Review: Muppets Most Wanted

March 21, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Kermit and the gang are together again, and this time they’re taking Europe by storm in Muppets Most Wanted. Kermit, the Muppets’ effervescent leader, isn’t as excited about the world tour as proposed by Ricky Gervais’ Dominic Badguy (pronounced Bad-gee). After much coercing, Kermit reluctantly agrees to the group’s urging and lets Dominic lead the way for a European world tour, which is really a coverup for a complex jewel heist.

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When Kermit goes on a walk, Dominic, together with his boss, Constantine, hatch a plan where a case of mistaken identity lands Kermit in a gulag in Siberia and his criminal look alike as the lead of the muppets. The rest of the movie follows the complex scheme between Dominic and Constantine around Europe with intermittent sketches of the Muppets.

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To help investigate the burglaries and jewel heist, Ty Burrell steps in as Interpol and goes head to head with the Eagle. Jokes are aplenty between these two, as Burrell does a great job as a silly top cop.

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Over at the gulag, Kermit’s mistaken identity has him holed up with hard criminals like Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo. Trejo fit well in this role and was immediately recognized by my six year old: “Hey, it’s Machete from Spy Kids!” It was Tina Fey who commanded the most laughs in her role as the tough warden who has a secretive crush on Kermie. Fey’s first song was my favorite, and was the best attempt at showcasing her true talent. I could’ve used much more Tina and whole lot less Ricky Gervais.

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During the world tour, I appreciated all of the star cameos with stars such as Christophe Waltz and Selma Hayek. Even better, I loved the typical Muppet comedy and gratuitous use of homophones throughout. Christophe Waltz doing the waltz, Usher was an usher at the wedding…but, unfortunately, I thought Muppets Most Wanted misfired as a children’s flick. The movie, to me, had smart comedy and appealed to the parents who grew up watching the Henson-created variety show of the 70s and 80s. I found myself leaning over to my six year old more than a dozen times having to explain things and significance of certain jokes—something I’d never expect from a typical kid-friendly flick.

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There were quite a few Muppet centric scenes where we both laughed, but not nearly enough. Overall, it was a fun family movie, but one definitely for older kids. I’d absolutely watch Muppets Most Wanted again, but after being so smitten with Frozen and a few other children’s films, this one didn’t quite make the cut for my kid.

Frozen: Easter Eggs and Printables

March 20, 2014March 20, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With the Frozen DVD and Blu-Ray hitting the shelves this week, we’re in a Frozen state of mind to say the least! In case you didn’t pre-order from Amazon, it looks like the major big box stores—Target, Toys R Us, Walmart—have Frozen on sale for $19.99 this week.

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And, of course, if you’re the totally digital family who doesn’t even bother with hard copies of anything, you’ve been watching Frozen day and night for several weeks, right?

So, in honor of Frozen, I thought it would be fun to re-visit some fun stuff found in the movie. Disney and Pixar is well known for their generous helpings of Easter Eggs throughout their movies. In case you haven’t already seen these, I thought I’d share the Frozen Easter Eggs as revealed in the Disney Blog!

Did you catch Eugene and Rapunzel at Queen Elsa’s coronation? They’re over here in the bottom left. I read some even cooler fan theories over here about Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel’s attendance. This would make total sense to me!

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And what about the chocolates that Anna is eating? Supposedly, these chocolates were also featured in Sugar Rush from Wreck It Ralph.

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One of the paintings from “The First Time in Forever” was also spotted on Tangled.

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And, of course, the Mouse makes a very subtle cameo at Oaken’s Trading Post. Do you see him hiding on the first shelf?

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Frozen Printables

Beyond the movie itself, we’ve been having a blast playing Frozen-centric games and doing cool activities. During the push for the initial release of the movie, Disney Studios provided these fun activities and printables. We had a blast making dancing Olaf at our recent Disney Side Party! Check out the other activities below!

Be sure to save the below images to your computer to print out yourself!

Build an Olaf

Find Olaf Maze

Elsa and Anna coloring pages

Spot the difference

To download even more printables and fun games check out the link below:

Photo credits: Disney Studios

St. Patrick’s Day Treats from Family Fun Magazine

March 17, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Not sure if any of you caught any leprechauns, but we sure didn’t. We did, however, enjoy creating some fun food goodies. St. Patrick’s Day and food go hand in hand in our house.

I got a kick out of Family Fun’s Leprechaun-inspired treats. How cute are these tiny hats and donuts?! We’ll be doing some fun after school creations after school today!

Leprechaun Hats

Hats

Ingredients

English cucumber
Sliced cheese
Hummus

Directions

Celebrate Saint Pat’s with a crunchy cucumber treat. Cut 1-inch sections of an English cucumber. Halve them lengthwise and lay the pieces flat on a plate, as shown. Trim a cucumber brim for each hat and set it in place. Finish with a sliced cheese band and buckle, attached with dots of hummus or dip.

Leprechaun Doughnuts

Donuts

Ingredients

Chocolate sprinkle:

O-shaped cereal
Dark or white chocolate
Colored sprinkles

Cinnamon sugar:
O-shaped cereal
Sugar
Cinnamon sugar

Directions

Lure wee visitors this Saint Patrick’s Day with O-shaped cereal disguised as tiny doughnuts. Prepare each variety following the steps at right and let dry on waxed paper. Add to the fun by placing them in a miniature box (get our template at familyfunmag.com/printables).

Chocolate sprinkle:

Dip the tops of O-shaped cereal into melted dark or white chocolate (the tines of a fork work well for this) and cover with sprinkles.

Cinnamon sugar:

Over medium-high heat, dissolve ½ cup sugar in ½ cup water. Let it cool. Dip the O’s, a few at a time, in the syrup, then toss them in a small bowl of cinnamon sugar.

Oogaa Feeding Products Put the Fun in Function

March 13, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Plastics in baby bottles and feeding products has been a topic of discussion for some time now. The research has been done, and BPA and phthalates are chemicals we should try to avoid. Even though there’s been some conflicting info floating around, it’s safe to say, these are chemicals we don’t want in our baby products.

On that note, we’ve seen an increase in baby products made of different materials such as silicone, stainless steel and glass. One of my absolute favorites has been silicone, because of its versatility, durability and convenience. The rubbery texture of silicone often doubles as a teether AND it’s virtual kid-proof.

Healthy Child Healthy World recently shared an article on silicones in our baby products, but the consensus on its safety seems to be: more research needs to be done, but it’s safe to use for our babes.

We recently received a line of Oogaa feeding products to review. These products, made of silicone, are, hands down, some of my favorite feeding products to date. To start, they’re bright and fun, something that’s welcomed after such a cold and gray winter.

The spoons have cool airplanes, boats and other designs in the middle that make them not only fun tools, but also more weighted. Like many who already do this, mom and dad use the fun airplane or train spoons together with those sound effects to make baby eat that baby food.

We’ve been using the placemat on top of the high chair tray for easier clean up when eating yogurt or other messy foods that the toddler insists on feeding himself. The portioned plates, though, are perhaps my favorite. I can cut up fruit and cheese and put in each compartment so that the tot can pick and choose bite-sized pieces himself, but to also control portion sizes. With the two boys eating such different amounts of food, I often forget that the toddler has a much smaller appetite and pickier palate, and food often gets wasted because of this.

Best of all, after eating, clean up of these Oogaa products is super simple. Because of the products are made of silicone, it’s easy to just throw them into the dishwasher.

There’s a variety of awesome Oogaa feeding products ranging from the spoons to plates to placemats. The plate and spoon set would make an ideal baby shower gift—talk about functional!

Here’s a little vlog we did when reviewing these fun feeding tools from Ooga:

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Full disclosure: I received these products to facilitate this review. As always, opinions on NKT are my own.

5 Things We Learned From Mr. Peabody and Sherman

March 6, 2014March 6, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

A throwback to Rocky and Bullwinkle, Mr. Peabody and his son, Sherman, are back and they’re sharing their adventures with a whole new generation. Together with several fellow bloggers, we had a chance to preview the movie and participate in a Q&A roundtable with Director Rob Minkoff, Ty Burrell (voice of Mr. Peabody) and Max Charles (voice of Sherman).

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We had a fun time getting to know the stars of the movie, while taking turns asking them burning questions.

I’ll share more on that soon, but first, I wanted to share five things that Mr. Peabody and Sherman taught us.

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1. Family is family

Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a fun story about a dog who adopts a boy and goes on to explore the world, with boy in tow. Mr. Peabody, a genius Renaissance man, er, dog, is good at most anything he does. Despite the fact that he was never adopted as a pup, he, himself went on to adopt a boy. His son, Sherman, grew up as the son of a dog, something that was rather unique and special, though he didn’t know it yet. When Sherman gets teased for having a dog as a parent, Mr. Peabody, who never considered the consequences of their unique family, consoles his son without hesitation—because that’s what parents do.

When Sherman makes a mistake and takes the WABAC without asking, Peabody comes to rescue. When kids are sad, confused and feeling overwhelmed, parents swoop in with their unconditional love and find a way to make things better. What’s so fun about this movie is that instead of focusing on Mr. Peabody being a dog, it underscores the love between a parent and their kid. Family is family, after all.But ultimately, Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a reminder that every dog needs a boy.

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2. History is fun

I was an English major, so I read a lot of period pieces and books. The best thing about literature is that it schools you on history, too. I have always appreciated the arts and history in general, so I absolutely loved that Mr. Peabody and Sherman took the audience to memorable eras such as the Renaissance, the French Revolution, early American history and beyond. Even better? These historical references were fun and witty, but in the end made for an ongoing conversation with my six year old. The kids will appreciate the Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s adventures, but parents will love the bits of edutainment.

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3. Traveling and seeing new places can bring families joy

The world is a big place, and there’s so much to see. In Mr. Peabody and Sherman, the dog and son duo travel through time in their WABAC time machine and learn a lot about the historical places and locations they visit. At the same time, they learn about their relationship with each other. Traveling as a family is so important and strengthens your bond in ways you never knew how.

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4. It’s important to take risks

When Sherman’s nemesis-turned-friend, Penny, urges him to take the WABAC for a spin, the kids disobeyed and broke rules. There’s a fine line between breaking rules and taking risks, but when Sherman takes a risk, he learns something about himself. During the Renaissance era, Mr. Peabody, Sherman and Penny find themselves hanging out with Leonardo Da Vinci, the Renaissance Man himself. Penny and Sherman take Da Vinci’s Flying Machine for a spin, even though the inventor said it didn’t work. Sherman insisted to Penny that he didn’t know how to fly. Penny encouraged her friend and unbeknownst to him, Sherman could fly! His risk paid off and he did Da Vinci a favor in the process. Taking risks are character-builders, and something that kids and adults can learn from.

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5. Variety is the spice of life

Mr. Peabody is a genius dog, and something he hopes to instill in his son. While perfection isn’t necessarily something to strive for, (in my opinion, anyway) I can wholeheartedly agree that kids need room to “run.” Whether it’s playing sports, reading voraciously, drawing, coding, life should be about discovering your passions. Everyone’s path is decidedly different, so it’s totally fine if your best friend embraces music and you find joy in soccer. Mr. Peabody discovered and invented a myriad of things; while his life was fulfilling, in the end, nothing made him happier than his family.

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Mr. Peabody and Sherman hits theaters tomorrow, March 7. The humor appeals to kids and adults, and the story is engaging and relevant.

If you appreciate smart humor as much as we do, then you’ll love this!

I was a guest of Dreamworks Animation and participated in a Q&A. As always, all opinions are my own.

Stokke Steps is a Chic, New Modular Seating System

March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

On a snowy evening last month, I attended Momtrend’s beautiful launch for Stokke’s latest arrival: the Stokke Steps.

Essentially, Stokke Steps is a bouncer and high chair that can be used together or separately. Touted as an all-in-one seating concept, from birth, the Stokke Steps is a modular seating system that begins with a stand-alone bouncer, which can then be added to the transformable children’s chair. The bouncer and chair, when added together complement one another to accommodate newborn and infant seating at the table. The children’s chair can be used on its own to provide seating for toddlers, preschoolers and beyond, up to 80 lbs. The chair has safety features such as a 5-point harness and colored indicators to ensure the bouncer is properly installed onto the seat.

For convenience and logistics, the Stokke Steps chair has depth and height adjustable control, washable and water repellent textiles, adjustable footrest and optional tray for the chair. Like the chair, the bouncer showcases that scandinavian design and engineering that’s synonymous with Stokke products.

I’ve mentioned this many, many times, but I am a major Stokke fan. Pre-blogging, as a city family we invested in our Stokke Sleepi not only because of its beautiful design and sustainable function (growing from a bassinet to a toddler bed), but also because we had a very small space.

The Sleepi was the optimal choice for our family six years ago and we’ve been loyal customers since. Stokke has some of the most reliable and functional products on the market; and as someone who would rather opt for quality rather than quantity, I’d much rather pay more for something that will grow and last with my family. We’ve gone on to buy the Stokke Care changing table and have reviewed several other Stokke products along the way.

I love the design of the Stokke Steps. The bouncer reminds me so much of the Bounce n’ Sleep that we used a lot when littles was a babe. The chair offers families an alternative to the Tripp Trapp, which is already a seating staple in so many homes. The streamlined design, along with the modular feature, makes the Stokke Steps an ideal high chair and seating option for a young family who appreciates the value of function and beautiful aesthetics.

Here’s a video that showcases this fabulous new seating system. Be sure to check out the Stokke Steps demo which has all kinds of great info.

The Stokke Steps bouncer and chair will be available at specialty stores and online. The bouncer retails for $199 and the chair is $279.

Full disclosure: I received a lovely gift bag at the event; however, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Frozen’s “Love is an Open Door” Clip Released; Blu-Ray Combo Set to Release 3/18

March 4, 2014March 4, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With Frozen winning an Academy Award for best animated feature, among a few other accolades, the insta-classic Disney tale of two sisters is still all the buzz.

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Idina Menzel (or Adele Dazeem, depending on whom you ask) was just on Fallon last night belting out the movie’s signature song, accompanied by the Roots who played children’s’ toys. It was epic to say the least.

And since Frozen is still flying high this winter, the movie’s other star, Kristen Bell sings quite a few of our favorites. Her duet with Santino Fontana (Hans) in Love is an Open Door was recently released exclusively by Disney Movies Anywhere. In case you weren’t aware, Disney Movies Anywhere is Disney’s all-new, cloud-based digital movie service. Frozen is now available digitally to own.

Santino Fontana was the prince in Broadway’s Cinderella so my older son and I are totally smitten with this clip. To watch a Broadway star on stage and then to have him voice a Disney character is pretty cool for a young kid to appreciate.

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Photo credit: Theatermania

Frozen Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Combo Pack to be Released on March 18

With all this talk about Frozen, even though it’s already availably digitally, I’m excited about for when the Blu-Ray/DVD drops on March 18th. Like many Blu-Ray and DVDs, Frozen will have quite a few exclusive features.

Here are a few of the exclusive features that will be available on the Frozen Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital combo pack.

The Making Of Frozen (Blu-ray, Digital)
D’frosted: Disney’s Journey From Hans Christian Anderson to Frozen (Blu-ray, Digital)
Breaking The Ice – The Real Making Of Frozen (Blu-ray, Digital)
4 Deleted Scenes with introduction by Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Original Theatrical Short – “Get A Horse” (Blu-ray, Digital & DVD)
“Let It Go” Music Videos by Demi Lovato, Martina Stoessel & Marsha Milan Londoh (Blu-ray, Digital & DVD)
Frozen Teaser Trailer (Blu-ray, Digital & DVD)

Making of Frozen still with Jonathan Groff, Kristen Bell and Josh Gad MakingOfThumb 010 R

If you’re anything like us, when we find a favorite movie, we watch it non-stop, sometimes til the disk breaks. We can’t wait for this release!

Marvel Super Hero Mashers Combine Construction and Action Figures Toys

March 3, 2014March 3, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

For young boys and girls, super heroes personify strength and bravery. So, when toys depict these super heroes and super powers, action figures become an extension of their imagination.

Over the past few years, we’ve become major MAJOR super hero fans. What with Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers and other Marvel movies on the big screen and eventually making their way to our small screen, it’s super hero all day, every day around here.

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Appropriately enough, Hasbro’s line of Marvel toys are some of our most played-with toys in our house. Marvel Super Hero Mashers, which debuted a few weeks ago, are perhaps among my favorite action figures to date. What sets these super hero action figures apart from the rest? They’re completely customizable!

As action figures promote imagination and creative play, why not customize the super hero and his powers while you’re at it? Well played, Hasbro.

Excited to get a first look at Marvel Mashers, my guys haven’t put them down since they arrived. Marvel Super Hero Mashers combines construction/building with action figures, which is the most popular play pattern for my six year old and his copycat two year old little brother. For review, we received a Marvel Mashers Action Figure Assortment of Hawkeye and an Action Figure Assortment Upgrade of Hulk.

To be able to mash Spidey’s arms with Captain America’s Legs, Iron Man’s torso and Hulk’s other arm most definitely extends his imagination and creative inner story lines and then some.

Not sure about you, but when we were kids, I remember taking apart GI Joes and then trying to reconstruct our own guys. It was endless fun! So, to me, Marvel Mashers is a brilliant concept and past play pattern come true. My six year old is within the target age demographic, and without a surprise, it’s a mega hit for him. Biggie says: “Marvel Mashers is cool because you can make your own guy and mix with another guy, too.”

For a six year old, it was fairly simple to mix and match, but at times, it was difficult for my son to interlock some of the limbs and parts on his own. Nevertheless, once we had the figures put together, it was open-ended superhero play for everyone.We’ve been having fun mixing and mashing our characters, but in my opinion, we had even more fun when we added even more characters’ “parts” to the mix.

I’m such a fan of Marvel Mashers that when I attended last month’s Hasbro cocktail party at Toy Fair, I was beside myself when I saw the Marvel Mashers corner.

I stood there, alongside several of my fellow bloggers, building our own superhero and naming them ourselves. I loved digging into the buckets full of Mashers and making my very own superhero with the absolute best powers. I lovingly named him Captain Wolverman.

Marvel Mashers has made its mark as custom action figures, underscoring this superhero and construction play pattern which is huge for this age bracket. It’s an absolute favorite in my house, and not surprisingly, I will most likely find broken (non Masher) action figures at the hands of my boys who will want to Mash every character they meet from now on.

Full disclosure: I received samples of Hasbro Marvel Mashers to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Oscar Buzz: The Wizard of Oz Tribute + First Look at Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return

March 2, 2014March 2, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

At the Oscars tonight, The Wizard of Oz will be honored by Judy Garland’s three children: Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft. It’s been 75 years since the classic made its debut, and it’s time for a new generation to be introduced to Dorothy’s picturesque adventure down the yellow brick road.

Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz trailer

Perfect timing for new movie buzz, as the trailer for Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is set to debut during the Oscars. The all-star cast to this classic story with the twist includes Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Kelsey Grammar, Patrick Stewart, Bernadette Peters, Martin Short, Oliver Platt, Hugh Dancy and Megan Hilty.

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In addition to planned Oz themed TV shows, films and Oscar tribute, Roger Stanton Baum’s (L. Frank Baum’s great-grandson) books are the inspiration for this new 3D-animated musical Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, which is set to release on May 9, 2014.

The trailer can be viewed here.

And with a new movie, that must mean new toys!

While at Toy Fair, I actually first heard about Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return while touring the Bandai booth. The pr rep breezed through this part of the tour; however, it was truly one of the most interesting toys they were showcasing. From the toys, especially the dolls, you can really get a feel for Dorothy’s Return. Dorothy’s crew looks more modern, more vibrant and will, no doubt, be more commercial. As much as I love Wizard of Oz, the thought of this new animated feature is starting to growing on me.

Nuclear Cowboyz is an Electric Night of Action and High Flying Stunts

March 2, 2014March 2, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

We just got home from a family night out at the IZOD Center where we saw the incredible Nuclear Cowboyz. The Nuclear Cowboyz was an exhilarating freestyle motocross show that followed an action-packed storyline. It was your typical good vs. evil, with high flying stunts, laser light shows, pyrotechnics, warrior fighters and fast motocross bikes. When multiple riders flew across the ramps, there was a collective “WHOA!” or “NO WAY!” The energy level at the IZOD Center throughout the almost-2 hour show was practically palpable!

My husband and six year old got a kick out of the kung fu warriors and evil tyrant’s storyline. The voice-over and emcee/narrator added a kung fu movie parallel and a few chuckles at the same time. Overall, though, it was the Nuclear Cowboyz themselves, who made the show so electric.

Well over 200 flips and high flying stunts on over 10 different ramps, the riders thrilled the audience from start to finish. My six year old absolutely loved that the Nuclear Cowboyz was like an X Games show mashed up with a Kung Fu show. Combined with the mix of heavy metal, dub step and alternative hip hop, the show was truly unique, and something that families with older kids would enjoy.

As with anything there’s always a downside or two. Since we have a toddler who enjoys fast paced shows and vehicles of any kind, we assumed that he’d be a great fan. Because the show started at 7:30 and was generally dark for most of the show, he melted down about half way into the show.

Because the show is loud, includes a storyline and has bright pyrotechnics, I would not recommend this show for kids who can’t sit still for several hours at a time. I definitely wouldn’t recommend the show for those who are sensitive to these factors either, as it could easily make sensitive kids feel overwhelmed. There was a major presence of little boys four and up; with many young boys hanging out with just their dads, possibly for a boys’ night out.

All in all, this high energy show is a great night out for action-loving motocross enthusiasts. For motocross and Kung Fu enthusiasts, I’d highly recommend checking out the Fallout Zone, which is the VIP pre-show that gives the audience a front and center experience.

Full disclosure: we received comp tickets to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions are my own.