Guest Spot on Top Chef

If you are fan of Top Chef then you have seen those challenges where they have to cook for a large crowd and they each have a table to serve up something delicious. That's what Feast with The Beast at the Houston Zoo felt like last night! Over 60 restaurants gathered to serve thousands bite sized surprises. It was amazing!

 

Where else would I be trying a vegetarian treat with artichokes? This is not something I would try on my own but I did and it was delicious! Who served it up? I'm not sure. We just stopped at table after table trying whatever they had to serve.

Barefoot wine was there! They were one of the Fitcation 2011 sponsors so I was perfectly happy trying this flavor of wine. It was the best choice for me and it paired well with my samples, even the mushroom soup. I can't say that I liked everything I tried but I did try it and that was the fun part.

My favorite table was My Dee Dee's pie shoppe. They had the most amazing pie samples. My favorite was buttermilk chess. It was awesome! I've never had anything like it before but it sure would be fun to order one of those pies for Thanksgiving! I didn't feel bad at all about how much I ate. After my Crossfit WOD and 96 burpees I felt like I was due to blow off some steam and have a good time. I've been working really hard lately.

After we made our way through most of the zoo it was time to head over to the stage. I must admit it was pretty cool seeing all the animals at night. They must have been thinking, What are these crazy people doing here? What are all those flashes of light? Maybe next year we can get a VIP pass.

The reason I wanted to go to this event so badly was to see musical guest the B-52's. I remember when my big brother brought home their first album. It was such fun music and I have have been hooked ever since. They were on my bucket list! I finally got to see them perform. We danced all that food right off. I found some live footage on YouTube. We were on the far left of this guy. I don't know how he kept so still. I wouldn't have been able to do it. I was too busy rocking out!



The crowd that I was surrounded by was jumping, dancing, singing and just having the BEST time. So thank you to my friend for asking me if I wanted to go! Thanks to me for saving up for a rainy day so I could afford to go, and Thanks to the Houston Zoo for hosting such an awesome event!

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Too Loud or Am I Too Old?

All three of our kids along with many of the local residents received tickets to a magic show as part of the summer reading program. The kids look forward to this every single year. We arrived early so they could grab a good seat right up in the front row.

The magician this year was Carter Blackburn aka “.....the Justin Bieber of Magic!!”- Chuck Montgomery (Booking Agent for the Houston Improv). The music was awesome but it was loud! There were people holding their ears. It's possible he and his brother might have looked out into the audience to notice this and turned the music down. It wasn't a rock concert, it was a magic show for elementary school children. My husband and I discussed at length if maybe we were just too old??? But then our kids came to us complaining about how loud it was so we knew, maybe we weren't so old and it was just too loud. 

Armed with cans of Red Bull he gave the kids a high energy show full of tricks and illusions. It really was a great show. He is really talented and gifted with his mad juggling and balance skills. Here is a video clip from You Tube of his show. Watch for the balancing act with the large rectangle table. Who does that? He does.

The kids were just in awe of his tricks. Their little faces were so much fun to watch. During the saw the girl in half trick our little guy had the most worried look on his face.

We tried to capture it! 

The librarians through out these little clam shells. Our eldest boy caught one but he gave it over to his baby sister. She was so happy to have it!

After the show all the children got to line up to pet the magic show rabbit! They loved it and had such a great time. It's an amazing treat that they will remember for a very long time. Until next year!

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Star Fleet Events

The drive over to the Star Fleet Marina was a bit rough by the look of "Princess Pouter." Once we go there she perked up for a family photo op before we boarded The Star Cruiser. We were so happy with our family photo we had to post it on the Star Fleet Yacht's Facebook wall.

The kids were ready to start our Sightseeing Cruise around Clear Lake and Kemah.

 

We had such a great time as a family. The kids were all over the place! We would sit in the nice cool air conditioned and drink our beverages one minute. The next minute the kids were driving the boat. It was such a family friendly experience. It was fun to Tweet @StarFleetYachts about my experience. While sitting there at our table and looking around at the capacity of the yacht I began to think of all the great possibilities! My husband always has coworkers flying here from other countries. What a fabulous way to give them a tour of the area. We also have our eldest daughter who is engaged and what a great spot for a rehearsal dinner. After viewing the many menu options it would be a snap to put together something elegant. A friend of mine was just talking about how she wanted to surprise her husband with a birthday party, what a great idea! So many possibilities with Star Fleet Events and they have many choices to meet your needs, click on over to their fleet page for details. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Thank you to Star Fleet Events for giving us the opportunity to experience such fun filled time on the water.

No payment was received for this post. Tickets were provided to our family in exchange for an honest review of our experience. Click on those "Like" and "Retweet" buttons to share with the online community. For current events see the side bars and click on the "Add Me" tab above to connect with me using other social media services.

Power Rangers: Samurai

Power Rangers Samurai
Tags: Power Rangers: Samurai Episodes,Power Rangers: Samurai,Power Rangers: Samurai Games

The Power Rangers are back on Nickelodeon! They have a new cast, new look and new station. You can preview this clip for yourself. My kids are long time fans of The Power Rangers and they are loving the new suits and Samurai gadgets. The series premiere aired Monday, Feb. 7th at 8pm EST but will be moving to it's regular spot on Sundays at noon. Get ready for some serious martial arts action and new special effects! Your kids will be mimicking these new heroes and having duals against villains in no time.

Parents can be confident that the Power Rangers want to "emPower" kids. They want to share their values:
Standing for What's Right
Teamwork and Cooperation
Confidence
Health and Physical Fitness
Caring and Friendship
You can learn more about the "emPower" program here! You will be provided with fitness tips, links to nominate your Ranger of the week on the new empowerfacebookpage or follow on Twitter.


As a one to one member I am eligible to blog about a variety of projects. In exchange for the Power Ranger review I will be entered for a chance to win a prize pack or gift cards that are available. My opinion is strictly my own and is not influenced by contest entries.

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Hey Dave!

 

 Yes it's Team Kramer taking a photo with Dave Ramsey! We attended his sold out live event at the Reliant Arena here in Houston, TX. There were 8,000 people there. My husband decided we should go platinum so that we could meet him and ask questions. We got to shake his hand and I had to give him a hug. He's part of our family now. My 3 year old will tell you that he, his brother and his sister are all debt free! Any follower of Dave should get a giggle about that one. We had such a great time and having our lunch blessed by Dave was something all of us in that room will always remember. We came out of there with so many books! We brought home the Junior's Adventure series of books for the kids and they dove right in after I took the plastic off. We even gave a copy of the Total Money Makeover to our babysitter. There weren't any shirts for sale because those went to the volunteers. I would have bought one. They said, "Go Green, Use Cash!" If you can make the time to take a Financial Peace University course in your area it will change your life. It's not easy because behavior modification never is, but it's worth the change in the long run. Thanks Dave, you put on a great show and what a crowd it was and I hope all of those younger folks that attended will get on those baby steps as quickly as possible. I can't wait for that Friday when we get to make the call to Dave's radio show and our whole family gets to scream into the phone, "We're DEBT FREEEEEEEEE!!!" Until then Dave.

Before you go, don't forget to link up! I'm sure we are in some of the same circles. Have a look around the side bars and don't forget to check the "Add Me" tab.

5 Thumbs Up for Disney on Ice

Can you say fun? We just got home from seeing Disney on Ice. Special thanks to Mom Central for our tickets. Our whole family had a great time at the show and it's fun for all ages! If you are in the Houston area you can use the code MOM and save, for more details click here.

In honor of this weeks Thursday Thirteen meme I tried to keep it down to 13 images in this slide show. We had such a great time and it was just like taking a trip down Walt Disney memory lane. My husband liked the Lion King best but I really enjoyed the Incredibles. Our boys liked the Toy Story soldiers section the best. Silly is only 15 months but she was clapping and smiling. Honestly, it was just a joy to watch all my kids have such a great time. If you do get the chance to go don't be surprised if your little one wants to wear their costume! We saw so many little girls dressed up as princesses. We saw a Buzz Lightyear too. If you are looking for a fun family event check out Disney on Ice, you won't be disappointed.

Before you go, don't forget to link up! I'm sure we are in some of the same circles. Have a look around the side bars and don't forget to check the "Add Me" tab.

Sea World, San Antonio

After our Dinosaur World adventure we finally made it to San Antonio and checked into the Crowne Plaza downtown by the river walk. We had great dreams of making it Sea World yesterday but it was too late. We decided we would get there first thing this morning. The weather didn't look like it was going to be on our side but we took a risk and went any way. We saved $30 by ordering online and then we footed the extra $5 to park within the first five rows (best $5 we spent the whole trip!). In all honesty we were NOT prepared for Sea World. Our boys were more prepared than my husband and I because they wore swimsuits. I just wanted to see the Believe show and I thought we would spend more time watching shows. We were sitting in the "splash zone" so I didn't take as many photos as I wanted but here are a few.

How cool is this! Yes that close and it was so neat to see.Can you see the trainer? She is riding on top of this whales snout. YIKES!
Next up, my hubby wanted to see the sea lion show.
This is Uncle Max the walrus and he's really funny.
Right about now is when it started to get really hot. How hot was it? So hot that my eldest son started to rub the frozen lemonade chill in his hair to cool him off. Yes, that's right he did that! You know what happened next? Bees. Yep the bees kept swarming around his head. We had to get him to the restroom to wash that out of his hair! rofl....what a goof ball.

Next the boys found a play ground. The toddler and my hubby are inside this tube. It was getting hotter and hotter.
Then I realized that I forgot the sunscreen! It was time to leave as quickly as possible. My boys were very upset because they wanted to go the water park. Maybe next time! We didn't prepare for Sea World. If you're going to go please do yourself a favor and take a swimsuit. We left and were so happy to find our car quickly to get everyone cooled down. We only lasted four hours there. It was a great time though. Now we were off to visit my family that lives just outside of San Antonio. I have no pictures. I don't know where my camera was - arg! oh well we had a great time.

Dinosaur World - Glen Rose, TX

After our big evening at Medieval Times we decided to let the boys pick something to do on the way to San Antonio. They chose one of the pamphlets from the hotel display for a place called Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas.

You can take a walk on a path to see more than 150 life sized dinosaurs.

They ran from one dinosaur to the next roaring.

The boys loved it!
Our baby girl is walking a lot with help.

But when she gets tired, Daddy is there to give her a lift.

Dinosaur World also has a nice big play ground for the kids to enjoy.

They all played until the big dig! All the kids get to dig for fossils. After they dig for a while they get to pick out 3 fossils to keep. Our boys have a nice collection of shark teeth. They also have a small dinosaur museum too. If you are in the area this will be a hit with your kids if they like dinosaurs and the gift shop has really cool keep sakes.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament

It was the adventure unlike anything we had ever experienced! I had heard about Medieval Times but never had the chance to go and here we were in Dallas right down the street. Our reservations were for 7:30pm and they suggested we get there at 6:00pm. Tip if you don't order the royal package your going to wait a while for those tickets. They took our photo as soon as we got in the door. The gentleman on the right is one my hubby's vendors. He's more like a family friend because we have shared so many dinners with him and he has watched our family grow in the past three years. As you can see in the photo our toddler was NOT in the mood for any of it. He had been asleep in the car and was very cranky. After the group photo we waited and waited engulfed by medieval merchandise. Our little boys were begging for swords and our baby was whining for food. Just when we thought we were going to lose our minds they let us in to find our seats! We were in the "blue knights" section. We found our seats and we were served tomato bisque soup by a wench! Our beverage choice was Pepsi, water or tea (no milk for the kiddos!). Then they brought us some garlic bread. Our baby girl was eating everything she was so hungry. Then the show began and we were introduced to our knights.

Our sweet little princess here was given her very first red carnation.

It's ok though because it was given to her by a knight in shining armor. Our "blue knight" that we had been cheering for during the evening. It was really sweet! We have to find a way to press it for her so we can tell her about it when she gets older. Meanwhile we feasted more on roasted chicken, spare rib and herb roasted potato and a pastry of the castle for desert. The kids were very entertained and it was well worth the wait. Warning: It will smell like horses at first but you get use to it. I was worried at first it that was going to be an issue while eating. lol - It was ok.

Here are the boys enjoying their blue and green swords after the show. If you have never been to Medieval Times it's an experience you are sure to remember. They have 9 different locations. Overall a great evening.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey - Over The Top

We had the pleasure of seeing the "Over The Top (blue tour)" production at the Reliant Stadium in Houston. We were unable to attend opening night as previously posted due to scheduling conflicts. Thankfully we were able to attend the show on Friday thanks to Mom Central and Feld Entertainment . This was the first time that our toddler and baby had been to the circus and they loved it!

My husband and I were talking about how great the pre-show was from a marketing perspective. They allow the children to come to the floor and meet the acts and have them sign autographs and see the animals up close. This is the part they are still talking about. That was a lot of fun for us too because I remember getting autographs from the clowns as a child. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was my first circus too. Isn't that neat how it has come full circle? Now, I had the opportunity to take my own children.

Also what we found to be a great benefit is that they changed their set up from a three ring circus to one ring. That to us was such a better way to see the show because we could focus on one thing at a time. The last time we saw the circus it was about 7 years ago and it was in the summit which is now the home of Lakewood Church.

Wait till you see all these acts! If after you watch the slide show of photos I took please go to their site to see if they are coming to your area click here. If you are in the Houston area there is still time to catch this great show. You can see a schedule of dates and times here with a money saving coupon. What are you waiting for? Take your kids to one of the most memorable shows in the world.