Planning Your Next Family-Friendly Vacation at Palm Springs

October 16, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Settled prosperously at the base of Mt. San Jacinto, this place is famous for its perennial sunshine, beautiful landscapes, palm stress and of course the architecture. Hollywood stars such as Sinatra, Sonny Bono, and Bob Hope made their residential houses here. Amongst the contemporary stars, we have DiCaprio and Eastwood following their predecessors’ footsteps in settling down here at Palm Springs. Many people are under the impression that Palm Springs is not a great spot for a family vacation, but unfortunately, they are completely unaware of the fact that this place can be perfect for a family retreat. From its glorious art installation to aeroplane museums, this place has family-friendly activities lying all over itself. Palm Springs is easy to reach as it is just a two-hour long drive from LA or San Diego. Get yourself checked in one of the many rental homes in Palm Springs to get your adventure started.

Living Desert Zoo

Families love the zoo and the kids are often fascinated by the number of animals they can see in one place. The living desert that stretches to almost 1200 acre of land is a zoo cum botanical garden. Ranging from different kinds of cacti to a big section for desert foliage, you can expect a rich variety of plants in the botanical section. When it comes to biodiversity this place doesn’t lack any since it is home to numerous species of animals from North America to Africa. Some of the animals are birds, giraffes, lizards, zebras et al. If the heat is too intense and unbearable, visit the animal hospital for a quick tour. If you are tired of walking around the park, hitchhike a tram ride to go around the park. You can expect workshops and other activities if you arrive here in the morning.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

This tramway will elevate you up to around 8516 feet at the top of Santa Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountain with the help of a rotating Tramcar. The floor of the boogie rotates so that the riders can have a complete view of the valley. Once you reach up top, you can expect other activities such as hiking or skiing. If you get tired after the hike, there are eateries that serve great food. The drinks lounge is great for tourists too. Once you reach up top, look for observation kiosk where you can have the panoramic view of the valley and its nearby towns. To be able to ride this tram, you’d need to take a small hike of two minutes to reach here.

Air Museum

This non-profit institution is run by many war veterans who can give you proper tours on the planes showcased there. There are more than eighty functional planes lying in that huge stretch inside the warehouse. You can also look out for artefacts, artworks, and documents related to aeroplanes. You can also talk to the veterans and learn more about each plane. They often share their personal accounts on the war which you wouldn’t find on any written texts. If you want a test flight then there you can try your hands-on simulation. Prices may vary depending on the hours you put in.

Jeep Tour

Kids love adventures as much as adults do. So, get yourself a jeep and book a tour to see the fault lines of San Andreas. The tour can get intense as it will be going through the desert where you can learn a lot about earthquakes, geology, Cahuilla et al. The backdrop of this place is quite amazing so you wouldn’t be bored exactly. The tour guides have a consolidated amount of knowledge about the geographical peculiarities of this place. Be sure to have a guide for your own convenience.

Art Museum

This museum is located at the heart of Palm Springs where art exhibits are shown that came from a diverse set of backgrounds. There are 28 galleries in the museum, all filled with mesmerizing artworks and artefacts. There is a sculpture garden as well which houses some of the best exhibits that this place has to offer. There are over 55,000 recorded objects found in this museum. The art shown here offers a rich cultural insight and also fills you with certain historical highlights.

Splashtopia

Located at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa, this place is the only resort in the area to have this kind of arrangement. There are about 20 water rides, 13 water slides, and other attractions. You can also head to the big pool section where you will be pitted against simulated waves. There is also a designated kid’s area of activity which is highly supervised. Food and other amenities are also being served here.

Walk of the stars

Palm Springs used to Hollywood’s best kept secret and was the getaway spot for many Hollywood stars. So, to pay tribute to these starts, they have made their own walk of the stars. Your kids can walk down the lane while learning about these legendary actors. It is quite obvious of a thing to introduce your children to big names like Sinatra, Rogers et al.

Horse Riding

Exploring the town on the back of the horse is a quite a unique thing to do. Your kids are probably going to love doing that as well. Head to the Smoke Tree Stables for horse rides. The place is quite easy to locate as it is situated right on the heart of Palm Springs. These stables are tidy, kid-friendly and have experts who can help you and your kids with relevant information.

Some of the places that are worth mentioning here are the Elmer’s Restaurant. Cabazon Dinosaur Museum, and Palm Springs Skatepark. This is a comprehensible list of places that you can look out for but obviously, there are activities which haven’t been listed here and neither places for you can discover them by yourself with the help of the locals. When it comes to family-friendly places, Palm Springs is not lagging behind.

SONIC Limeades For Learning Needs Your Help

October 14, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

SONIC has provided us with a gift card to use at one of their amazing locations. They also provided us with a gift card to DonorsChoose.org in exchange for this blog post.

I love when a company is making a different in our community and today we have a second company making a difference. The first was Comcast, and now we have SONIC. It’s that time of year again for SONIC’s Limeades for Learning. 10th annual Fall Voting campaign has begun. Limeades for Learning® is a national award-winning initiative to support U.S. public school teachers in local communities.

For 10 years now SONIC is helping teachers and you can help in a few different ways. Since the launch of SONIC’s Limeades for Learning philanthropic campaign in partnership with DonorsChoose.org, SONIC has donated $10.4 million to public school teachers and impacted over 600,000 students nationwide to fund essential learning materials and innovative teaching resources to inspire creativity and learning in today’s youth.

How to Help Teachers with SONIC

Throughout the month of October, SONIC will distribute $1 million to public school teachers across the country. Projects with the most votes at the end of each week will receive funding, while remaining projects get a chance to be fulfilled the following week as votes roll over.

During the voting period, Monday, Oct. 1, through Sunday, Oct. 28, SONIC encourages you to visit LimeadesForLearning.com and vote daily on specific teacher projects that inspire you. And as I look through them, I find that it is really hard to choose. I love the First Robotics Team – Take a Leap for Our… and the Robot “Brain” to Help Expand… projects because I find STEM to be such an important topic students need in schools.

There are four ways to earn votes for teacher projects throughout the Fall Voting campaign:

You can vote once daily after signing up with a valid email address
You can visit a SONIC Drive-In to get a bag sticker code worth two votes
You can vote ten times to receive two extra votes via email
You can share on social media to earn two extra votes

Recognizing that public school teachers needed more support, SONIC Drive-In partnered with DonorsChoose.org ten years ago. In 2009 SONIC launched Limeades for Learning with its first Fall Voting campaign. This is I think our third year to partner with SONIC and share with you this amazing program. This year, I want to help one of the neighborhoods impacted by one of the hurricanes Florence and Michael.

With the help and support of SONIC fans, by 2021 SONIC’s total contribution to local public school classrooms will exceed $20 million.

Comcast Changing Lives: Internet Essentials

October 14, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Comcast and our opinions are our own.

Last week I attended an event with Comcast and Olympic Gold medal winners Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux. These two women are inspiring others to be strong and make a difference wherever they go. They have so many important passions like equal pay, fitness in children, and social responsibility.

Jocelyne and Monique have been fighting for gender equality and equal pay for hockey players. They are quite passionate about how this transcends to all employment opportunities. As they continue to work towards this equality they told us that they had to do a lot of research. They had to learn about the wages men were getting and it was a challenge to push forward but they did. They also fought hard for maternity leave saying, “you shouldn’t have to choose between being a mom and your career in hockey”. This carries over into so many different career paths in our country. They recently joined the “Know Your Value” platform, an NBC News digital media platform that supports women to advocate for their value that was founded by Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

What were they doing in Seattle?

Jocelyne and Monique are using their platform to help bridge the gap for children in lower-income areas. With the help of Comcast they are giving away computers to students across the country in an initiative to raise awareness to Comcasts Internet Essentials. They gave away 150 computers to 5th and 6th grade students in Seattle just last week. Students were so excited they were in tears from receiving this amazing gift.

For 7 years now Comcast has been offering a subsidized internet plan for low income families. For only 9.99 a month families can get a Terabyte of date allowing students to be able to do the homework they need to do to be successful in life.

Imagine this:

(this is a story we were told during the round table Comcast event)

A young child has to go to the library to get her homework done. She has to put her name on a list because the computer has to be shared. While she is waiting for her turn she works on her other homework. Once it’s her turn she has 30 minutes to use the computer. If she doesn’t finish she has to put her name on the list and wait again. She does this until the library closes at 9 PM and then walks home. Comcast asked her how often she did this and she said every day Monday – Friday. They gave this student a computer and 1 year free of Internet Essentials. When she told her mother what was happening her mother was so appreciative. What may seem so small to some of us is going to make a huge difference in this young girl’s life. She will be able to get her homework done at home.

How do you qualify for Internet Essentials?

There are quite a few ways to qualify for Internet Essentials. For families, if your student goes to a school where 40% of the students are on the free lunch program, all families are elibilble for Internet Essentials. The program is also open to low-income veterans. Comcast is reaching out to people in low-income areas through different charitable groups. They are working with HUD through public housing initiatives. They are also working through the VA, the Elizabeth Dole program and Psych Armor Institute.

Comcast Corporate Responsibility

As part of its effort to promote equal opportunities for all in its own workforce, Comcast publishes an annual diversity and inclusion report, sharing information about workforce, governance, procurement, programming, and community impact. According to this year’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity and Inclusion reports, Comcast:

Provided approximately $470 million in cash and in-kind contributions to nearly 5,000 nonprofit organizations

At year end 2017, women or people of color made up 61% of the company’s overall workforce

Hired over 15,000 military community members since 2010

Helped more than 4 million individuals access low-cost internet service at home through Internet Essentials, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive high-speed Internet adoption program

During the company’s 17^th annual Comcast Cares Day, more than 115,000 Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends and community partners spent nearly 700,000 hours volunteering at over 1,200 projects in 23 countries around the world

An Ant-man and The Wasp Movie Night

October 12, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Ant-Man and the Wasp is now available on digital download and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD™ on 10/16. We recommend that you purchase it now so you have it as soon as it comes out because you are going to love it. That’s if you haven’t seen it already. So we received an amazing kit from Disney to have a crazy fun family night. My kids took the digital code and had a slumber party in my sons room in addition to our family night because they loved the movie that much. They watched it twice in one week.

This is finally happening tonight! . . . . . . . . . . . . #antmanandthewasp #antman #momblogger #movienight #familymovienight #antmanandwasp #dianeymovie #marvel #marvelcomics #marvelmovie #moviemarathon #movies #beenonthelist #antmanandthewaspevent

A post shared by Louise Bishop (@momstart) on Oct 11, 2018 at 4:28pm PDT

So for our family night we played some Karaoke. My kids love to sing loud.

My daughter made a chocolate cake and Ant-Man went to town.

He had so much he seemed to be on a sugar high while playing the drums.

Then he somehow ended up in the rose bush upside down.

Magic tricks are on our list of things to do this weekend as a family because family time doesn’t stop when the movie does and that’s one of my most favorite themes of the Ant-Man movies. Family is number 1 to Scott and he does everything for his daughter.

Ant-Man and The Wasp is one of my favorite movies from this last year.

Then while watching it with my I enjoyed it again. Ant-Man and the Wasp is so good at hitting all those notes that need to be hit in a GREAT movie. I laughed and I teared. I felt suspense and intention. It’s one of the best Marvel movies for family time.

Family time didn’t end with the movie. NOPE we also had some fun doing Karaoke. Just in case you want to have a night like ours…………………….Here are some Ant-Man and The Wasp Movie Night tips from Scott.

Ralph Breaks The Internet, The Story, The World and The Population

October 11, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Wow, do I have a lot of amazing content to share with you today. A few months ago, I went to Walt Disney Animation Studios to chat with animators and designers that worked on Ralph Breaks the Internet also known as Wreck-It Ralph 2. These people, with bounds of enthusiasm for what they do broke down each piece of creating the story, creating the world and populating it with characters. So here is a quick re-cap of just those three HUGE pieces.

Ralph Breaks the Internet Story Process

It looks like in this story there is going to be a lesson for Ralph and friendship and liking yourself. Both Ralph and Vanellope are going to have to deal with who are they? Vanellope is going to face that fact that she might not be a car racer anymore. Who is she without her video game. Then we have Ralph and him having with YESSS and what influence is she going to play on the two of them and how will it affect their friendship.

One other key element to the story is going to be Ralph and how he goes viral and how he deals with it. The story team had great fun coming up with “viral” ideas for Ralph’s videos. Of course they played with unboxing videos, cats and many other memes. Remember a lot of things that go viral on the internet are completely random.

As the story develops they do screenings to help them judge their decisions are going. They use these to make necessary changes to the story.

Here are a few Story facts:

They had 15 story artists

10 screenings

45 total sequences in the film

153 total sequences boarded

7,883 total sequences versions

Ralph Breaks the Internet Worlds

Now let’s shift a little from the story and talk about the environments, which is basically creating the world wide web. Of course they had all the environments in the video game store. From there they had to decide how would Ralph and Vanellope get to the internet and what would it look like. They decided to use the cables and translated that into animation. They made the internet look like a metropolis.

Disney has gotten very good at creating and recycling what they created which saves time and money. The computer is able to take a certain buildings and then change them just ever so slightly.

In the background you will find some very interesting items if you look closely at the world. You will find a hashtagging, loading wheel, some real world names and some made up names on the business. Every choice was intentional. The transportation devices were important and a lot of consideration went into those. , Some buildings you will see are “under construction” kind of like when you come to a website that is being updated. Screens are everywhere. The entire art department of the entire studio created screens and helped with videos for buzz tube.

Make sure you see Ralph Breaks the internet more than once just so you can see everything in the background.

Ralph Breaks The Internet World Wide Web Fun Facts

150 master sets

5,736 unique assets

100,000 elements in the opening shot of the internet

1.9 million render hours/day

Assets were brought back from all movies to create the internet population.

After creating the world then they had to fill it with users.

Look up and down and there are a lot of characters.

Here are some Character Fun Facts

150,000 characters just for one shot.

Bolt had 57 characters

Wreck-It Ralph 223 unique characters and 421 variants

Zootopia had 182 unique animals and 687 variants

Ralph has 434 unique characters and 6,752 variants plus color swings making it 500,000 options. The internet users which are simplified people that use the internet. The “netizons” are the internet busy bees/workers of the internet.

The characters have been enhanced with extra details, check out the patches, and skin coloring when you are watching it.

How easily are we distracted by the internet and Ralph Breaks the internet will explore that.

Yesss has fiber optics coats, gold plating down her pants

Her hair looks like it has data moving through it.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is in Theaters November 21st.

Pedia-Lax Plus $25 Gift Card Giveaway

October 4, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

So here we go again. Some of you may remember from back in the day when we just started blogging we did a lot of giveaways. That’s one of the reasons I love to team up with Life She Has and share her giveaways with you.

Sixty-five percent of parents (of children aged 2 – 11) admit to treating their children’s constipation with an adult laxative, but there have been reports of sides effects in children, like behavioral and speech issues, resulting from one of the main ingredients in adult laxatives. Therefore, pediatric specialist, Dr. Nina Shapiro, urges parents to choose treatment options that are specifically made for children, like Pedia-Lax®.

Pedia-Lax® is the only pediatric brand offering a full line of laxative products that are fast, safe and specifically made just for kids to help support digestive health and ease constipation. Pedia-Lax® products are available in a variety of forms to meet a child’s specific needs.

Pedia-Lax® Chewable Tablets are formulated for kids ages 2-11, come in a tasty watermelon flavor and provide quick relief (within 30 minutes) and last up to 6 hours. They offer a gentle relief without the painful cramping sometimes associated with laxatives.

For more information visit Pedia-Lax online:

Giveaway!

One winner will receive a $25 virtual Visa gift card, and one (1) sample bottle of Pedia-Lax® Chewable Tablets. Giveaway ends 10/8/2018 and is open to US only, 18 and older. Good Luck!

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Ghostly Pumpkins Double Crusted Halloween Pizza Recipe

October 3, 2018 by Momstart 50 Comments

Did you know that October is National Pizza Month! First observed in the United States during 1984, October was designated as National Pizza Month by Gerry Durnell, the founder of Pizza Today magazine, who chose that month because the first issue of his magazine debuted in October of that year!

National Pizza Month

According to Pizza.com, people don’t really need a special month for pizza in a country where there are an estimated 63,000 pizzerias and 94% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month! Though there are pizza restaurants in almost every city across the country, National Pizza Month offers the perfect opportunity to get the family together and create your own homemade pizza dishes. Getting creative in the kitchen is a great way to bring together all members of the family and have a little bit of fun. So I did. We created a Halloween Pizza, it’s a regular pizza but a bit more fun.

Ghostly Pumpkins Double Crusted Halloween Pizza Recipe

(inspired by: Bewitched Double-Crust Cheese Pizza on Betty Crocker.com)

Ingredients:

3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup very hot water
1 can (8 oz) pizza sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese blend (8 oz)
1/2 teaspoon garlic 1 can of diced black olives 2 cups Hormel Italian Sausage crumble

Directions:

Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 450°F. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl stir Bisquick mix and hot water with; beat vigorously. Divide dough in half. Press half of the dough in pizza pan, using fingers dipped in Bisquick mix; pinch edge to form 1/2-inch rim. Spread pizza sauce over dough. In medium bowl, mix cheese and garlic, olives, and sausage; sprinkle over pizza sauce.

Place remaining dough on surface dusted with Bisquick mix; roll in Bisquick mix to coat. Shape into a ball; knead 5 times. Roll dough into 14-inch circle. Use cookie cutters in Halloween shapes to cut shapes from dough (leave 1 inch of dough between cutouts and leave 1 inch of edge of dough uncut). Fold dough circle in half; place over pizza and unfold. Seal edges. Place dough cutouts on top of pizza if desired.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

I created this recipe as part of the Hormel Family ambassador program from 2012.

About National Pizza Month

Today, National Pizza Month is observed each October across the USA and in much of Canada too. The designation might be a bit redundant in this country though, as nearly every month could be considered Pizza Month in the United States these days. People don’t really need a special month for pizza in a country where there are an estimated 63,000 pizzerias and 94% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month. The figures equal the consumption of about 45 slices of pizza per person in the U.S. each year and show that Americans definitely love their pizza as evidenced by devouring 100 acres of pizza per day, or 350 slices per second.

Matching Wine and Beer with BBQ

October 3, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

The desire to throw the perfect summer barbecue is in every amateur and professional griller. From start to finish, serving the ultimate meal that your friends will be raving about for years can be the highest form of praise a griller receives.

But even with the most tender, delicious cut of steak and the most carefully chosen and cooked sides, without the right beverage to complement your meal, you may find there is still something lacking.

It’s true – you have to match your drink selection with your meal, and many people pair wine and beer with barbecue as the definitive finishing touch.

So how do you know what drink to serve with what foods?

Barbecue and Beer or Wine – The Basics

It’s summer. The last thing anyone wants to do on those long, hot, lazy days is spend hours poring over menus and wine and beer lists to put their meal together. Instead, wouldn’t you rather learn some basic serving rules that work any time of year with any food and go with those?

When you are putting together your meal, there is so much to consider, from the appetizers and dessert to the length of time it will take to get your meats to just the right temperature (the right meat thermometer is crucial for this!).

Luckily, there are a few tried and true methods that can help you choose the right beverage to complement your food without a lot of thought involved.

Consider these general rules of thumb when you are putting together your next barbecue meal:

If you are serving spicy foods, pair them with a lightly sweet beer or wine.
Strong, robust flavors of wine and beer should be served with the same types of food.
Contrarily, light, delicate flavors of wine and beer go best with light and delicate foods.
Rich, heavy foods can use a bitter beer or wine to help offset the heaviness.
Ending a meal with a bubbly drink is a good way to pair up fatty foods.

Ready for a Little More Detail?

Once you have those basics down, you can hit any liquor aisle or store and find a bottle of wine or choice of beer to serve with your meal. But if you want something a little more involved to be sure your drink selection hits just the right note with your meal, we’ve got you covered there, too.

Most barbecues have the same categories of foods served, so if you are making any of the following dishes, we’ve given you a little more detail, and if that still isn’t what you need, you can check out this pairing chart for even more.

For stronger grilled meats like burgers, chicken, and richly flavored fish, serve a pale ale beer or a strong red wine (a Beaujolais is always a good choice).
Barbecue ribs are in a league of their own and need the right drink to finalize their perfection. Choose a rich, moderately bitter amber ale with a slight caramel touch to it, or a full-flavored or spicy wine.
Greasier foods like grilled sausage and potatoes need an amber lager with a caramel hint or a crisp, dry sparkling white wine.
Light seafoods like shrimp or scallops need a gentle, citrusy type of beer or a slightly acidic white wine.

Your Meal is Perfect, the Rest is Up to You

Now that you have matched the perfect complement of drink to your food, you can focus on your guests. No matter how good the food is going to be, you have to be a great host to keep them there for the meal!

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Fancy Italian Coffee Recipe

October 2, 2018 by Momstart Leave a Comment

I adore coffee, I’m drinking a latte right now. I almost think it’s more of a habit now than it is an addiction because I get up and get dressed, wake up one of the kids and then make my way down the stairs. From there I turn on the coffee pot and make myself a cup of coffee.

Since I like coffee so much I figure most of you must like coffee too right? My guess would be at least half of you. So here goes, here is a fun coffee recipe you can try.

Fancy Italian Coffee Recipe

3 cups strong black coffee

1 cup milk

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

Whipped cream

Ground cinnamon

Add coffee and milk to a large sauce pan, and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Moisten just the top edges of four coffee mugs with water, and then dip into shallow dish of brown sugar. Pour coffee mixture into mugs. Place whipped cream on top with a dash of ground cinnamon to garnish, if desired.

A Special Kids Treat

October 2, 2018 by Momstart 2 Comments

I like to occasionally do something fun and special with the kids. It’s almost like I like to give them a reward from time to time. For example, a week of doing their chores without complaint or we went on a long walk. I would say that their favorite thing to do would be to go out for Ice Cream.

With it getting really close to the holiday season Baskin Robbins has some fun monthly flavors. The frighteningly-friendly and fuzzy Fang-Tastic Monster Cake is a festive orange cake that can be customized with a guest’s favorite ice cream and cake flavors, including Trick OREO® Treat, the October Flavor of the Month.

Trick OREO® Treat is a classic Halloween favorite featuring the perfect combination of some of the best Halloween candies in one indulgent bite. This festive flavor features vanilla ice cream with orange crème-filled OREO® cookies, Baby Ruth® and Butterfinger® candy pieces and can be enjoyed in a cup, cone, sundae or even blended into a thick, creamy milkshake.

And you can get a kids scoop for only $1.50. I think it’s the perfect way to celebrate something special your kid accomplished this month.