Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Keeping Kids Appy

I am slightly ashamed to admit this, but I am a confessed latecomer to all things iPhone and iPod Touch. I had heard of the App Store and all its treasures, but it had never sparked my interest because of my continued love affair with the “Click Wheel” and the iPod Classic.  Making the move up to the iPod Touch would be like “cheating” on your best girl... and I was no cheater.




Soon, a day came when I maxed the capacity on my 80 gig iPod, and I was faced with a dilemma. Should I stay true and stick with an iPod Classic, albeit with larger capacity?  Or could I add an iPod Touch to this once monogamous relationship?  I chose the latter option and went with the Touch solely on the basis of the App Store. Now that I have given in, I finally realize what Charlie Sheen and Tiger have been trying to tell me.  Sometimes, "cheating" is good...  really good.  It took me all about 5 minutes to realize how eye openingly and jaw droppingly fantastic these new iPhones/iPod Touches were.  I have been missing out.  I have been missing out big time...  These days, my best girl and I still have a healthy relationship cuz she still holds all my music and treats me to my favorite tunes everyday in the car, but now I get a little on the side with my new flame, the iPod Touch.

While originally intended for me and my own uses, my Touch is now almost exclusively for the kids.  On it, you will find kids videos, kids games, learning apps, and McKenna's favorite Miley Cyrus songs.   My children are now 4 and 6, soon to be 5 and 7.  Trying to find apps for them has been fun, yet arduous at the same time. There is a mountain of kids apps out there and very few of these are worth the time to download.  In my quest to find for age appropriate, non-violent apps that have some learning components added in, I have found a select few to be worthy or at least enjoyable.  Check them out and then just maybe, your iPhone or iPod Touch will become your friend too… with benefits.


Among the available kids apps, the "Baby and Toddler" category is by far the largest. Most of these apps are simply to keep the little one occupied while Mom catches her breath, but some of them do have merit.  Here are some of our favorites for this age bracket.

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox – I love this app, and to top it off, my kids do too. It is the perfect mix of fun and learning and it is incredibly age appropriate. My kids love the reward system of earning stickers and of course, they love that monkey. It might be for more for early preschool, but my kids at 4 still enjoy it.  Since it is relatively easy, you would think that they would get bored easily, but I haven't found that to be the case.  It is easy, but it is also a great confidence builder.

First Words - You might want to start with First Words Sampler and if you like it, you can purchase their full version apps like First Words Animals and First Words Deluxe.  This is an early childhood app that is great for letter recognition and it introduces kids to spelling. 

Dr. Seuss ABC - If you or your kids like Dr. Seuss and who doesn't, this interactive book is a great place to start.  It looks fantastic and the narrator's voice is clear and concise. (important when you are learning your letters and letter sounds)  You can interact with the book, by touching the pictures on screen and the narrator will tell you the name of the object as well as the word will pop up.   Cat in the Hat, Grinch, and the Lorax are also currently available.



Super Why! - For fans of Super Why! on PBS, this app is a nice extension of that show.  The app is excellent on many levels, it contains 4 different games, it has characters your kids are familiar with and the game is easy to navigate.  The games are letter recognition, word choice, letter tracing, and a rhyming game. 

Little Bella "I Close My Eyes" - I absolutely adore Little Bella...  She is enchanting and completely endearing in this little animated storybook.  The animations are top notch and look like they got pulled straight from "Ponyo"  Two thumbs way up for Little Bella.  Can't wait for the next one...

Kero - If you look in the dictionary under “Cute little kids game” This would be it. It’s perfect for really young kids and at least funny for the older ones. In this game, you are Kero the frog, and you must help Kero eat as many flies as he can. It doesn’t get much simpler than this and it doesn’t even keep score, but the kids all love the ending of this game so I won’t spoil it.

Treat Street – This is a Trick or Treating game that my Evan really loves. It’s great for Halloween time, but my kids want to trick or treat all year round with this little app. This app is super simple, yet still fun. It begins with dressing your character up for Halloween then going out and knocking on doors for tricks or treats... Sometimes you get a trick, sometimes you get a treat. There’s not much to it, but it’s definitely worth 99 cents.

Make Me a Princess – I don’t see how you can NOT have this on your Touch or iPhone if your daughter like princesses and dress up. My daughter McKenna adores this app and this is clearly her favorite. There are other dress up apps, but we think this is the best.
 
Cookie Doodle - This is the latest game all my kids love.  I like it because it involves decorating virtual cookies and not shooting virtual aliens with virtual guns.  Start by choosing a cookie dough, bake, then make a dizzying number of choices to decorate your cookie.  When you're done, you can eat it or save it in the cookie jar.  Excellent, just excellent.


Other recommendations - Animal Hide and Seek, Preschool Connect the Dots, The Rescue of Ginger, Pickin' Time.

Moving on to apps for the Kindergarten set, I found this category to be surprisingly small. There are tons of apps for the toddler in your life, but not much for kids who are at the next level.  I’m sure the market is dictating what kind of games get developed, but the dearth of options here is certainly disheartening.

Teach Me Kindergarten - Really like this app, but it starts off way too easy. The questions get continually harder, but it seems like it takes too long. I wish you could adjust the level manually.  That being said, Nash and I really do like this app. Hopefully an update comes...  KidCalc is another choice here for more math options.

I Spy Spooky Mansion - Nash loves I Spy and also all things spooky, so this is a match made in heaven. We'll sometimes turn down the lights and play this in his room and get creeped out together.  This app is beautifully rendered and makes good use of the pinch and zoom feature.  Highly recommend.



Where's Waldo - This is another seek and find app that's a lot of fun and quite different from the I Spy apps.  There is a storyline, different destinations, a world map and best of all, it has a kid level and a normal level for Dads who want to play too.

Word Girl - I like this app, but I wish I could love it.  It is very short and I wish it would teach more words.

Math Bumpies - This app is a nice mix of learning and gameplay.  It is really simple using the accelerometer to move your character and jumping to the correct multiple choice answer.  It has 3 difficulty levels and while the gameplay is a little too simple, the magic here is that they are learning while playing a "game"

WeeMee Avatar Creator - This one is fun for all ages.  I admit to using this app for over an hour creating an avatar for each of my kids and for myself of course...  The kids have a good time creating avatars for themselves, their parents or friends.  Again, good fun without the blasting of robots or aliens.


Other Kid Games

Rat on a Scooter
Doodle Jump
Crazy Penguin Catapult (Nash loves this one and Crazy Penguin 2)
Toy Story Mania (just like the ride)
Disney Fireworks (a little bit hard even on easy level, but pretty good)
Fish Frenzy lite
Nut Chuckin lite
Sneezies lite (pop the bubbles)
Phineas and Ferb (My kids love Phineas and Ferb, but I haven't got this cuz they would go straight for this and ignore everything else. I'll get it eventually)

Chop Chop Ninja  - There's some violence in this one, but it's pretty tame compared to what kids see these days. You are a Ninja and you do fight Bad Guys so I'll let you use your discretion, but it is fun, beautifully done in cartoon style and the controls are very easy for the kids.



Well, that's about all he wrote... There are a few other apps worth mentioning, but this is a good list to get started.  Beware, there are a lot of horrible apps out there so it's always best to try to find a "Lite" or "Free" version before buying.  I have bought several apps that have made its way immediately into the recycle bin after only a few minutes of play.  The only other advice I can give you is to treat each app like a "present".  Give them out one by one.  Just like at Christmas, when you give a kid six "presents" he will pick one favorite and the rest will be ignored.  Let him open one, play it, exhaust it, then move on to the next.  That way, you will get the most mileage, and your kid will too.

Have fun and let me know if you have any apps to recommend as well.  Maybe now, you can eat your Beef Noodle Soup in peace.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Spring Break with the Wongs

It's pretty rare when I need to twist my wife's arm, but as Spring Break approached, a family vacation was on the docket and I needed to push my proposal through Congress and fast... For once, in what seems a very long time, The Twins (Evan and McKenna) and my oldest son (Nash) had vacation time on the same exact week and we simply needed to capitalize on this opportunity.

Our story begins with our Hero nearing Spring Break and he is tired and hungry for "arm twisting" can take a terrible toll. Finally, the Evil Queen relents and agrees to a "little" vacation. Victory is so sweet...

Like so many other families these days, budget is an issue, so we agree to a destination that is within driving distance. San Diego is in the "been there, done that" category so it was time to head back up North. As every family in LA will attest, there are really only 3 vacations within driving distance. South to San Diego, East to Las Vegas, or North to San Francisco. There are things in between like Palm Springs and Mammoth and the like, but with a family with smaller kids, surely these are the options that lie before us. San Francisco was the choice this time as the Twins have never been north and Nash has never been higher than Monterey (Nash was 2 at the time so I don't think he remembers much anyways)

I enjoy seeking out new adventures for myself and my family on our trips and not just doing the same things over and over. So when you think of "New Adventures", what immediately comes to mind? Gilroy, California of course. Hey, don't knock it, many adventures await us in the Garlic Capital of the World.

There are many reasons to visit the alluring and seductive town known as Gilroy, (the Gilroy Outlets, the ubiquitous smell of Garlic) but my main reason to visit the illustrious Gilroy is that this town is home to a theme park I have been eyeballing for a while now called Gilroy Gardens. Over the years, I have become a theme park enthusiast and Gilroy Gardens came onto my radar as one of the best theme parks in California for kids and the only horticulturally based theme park. Let me tell you that this park lived up to my expectations and more, but more on that later. Let's start at the beginning...

Day one started like any other day, an alarm clock that rings at 5 AM and bloodshot eyes. I would like to say that we were in the car and driving by 5:30, but alas, what road trip ever starts at the appointed time? 45 minutes or so later, we were officially on our way, and with 3 kids under 7, that is a feat worth applauding! As a sidebar, getting our kids up in the wee hours was surprisingly easy for the fact that my kids simply adore vacations and going places. Yes I know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I get it... Drinking my prerequisite early morning Diet Coke we head up the 5 toward Sunny Bakersfield. My kids are yammering about Pokemon while unbeknownst to them, the Journey has officially begun. Sidebar #2, for the foreseeable future, I don't see myself getting away with any family vacations that do not include "rides" in some way or fashion. My kids just love "rides" and theme parks and they do no consider any trip a "Real" vacation without "rides." Yes, Apple... Tree... Got it.

Day One continues uneventfully with the occasional threat of "Do you want to go home?" "I can turn around right now if you guys don't start behaving" but other than the idle threat-making, the drive was pretty smooth. Why do we parents continue to make these idle threats? And what offense seriously constitutes the act of actually turning around and going home? Good thing, the kids don't know that I already booked and prepaid my hotel stays and theme park tickets. Slightly off topic, I must comment that, in my number of years driving, I have never seen so many cops and speed traps on the road. City budgets must be low... Be careful out there.

We arrive at Gilroy Gardens in decent time and thank God for GPS for the signage to the park was not very helpful. We finally find the entrance to the park and are immediately put off by the large sign that is weather beaten and badly needing some paint. Usually this is an ominous sign like in Scream, when the caller tells Drew Barrymore to turn on the backyard lights... However my disappointment is short lived as I pull into the parking lot and a beautiful world unfolds before my eyes. This property is lush and gorgeous. Set back up against a tree filled mountain, this park is situated in a true Wonderland. Only Busch Gardens in Virgina can match the natural beauty surrounding this park. As I read the literature on the place, Mr. Bonfante wanted to create a place to host his beautiful gardens, but he also knew that financially, it didn't make sense. In order for his dream to become a reality, "rides" would need to be added and the result is a perfect mix of flora, fauna, and fun. If you have kids under 10, I highly recommend this place for your next trip. In my mind, it comes very close to rivalling Legoland as the best park for younger kids in California. Legoland has more money behind it and some better rides, but Gilroy Gardens makes up for it in charm and a hometown feel. I can't help but think that with a little TLC, this place could be one step short of amazing. I salivate at the idea of Disney buying it and putting their dollars behind this little park. It would make a fine sister park under the Disney umbrella. That idea of course is pure Fantasyland... I could get into the details of this park, but that would make this blog 10 pages, so let if suffice to say that I adored this park and my kids did too. Nash is already asking to go back there for his birthday...

The rest of the day is spent catching some Mexican food at Victoria's. Decent food, but Americanized Mexican food is not making my Hot List. We chose to stay at the Best Western Forest Park Inn, Tripadvisor's #1 rated hotel in Gilroy! Whoo Hoo! Basically a motel, but it was very clean, beds comfortable and lacking any detracting smells I get from similar motels at this price point, so I recommend the place. 89 bucks a night to stay here.

The next morning, the kids arise from their newly acquired sleeping bags raring to go. The plan is to hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium when it opens to avoid the crowds. After a distinctly mediocre hotel provided breakfast, we pile into the car and drive south to Monterey. We arrive early and Lily does the math and decides that street parking is a cheaper option to parking in a pay lot. The meter devours every last quarter in my car . I have a bag of quarters on my dresser from a long lost poker game that would have been greatly utilized on this trip, but hindsight is 20/20. If you trip up north, bring quarters. The meters up here are much hungrier than its counterparts in LA.


As our quest continues, we find our Heroes entering the museum flashing their AAA Card around like Wayne and Garth only to be told that discount tickets can be purchased by AAA members at a AAA office, but not here at the museum. Kyle pays full price... As an Asian, I am offended to pay full price, but for the kids I suck it up and bite the bullet. For the kids man... for the kids. The Aquarium is nice and empty and we head straight to the kids area as that particular area gets very nutty very quickly. We enjoy our time there as the crowds start to swell. There is a whole new side to the aquarium and it is very welcome as I have always considered the Monterey Bay Aquarium rather small. We enjoy our time and Lily takes the kids for the last few exhibits while I use the Yelp app on my phone to search for some clam chowdery goodness. Yelp leads me to Old Fisherman's Grotto on the Wharf. We head there and immediately hawkers and dime store merchants accost me, I wonder what I am doing in this tourist trap. With only a shred of my sanity left, I finally set my eyes upon a ghastly yellow building and on the sign out front read "Old Fisherman's Grotto" I want to turn and run and find my mommy, but I found a good parking space and I can't give it up. We decide to stay and after a short wait, we order a Lobster, Combo plate, Linguine and Clams and receive a free appetizer by mentioning Yelp. True to my over-indulgent history, I order way too much food, but the food we had was surprisingly darn good considering good food never exists in tourist trap hells like this. Portions were large and the Clam Chowder was very tasty, a little light on clams, but very tasty. It was served in a huge clam shell and I felt like asking for 2 straws, some liquor and some little umbrellas to put in it and then light it on fire. I definitely can recommend this place if you are looking for that typical tourist seafood restaurant. Big portions, solid food. Overpriced, of course, but that's what you expect from these kind of places.

With full bellies, we want to do one more activity and work off lunch so we head to Dennis the Menace Park not 5 minutes from the Wharf. This park is certainly impressive from the street with it's rope bridge and giant archway. There's even a full size locomotive (Train) in front of the park that the kids can climb all over. My kids did indeed climb all over it, but I was right behind them because this thing is full size and some 20 feet tall. I don't recommend young people on the train, I cringe at thought of someone falling from that height. We spend over an hour here as my kids slide down hills, climb rock walls and run through a small maze. Great park with not your run of the mill playground equipment. Definitely worth stopping by and it's completely free!

Head back to the hotel and it starts pouring rain. Still need to eat dinner so I go back to my trusty Yelp app and find Famous Dave's Barbecue. Famous Dave's is a chain and most you know, I am allergic to most chains outside of maybe Houstons. I break out into hives when someone even mentions Applebees... Using extreme caution, I put my allergic reactions aside and we proceed to have a terrific meal. Baby back Ribs, Barbecue Chicken, Brisket, Baked Beans with Bacon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and some really good Corn Bread Muffins. This was a rare meal where every dish that hit our table was bordering on delicious. Sometimes with chain restaurants, locations vary in quality, so can't speak for all the Famous Dave's locations, but I can tell you that they have won numerous awards for their barbecue and this location lived up to the hype. They have location in Long Beach and I'm planning a trip there very soon.

During every vacation Lily and I take, there will come a time in the trip where we simply must have Chinese Food. I don't know exactly what it is, maybe it's in our blood, but eventually rice and greasy MSG ridden food call out to me. As San Francisco Chinese restaurants sing their Siren's Song, the next day we make our way to San Francisco and Hong Kong Lounge for Dim Sum. We arrive at 9:30 or so and the darn place doesn't open till 11. We call an audible and head to the Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is closed on Mondays. This day is going swimmingly... Another audible is called and we head back to Hong Kong Lounge. It is now 11:30 and there is a considerable wait for tables now. My intolerance for waiting is legendary, but I really want to try this place so I stay, and I am happy I did. Dim Sum in San Francisco is always a little different than LA. I'm not sure why, but different things are served here. My head was on a swivel as I walked in to the restaurant looking at everybody else's food. As I gawked at every table like Charlie Bucket in the Candy Shop, everything looked so delicious and it was. Hong Kong Lounge actually still use Bamboo Steamers to serve their food. I haven't seen Bamboo Steamers since I was a child. Even on my trip to Hong Kong, we never saw a hint of bamboo so we were very pleased and left satisfied. I can definitely recommend the place as well, but go right at 11.

With the Exploratorium closed and being in San Francisco, we decide to ride the cable cars down to the Wharf. The kids really enjoyed the first 5 minutes, but after that, it just became a bumpy, uncomfortable ride. We get to the Wharf and immediately again wonder what the heck we are doing here. We walk for a bit, hit a candy store to appease the tykes and head back to the cable car station. The line is long and the a cable car employee told us that it will be an hour wait. After waiting some 40 minutes, a cable car breaks down and we give up and take a taxi back to our car. My kids enjoy the "crazy taxi ride" way more than the cable car. Go figure.

We have time for one more quick jaunt and Lily has a hankering for Ice Cream. Lily has done her research so we head to Mitchell's. This is really a small unassuming place and thank goodness there wasn't a long line like we expected. This is some of the best Ice Cream I or Lily has ever consumed. Better than Blue Bell, much better than Fosselmans. It was creamy without being too rich and it was just Ice Cream perfection. We will be back. Full of ice creamy goodness, we head to the Bay Landing Hotel and check in. We decide to stay by the airport as we were only in the city one day. An added bonus was the cheaper rate, 99 bucks and free parking. The hotel was located right on the bay and had a great view of airplanes landing at SFO. The kids loved watching the planes land against the setting sun of another great day.

That night, I leave the kids with Lily and head back into the city. Angels and Airwaves are playing tonight in San Francisco for their First date on the American Tour. Funny coincidence don't you think? Somehow my vacation perfectly syncs up with a show I really want to attend and already hold tickets for... Hmmm. Well, I'll let that mystery go unsolved so I park the car and immediately head to Blondies for a huge slice of pepperoni pizza. Who doesn't love Blondies? The show was very good and it felt good to be out on the town eating pizza and rocking out without the kids for one night. My kids go down at 7:30, 8:30 at the latest on vacations, so with one room, I am forced to go to sleep then as well. I find it torture to go to bed that early and it was nice to be back on some sort of adult sleeping schedule if only for one night. Next time, a suite will be in order.


The last day of our quest arrives and the Little Heroes are begging for "more vacation" I consider it, but Lily needs to get back to work. I google search an activity we can do on the way down and I find the Coyote Point Park in San Mateo. This park is only minutes from the hotel and not in the middle like I was hoping, but it looks super cool so we head there. 5 bucks to park a car and we find a beautiful park with a playground, museum, beach access and a golf course that I pined for, but could not partake. The playground here is called Magic Mountain Playground. I don't get the name, but either way, it's one of the best playgrounds I have ever taken my kids to. It is awesome with a tall 3 story castle in the middle of the playground. Coming out of that castle is a tube slide running all the way down from the top level. Nothing in LA like this exists period. I wonder why No Cal has all the good parks? Nash made a friend as he so often does and the kid even gave Nash his phone number so he could call him for future playdates. My kids thanked me profusely for bringing them here and McKenna kisses me on the cheek. We should have hit the road, but the explorer in me wouldn't quit without at least taking a look at the museum. This little museum is part small zoo and part kids museum. My kids loved all the science exhibits and the little zoo was landscaped in such a way that nature and functionality flowed seamlessly. Throughout this trip, I have really noticed a connection to nature that Northern Cal has and that Southern Cal seemingly does not. Oh well, I shan't dwell over it lest I become bereft... Overall, it was a pleasant and unexpected experience and one that I am so happy to have stumbled upon. Well, at this point we really needed to hit the road, but of course, we need to eat first. I saw a In N Out a mile back so we head there. The line is 20 cars long so we go to L+L Hawaiian BBQ next door. L+L is super hit and miss with me, but this location in Burlingame was spot on. Chicken Katsu Curry... My tummy is still warm just thinking about it. Things works out perfectly as full kids get food coma, and food coma leads to napping in the car. The silence was golden as we drove right on down the road.

After many pee breaks, we finally return home to spoiled milk and a house that smelled like old laundry. Ahhh... Home sweet home. This was a wonderful trip and like all of our trips, a gastronomic adventure even with kids. Kids definitely limit your food choices, but good food can be had with kids in tow and my belly is living proof.

Eat on everybody, eat on.

K