Cars 2

...Two days until the premier of Cars 2! I saw this huge Cars 2 poster in Downtown Disney when my family was there a couple weeks ago. (My husband would call it gigananormous.)

From Kung Fu Panda 2, to Mr. Popper's Penguins (which I took my boys to see when it opened on Friday!), Cars 2 and Winnie the Pooh and others, there are a lot of kid-oriented movies this summer. Which do you want to see?

Summer camp at home: Week 1 -- Mr. Popper's Penguins

Today begins the first full week of summer for my preschooler. I've got big plans for our summer together, which lasts 10 weeks. If you are looking for things to do with your children over the summer and ways to keep them entertained, please check out my initial post about having summer camp at home. I will post what we are doing each week in more detail.

This week, the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins comes out. It's based on the book by Richard and Florence Atwater that was first published in 1938. The movie, starring Jim Carrey as Mr. Popper, is a modern take on the book.

My preschooler loves penguins -- actually, he owns 12 plush penguins and several books so he's officially obsessed! -- and we have been reading Mr. Popper's Penguins leading up to the movie. It's been fun.

Reading books is going to be a big part of our summer. In addition to the bedtime reading we already do, I want to read books with my boys about our theme of the week after we have lunch every day. Here are other projects I hope we can do this week:

- Make reverse-stencil penguin T-shirts (to wear to the movie!).

- Visit Jungle Island, the closest place to see penguins.

- Make a penguin mask out of a paper plate.

- Do more penguin crafts and activities based on Mr. Popper's Penguins.

- Go on a couple of playdates.

- Pretend we are penguin researchers in the southern hemisphere.

- Play at a different park every day, or swim in the pool at home.

- Go to the cinema to see Mr. Popper's Penguins!

We'll also do regular playtime activities like drawing with chalk, playing with Play-Doh, working with puzzles, etc. I am also going to work with my preschooler on writing his name every day.

I think this could be the most fun summer yet for my kids!

Every Mother Counts on Mother's Day and every day

I bought a CD yesterday, and it will help save a mother's life.

A woman dies every 90 seconds from complications from pregnancy or childbirth -- and 90% of those deaths could be prevented. That's what's behind the Every Mother Counts campaign to educate people about how mother's lives (mostly in developing countries) can be saved.

The campaign was started by supermodel Christy Turlington Burns, who is behind the documentary No Woman, No Cry, which premieres this Saturday night at 9:30 pm on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Burns directed and produced No Woman, No Cry, no doubt encouraged by her filmmaker husband, Ed Burns.



That's where my new CD comes in, which is named for the campaign, Every Mother Counts. It's a compilation featuring songs by Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Jennifer Lopez, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco and other women artists. The album is available at Starbucks for $12.99, and $8.00 of that goes to CARE's maternal health programs.

There are other ways to take action and help efforts that aid mothers.

Right here in my state of Florida, midwife Jennie Joseph has worked with the Every Mother Counts campaign, and she appears in the film.

As we're thinking of Mother's Day this weekend, we can think of mothers who aren't ever given the chance to take care of their babies, and offer help to prevent that from happening to more women.

South Florida kids become restaurant critics in TV show Check, Please!

For parents and grandparents brave enough to take children out to eat, one of the most important factors is finding a restaurant that serves something the kids like.

Three kids "dish" on South Florida restaurants in the show Check, Please! which starts its sixth season on May 16 at 7:30 p.m. on WPBT2. The young foodies, local first- and second-graders, join host Michelle Bernstein to talk about what they liked and disliked about their dining experiences in various restaurants. It's the first time the show includes children.

However, the May 16 episode of Check, Please! isn't about just macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Celebrity chef Bernstein and the kids discuss sushi, tofu, filet mignon, Thai food and more.

Future shows will include grown-up guest reviewers, with restaurants ranging from Jupiter in northern Palm Beach County to Kendall in Miami-Dade County. If you're in South Florida, you can apply to be a guest reviewer at the Check, Please! site.

From WPBT2, here are the episode descriptions:

SHOW # 601- Broadcast Date: Monday, May 16

*Our Special Kids Episode!*
See what South Floridians have to say about Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant in Dania Beach; Thai Cafe in Miami Lakes; and Café Abbracci in Coral Gables.

Guest reviewers: Demi-Nicole Bernadotte, Second-grader; Jude Rivera, Second-grader; Frankie Sanchez, First-grader

SHOW # 602- Broadcast Date: Monday, May 23

See what South Floridians have to say about Big Bear Brewing Co. in Coral Springs;
Café Sharaku in Ft. Lauderdale; and Tin Muffin Cafe in Boca Raton.

Guest Reviewers: Jessica Stein, Art Teacher; Yoshi Kirsch, Car Exporter; Jerry Friedman, Chiropractor

SHOW # 603- Broadcast Date: Monday, May 30

See what South Floridians have to say about Jaguar Ceviche Spoon Bar & Latam Grill in Coconut Grove; Secreto Restaurant in Kendall; and Buena Vista Bistro in Miami.

Guest reviewers: Manuela Menendez, Psychologist; Angel Medina, Banker; Scot Marken, Nonprofit CEO

SHOW # 604- Broadcast Date: Monday, June 6

See what South Floridians have to say about Capt. Charlie’s Reef Grill in Juno Beach, CW’s BBQ in Hobe Sound; and Havana Restaurant in West Palm Beach.

Guest reviewers: Esse Asker, Manufacturer Representative; Tom Priester, Realtor; Maurissa Jones, Lawyer

SHOW # 605- Broadcast Date: Monday, June 13

See what South Floridians have to say about Moca Café & Lounge in North Miami; Bash Wine Cafe in Sunrise; and Sugar Reef Grill in Hollywood.

Guest reviewers: Rose-Philippe Coriolan, Radio Station Operations Manager; Bob Feinberg, Medical Sales Manager; Richard Miller, Fundraising Consultant

Sponsors for Season 6 include Badia Spices, Whole Foods Market, Creekstone Farms, Southern Wine & Spirits, Johnson & Wales University, and Care Plus.

Win a Veggie Tales 'Twas the Night Before Easter DVD

There's never ever ever ever ever been a show like Veggie Tales! The latest DVD from the friendly veggies, 'Twas the Night Before Easter, has the usual good moral and delightful spoofs everyone has come to expect from the show. This time, the moral is about the true meaning of Easter, and the spoof is an American Idol-style audition -- featuring former AI finalist Melinda Doolittle as the newest veggie, singing sensation Cassie Cassava. (You're going to look for cassava recipes now, aren't you?)



The DVD “eggs-tra” bonus features include “The Hopperena” Silly Songs Sing-Along, a spotlight on Melinda Doolittle and an Easter cards interactive matching game.

'Twas the Night Before Easter would be a fun addition to an Easter basket.

Want to win one? The Veggie Tales folks are generously providing one DVD for me to give away. Yay! I'll select a winner at random on Friday. Just leave a comment about Veggie Tales or Easter. Congrats to Averyswife on winning this DVD! Thank you to everyone who commented to win.

- - - -

Veggie Tales/Big Idea Entertainment/LBI are providing a free DVD for me to give away. All opinions and silliness are my own.

Enjoy three new Baby Einstein Discovery Kits -- And a chance to win a Discovery Kit

When my preschooler was a baby, we received a Baby Einstein music CD. I kept it in the rotation of discs in my car, because as soon as he'd had enough of his car seat (which was after about a minute and a half), my baby would start wailing -- and hearing the Baby Einstein music calmed him down most of the time.

More Baby Einstein CDs, books and DVDs followed. (Don't tell his preschool pals, but sometimes my son still likes to watch Baby Einstein DVDs, especially Things That Go, which for some reason he calls "The Squirrel Show.")

(???)

So I think it's great that parents can get Baby Einstein Discovery Kits, which include a music CD, DVD and either a book or Discovery Cards -- all about one theme. Baby Einstein recently unveiled three new Discovery Kits: Baby Lullaby, Neptune’s Oceans & World of Rhythm.

Baby Lullaby soothes babies (and parents!) with classical lullabies by Bach, Brahms and Mozart. Think relaxing ocean waves, cute puppet shows and tranquil images. So sweet! (Level 1)

Neptune's Oceans celebrates amazing marine life in their natural habitats: Penguins, whales, dolphins, sea lions and crabs. And it's all set to great music. (Level 2)

In the World of Rhythm, new characters Pillie, the musical woodpecker, and Coco, the dancing cockatoo, explore rhythm in music, rhythm in nature and rhythm as a form of expression. Cha cha cha! (Level 3)

In addition to the new Discovery Kits, you'll also find six other kits (in all age levels) already out there: Baby Beethoven, Baby Mozart, Animals Around Me, Wild Animal Safari, World of Colors and World of Words. Discovery Kits are typically priced at $19.99 U.S./$24.99 Canada.

Want a chance to win a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit?! Baby Einstein is generously offering one for me to give away. Leave a comment about your favorite Baby Einstein product, or mention which one you've got your eye on. (The Neptune's Ocean Discovery Kit does it for me!) I'll choose a winner by random on Friday, March 4. Please make sure there's a way to get in touch with you to tell you if you've won. Good luck!

I received this free Discovery Kit through a LBi/Baby Einstein program. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own (can you tell?), and no other monetary compensation took place.

Download:

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"Tangled" long hair gets great treatment from Pantene's Restore Beautiful Lengths

Yesterday, I took my boys to a prescreening of Tangled, the new animated movie from Disney about Rapunzel.

Yes, I took my boys to a "princess movie."

And you know what? We sat through the whole movie. I credit all the action scenes. It was amazing in 3D! Even my baby kept his 3D glasses on for the first 40 minutes or so. It was fun to see how Disney breathed new life into an old fairy tale. Tangled opens on Wednesday, Nov. 24, and it's going to be a great holiday movie for the whole family.

Even boys.

The prescreening was sponsored by Pantene, which has a great new line of products out especially for long hair called Restore Beautiful Lengths. In addition to sponsoring the prescreening, Pantene provided me with its full line of Restore Beautiful Lengths products to review! This is great for me, because my hair has reached the middle of my back. Not the same as Rapunzel's 70 feet of hair, but then, you know, I don't live in a tall tower where I have lots of time to brush all that magic hair.

So far, I've tried the replenishing mask (like a super-creamy conditioner that really cuts down on frizz!) and the smoothing balm (another great frizz fighter that made my hair look great!). The line also includes Pantene Pro-V Restoring Beautiful Lengths shampoo and conditioner in Breakage Defense, Shine Enhance and Frizz Control formulas. (I kind of need all three of those together!) There is also the Anti-Humidity Hairspray to try.

It's good to know there is a whole line of hair products just to help hair prevent breakage and stay healthy while it grows long.

Win Tangled prescreen tickets!

My family is looking forward to our annual holiday-time pilgrimage to the Orlando area. We are going to play at Disney and SeaWorld. One of the things I know we will probably see at Disney is memorabilia from the new animated Rapunzel movie Tangled, Disney's 50th full-length animated film (!), which opens the day before Thanksgiving.

Courtesy of Pantene (perfect, no?), my family is going to have the chance to see Tangled before it comes out at a special prescreening event! And guess what? You can too!

If you are able to attend the prescreening of Tangled on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 10 am at AMC Aventura 24 (at the Aventura Mall), then please leave a comment here or on the Tropic of Mom Facebook page to let me know you'd like to go. I'll randomly select a winner this coming Sunday, the 14th. Then maybe you'd like to grab lunch with us or walk through the mall to see the holiday decorations! Or not. Heh! Up to you....

Disney Sing It: Family Hits

Does your family love to sing? Or love Disney? You can have your own karaoke experience in your home with Disney's Sing It: Family Hits for Wii and Playstation!

Disney Sing It: Family Hits features songs and videos for the whole family from popular films like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, The Princess and the Frog, Cars and more. Sing a solo, or compete in teams while viewing full-screen videos directly from the movie! Altogether, there are 30 songs and videos. You can play with up to eight players. You can even play back your performance -- or that horrible rendition of your brother's, if you want to torment him!

Princess Tiana herself (Anika Noni Rose) offers vocal tips as a bonus feature!

Disney Sing It: Family Hits is rated E for everyone and retails for $49.99 (with microphone) or $39.99 (without).

Enjoy dinner and a movie with McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants

There are only a few weeks left of summer (officially). Did you get to have any fun? If you're due for a date night or some fun on the town with girlfriends, check out this great deal from McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants: From now through Sept. 30, any guest who purchases a dinner entrée will have the option to add a movie ticket to their bill for just $5.00. They call it Reel to Reel. (Get it?!) Enjoy a pre-screening dinner, skip the box office hassle and walk away with a discounted movie ticket!

Click here for a list of McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants around the country and their nearby cinemas. You can also find McCormick & Schmick's locations here.

To help you plan your dinner-and-a-movie night out, McCormick & Schmick's is generously offering a $25 dining certificate to a lucky reader. To win, please leave a comment about what you would order at the restaurant and what movie you would like to see afterward. I'll randomly choose a winner on Aug. 18.

Do your kids Create? Comment and win!

Are your kids Disney lovers -- or maybe art lovers? Then you probably know about Create. It's an online entertainment portal launched by Disney last summer that allows you to design images, make comic books and create pictures with favorite Disney characters from Toy Story 3 to the Jonas Brothers. Create users can also interact with one another. I tried it out. It's fun! I could show you my masterpiece mess of the Disney fairies ... but I'd rather not because your kid would laugh at me.

Anyway, Create just added a new feature that lets you publish your creation to the Group Wall, where it becomes part of the mosaic like the Mickey Mouse image above. Awesomely cool! The Group Wall mosaic is updated in real time so users can watch as new artwork is added, and it features unique tools allowing you to locate your artwork within the mosaic!

To promote this amazing new feature, Disney.com is giving away great Disney prize packs: magnetized white board w/ erasable pen that kids can create their own creations on, as well as a pair of pink ear bud headphones! I have three to give away -- please see below.

Create is the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the Web. The easy-to-use creativity tools offer an entirely new way to interact with Disney characters and stories. Guests have access to Disney character art and graphics to design your own works of art, then share them with other guests online. You can make artwork, comic books, music videos, animated pets and more, all using Disney characters and graphics.

And it's free!

You can share your online art portfolio with friends, which makes it even more fun for kids.

To win one of three Disney prize packs, please leave a comment below detailing what you or your child like to do on Create, or a way that your kid has been creative this summer. Winners will be chosen randomly Aug. 2. Contest open only in the U.S.

Toy Story 3 mania!

Toy Story 3 comes out on Friday, and I have more than a few friends who can't wait to see it and are lining up playdates -- and the kids can come too.

Some of my favorite Toy Story 3 things so far are a free Toy Story 3 iPhone app and the chance to win a Toy Story 3 room makeover. On a recent trip to our nearby Disney Store, my preschooler spotted the Lego Toy Story 3 Great Train Chase set and wanted to take it home immediately. (However, we are practicing delayed gratification in our household. Yeah, that's a good thing to call it....)

There is also a fun Toy Story 3 video game that came out today that lets you play with Andy's toys your way. I love games that let kids use their imagination. The game is available for Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Play Station 3, Nintendo DS or computer (PC or Mac) and costs $30-$50, depending on the format. I have a game to give to a top commenter at Tropic of Mom, courtesy of Disney Interactive Studios!

Top 10 U.S. pet-friendly beaches

We are a cat family (something that I suspect will change after our purry ones are, ahem, no longer with us), so we don't take our pets to the beach when we go. However, I have been to several "dog beaches" around the state and love to watch the dog families having a great time.

MyPetCARETV.com launched a few weeks ago, and it has a superb list of the top 10 pet-friendly beaches across the United States:

1. Del Mar Beach - San Diego, CA
2. Cape San Blas - FL
3. Fort DeSoto Beach - FL
4. Huntington Island - SC
5. Fort Funston State Park - CA
6. Dog Beach - San Diego, CA
7. Carlmel City Beach - CA
8. Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint - OR
9. St. George Island - FL
10. Ft. Fisher State Recreation Area - NC

Way to represent, Florida! Three spots in 10 isn't bad.

MyPetCARETV.com also has instructional how-to videos that show how to do tasks such as properly remove a tick, brush your pet's teeth, etc. It also launched a fun sweepstakes with a grand prize trip to Hollywood for the winner and his or her pet. Just submit a funny pet video through the site.

South Florida summer camps

The heat index is now well into the 90s, so you know summer has arrived in South Florida. And summer for parents means considering summer camp. If you're looking for a summer camp for your children, check out the ultimate summer camp guide at SouthFlorida.com. You can do a detailed search and even watch videos on choosing a camp. Then this summer, the Morning Show will be broadcasting live at summer camps! Check out the show Wednesdays from 5-9 a.m. on Channel 39/Comcast 11.

The Secret of Kells

A new beautifully animated movie from Ireland (which has been nominated for an Oscar and other international awards) called The Secret of Kells opens this weekend in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton. I honestly don't know much about the movie, but if you watch the trailer, it looks interesting and seems to have enough action in it to hold your attention. The Sun-Sentinel gave it four stars. Check local movie times for this one!

Babies

There seems to be a lot of buzz around the upcoming movie Babies. Even my doula (who was at the birth of both my boys) is recommending it and is excited about it. This is a documentary that follows several babies from around the world through their first year. Watch a trailer, get the iPhone app and find out more about Babies here.