Roadside Attractions

In honor of the Harris Sisters' upcoming girls' weekend and all sorts of summer road trips well underway all over this great land, I thought I would share with you a nifty little website we found last year about this time when we started planning our first annual girls' getaway weekend.   It's called roadsideamerica.com, and no matter what roadside attractions you are looking for, whether the world's largest ball of twine, or simply a random house of mud, this website is sure to help you in your quest. 

Once you make your way over to the Roadside America website, you will find all sorts of tools to help you plan your roadtrip around sites and attractions along the way.  There is a handy tool that allows users to plug in their beginning and ending locations, and it maps out all sorts of attractions for you that are either on your route or close by, if you aren't averse to getting off the beaten path a little.  You can also hunt for specific attractions, or report ones that you have found that aren't already loaded onto their map.  In addition, you can read reviews or create your own once you have explored one of their attractions.  

One of the other way cool components of their website is their Muffler Man map, which includes photos and locations for Muffler Men scattered all over the great U.S. of A.  In case you didn't know, Muffler Men are large sculptures that are placed along the road as advertising icons, roadside attractions or for decorative purposes, predominantly in the United States. Standing approximately 18-25 feet tall, the first figure was a Paul Bunyan character designed to hold an axe.  Derivatives of that figure were widely used to hold full-sized car mufflers, tires, or other items promoting various roadside businesses, thus giving them their name.

But let's face it.  No one knew his way around a good roadside attraction better than Clark W. Griswold.  Perhaps he is a contributor to Roadside America???  One can only hope.  So it is in that spirit that I leave you for today with the thoughtful words of Clark and his lovely wife, Ellen. 

Ellen Griswold: Clark, let's just skip the house of mud. I think Dodge City was enough fun for one day. Besides, Catherine and Eddie are expecting us.

Clark: It's living history Ellen. But if you'd rather see your cousins. Personally I'd rather see a pile of mud than Eddie.

Happy trails!

40 Books Your Kids Should Read

Remember how a few days ago we gave you a list of 100 Things to Do This Summer? Well, I realize that not every child LOVES to read, and so I purposefully didn't put that on the Summer list. (Because if that is your child, then prodding him or her to read every day over the summer will be like pulling teeth. During the school year? Yes! During the summer? Not so much . . . .)

However, whether or not your child loves to read, I DO believe that there are certain books that you can suggest that will help foster a love of books. And, hey, maybe one or two over the summer wouldn't kill anybody. Worth a shot, right???

And if your child loves to read, then dive right in:

These are the classics, and I would hate to think that any one of them has fallen out of rotation in favor of the Junie B. Jones and the Diary of a Wimpy Kids of the world (although I'm sure those books have their place).

Ages 3-5

1.       Puff, the Magic Dragon – Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton

2.       Mr. Men & Little Miss series – Roger Hargreaves

3.       Corduroy – Don Freeman

4.       Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson

5.       The Story of Ferdinand – Robert Lawson

6.       Blueberries for Sal – Robert McCloskey

7.       Green Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss

Ages 4-8

1.       Amelia Bedelia series – Peggy Parish

2.       Paddington Bear series – Michael Bond

3.       Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak

4.       Stellaluna – Janell Cannon

5.       The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter

6.       Harry the Dirty Dog – Gene Zion

7.       Frog and Toad series – Arnold Lobel

Ages 7+

1.       The Bobbsey Twins series – Laura Lee Hope

2.       Choose Your Own Adventure series

3.       Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Judy Blume

4.       Encyclopedia Brown series – Donald J. Sobol

5.       Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great – Judy Blume

6.       The Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams

7.       The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

8.       Tales of Mr. Pengachoosa – Caroline Rush

9.       The Lorax – Dr. Seuss

Ages 8+

1.       Nancy Drew mystery series – Carolyn Keen

2.       The Hardy Boys series  – Franklin W. Dixon

3.       Ramona Quimby series – Beverly Cleary

4.       The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks

5.       Bunnicula series – Deborah and James Howe

6.       The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

7.       The Little House series – Laura Ingalls Wilder

8.       The Chronicles of Narnia series – C. S. Lewis

9.       How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell

10.     Magic Tree House Series – Mary Pope Osborne

11.     Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White

Ages 9+

1.       Charlie & The Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

2.       Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe

3.       Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo

4.       Watership Down – Richard Adams

5.       Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

6.       Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stephenson

So, don't be afraid to dust off some of the books that you yourself read when you were younger and hand them down to your child. You'll be glad you did!

Feel free to leave comments below with any of your personal favorites from growing up.

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Time to Sit Back and Unwind

It's officially Summer! WOOT! So I just couldn't resist kicking off today with this CLASSIC tune by our good friends DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (AKA Will Smith and . . . dang! Does Jeff still go by "Jazzy" Jeff????).

Anyhootle, here they are back in the day reminding us of what Summertime should be like (evidently full of high-top fades, Speed Racer T-shirts, and Philadelphia Flyers gear, but I digress):

I've included both the video AND the lyrics because if your kids don't know this tune yet, NOW is the time to introduce it to them. In fact, this is one of the songs that we played last year at Aidyn's End of Summer Beach Birthday Party and it was a hit! Enjoy!

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Drums please!

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

Here it is the groove slightly transformed.
Just a bit of a break from the norm.
Just a little somethin' to break the monotony
of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be
a little bit out of control - it's cool to dance.
But what about the groove that soothes and moves romance?
Give me a soft subtle mix
and if ain't broke then don't try to fix it.
And think of the summers of the past
adjust the base and let the alpine blast.
Pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme
and put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

School is out and it's a sort of a buzz.
But back then I didn't really know what it was.
But now I see what have of this
the way that people respond to summer madness.
The weather is hot and girls are dressing less
and checking out the fellas to tell 'em who's best.
Riding around in your Jeep or your Benzos
or in your Nissan sitting on lorenzos.
Back in Philly we be out in the park
a place called the Plateau is where everybody go.
Guys out hunting and girls doing likewise
honking at the honey in front of you with the light eyes.
She turn around to see what you beeping at.
It's like the summer's a natural aphrodisiac
and with a pen and pad I compose this rhyme
to hit you and get you equipped for the summertime.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

It's late in the day, and I ain't been on the court yet -
hustle to the mall to get me a short set.
Yeah I got on sneaks but I need a new pair
cause basketball courts in the summer got girls there.
The temperature's about 88 -
hop in the water plug just for old times sake.

Break to ya crib change your clothes once more
cause you're invited to a barbecue that's starting at 4.
Sitting with your friends as y'all reminisce
about the days growing up and the first person you kiss.
And as I think back makes me wonder how
the smell from a grill could spark up nostalgia.
All the kids playing out front -
little boys messin' round with the girls playing double-dutch -
while the DJ's spinning a tune as the old folks dance at your family reunion.
Then six o'clock rolls around
you just finished wiping your car down.
It's time to cruise so you go to the summertime hangout
it looks like a car show.
Everybody come lookin' real fine
fresh from the barber shop or fly from the beauty salon.
Every moment frontin' and maxin'
chillin' in the car they spent all day waxin'.
Leanin' to the side but you can't speed through -
two miles an hour so everybody sees you.
There's an air of love and of happiness
and this is the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪