Beaches WonderFALL

I know where I want to go on MY next vacation: Beaches Luxury Included® Family resort located in Turks and Caicos! Labeled by Parents Magazine as a "Top Ten" family beach resort, Beaches Resorts seems like it would be perfect for my next family getaway. With four all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, all set upon the most gorgeous white sand beaches in Turks & Caicos and Jamaica, the hardest part will be deciding which Beaches to choose!

And what do you get for your money? Unlimited dining from a variety of gourmet and specialty cuisine restaurants serving great breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not only are the standard meals included, but kids and parents have access to "anytime snacks" and beverages. During the day you can play tennis, golf, or just go to one of their state-of-the art fitness centers. To take advantage of the beautiful water setting, Beaches offers snorkeling and scuba diving with all equipment and instruction included. From wading pools for the littlest tots to awesome Pirate's Island Waterparks sure to keep the big kids entertained, and amazing pools that feature swim-up bars where parents can relax with friends, Beaches has something the whole family can enjoy.
When the sun sets, families can get together and enjoy nightly entertainment and stage shows or parents can schedule a nanny for the kids, while you enjoy some adult time at the piano bar. At the end of the night everyone can collapse and rest up for the next day in beach side top-notch accommodations, from ocean view and beachfront rooms to lavish one and two bedroom suites, some including your very own personalized Butler Service. Even roundtrip airport transfers, hotel taxes and all gratuities are included.

Not only that, there are also some amazing programs at Beaches Resorts your children will love! From spending time with Elmo and friends as part of The Beaches Resorts Caribbean Adventure with Sesame Street® and story time with Elmo, baking with Cookie Monster, dancing with Zoe, exploring with Grover, making music with Bert & Ernie, to Sesame Street stage shows, character parades and character breakfasts (for a nominal charge). Supervised kids camps for all ages are available, from newborns to tweens and teens, the Crayola Art Camps and an Xbox 360® Game Garage, featuring the latest video games the entire family can enjoy. All makes me wish I was a kid again and certainly reassures me that the kids will be well entertained while my husband and I enjoy some adult vacation time!

I know what you are thinking...worried about summer crowds? Don't be! Beach Resorts has just announced their "WonderFALL Celebration" which takes place during the off-peak season months of September and October! During WonderFALL, you can save up to 45% off published rates and get 2 Nights Free (on stays of 7 nights or more). And as part of this WonderFALL Celebration, Beaches has a great fall line up of special events and activities. From even more Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street® that includes the premiere of a brand new stage show and a new activity with Abby Cadabby, exclusive Gordon and Elmo live performances and special parenting workshops hosted by Sesame educators, to Dive In Movies, "Baby You're A Star Photo Contest"( where your little one could win the chance to be featured in the next Beaches brochure) and even a celebration for Grandparents, it's all happening ONLY this FALL at Beaches family resorts! Be sure to check out their website for all the cool promotions!

This review was sponsored by Mom Central Consulting.

Keeping Safe This Summer

Ah, summertime. Kids everywhere have given rousing shouts of glee when the last school bell rang and the carefree days of summer began. Even my 5 year old sang his "school time is over" song with gusto as he graduated preschool this year. And it's our job as parents to make sure that summertime is as carefree as it can be for our kids. That means addressing safety issues from insects bites to sun burns to keeping hydrated in this heat (over 100 F here today already!) And I'm delighted to share with you some ideas for keeping safe this summer (in conjunction with Mom Central, The Clorox Company and the MommyDocs):

Have a Sun Protection Strategy: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sunscreen with a minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15. Look for products that provide "broad spectrum" coverage to protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Use this sunscreen routine with your child--daily application 30 minutes before going outside and reapplication every 2 hours (or sooner if swimming, toweling off, or sweating). Creating a routine will establish good habits for the future. In addition, don't forget a wide brim hat, sunglasses with 99-100% UVA/UVB protection, and sun protective clothing.

Keep Pests off Your Little One: In the summer, many insects can bite or sting your child. For pesky mosquitoes and ticks, consider a DEET containing insect repellent. Apply sparingly to exposed skin (avoid backs of hands and around the eyes and mouth) and/or to clothing once a day. As the percentage of DEET goes up, the duration of action increases. To prevent unnecessary exposure, always use the lowest percentage that will last for the planned length of time spent outdoors. Never go above 30% or use on children under 2 months old.

Keep the Pool Cool and Clean: Small yard pools provide a great way for kids to have fun and cool down when the temperature rises, but they can also harbor germs, such as bacteria. To keep the pool free from unwanted "swimmers," after each use disinfect it with bleach by cleaning with a solution of ¾ cup regular bleach to one gallon of water, then rinse well and dry thoroughly. Safety must: Always supervise children regardless of age when they are around any water; whether it's a bucket, a small backyard plastic pool, or the local community pool.

High Heat Means Hydrate: Excessive heat exposure may cause your child to experience a heat-related illness such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or even heat stroke. How to prevent this: take breaks in the shade, avoid playing outside during peak sun exposure hours, and drink, drink, drink! Make sure your child is taking in plenty of fluids before he become thirsty.

Rid Rashes and Relieve Itchies: Running through the yard in bare feet, taking a nature walk on a trail, and picnicking in the park are some of the joys of warmer weather. But all of this outdoor activity can expose your child to a host of plants including those which cause poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac. If an allergic reaction occurs, ask the pediatrician about an oral antihistamine and/or a topical skin care product such as a steroid cream or calamine. If the rash is extensive, looks infected, or is not getting better, call your doctor right away.

About Mommy Docs: "We are 2 moms, 2 docs, with 2 husbands, 4 children, 2 dogs and 2 silver minivans." You can "meet the mommy docs" here and peruse their site here for even more great summer time safety tips. Their website contains a wealth of information in various formats: podcasts, videos, a separate blog with even more questions & answers, and FAQs on specific ailments. Or you can even e-mail them your medical questions! I have bookmarked this page - Mommy Docs really fills a gap in for me now that my children have outgrown my Dr. Sears Baby Book (my "other" bible). Just remember to keep this in mind:

About The Clorox Company: The Clorox Company is a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer products with fiscal year 2007 revenues of $4.8 billion. With 7,600 employees worldwide, the company manufactures products in 25 countries and markets them in more than 100 countries.

This review was sponsored by Mom Central Consulting.

RS Designs - get something free with your order!

I've posted about R S Designs before (where she designed a button for me for the March for Babies). I think Revka ROCKS! She did a wonderful complete re-design on my weight loss blog and it was so inexpensive too. She was very patient with me as I struggled to verbalize what I was looking for and she ended up just nailing it. I love, love, love my design over there. So much so, I'm hiring her to redesign this site as well.

Right now, she is running a special. If you place an order of $20 or more with RS Designs and let them know in your order e-mail that I (CPA Mom) referred you, you will receive a free surprise addition (a $10 value) to their order!!

Check out Client Testimonials here, their Design Gallery here, and their Products and Pricing page here. Then get on over and place an order! I know I am...

R S Designs

I sent out an S.O.S. to the wonderful lady who recently designed the site Lookit! I Spy. Revka doesn't know me but when I asked for her help in fixing the code I put up for my button contest, she not only refused payment, she fixed it within 5 minutes. Now, that ladies and gents, is service. Makes me wish I needed a redesign myself. But just because I don't (yet!), that doesn't mean I cannot give her a shout out to any of you that might be looking for some template help. Check out her design gallery - this lady is really, really good. And her prices? So affordable. So if you are thinking of treating yourself this holiday season, head on over to R S Designs and start the new year in style!

Care.com

Are you a new mom? Just moved to a new town and don't know anyone yet? Work so many hours you never take time for yourself? Need a date night with your spouse? Or just need to get some holiday shopping done and don't have a sitter to watch the kids? Or how about your pets? Looking for that perfect kennel? Or are you in that sandwich generation, caring for both kids and senior parents? For any or all of these situations, let Care.com help you out.

Care.com can help in four different areas of need: Child Care (nannies, au pairs, babysitters, day care professionals, and other child care providers); Tutoring (tutors, teachers, and other professional educators); Pet Care (pet sitters, dog walkers, doggie day care, kennels, groomers, and other pet care providers); Senior Care (companions, nurses, home health aides, and other senior care specialists).

It seems fairly easy to use. First you set up an account, then you can post a job listing detailing your specific needs, or use search their postings to find care providers who match your criteria. You can request free background checks, view photos, videos, references, and more. Once logged in, there is even a "my neighborhood" tab which maps the closest care providers to you and lists them by name, age, experience, age and pay rate. You can refine your search even further from that, then click on whomever looks the best (click on their number on the map) and their detailed profile comes up (age groups she/he has experience with, additional services they can do (like laundry, meal preparation), availability, level of education, languages spoken and qualifications (first aid, CPR, etc).

Like what you hear? Want to find out more? Care.com would love to send out a 3 month complimentary subscription to you - Anyone who’s interested, sign up with this link.

This review was sponsored by Mom Central Consulting.

Family-Friendly Video Games and Online Safety

In this day and age, we as parents need all the help we can get to ensure that our kids stay safe online and are not exposed to excessive violence and profanity when playing video games. With the plethora of entertainment options out there, from Xbox to Wii to Playstation, not to mention the world wide web available with the click of a mouse, we cannot ignore the dangers inherent in our children's every day play. What is a parent to do? That's where the Entertainment Software Rating Board steps up to help out.

From their site: "The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a non-profit, self-regulatory body established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), formerly known as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA). ESRB assigns computer and video game content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines and helps ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry."

How does their rating system for video games work? "Clearly displayed on the front of virtually every computer and video game box sold in the United States and Canada, you will find an ESRB rating symbol that suggests age appropriateness for the game. On the back of the box are content descriptors which are assigned within the context of the rating category, and which indicate elements in the game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern."

You can get a detailed explanation on their website, along with a complete set of FAQs here.

And the protection doesn't stop there. The ESRB even has a step-by-step guide to set up parental controls on all those video game consoles (Wii, Playstation, etc.) for after you get home with your purchases. Awesome!

Does it work? According to the Federal Trade Commission, it does. They conducted research into the effectiveness of ESRB ratings. Their most recent report, published in April 2007, found that 89% of parents are involved in the purchase or rental of a video game for their child, and 87% are aware of ESRB ratings. Seventy-three percent (73%) use ratings "all," "nearly all" or "most of the time" when buying games, and 87% report being "very" to "somewhat" satisfied with ESRB ratings. That's good enough for me. When we start buying video games for our kids, I'll be shopping at retailers who participate in the ESRB system. What about you?

This review was sponsored by Mom Central Consulting.

United Airlines: Customer Dis-Service

My trip to Chicago for BlogHer 2007 did not start out well, thanks to United Airlines. United managed to do the impossible - they snatched the Sucktackular Airline award right out of U.S. Air's hands.

[You may recall how bad our trip in February was (to Georgia) on U.S. Air. The delays & flight changes (we could have DRIVEN to Georgia faster), and how they "lost" our luggage for the weekend, we purchased all new clothing and toiletries, they refused to answer their customer service line for two days, then we returned to the airport to find that our suitcase had been there all along, locked inside their customer service room along side the ringing and unanswered phone. Yeah, they definitely were "the worst airline, ever" at that point.]

On Thursday, I left work early to get to the airport by 3:30 p.m., plenty of time for my 5:25 p.m. departure time. I parked in long term parking, trekked in to the departure monitor, to discover our flight, and only our flight, was cancelled. Not delayed. CANCELLED in big red letters. I went to check-in line and called my roommate who was traveling with me. She got there a few minutes later and when I got to the podium, the United Agent told me, "too bad, your flight was cancelled, call the 1-800 number for help" and she called for the next in line. My roommate was next. She got a different agent who tried to find another airline to take her. He called Delta and asked for a seat and they told him no. We both moved off to the seats in the lobby - she to call the 1-800# and me to call my travel agent.

My agent told me that the United gate agents were lying to us. They did NOT have to ask permission from Delta to book us on a flight. They just didn't want to do it as it would cost United money. He told me to go back and get in their face. At this point, my roommate had disappeared, going to find a flight on another airline. I went back to United, waited in line, and told the gate representatives what I now knew. They denied it at first, then looked up Delta and said, can't do it anyway, they have no seats. Which was another lie as my agent was showing Delta had 9 open seats. I argued with them for a bit and at that point, they just "shut down" and told me, and everyone else in line, We are doing NOTHING for you. Go away. Yes, in that manner and those words.

I called the 1-800 United #. I spoke to a man in India I think it was. His English was terrible. His accent, to this hearing impaired person, made things so much worse as I struggled to understand. I managed to tell him what was wrong. I may have told him that the gate agents at the airport sucked monkey balls and I may have yelled into the phone NO SHIT when he told me he was making a note on my record that there would be no charge for my flight change. Ahem...

He tried to book me on a United flight very late on Friday. Um, no. The conference started at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Thanks to my travel agent (Chris, you are THE BEST), I knew of a U.S. Air flight that was leaving, abet out of another airport an hour away, at 5:35 in the morning and would get me to O'Hare at 8:30. Granted, I was still going to miss this great party, and still going to miss all the opening ceremonies of BlogHer but I would still make it. I argued with this man from India about my rights under Rule 240 (again, Thanks Chris!) and he finally booked me on the other airline's flight.

Great, now I had to be at the airport, in a city at least 1 hour away from my home, by 4:30 in the morning. But at least we had progress. I tried to find my roommate to see if she could get on the same flight. We were traveling together after all. To find she had already left the airport (and me) to find another flight on her own. She did manage to get to Chicago that night so she saved our hotel room but she had to pay money to another airline to do it.

I left the garage (still had to pay $3.00 for parking even though my flight was cancelled - urgh!). I started driving on up to this other city and called a friend who lived there to meet me for dinner. She did more than that - she let me spend the night at her house so I wouldn't have to get a hotel room to spend the night. She also let me leave my car at her house (for my husband and baby sister to pick up and deposit at the original airport for me to be able to get home on Sunday) and she drove me to the airport in her city at 4 a.m. so I wouldn't have to deal with long term parking. Now that is a true, dear friend. Love you H!

Good thing she did drop me off. That less-than-helpful United agent who "booked" my new flight? Only made a "reservation" - he did not actually purchase the ticket. So at 4:45 a.m. U.S. Air was trying to find the codes they needed from United to allow me on their flight. Finally, with a handwritten note for security to let me in without a "flight ticket" attached to my boarding pass, and a full body and bag search (mandatory when you change your flight at the last minute), I was the last passenger allowed on board with seconds to spare for the flight to Charlotte. Of course, you know I landed on the OPPOSITE side of the airport as my connecting flight to Chicago but I did make it. In Chicago, I caught the airport shuttle to the hotel, dropped my bags off at the hotel and took the conference shuttle to the Navy Pier in time for the first break out session at 10:30 a.m. But I left my camera in my bag, at the hotel. Of course.

Not my CHOICE

This weekend, my family and I went on a trip through North Carolina. We left on Tuesday morning and in the late afternoon, after winding through several small towns, we arrived at Fayetteville, NC to stay in our reserved room at the Comfort Inn. Readers of my personal blog may remember the horrible experience we had at the Comfort Inn in Kingland, Georgia in February (long and short of it? Filthy and disgusting and non existent customer service). One of their VPs heard about my unhappiness and gave us a $50 voucher for our next visit. We decided to use it this trip and give the brand another chance. Big mistake. Never again CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL.

Unlike the last hotel, this one did have some high points which I will include here.

The pool was clean and empty (in fact, the entire hotel seemed quite empty, and that was confirmed by the staff, so why they stuck us on the second floor of the very last building instead of a ground floor room near the lobby is beyond me. Since we had to haul up our luggage and a 2 and 4 year old, that STILL ticks me off). The pool "towels?" What a joke. Thin and threadbare and so small, it took two just to dry off my 2 year old. The "towels" in the room were just as bad.

After swimming and dinner out, we then went back to the room, I put the kids in the tub only to find...there was no stopper for the tub. The switch you flip up to "stop up" the tub? Was broken. I had to keep the water running and give them a sponge bath. We were already unpacked and the kids undressed. It was late and so changing rooms at this point was not an option.

The walls of the shower? Just as moldy as the last Comfort Inn. And the sink stopper in the vanity sink, was broken and had to be removed for water to drain out.

But the shower head was new and that was nice. And the shower curtain was hung on one of those new rods that angled out, keeping the curtain away from you as you shower. Nice touch.

After the "bath," we sat on the bed and a bug jumped on me. I kept an eagle eye out and didn't see any others though.

The pillows were the best part about the room. I really wanted to take them with me, they were so soft. Also good? We got a free on-site car wash. Neat idea, very unique.

In the morning, we went down for our free breakfast and it was good, better than most. You could make your own fresh waffles, and had a variety of other items like scrambled eggs, (canned) tropical fruit, cereal (2 kinds) and danish. No meat of any kind though.

Then I went to check out. The sign on the desk said, "We will charge you $1.50 for the safe in your room. If you do not want it, tell us and we will gladly remove the charge from your bill." I told the desk clerk to remove it and she said she could not. I argued with her unsuccessfully for a few minutes, took the name of the manager and left. It's only a $1.50 but that sealed the deal for me. No more CHOICE INTERNATIONAL. Ever. We ended up paying $ 41.79 for this experience. I urge you to use your right of choice, and use another brand on your next trip. We certainly will.