How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Review

I will freely admit that the majority of my movie watching, since I became a mom 5 years ago, has seemed to primarily revolve around children's movies.... and I'm ok with that.  Lots of the children's animated movies nowadays include little nuances and jokes that adults will enjoy.  I have also noticed that I have become a bit emotional since I became a mom.  Half of the movies I've watching with my daughter.... Frozen, Up, and others... have made me cry.  This movie was no exception.

I didn't see the first "How to Train Your Dragon" (it was a daddy-daughter date movie), but I was still able to follow this one and gather what happened in the first.

The movie follows Hiccup, the hero of the first movie, and his village, which has now embraced dragons.  Many of the village residents have dragons of their own that they ride around on.  When we pickup with Hiccup, he's creating a map of many surrounding lands that he's now able to visit because of his dragon, Toothless. 

Without giving too much away about the movie, Hiccup discovers that a villain, Drago Bluntvist, is trying to control dragons in order to create a dragon army. 

Hiccup meets a mysterious dragon rider and a safe haven full of rescued dragons.  They work together to fight back against Drago.

I won't say too much else, so I don't ruin the movie for anyone.  This movie has some powerful messages contained in it about understanding and tolerance.  I will warn that this movie has some frightening scenes for younger children, and some sad scenes (for sappy moms and dads like me).

I highly recommend this movie. 

Stay-cation - Pt 1

As promised, the first installment in my stay-cation series.  Because we plan to spend most of our summer close to home, I decided to highlight some of the awesome things our area offers.  I think sometimes we don't explore our own hometown, and that's unfortunate.   

So today we decided to do a little drive to Hampton, NB.  Hampton is about 30 minutes away from where I live in Saint John, NB. 

Hampton is a small community of a little over 4200 people.  It's rich with history!  Originally settled by Loyalists in the 1780s.  Lots of charm in this place.

We decided to head out to a fundraiser for the Hampton Food Bank.  The fundraiser was a Pontoon Ride on the Kennebecasis River.  Cool, right?  It really was.  The fundraiser was put on by Zelda's River Adventures.  (Check out their website here:  http://zeldasriveradventures.ca/home/).  The ride was about an hour, but so much beauty and wildlife:

 

My little girl enjoyed herself.

 

After our boat tour, we did a little drive through Hampton and found a park, which my daughter was quite pleased about:

 

 

It was a great little park surrounded with old buildings, a cute little gift shop/info center, and they were even setting up for a little concert.



Lots of little restaurants, shops and fast food places along Hampton Road for every taste.

Although it was a quick little trip away today, we definitely got the "getaway" feel.

On a budget note, the cost of today's excursion - a donation to the Hampton Food Bank, lunch (about $12.... but if I had of been better at planning ahead, there would have been lots of opportunity/spots to have a picnic).

Have a mini-getaway story of your own?  Feel free to share!

New Topic/Series

So, my husband works in an industry that is very busy in the Spring/Summer/Fall, so we tend to take our vacations in the winter.  That being said, we love having the odd "weekend getaway" in the summer.  As a result, I've decided to do a few posts on some of our staycations/mini-getaways.  This will be a way to highlight some of the awesome things we have going on in our area, both for people that live in and around Saint John, NB, and for people considering travelling to the area.

I'm also incredibly cheap, so bargains are a must.

I believe we have some real gems in this area, so I want to share them!  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, a pic of the beautiful place I live:

Saint John, NB

Throwback Thursday - Reality Shows I Hope Never Come Back

You now how every once in a while, some TV or movie producer gets a "great idea" to re-make an old movie or TV show?  Well, I've come up with a little list of shows I hope never come back.  Don't get me wrong... some of these shows... I watched every minute.  Looking back, they were truly horrible, but I'm a sucker for trashy TV, so, truth be told, I would likely watch if they came back on.

Here's the list (in no particular order):

Temptation Island:

Ahhh... so much trash in one little hour.  This show consisted of several couples coming to an island full of singles to "test" their relationship.  Why?  When in real life are you going to be surrounded by good looking people who are trying to break up your relationship?  Is this a regular thing that happens?  Because I guess I'm not part of that side of the world. 

I found it so ridiculous that people were constantly crying/mad about their partner kissing, talking, laughing, hugging (etc) any of the singles.  What did they think was going to happen on this show?  If everyone stayed faithful, they wouldn't have a show. 

Fun fact (that I did not remember until going through some old articles about the show) - the host's name was Mark Walberg... but not THAT Mark Walberg.  This one has hosted a number of different shows.

Anyway, one of the couples I found most annoying was Billy and Mandy.  They were constantly testing the limits and then getting mad at the other one for doing the same.   I have no idea if they are still together ... but I found her Youtube page.  Apparently she is a singer and "Youtube Star".  She has some alter egos that she features in some of the Youtube episodes.  They are ... interesting.  Here is one of her episodes, for your viewing pleasure:



The Swan

This show was the most disgusting of the disgusting.  It featured various women talking about why they felt they needed plastic surgery.  It was clear that the majority (if not ALL) of the women on this show had self-esteem issues.  While the show claimed that they had some psychological counseling while on the show, lets keep in mind that they were only on the show for the length of their surgery and recovery time... not much time for counseling. 

Take for example the clip below.  One of the first things she says is that she's trying to figure out who she is.  Call me crazy, but I don't think plastic surgery is necessary to figure out who you are. 

Before I go any further, I want to add, that I hate being critical of the women on this show.  I feel like they already  have self-esteem issues, so they don't need me ripping them apart.  It's not the women that are the problem.  Obviously there has been a message to them, somewhere along the way, that looking different will make things better, and that's just sad.

After we hear why these women want to be on the show, we are subjected to watching a panel of plastic surgeons break down what surgery this woman "needs", and a couple seconds of a psychologist "analyzing" her psychological needs. 

The recovery segments on this show are enough to make me swear off plastic surgery forever.



Celebrity Boxing

What's more fun than watching two celebrities beat each other up?  Lots of things.  This show was terrible.  This show featured ridiculous match ups like Joey Buttafuoco vs "Chyna" (of WWE fame), Tonya Harding vs Paula Jones and Todd Bridges vs Vanilla Ice.  Sure, lots of people wanted to see Tonya Harding punched in the face after the whole Nancy Kerrigan thing, but this was just idiotic.  Watch Tonya fight Paula Jones below... Paula was clearly out of her league here as she keeps basically running away. 



Do you have any shows that you don't want to see come back?  Share them in the comments below!

That's right... I'm Pro-Vaccine!!

I've written this post in my head about a million times, just never physically done it.  But here I am, I'm saying it... I'm pro-vaccine.

I've always held back my own views on vaccination for fear of offending someone, but, at the same time, I've had acquaintances say to me (in the most passive aggressive way... so as not to hurt my feelings) that I am harming my child by having her vaccinated.  They've shared their own "research", books they've read and articles as to why I should believe what they do.  I appreciate their passion, but just as I can probably say nothing that would change their mind on this topic, they will not change mine.

I'm not going to pretend I'm the perfect parent.  I know there are things I can do better.  But one thing I'm sure I'm doing right for my daughter, is having her vaccinated.  I'm very comfortable with the amount of research that has been done in to vaccines.  I have not seen enough research to the contrary that will convince me otherwise.  And suffice it to say that a book by a celebrity, or some dis-proven research by a "doctor" is definitely not going to change my mind.  Do I recognize that people have reactions to vaccines?  Absolutely.  Do I think the risks outweigh the benefits for us?  Yes.

After having conversations with people from countries where they don't have the same access to vaccines that we do, after knowing people under going cancer treatments and thus having compromised immune systems, or even hearing stories from parents' whose children contracted Whooping Cough - these are real life examples of just some reasons I am happy with my choice to vaccinate.

I am not suggesting people are good or bad parents based on whether they vaccinate or not.  I believe that we all make choices based on the information that we have and do what we believe is in the best interest of our children.  I simply encourage people to be well informed, and look for well researched and well documented information.

So go ahead, tell me about government conspiracies to infect us all with ailments through vaccines, tell me about "Big Pharma" and their plan to get rich, tell me I've been brain-washed by "the man".   In the end, I am happy to have my child vaccinated because I believe I'm providing her with the best possible protection for her health.

For more information about immunization, I strongly encourage people to visit the Public Health Agency of Canada Website: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/index-eng.php  and UR Immunized: http://www.urimmunized.com/

1 Week Away from Big Brother 16!

It's almost that time of year again... that time of year that my Facebook friends and Twitter followers who don't like Big Brother consider "unfriending/unfollowing" me because of my excessive live-tweeting!  Yay!

I thought I would take this opportunity to make a few predictions about this season's house guests:

1 - I predict that there will be a former (maybe more than one) house guest involved in some way.  I'm really hoping it's not as a "coach".  I hated that twist.

2 - There will be a "southern belle" or "good 'ol southern boy".... oozing with classic southern charm.

3 - There will be a gay house guest.  The question is, will they hide it... like Kenny in Big Brother Canada... or be open about it... or someone over the top like the potential house guest Scott/Contessa?  Or.... maybe for a change it will be a girl!  Although... for some reason... I'm thinking that isn't likely.

4 - I also predict that they will only have one house guest over the age of 30.  Apparently us "30 and overs" aren't very interesting. ... or we all have jobs/families/commitments... either way.

5 - There will be at least one house guest who hides their profession.  Remember when Danielle decided to lie about her profession.. instead of saying she was a nurse, she "played the part of a dumbed down kindergarten teacher".  Riiggghtttt.   That was a good strategy *eye roll*.

6 - There will be mean girls.  At least two... maybe three... who form a "friendship" within the first few days based on their ridiculing of other house guests.  I will hate them.

7 - There will be at least one guy who believes he is hot/desirable to every girl in the house.

8 - I also predict that within the first 10 minutes of the opening episode, Julie Chen will say her first "but first".

9 - There will be claims that this season will have the most "shocking twist in Big Brother history".  I'm not claiming to know what that twist is... I just know that will be a claim this season.

10 - There will be multiple comparisons by online bloggers between new house guests and one of the following former house guests: Janelle, Dr. Will, Jordan, Jeff or Rachel.


Anyway... they're not earth shattering predictions, but they're a few things that I think will happen this season.

Do you have any predictions?  Share them in the comments section below!

And one final note... Congratulations to Sherry Wagner for winning my blog feedback contest!  And thank you to everyone who filled out the survey.  I'm working hard to include the content you have indicated you're interested in.  One of the overall comments was that you all wanted to see more content more often... and I'm making it happen.  Yay!

What a weekend....

Well, what a weekend.  We enjoyed a nice Father's Day yesterday, and the day before, we participated in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  This was somewhat fitting for me that these two occasions would fall on the same weekend.  As many of you know, I lost my father last year to pancreatic cancer.  So this year, I participated in his memory, the day before Father's Day, at Relay for Life. 

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you would have seen some of my pictures from the event, but I thought I would share them here for anyone who didn't see my pictures, or haven't experienced this event before.

Unfortunately, we got quite a bit of rain on Saturday, so the Relay was moved inside a hockey rink.  Don't worry, no skates required.  There were some plusses to being in side:
1 - We weren't wet
2 - It was actually pretty warm
3 - All the teams were set up pretty close together, so it created a real sense of community
4 - No porta-potties... real bathrooms.

We had a new format here at our event this year... 12 PM to 12 AM.  It used to be an overnight event (7 PM to 7 AM).  This allowed for more children to attend the event, and not so many tired teams.

We started the event with a team lap, and got in to some entertainment, including Zumba!

 

 

My daughter decorated some luminary candles for cancer survivors (more on the luminaries later):

 

 

 

 

There were bouncy castles, games, crafts, musical entertainment, dance schools that danced for everyone, and lots of walking the track (forgive the blurry pictures, my phone camera is not good at capturing "action shots).

 

 

 

The Survivor's lap kicked off at 7.  Cancer Survivors circulated and we clapped and celebrated their victory over cancer.

 

Then at 10 PM we honored those still battling, and remembered those lost to cancer:

 

 

These were some of our luminaries for my dad:

 

Overall a fantastic event.  The organizing committee and Cancer Society staff for a job well done.  My team is excited to come back next year (which will be our 10th year participating in this event)!

And Happy Father's Day to my dad.  I'm sure he was with us this weekend.