Trekaroo I Love You Too!

I got named Review of the Day (for a Pittsburgh location, no less...fams will be proud)!

I stumbled across this great up-and-coming website the other day and got hooked. If Yelp and CitySearch got together and had a baby Trekaroo would be it. It's Yelp-Search for parents! What's not to like about that? I love Yelp, don't get my wrong, but this new site is where it's gonna be for the traveling moms and dads of the world. It's got a great, easily navigated website, and a boat load of great Yelp-like features (ratings, comments, photos, votes). Once they add the restaurant guide there's not going to be a parent activity/travel site that can touch it.

Mancala Love

I remember playing Mancala in middle school. We made a board out of egg cartons, and I fell in love. It was simple, yet addictive. Then after burning out on it, I totally forgot about it. While recently shopping for last minute Easter gifts, you guessed it...I saw it! You can buy Mancala boards made from all sorts of materials, but I bought a simple one from the Toys R Us' exclusive line that was made from bamboo (a sustainable resource). It's actually pretty nice, and entertaining me once again.

Hubs and I come from a long line of board game lovers so it was no surprise that Math was quite taken with the game. He and I were playing today (for the millionth time). He's getting good...so good he beat the pants off me twice! Maybe we should move on to chess soon?

Pasta Pomodoro and Pinkberry

Yesterday (and Saturday, too) we had dinner at Santana Row followed by Pinkberry. We were actually there only for the Pinkberry, but it seemed wrong somehow to spend all that time finding parking just for yogurt.

Pasta Pomodoro is our idea of fast food. We don't really like chains as a general rule, but there are a few local chains that we enjoy when we're looking for family friendly, yummy, and inexpensive. Pasta Pomodoro is great before a concert, for lunch, or just an impromptu dinner out. We've been to just about every location in the Bay Area, and the food is consistent, the waitstaff efficient, and the locations convenient. I really enjoy their salad and soup. Matthew likes the spaghetti and lasagna (he wants to be Garfield when he grows up), and The Hubs likes the portobella pasta.

After that we jaunted over to Pinkberry aka Crackberry. Pinkberry opened about 3 months ago at Santana Row. You know you're in the right spot when you run into a line trailing out to the street. Pinkberry is the hottest craze since pogs, but likely has enough staying power to last. I'm loving the new Pomegranate flavor and the chocolate shavings! Taste-wise I think it's almost as good as Fraîche, but Fraîche gets the extra thumbs up for being organic and having indoor seating.

Speaking of yogurt, my sister in law just started her own yogurt blog. Check it out here! She's also the creator of my new photo watermarks. Cute, no?

The One Eyed Monster

This the name my mother had dubbed the television during my youth. When I was an adolescent she relegated "One Eyed Monster" to something else entirely, but we won't get into that.

The Hubs and I both grew up with limited to no TV for a period of our lives. My Hubs grew up in the Oregon wilderness so there literally was no cable to speak of, and I grew up in Europe for several years where all programming was in German. Don't get me wrong...we LOVE television. We love movies, and sitcoms, and even a few of the dreaded reality shows. But now that I have children of my own, the monster of my youth has returned. It sucks my sons in and glazes over their eyes over in just a few short minutes with banal gibberish and flashes of color.

To counteract the addiction we've taken steps to reduce the lure. We bought a TiVo about 5 years ago...that cut down a lot on advertisements. We got an AppleTV about two years ago, that made it easier to limit shows to educational programs and movies. We cut our cable about 6 months ago, and so far we'd seen a greater reduction in the amount of tube time all of us are exposed to. I bought volumes of Fraggle Rock and Scooby-Doo and Wallace and Gromit in a nostalgic attempt to recreate the programming of yesteryear.

Alas, we're still a techie family. The Hubs works for Apple, and we have iPhones and iPods and iCrap coming out of our eyes, but I think I've finally had it. I'll admit it...too long has the TV been used as my 25 minute babysitter. I'm going to have to come up with some more creative ideas to keep the kids busy while I try to do my own thing around the house. I'm pledging a week to not use the TV at all. I'm going to need help! Advice? I need some!

Hat Happiness

I don't think it's a secret that I'm a huge fan of hats. My kids like them, too!

Here's a few new hats that are fresh and fun for upcoming sunny summer days.

These are a staple for the pool and the park. They're light and fast drying, hold up to sand and chlorine, and stay put on Junior's head. Can be found at Mel Cottons in SJ and PA Sport Shop and Toy World, Sports Basement Presidio in SF.

Isn't this the cutest? And it's reversible!

My sons have an endless supply of newsboy caps. They're timeless, and they always look good dressed up or down. Found at Janie and Jack.


Now for the Moms:
Lacoste Sun Hat is not only sporty and cute, but functional for tennis lessons and the pool! Can be found at Valley Fair, Union Square in SF, and Stanford Shopping in PA.

This one is sweet and has a vintage throwback feel.

And the omg hat...isn't it fab? Found at Saks Fifth Ave.