Coast 2 Coast Mom

2012 Miniature Hess Toy Truck Available May 25th!

The new 2012 miniature Hess toy truck and airplane will be available this Friday, May 25th at Hess and Hess Express stores! We're SO surprising the Kiddo this weekend.

A replica of the 2002 holiday toy, the 18-wheel tractor trailer has working lights and a flatbed "landing pad" for the included  bi-plane - which has working rotors. The mini Hess toy truck and airplane will retail for $6.99 and include batteries.

The Hess Toy Truck, launched in 1964, is one of the longest running toy brands on the market. For a complete list of Hess Toy Trucks through the years or to find a Hess location, please visit: www.hesstoytruck.com.  Find the Hess Toy Truck on Facebook: www.facebook.com/hesstoytruck

Finding Nemo 3D In Theaters September 14th

Finding Nemo 3D is coming to theaters this fall - re-releasing the movie in 3D for a new generation of kids on September 14, 2012. From the adorable orange and white striped Nemo and Marlin, silly Dory, and Bruce the shark, these cute Disney Pixar characters have become household names for us, and I'm sure many families. In fact, we've pretty much called any clown fish we've come across since a "Nemo" fish or any bold blue and yellow fish a "Dory' fish. Some of the memorable lines from the movie's initial release in 2003 that are running through my mind as I type this right now:

"Hi! I'm Dori . . ."

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming . . ."

"Fish are friends, not food."

"Aww. You guys made me ink."

There's more - but I'm sure that you have your own household sayings from the movie. What are some of your favorite lines and scenes from Finding Nemo?

We're excited to take the Kiddo to the theater to see it on the big screen. Here's the trailer for a taste of what you'll see in theaters this fall:

 

 

 

Castaway Cay - Disney Cruise Lines Island Port-of-Call

Our trip to Castaway Cay - Disney Cruise Lines' private island port-of-call in the Bahamas - was a fantastic experience on our Disney Fantasy cruise! About 3 miles by 2 miles large, Castaway Cay offers island activities for everyone. With two family beaches and one adult-only beach, water slides, stingray feedings, trails for biking or running, lounge chairs, volleyball, BBQ and ice cream, photo ops with Disney characters, souvenirs, a post office with exclusive Castaway Cay postmark for mailing postcards to family and friends. . . there's lots to do!

We awoke on the first morning of our cruise to witness our arrival at Castaway Cay - it was wonderful to see it all from our stateroom verandah!

We found out that the staff on the island boats in from other Bahamian islands the morning a ship docks to prepare and work the island. As soon as the ship's docked, many of the ship's crew disembark the ship early to staff and work the island as well.  There's an organized morning 5k run around the island that attracted quite a few runners first off of the ship.

See the painting Dumbo statue on the ship?

The Kiddo found some treasure .  . .

And the island even has its own Jack Sparrow....

Not to mention plenty of inner tubes for some water fun.

And just playin' around along the beach . . .

 

 The little translucent blue fish swimming around us in the water. . .

Tropical beach umbrellas and lounge chairs along the beach . . .

And for some total relaxation and luxury, the view from the beach side cabanas . . .

Back in our stateroom about 4 p.m. to get ready for dinner and the Pirate party . . . and snapping photos to try to imprint the beauty and family fun from Castaway Cay in our memory banks. :-)

This is one of my favorite photos from our day on Castaway Cay...LOVE the colors.

 

Intel What About Me? Social Media Twitter Party

Intel has unveiled a new way to look at your digital life, their "What about me?" tool that consolidates your social media interactions to give you an overall picture of, well, YOU. The digital you. The you that appears online only via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for instance.

Intel's What about Me? site is fascinating in that it lets you see what you're actually doing and saying online, and assess whether that accurately represents you - or if you want to change how you interact online. It's a picture of your digital life.

I know that while technology is my career association, my personal life is pretty well-rounded.I share and discuss food, sports, travel, TV, movies, shopping, fashion and beauty - I enjoy these things, but don't consider myself an expert in them as I don't have the education or dedicated experience in any of these areas. But these topics are a core part of who I am and how I spend my days, and are reflected in the Intel infographic on my digital life. The technology topic is lower than I'd have thought, but the majority of my tech writing and sharing have been on behalf of Techlicious, About.com or other sites and events that wouldn't have necessarily appeared online on behalf of myself.

Here's a look at Intel's view of my digital life:

Port Canaveral Residence Inn Hotel: Great for Pre-Cruise Stay

The Residence Inn Port Canaveral is the #1 hotel in town according to TripAdvisor, and after staying there the night before our Disney Fantasy cruise, we give it two thumbs up ourselves. It was clean, well maintained, the staff was helpful, and our stay included a complimentary hot breakfast.  While shuttle transfer to our cruise ship was only $3 per person, the Residence Inn offers packages that include free parking at the hotel during your cruise too - which is a huge cost savings over paid parking at the port!

Our stay was so convenient and comfortable the night before our cruise - but I think many people associate Cape Canaveral with NASA and space shuttle launches. We didn't have time to head to the Kennedy Space Center (we were bummed), but we did snap a pic of the Kiddo by the astronaut figure in the hotel lobby:

Castaway Cay Stingray Adventure

One of the excursions on Castaway Cay is Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure - where you can touch, feed, and even snorkel with stingrays! The Kiddo and c2cDad did this while I was doing interviews and tours with Dolby aboard the Disney Fantasy ship.

Our Disney Fantasy Stateroom

Our Disney Fantasy stateroom was immaculate and even somewhat spacious. We were in a lovely deluxe stateroom with verandah on Deck 10, which included a divided bathroom so we could get ready simultaneously, without having to wait for one another in the bathroom. Another smart and efficient stateroom design decision was that the hair dryer outlet was embedded into the desk and dresser away from the bathroom area. The back of the sofa turned down to serve as the mattress for a single bed, and the ceiling above the sofa manuevers down as well to create a top bunk bed to sleep a family of four. We didn't need to pull the bunk down, but you can see it if you view the stateroom slideshow on the Disney Cruise Line site.

Sailing Away Party on Disney Fantasy Cruise

Setting sail on the inaugural Disney Fantasy cruise was a literal party. We arrived on deck to find champagne flowing, Disney characters, music and the first of many fun and magical experiences that the Disney Cruise Line fleet is known for. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the "Sailing Away" party was the perfect way to focus the kids' frenetic energy and  get us all in the mood for the wonderfully memorable cruise. . .

Disney Fantasy Pirate Party Night

The Pirate Night Party aboard the Disney Fantasy was one of our family's favorite nights on the press preview cruise. After a day on Castaway Cay, and after a whimsical dinner at Animator's Palate, we'd arranged for the Kiddo to receive a pirate makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for the celebrated pirate party.

Visiting the Pirates League is a special experience where the Disney Fantasy transforms the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique into a pirate's paradise offering pirate makeovers to boys, girls and adults to prep for the pirate party.

Dining on the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship

One thing we discovered aboard the Disney Fantasy was that Disney Cruise Line is unique in offering rotational dining options for their cruisers each night. Meaning, that you're assigned dinner at a different restaurant each night, and your table companions and serving staff rotate with you. So we ate with the same other family (a lovely threesome from Long Island) at our table each evening, and we were served by the same staff each night.

The first night aboard, we ate at Royal Court, we dined at Animator's Palate our second night, and at Enchanted Garden our third evening. We ate at Cabana's self-serve dining for breakfast and lunch on the ship, usually choosing to eat on the outside deck or near the pool. (Gotta love some fresh sea air, spring sun, and the amazing Caribbean blue hue of the sea and sky!)