The winner of the Blue Man Group tickets is...

Aimee@ Smiling Mama!!!

Congrats and enjoy the show!

(And do fill us in when you get back -

it looks like a LOAD of fun!)

I'll be sending you a note shortly - be sure to reply!

BLUUUUUUUE Man!

If I could squee out loud online I would! These guys are just about the coolest thing since sliced bread. I am so excited to be able to share some Blue Man Group tickets with a lucky winner. It's a chance to get out on a date, reconnect with the theater like we did recently, and catch a fantastic show!

To enter for a chance to win two tickets to the Wednesday, March 23rd, 7:30pm show at the Warner Theater, share your favorite show that you've seen in the comments section, along with your e-mail address. Winner will be chosen randomly from entries that have e-mail addresses listed. Entries will close at 9pm on Sunday and winners will be notified Sunday evening.*

If you can't make it on Wednesday or don't win the tickets, you can get at a $5 discount on your tickets with code BLISSFUL for shows on Wednesday, March 23rd, Thursday, March 24th, and Sunday, March 27th. And if those dates don’t work, they have a few other shows coming up:

Wed, March 23 at 7:30pm
Thurs, March 24 at 8:00pm
Fri, March 25 at 8:00pm
Sat, March 26 at 1:00pm, 5:00pm, & 9:00pm
Sun, March 27 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm
Wed, March 30 at 7:30pm
Thurs, March 31 at 8:00pm
Fri, April 1 at 8:00pm
Sat, April 2 at 1:00pm, 5:00pm, & 9:00pm
Sun, April 3 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm

Warner Theater and Ticket Info: http://www.warnertheatre.com/
Tickets are available by phone at 800-551-7328 or online at ticketmaster.com

So tell me what your favorite show is for a chance to see the Blue Man Group in action, and I’ll post the winner on Sunday night!

* Tickets are only good for the performance on Wednesday, March 23 at 7:30 pm. Winner must provide their full name by 10 am on Monday or another winner will be selected from valid entries. Tickets will be available at Will Call with a valid ID.

Tickets for giveaway and image provided by Blue Man Group.

Cookie's Counting Carnival is COOL!

A few months ago I was invited to an event where I was introduced to two new games - Cookie's Counting Carnival and Elmo's A to Zoo Adventures. After learning about all of the research that went into developing these two games, I was really looking forward to playing them. I finally found a game that my little one could play that was actually at her level, yet educational. Yes, she's two and a half, but she "plays" video games with her brothers all the time, - mostly things like Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, and none of them are accessible to her. I have seen the value of games for little folks though - Lucy is learning whole words and phrases because of a few of my iPhone games - so I was curious how she'd interact with our Wii with a game that was designed just for her. Let me start by saying that I personally don't really play video games - I have a few that I like to play occasionally, but don't play that often. My kids, on the other hand, are game aficionados, and they tolerate their little sister hanging around and "playing" the games with them, but there's never really anything for her to do, and there's certainly no educational value to her watching them play.

I was curious which of the boys would plug into this game - if any at all. I have thee guys that are 7,7 and 10 are old, and they've long since stopped watching Sesame Street. I knew that Lucy would be excited - she loves Elmo, Cookie, Grover, and the rest of the gang as they hang out on her diapers - but his is a game designed for pre-schoolers, and they are 2nd and 5th graders. Lucy and I watch Plaza Sesamo regularly and she really seems to dig that as well, but I had no idea what plugging in this game would do. For the past three months, all FOUR of my kids have been sitting with each other, interacting with each other for 20-30 minutes at a time, all while th older three encourage their 2.5 year old sister to toss the ring on the stick, scoop up the right duck, or toss the ball at the right stack of cans. Funny thing this video game does - it allows a parent or older sibling to actually interact with the kiddo playing the game.

Initially I was going to review this game and talk about how cool it was that Lucy had a game of her own, that at 2.5 years old she kind of got what she was supposed to do, that she was learning some cool things. But then I saw what the game did for the boys when they started using the parental control. Suddenly they were sharing an activity that they loved with their little sister. The Parental Assistance mode is an easy way for a parent or big brother to take over control of he game without tearing the controller out of the hands of the toddler. That's that kind of thing that starts a temper tantrum in my house. Because she can't read yet, she had no idea that Max was taking over control and helping her to complete the tasks. When she's get stuck (she can't count cans, and while she knows her colors she isn't always sure what she's supposed to pick) they take over and help her along, then give her control back, all without her knowing. They play the game with her, encouraging her to continue on, and she loves every minute of it.

Even with the cool parental assistance feature, it's probably a game that's best played by 3+ years. Lucy is a bit young to understand some of the tasks, but she can certainly manipulate the controller as needed to play the game. The folks who designed the game made sure that little kids can easily work the controller so they can focus more on the games themselves. As you can see, Lucy spent a good deal of time bouncing, scooping, and moving around while playing.

And what a cool controller it is! We have a blue Cookie Monster here, but here's a snap of the cute Elmo cover:

Both of the games come with one of these, and while Lucy liked it the first few times she played, she hasn't been using it more recently, opting instead to jump right into the game. The covers come with the games and slide right on, covering up the buttons that aren't being used and providing a better grip so the controllers don't go flying.

All in all this is a fantastic game for little folks. Sesame Street and Warner Brothers have done a bang up job of combining early childhood educational research and characters that little folks know and love into a game that the whole family can enjoy. While the game is way too basic for an older kid, as seen in this pic it's a game that the whole family enjoys.

If you are looking for a game with easy to understand directions, fun graphics and that has an educational component that's a notch above the rest, definitely check these games out. Cookie's Counting Carnival is our already, but I think that I'll grab Elmo's A to Zoo Adventures when Lucy turns three as she's starting to get into her letters. You can learn more and order the games here: http://www.sesamestreetvideogames.com/, but I'd definitely recommend it if you are looking for a game on the Wii, Nintendo DS, or PC for your pre-schooler. And I think Lucy would give you two thumbs up on this one as well!

*The game was provided to me by Warner Brothers free of charge, but the opinions here are all mine (and Lucy's)!