cookware can be used in the oven, microwave or on the stove, and it is incredibly easy to clean.  As an added bonus it does not contain any toxins (unless I’m cooking). Plus, La Chamba is from Columbia, which means Columbia is now two for two in my book:

See? Columbia is alright.

Thanks, Toque Blanche! We love the La Chamba clay cookware. Also, Modern Family on ABC!

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You may recall Didi Pop from a previous review. My boys enjoy her music so much we made a video to one of her songs, which Didi Pop featured on her website FOREVER! Except it’s not there now, but still, pretty cool.

Her new disc is called Didi Pop Goes to Hawaii and is, as you may have guessed, heavy on the Hawaiian influence. Think Jack Johnson, but safer.

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Speaking of pop, have you tried popchips™ brand chips? They aren’t fried. They aren’t baked. They’re popped and they’re good (hurray)! And healthy (gasp)! I’m eating some right now. Pretty weird, right?

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Now for a mustache break: Read the rest of this entry »

Sponsored By

Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine, Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

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I knew a man in the military. He was an Admiral. His name was Hills. He loved a good tune. You might say that Admiral Hills was alive with the sound of music. He loved art and he worked mostly in oils and Garfunkle. His presence was a thousand glasses toasted and his absence whispered in the sounds of silence. He rose above the world like a bridge over troubled water. Some people loved him like a rock.

I haven’t seen the man in over 40 years. I thought about sending him a message in a bottle — an SOS, but my bottles are full of ships and beer and sink heavy when empty. I’ve thought about taking a trip to wherever he lives — an ultimate vacation of old friends and their families. But where would I go? What would I do? What family members would I bring along?

I don’t know.

I could climb every mountain, search high and low. Would I find him in Belize, floating in a warm sea and sipping drinks made with exotic fruit and sweat-laced liquor? Would I search for him in Switzerland, skiing the Alps and being more or less neutral about all of it? They are so many silver white winters and so much melting into spring.

I could follow every highway, every path I know.

Any of these places would be perfect for a man and his wife, two boys and their dogs. Admiral Hills was a man of good cheer, and he always said that a family vacation is in the dreams and the plans, and the journey of maybe getting there. We should all pack accordingly.

We’ll get there someday.

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Don’t forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

As I mentioned before, I have a stack of things to review and frankly, I’m tired of looking at it. In fact, I think I’m done reviewing stuff unless someone sends me more stuff.

In the meantime, humor me as I keep my word while spreading it at the same time. I know, it’s awesome.

STUFF:

Hasbro was kind enough to send me a new spin on the classic game Mouse Trap. It’s part of their U-Build  series where the players actually build and customize the board. Yes, you read me.

The game has a bunch of U-Build bricks which are exactly like, but are not, another popular building brick that the kids love. It also has a Space Boot(!), some small parts and the trap.  Sadly, the mouse is not included and that actually turned out to be the most difficult, yet most rewarding, part of the game. Do you know how hard it is to catch a mouse with a plastic trap and a bunch of building bricks?  Pretty hard. The sense of accomplishment that my children achieved was worth all of the rabies shots in the world.

The U-Build spin on an already fun game pays off. It’s like two games in one: the building game where my kids fight and scream over how the board will look and the Mouse Trap game where my kids fight and scream over the first aid kit.  Of course, neither of those last two sentences are true. However, the part about it being two games in one is an actual fact based on my opinion as well as those of the people at Hasbro, and they’re right.

If U-Build it the fun will come. Also, rodents.

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The Idle Parent by  author Tom Hodgkinson looks like a nice book. It has a reddish-orange cover that I’m tempted to call a burnt sienna, but it could be the light in here — or the 4 months of dust that the book has accumulated. This is not the fault of the book or Mr. Hodgkinson, who also wrote How to Be Idle and The Freedom Manifesto.  No, it is the fault of time and my lack of it.

The book is subtitled, “Why Laid-back Parents Raise Happier and Healthier Kids,” which is a statement I’m inclined to agree with.  The kids on the cover look happy enough and their dad is totally napping on the couch. And he’s wearing Vans.  If that doesn’t scream laid-back then I don’t know what does.

I think the book weighs about a pound and a half. Give or take. It has 251 pages.

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I really dropped the ball on a review that I was supposed to write for All About Beer Magazine and my fellow DadCentricite, Greg, by losing a copy of a book they sent me called Beer Across Texas. Here’s the thing, Texas is huge and the book isn’t, which leads me to believe that the authors only discussed the good beers across Texas and not every crappy can of suds they came upon.  In the industry we call this attention to “quality” and we like it. My most sincere apologies to All About Beer, Greg and the authors of Beer Across Texas. Also, smaller books are apparently easier to lose.

Seriously, I can’t find it anywhere.

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Candlewick Press was kind enough to send a collection of summer reading over for my boys. The titles include:

It’s Vacation Time by Lerryn Korda, which is a really cute book that my 4-year-old loves. It’s about, wait for it, vacation time! The story is big on using your imagination and we’re big on that.

Maisy Goes to the Museum by Lucy Cousins is about Maisy the mouse and frankly, I can’t read it without hearing the narrators voice from the TV show. And what’s up with Charley?
But I digress. This book is for preschool kids and my preschool kid thinks it’s great and he doesn’t care how many times Charley has been dropped on his head.

Flanimals Pop-Up, which was written by Ricky Gervais, yes, that Ricky Gervais, and illustrated by Rob Steen. With a name like Flanimals Pop-Up, it’s exactly what you’d expect, but with a writer like Ricky Gervais it’s like nothing you could ever imagine. Within reason. It’s good fun.

Judy Moody’s Way Wacky Uber Awesome Book of More Fun Stuff to Do, The Oceanology Handbook – A Course For Underwater Explorers and Show Off – How to Do Absolutely Everything are big hits with my 7-year-old for all the reasons clearly stated in each book’s respective title. He likes wacky, uber, awesome, underwater exploring and doing absolutely everything. It’s like they were made for him.

Where’s Waldo? The Ultimate Travel Collection by Martin Handford is billed as the essential travel companion, and after it kept my kids quiet on an airplane for two hours I’m inclined to agree.

I still don’t know where Waldo is, but I think he stole my beer book.

All of the Candlewick Press books listed above have been big hits with my kids and for that I’m thankful. Thanks, Candlewick Press!

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And now for something completely different.

Scholastic sent me two new books, Max Spaniel: Funny Lunch and Firehouse! that my boys love.

They’re both about dogs and they are loads of fun. I’m supposed to write a review on them, but I don’t want to spoil the plot(s). Besides, this post is already longer than both books combined.

Here’s the fun part, I’m giving away 3 sets of the books! Yes, now you can own your very own copies of these entertaining books and all you have to do to win is leave a comment stating that you would like the books! I’ll send the books to three(3) random entries. The contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and P.O. boxes are not allowed. My apologies to other countries and anyone that rents a mailbox.

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And on that note, my pile of items to review is gone! Literally, I’ve been moving each item out of my office as I go and whoa, carpet!

Please note, I really do appreciate the items sent to me for review (which are all of the items listed in this post) and I wouldn’t include them here if I didn’t think people would enjoy them.  Stuff that sucks doesn’t make the page, man. Honea don’t play that.

Peace out.