Book Review: Everything Everything

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

 (I copied/pasted this review from Goodreads.com I'm not sure I like this method....)


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksandWhatnot.com for my preview of this book. My full review can be read at booksandwhatnot.com

To live your life--no matter what the risk--is the aspiration I took away from this thought provoking debut novel, Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. Yoon has established a character who is believable and lovable in Madeline, a young girl who lives in a bubble because she has SCID, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. She lives under the strict eye of her single mother (she lost both her husband and young son to a truck driver when Maddy was only four months old) and a nurse/caregiver, Carla. Madline has to remain in her air-controlled, germ free, lonely house. She has never left her house and has given up the notion of having friends, going to school and leading a "normal" life. When she was eight she watched as neighbors moved in and she knew she could not play with them. She had come to terms with her life. Until.....a boy moves in next door. All bets are off as she plunges head over heels in love with the boy of her dreams. Thanks to the Internet they are able to IM each other and form a symbiotic relationship.


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First day of school at FKE!

 Do they get dressed up for the occasion or what? And believe this or not, but J-Bird did comb his hair this morning. Welcome to 3rd & 4th Grade at Floyds Knobs Elementary School!

Obe Wan got up at 6:20 to put in contacts and they just wouldn't go in....so he is in his glasses. The good news--they had time to game before school.

What did I do today? I got down on my hands and knees and washed ALL the hard wood floors and proceeded to wax them. When the kids are away, the cleaning begins. Go team Mom!

Book Review: Land Shark

The illustration of the mischievous smirk from the little boy's lips on the front cover of Land Shark, by Beth Ferry, instantly made me grin! Children are always plotting ways to get their parents to buy them what they want verse the boring needs of everyday life. Bobby  has a "frightful, bite-ful, delightful plan!" All he has to do is convince his parents that he needs a pet land shark!

I loved the upside down, sideways and straight on views from the illustrator, Ben Mantle. The angles of pictures, with text woven throughout, created a funny "tail" of how the dreams of a pet shark can become a reality for a little boy.  Through the direct conversations and  helpful hints from Bobby, he gets a pet for his birthday. Unfortunately, it is what his parents feel is the better selection for our shark obsessed character and not what he wanted. Bobby has to learn to be gracious and accept this gift despite his disappointment.

You can see the entire review at Books & Whatnot.

Legoland Theme Park FL Pros and Cons

WOO HOO! LEGOS!

So, see this characters? Yep, they are the only characters you will see in the ENTIRE park. The only people dressed up were the Lego Friends characters and who wants to see them? Boys? Um, no.

The theme park is open to those who stay at the resort at 9:30. It opens to the general public at 10. You can get my opinion of that on my previous post: Legoland Resort. We had a buy one adult ticket, get a kid in for free. This are pretty easy to find. They come in Lego boxes, the Lego Magazine or even at the McDonald's in Winter Haven, FL.

I was surprised to find that Legoland is NOT close to Orlando. It is in Winter Haven which is around 1.5 hours away from Orlando. The good news is you don't have to fly into Orlando. You can fly into Tampa and experience the gulf beaches. (which haven't had sharks sighted this summer like the other beaches.)

The rides are for those under 10. I think if you took older children they would be bored to tears. Little J-Bird doesn't like roller coasters, but you know what? He rode every coaster! The one ride the boys liked was the Driving School sponsored by Ford. This was the most impressive Lego exhibit at the park:

Over 2500 legos! A true scale Ford Explorer

The ride was pathetically slow compared to the toys we
have at home! :)

Legoland tried to compete with the Mouse, but falls short. There is a Chima water ride that is cool, but short. There is a Safari ride that is cool as the creatures are all made out of Legos!

There are three movies you can watch when at LegoLand. They are all 4D. The bad news about the movies? Yep, they are the SAME movies at the Lego Discovery Centers around the U.S. We had seen all the movies before. What a joke! Why would I spend money to go to Lego Discovery Centers to find the same movies at Legoland? Arrrr. The kids like them as they love to wear those silly glasses.

The best part about LegoLand? Yep, Miniland. It was the best part and I could have spent hours just observing the minute details in this area. It had a Star Wars area with scenes from the movies depicted perfectly. My Little Jedi Knights loved it! 

My young Padewans WOOT!

Legoland, FL Resort Pros and Cons

We went to Legoland Resort and Legoland Theme Park in Florida this past week and I have a list of pros/cons.

Pros:

• The elevator plays boring elevator music while the door is open. The minute it closed a disco ball light came on and fun songs came on between levels. "Stayin' Alive", "Twist and Shout" and others. It was so fun to ride on the elevator!
• Each floor has a different theme--we stayed on the Adventure floor. 
• The boys had double bunk beds in a separate room from us. Very cool setup!
• The pool has legos that float!
• There are LEGOS everywhere! Watch where you step.
• In your room is a safe with Lego things in it. The children have to solve a rhyme/riddle to get the numbers to the safe.
• The play area in the lobby is right next to a full stocked bar.
• You get in early to theme park.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

Cons: 

• Only one elevator worked. The other one had been down for THREE weeks. Unacceptable.
• The pool is small. The hotel has more rooms than space in the pool for the people.
• The play area is right next to a bar. What message is this sending our kids? Interesting.

You may get in early to the theme park (a whole whooping 30 minutes) but you have to wait in a line. You need to be in the line by 9 to get a good spot. The gates open at 9:30. If you had to the back of the park where all the big coasters are you will learn the back half of the park doesn't open until 10. (WHY BOTHER?) We didn't get in to the park until 9:45 and then walked to the back to discover it was closed. I was a bit ticked off to say the least.

Elevator floor!

A mini figure at the hotel

• There are two restaurants on site. One was in the bar with much cheaper prices and options. We didn't realize this was a restaurant and for that I am sad. We went to the over priced 'Bricks' Restaurant. It is a buffet and it cost us $85 for dinner and drinks...coke products. I was floored. 

  

  My three boys playing in the lobby

  
  

  

  This was quite funny. The boys
  had a blast standing on it!
  

  
  

  

  J-bird loved the monkey on our safe.
  He posed his Eww-Eww Ahh Ahh
  with the monkey!

Ms. Music Teacher comes to visit!

 
Before we came back to Kansas this summer, Ms. Music Teacher came to visit! She was only here for a day and caught a ride back with us! It was swell to have her here for just a brief moment.

I have been blessed by those who have come to see us! I have been surprised by who has made the trek to see us. I know those are people who value our friendship. Time and money is difficult for everyone, but Ms. Music Teacher made it a point to get over to Louisville. How awesome is that? It looks like my gym bf is even coming out to spend a few days on the Bourbon trail with us! When there is a will, there is a way!

Ms. Music Teacher and I LOVE, no adore, history and buildings. We have (for as long as I can remember) sent each other pics of buildings when we travel. I knew Louisville had a historical district--and an amazing walking tour. A few weeks prior to this, my Mom was visiting and we went on the driving tour of the district. This was all fine and good, but due to traffic you cannot take in the true value of the craftsmanship of the era. Ms. Music Teacher and I are always trying to get more steps on our FitBits, so this was the perfect opportunity to go on a 2 hour walk!

The best house was the :

1324 and 1326 S. Third Street    (1890)
Queen Anne
E. H. Bower, wholesale produce merchantAn example of an early duplex, this residence was built for two sisters as a gift from their father.  Each side had a private entrance with an offset front porch, supposedly so the sisters could sit outside without looking at each other. (Taken from OldLousville.com) 

HOW FUNNY IS THAT? Ms. Music Teacher and I both have sisters and we love them dearly, but we also know we need our space from them. It was awesome to know it is a sister thing!

OH MY! Dinosaurs!

So, Jurassic World theme song sounds about once every five hours around my house! The dinosaur movie has taken over our life. We have the four raptors, t-shirts and the sheet music! I never thought buying theme sheet music would make my kiddos run downstairs and randomly work on their piano skills. It is pretty cool. I went and bought Darth Vader's Death March as well as some other Hans Zimmer theme songs.

When we were in Portland we drove down the Pacific Hwy 101. Along the route was the amazing Dinosaur area. It was one of those toursity places you never stop at for a.) It costs too much money and b.) it is probably sketchy for the amount of money you will end up paying. Needless to say, we all had to go to the bathroom, so we ran in and used their facilities. The boys desperately wanted to go, but we said NO!

Instead we kept going to get to the Redwoods of California.

Two key elements for us to get a hotel is free breakfast and a pool. The pool in Newport had an amazing pool. My children, along with some friends from Kansas, had learned if they blow their water shirts up they can float along under water. We deemed them: Puffer Fish! Too darn cute. A little boy at the hotel desperately wanted to be their friend, but they ignored him completely. I am wondering if my boys are snobs, but I have come to terms with the phrase "ANTI-SOCIAL." They aren't exactly snobby, but they are standoffish and don't really like other people. I have NOOOOO idea where they get that from?!!?

New Member of the Family

For Mother's Day/Birthday I got a mini pool. We were ALL pretty excited about this new purchase. It was rough going tgetting it and I even cancelled the order. I was not at all impressed with Watsons in Clarksville, IN. Their salesman leave a lot to be desired. I left numerous phone calls and so did Prince Charming. It is never pretty when I have to get him involved.

Needless to say, six weeks after we purchased our new BullFrog Spa it arrived! It is a 8-seater that holds 500 gallons of water. It is a beast! It took four guys to get it down my hill and onto the walk out basement porch. It fits perfectly. It was meant to be there.

Did you know you can't just PLUG in a hottub? Nope. You have to wire it. AND do you think they mentioned this when we bought it? So, here I have this wonderful piece of water equipment and two little Padewans who want to swim and NADA! Such a bummer. And the worst part was we left the next day to go to Kansas. Prince Charming wasn't going with us, so he stayed and got it up and running. When we returned from KS (at 11:30 P.M.) my two little Jedi Knights were in that water! It was fun to watch.

Prince Charming and I have gotten in with them a few times and everyone is enjoying it. My Sciatic nerve has been acting up again, so I think I will start using it on a regular basis as well.

Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

There are days when Rhiannon struggles getting out of bed knowing she has homework due which isn’t done, teachers who will bore her to tears, parents who will annoy and a boyfriend who thinks she is too needy. Rhiannon knows she will attend school and longs for the weekends to party with her friends. The thought she never has in the mornings is, “Who am I today?” She never has to question what sex she is, what town she is living in and what is on her agenda for the day. Until she meets A.

In David Levithan’s newest book, Another Day, we get to experience the other side of his original story, Every Day. In Levithan's first installment of this story we get to meet A who is in a new body each and every day of his (her) life. From his (her) earliest memories he (she) has experiences with new parents, new schools and new life choices. In Another Day we get to see, hear and feel what it is like for a "controlled life" to encounter a life full of variables. On a Spring day A meets Rhiannon. It isn’t until her boyfriend, Justin, invites her to play hooky one afternoon at school and he becomes the most intuitive, optimistic, and amazingly charming guy Rhiannon has ever met. Rhiannon cannot believe the overall change in Justin. Until she meets A.

Rhiannon keeps asking Justin to return to the beach with her, but he cannot remember the day. He cannot remember what he said and did that day. It isn’t until Rhiannon meets A that she truly understands Justin was not at the beach that day. It was A.

It is an extremely difficult task for an author to finish a standalone book much less follow it with a book with the same content, but from the other perspective. I can understand the argument Levithan's fans are stating that it didn't need a second story, but I am awed by his ability to keep me reading. How often we want to hear 'the other side of the story,' but authors don't give us this. I wonder if he may be starting a new trend?

See the rest of the view at Books & WhatNot 

Light House Inn at Crescent City

Don't stay at the Lighthouse Inn in Crescent City, CA. It was clean, but looked like we went back to the 1980s. I had booked a suite. A suite with 3 queen size beds. Yep, that is exactly what it was---but you need to remove the word "Suite" and put in room. It was a regular sized room with three queen sized beds. It was a mess. There was no way we were gonna all sleep in one big room together. YIKES.

Battery Point Lighthouse
Crescent City, CA

We did get to see a cool lighthouse. After you have seen Tybee Island Light House it is hard to see other less spectacular ones. This one was nice, but small. We had a good time exploring Battery Point. You have to see this lighthouse at low tide or it is inaccessible. Kinda a neat little tidbit of information. Where the boys are walking would be completely under water within the next hour. Obe Wan started freaking out as the tide kept creepin' in while they were exploring in the tide pools. There was all sorts of fun animals to be found in the pools. The textures and smells were doing me in, so I wandered back and sat on a rock. I got some good pics.

He became a little mini me
 of Aunt Ree

Aunt Ree & boys at lighthouse

A crab! Aunt Ree was gonna eat it.