My boys love the Dinosaur Train television show on PBS by The Jim Henson Company.  They also love playing with toys.  So when I was given the opportunity to review three Dinosaur Train toys from Uncle Milton’s Toys, I was excited.  When I saw that the toys had educational value, I jumped at the opportunity.

Dinosaur Poop

Let’s be honest.  Tell any kid that you’re going to let them play with poop at the table, and they’ll look at you funny.  But once you take out this product, they’ll be crying for you to open that package quicker.

Of course, the contents are not really poop, but a brown dough-like substance.  They come inside of a storage container to keep the “poop” fresh between uses and some pieces of the dinosaur’s most recent meal.

In the case of a carnivore, these pieces are 2 fish skeletons.  In the case of a herbivore, 2 plants.  An omnivore has one fish and one plant.  The pieces can be put together like a puzzle for even more fun.

Once all the pieces have been found, you can flatten the poop and press the fish skeleton or plant into it to form a fossil impression.

You can also get more creative and form poop sculptures.

Of course, this toy can also lead to interesting statements from parents such as “Who wants to play with poop?” or “Keep that poop on the table and not on the floor!”

Hatchers

How would your child like to grow his or her own dinosaur?  Hatchers lets your child do just this.  Each package contains an egg.

Drop the egg into a glass of water and out hatches a dinosaur.

Ok, not immediately.  This is the tough part.  The hatching takes about two days.  So children get to learn a lesson in patience.

Dino Track Discovery Pack

My boys love games.  So it was only natural that they loved playing with the Dino Tracks.  Each package comes with three trails.  Each card contains a dinosaur footprint on one side and some dinosaur facts on the other.  There are also two “egg” cards with suggested games such as follow the trail or try to jump the space of one dinosaur stride.  (As you can see, one T-Rex step is just a little bit shorter than JSL on top of NHL.)

Giveaway

Thanks to Uncle Milton Toys, one lucky winner will receive a Dinosaur Train prize pack which includes two packages of Dinosaur Poop and two Dinosaur Train Hatchers. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What is your favorite dinosaur?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
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• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, May 24th and ends at Noon EST on June 7th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclaimer: The products were provided for this review by Uncle Milton.  The opinions expressed above are my own.

Now that spring is here, we can go outdoors for extended periods of time.  This means playtime at the park: slides, climbing, throwing frisbees.  What could be better?  How about tossing an Aerobie around?

You see, NHL and JSL  haven’t quite gotten the knack of throwing a frisbee.  NHL’s throws tend to not travel far and JSL’s barely leave the ground.  So, while we do have fun, there isn’t any distance involved.  Enter the Aerobie Sprint flying ring.

The minute the boys saw the flying ring, they wanted to try it out.  I had them wait until we went to the park.  Good thing too, because that disc can really fly!  NHL was able to send it quite some distance.  I didn’t measure, but I’d guess his throws easily topped 30 feet.  JSL had more trouble, but he also had a few successful throws.  His only went about 10 feet or so, but I’d call that impressive for an almost-four year old.  As for me?  I got some seriously far throws in as well.

This is definitely something you’ll want to play with where there’s plenty of room.  At one point, NHL threw the ring towards me when we were too close to the edge of the park and it almost went into the road.  After that, I made sure all throws were directed into the park and not outside of it.

We all loved playing with the Aerobie and it definitely attracted attention.  Before long, two other kids in the park joined our game of catch.  I’d definitely recommend this for anyone with kids (or even just adults) and a large amount of land to toss the ring across.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint, one lucky winner will receive an Aerobie Sprint flying ring. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What activity do you and/or your children like doing best in your local park or playground?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Have some fun in a local playground with the Aerobie Sprint flying ring from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/iphzny #Giveaway
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To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, May 3rd and ends at Noon EST on May 17th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

I’ll admit it.  As much as I thought I’d be the parent who wouldn’t let their child watch too much television, my kids love the TV.  They have a dozen favorite shows that they absolutely *must* see and are constantly asking us to DVR something else.  In addition, they’ve fallen in love with Netflix on our Roku player.  NHL, in particular, enjoys picking just which episode of which show he is going to watch next.  Of course, we prefer it when their television watching habits are educational in nature.  So when I heard about Ameba, I was intrigued.

Ameba is one of the many new channels that Roku provides.  Unlike others that show old movies or anime, though, Ameba shows educational programming geared towards children.  When we first browsed the selection of shows, I’ll admit that I began to get a little nervous.  Nowhere was Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets or any of the other “big name” shows that my boys are used to watching.  Would they take to these new shows or would they turn their noses up at them?

We looked through the Ages 2 – 5 section for a good program for JSL.  After awhile, we found Rainbow Fish.  This was a pleasant surprise because they love the Rainbow Fish book.  We watched an episode where Rainbow Fish and his friends need to welcome a new girl to their school.  A girl who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the gang.  They both enjoyed this show.

After this, we switched over to the Age 6 – 10 section to find a good program for NHL.  I noticed Einsteinabot, a program which appeared to be about numbers and math.  NHL loves math so we tried this.  Once again, I began to get nervous.  The program had a fun song, but the look of the show wasn’t as polished as some shows on Nick Jr or Disney Junior.  I needn’t have worried, though.  NHL began singing along while JSL danced in his seat.  When the episode was over, NHL asked to watch the next one and the one after that.

It just goes to show that kids like fun shows.  They don’t care if the show uses the latest animation techniques or expensive computer generated imagery.  The shows on Ameba might not have big toy lines behind them like Dora or the Disney shows do, but they are fun and educational.  (Of course, the lack of a big toy line might be seen as another plus.)

Ameba costs $9.99 per month (though, for the month of April, they’re dropping the price to $3.99) and you can either get a set top box from them or purchase a Roku box for $60 to play it on.  I didn’t test Ameba’s box so I can’t say anything good or bad about it, but I highly recommend the Roku box for ease of use and availability of content.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Ameba, not one, not two, but three lucky winners will receive an Ameba set top box and a 3 month subscription to Ameba. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What education programs do your children watch or did you watch growing up?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
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• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @AmebaTV and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Stream educational children’s shows from the web to your TV. Win 1 of 3 @AmebaTV set top boxes from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/gMRdRH #Giveaway
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• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, March 31st and ends at Noon EST on April 14th, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

Disclaimer: I was provided two month’s free Ameba service to review.  No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. Ameba is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.

I’ve got a confession to make.  I’ve been running giveaways and selecting winners.  The winners have received their items.  I even announced the winners on Twitter.  But I neglected to announce them here.  Bad, TechyDad!  Bad!  Well, here is where I play catch-up.

Nestle Butterfinger Snackerz Giveaway

This giveaway was won by Lethea Benson (Luvdaylillies on Twitter).

Mastermind Animal Towers Giveaway

This giveaway was won by one entrant but when they didn’t respond within 48 hours, I was forced to select a second winner.  That lucky individual was Kelly Ann T. (cstironkat on Twitter).

WikiReader Giveaway

The winner here was Cheryl Wilson (HeartnSoulmom on Twitter).

Congrats to all of the winners!  Also, remember to enter my current giveaway to win a $50 gift certificate to Eden Fantasys.

Quick warning: Some of the links on this page might be considered not safe for work.

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.  A man and a woman are madly in love.  They have a wonderful time in the bedroom (perhaps in other rooms as well).  Then they get married and have children.  Gradually, their bedroom antics become fewer and fewer.  They turn from passion filled romps into scheduled sessions timed for the least interference of the kiddie kind.

The bad news is that this happens to far too many of us married folks.  The good news is that it doesn’t need to be like this.  Sometimes, all you need is to add a little spice to your relationship.  And boy does Eden Fantasys have spice!  You can go for the tamer items like massage oil or lingerie, or for some more adventurous gear.  There is also a whole community of people at Eden Fantasys, so be sure to stop by their forums.

Thanks to Eden Fantasys, one lucky winner will receive a $50 gift certificate. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What type of product would you buy from Eden Fantasys with $50?

Update:  It has come to my attention that some people might feel uncomfortable answering this question.  That’s fair enough.  So you can either answer the question above or this alternative question:  What do you do to keep your relationship from falling into a rut?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
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• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @EdenFantasys and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Add some spice in your relationship. Win $50 for @EdenFantasys from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/fxCCpR #Giveaway
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• Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from December/January. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, January 6th and ends at Noon EST on January 20th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. This giveaway is open to any place in the world that Eden Fantasys ships, which is the entire world!

Disclosure: I was provided with a gift certificate to Eden Fantasys for running this giveaway. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own.

When I first heard about the WikiReader, I was intrigued.  Being able to browse Wikipedia locally, without any Internet access needed?  That could be very useful.  Of course, I was very excited when I got the chance to review it.

My first impression was that the WikiReader was small.  Very small.

It doesn’t really need to be that big, though.  The whole purpose is to be a portable reference source.  Turning it on, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to use.  There are only four buttons: Search, History, Random and Power (located on the top of the device).  The rest of the functionality is handled by the touch-screen.  You type out search terms on the virtual keyboard, select interesting items, follow links and more by touching the screen in the appropriate spots.  Scrolling is accomplished by pressing your finger down and moving up or down.

Of course, as a reference work, Wikipedia is always being updated.  So if WikiReader just shipped Wikipedia as it existed at ship-time and didn’t give any means of updating, it would quickly become useless.  Luckily, there are two methods of updating.  Both involve the tiny memory card stored within WikiReader.

Yes, that tiny thing stores all of Wikipedia and more (which I’ll discuss soon).  The first update method is to pay $29 and receive two cards per year delivered to your home.  Pop out the old card, pop in the new card and you’re all set.  You can keep the old cards for use in other devices that use microSD cards.

The second update method is to install their free update application.  When you’re ready to update, pop the microSD card out of the WikiReader, connect it to your PC (via a card reader and/or adapter of some sort, both readily available from various stores) and run the update program.  These updates happen once per quarter so you’ll get four updates per year.

Now, for the “and more” from before.  If the WikiReader just stored Wikipedia, it would be useful, but they’re not content to rest on their laurels.  They also include Wiktionary (an online dictionary), Wikiquotes (a quotes database) and, most recently, 33,000 books from Project Gutenberg.  A warning about that last one, though, it requires a 16GB microSD card.  These can be purchased for $25 or so from places such as NewEgg.  I haven’t actually had a chance to test the Project Gutenberg books (I meant to temporarily remove Wikipedia and load on Gutenberg, but I’ve been busy dealing with my photo disaster.)  I must say, though, that before the announcement I had wondered about getting the Project Gutenberg books on there.

For all of its strengths, there are tradeoffs, though.  You won’t be getting any of the images that appear on Wikipedia.  Neither will you get any text that was formatted in tables.  On one hand, it cuts down on the amount of data you need to store and makes it easier to display.  On the other hand, this can leave gaps in the Wikipedia reference material.  It also only searches Wikipedia titles, not the full text.  This last part might be fixable, though, considering that the code that the device runs on is open source.

Of course, I’m sure that some people are wondering “Why don’t I just use my laptop/iPhone/iPad/Smart Phone/etc to access Wikipedia.com and get the latest versions with photos and everything?”  Yes, you *can* do that, but that assumes that you have Internet access.  Many smart phone plans either cap you or force you to pay per byte.  Accessing Wikipedia constantly can run up your charges.  Booting a laptop can also take awhile versus the sub-second boot time of WikiReader.  There are times when I’d use my laptop (or smart phone if I had one) and times when I’d use WikiReader.

The other advantage is with children.  NHL took to the WikiReader instantly and was looking up article after article.  I didn’t need to worry about him wandering onto a different website that I didn’t approve of: He was “stuck” on Wikipedia.  There are also parental controls available, but I didn’t test these out.

WikiReader can be purchased for $99 from TheWikiReader.com or it can be had for free from here if you win my…

Giveaway:

Thanks to Openmoko, makers of the WikiReader, one lucky winner will receive a WikiReader. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What topics do you look up on Wikipedia?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Follow @wikireader on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @WikiReader and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Want to read Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg & more on the go? Win a @WikiReader from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/eQPg6P #Giveaway
• Subscribe to my RSS feed or let me know if you already are. (1 bonus entry)
• Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from November/December. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, December 21st and ends at Noon EST on January 6th, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. only.

Disclosure: I was given a WikiReader for free to review by Openmoko. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. Openmoko is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.

I love playing board games with my kids.  Unfortunately, too many games rely solely on luck to win.  Did the spinner land on 3?  Did the die roll go your way?  Did the card you just drew match what you needed?  Thankfully, there are games out there that depend on brainpower instead of luck.  Mastermind Animal Towers is one of these games.

In the “grown-up” version of Mastermind, one person is the code maker and one person is the code breaker.  The code maker chooses 4 pegs out of 6 possible colors and arranges them in a spot hidden from the code breaker.  The code breaker then tries to guess the code in 10 attempts or less given the minimal information of how many pegs were the correct color and how many were in the correct spot.  (Specific information like “Green is in the right spot” isn’t given.)  Obviously, this takes a keen mind to figure out.  Simply tossing pegs onto the board and hoping luck will be with you isn’t a winning strategy here.

The same is true for Mastermind Animal Towers.  Of course, the game play is simplified for kids.  In this version, both players are code makers and code breakers.  You each get a series of tiles with animals on them and a “tower” to put the animals in.  When the animals are in the tower, the opposing player can’t see them.  Both players also get a second set of tiles representing their opponent’s animals.

Play involves trying to figure out just how your opponent has stacked his or her animals.  You ask “above or below” questions such as “Is the Lion above the Giraffe?”  As your opponent answers your questions, your estimation of their tower becomes more and more accurate until you guess it correctly.  Of course, your opponent is also asking questions and trying to guess how your tower is arranged and will try to win by guessing correctly before you.

During a family get together, NHL played this game against me and some other family members.  He immediately got the concept and went right to work trying to guess the arrangements.  While he wasn’t always successful (my training in computer science led me to use an effective sorting technique for my guesses), he did have a lot of fun.  Even JSL and his cousin S, both of whom were too young to really understand how to play the game, had fun pretending to play or helping out (e.g. helping to choose my initial tower arrangement).  This is definitely a game that I would recommend to help build your child’s problem solving skills.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Pressman Toys, one lucky winner will receive Mastermind Animal Towers. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What board games do you like playing with your children or did you play growing up?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Follow @MASTERMINDgame on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @MASTERMINDgame and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Play more board games with your kids! Win Mastermind Animal Towers from @TechyDad and @MASTERMINDgame. http://bit.ly/bPSskL #Giveaway
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• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, November 4th and ends at Noon EST on November 18th, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. only.

Disclosure: I was given this game by Pressman Toy for free to review and I get to keep the game at the end of my review period. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. Pressman Toy is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.

It’s no secret that I love candy.  Specifically, I love nearly anything with chocolate in it.  So, when I spotted the Butterfinger booth at BlogHer, I was intrigued.  They were handing out samples of their newest product: Butterfinger Snackerz.  Of course, I had to try them.  To quote those Bart Simpson commercials, they were crispedy, crunchedy and peanut buttery.  (All great things in a candy.)  We brought a couple of packages back from BlogHer for the boys.  Of course, they both loved them.  (The only thing they didn’t like about them was that we didn’t have more!)

A nice thing about the Snackerz, versus a full-sized candy bar, was that we could pick up the smaller, bite-sized pieces instead of holding onto a full-sized bar.  It also meant that one package could be divided up more evenly between two boys.  No fighting over “his half is bigger!”

These will definitely be among our top candy choices when we go shopping for a sweet treat for the boys (or ourselves).

Giveaway:

Thanks to Nestle, one lucky winner will receive either four fun size bags of Butterfinger Snackerz (16 pouches inside) or 2 boxes of full size pouches (24 pouches inside) – depending on product availability. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What types of candy were your favorites to get during Halloween when you were a child?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Follow @ButterfingerMmm on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @ButterfingerMmm and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Win Nestle Butterfinger Snackerz in time for Halloween from @TechyDad and @ButterfingerMmm. http://bit.ly/cSSZaG #Giveaway
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To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, October 14th and ends at Noon EST on October 21st, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. only.

Disclosure: I received a free fun sized bag of Butterfinger Snackerz complimentary of Nestle in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. Nestle is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.

With the Ziploc Prize Pack Giveaway over, I checked Random.org and the winner was #11.

Checking the comments, this was Cheryl F. (The Lucky Ladybug).  I contacted her and she’s already replied with her address.  Congratulations, Cheryl!

It’s no secret that I love taking photos. I’ll annoy my kids, wife and everyone in a five mile radius just to get that perfect shot. Once the photos are taken, I’ll select the very best to put online to share with others.

But, as much as I love taking photos, I secretly hate printed photos. I never remember to put them in their frames, they never seem to find their way into photo albums and the ones I have up wind up old and outdated. If you were to visit my office, you’d see shots of NHL from when he was under a year old. He’s 7 now, but I just never seem to get around to replacing those photos.

Photobooks, are another story. The photos in them don’t go out of date the way a 4×6 framed photo will. You don’t need to find an album to put them in (since they are already in a book) and you can easily tell which photobooks are for which events.

I was given the chance to review LuLu’s photo books. I’ve put photo books together on other systems and had even made a LuLu.com one awhile back (for a charity project, though I never got around to ordering one for myself). In the time since I had put my last LuLu.com photobook together, though, they must have changed systems because I don’t remember it being this easy… or fun!

First, I choose the theme of my book. I had decided to compile photos of every character we had met while at Disney World and Six Flags. I chose my photos, narrowed them down to eliminate duplicates and logged into Lulu.com. From there, I named the book, chose a cover and a design. I went with one that, I thought, felt like a travel journal. I was able to move photos around and choose different page layouts with different photo sizes. Before too long, my book was done and ready to be printed.

When it arrived in the mail, I eagerly opened up the package and was pleasantly surprised. The book looked even better in my hands than it did on the screen.

I really liked how some of the photos seemed to be "attached" to the page, as if I had glued them in by hand while others seemed to be floating slightly above it (as if they weren’t glued in completely). We’ve taken this book to family events to show off. Cousin S, who will be going to Disney World soon, especially loved seeing all the Disney characters in the book. We will definitely look to LuLu for future photo book needs (and we have a few photo book ideas).

Giveaway:

Thanks to LuLu.com, one lucky winner will receive a free 20 page, 8.5 square hardcover photo book. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What types of photos would you fill your photo book with?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
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• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @Luludotcom (or Lulu.com) and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Win a free 20 page hardcover photobook from @TechyDad and @LuLudotcom. http://bit.ly/9XYyFq #Giveaway
• Subscribe to my RSS feed or let me know if you already are. (1 bonus entry)
• Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from August/September/October. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, September 30th and ends at Noon EST on October 14th, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. only.

Disclosure: I received a free 20 page hardcover photobook and some other merchandise complimentary of LuLu.com in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. LuLu.com is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.

NOTE: Due to a Typo (read: me copying and pasting and forgetting to update a section of text), the "@Luludotcom/Lulu.com" part of the tweet requirement wasn’t listed for awhile.  So I’m going to be lax on that requirement.  (Not fair to disqualify entries for not adhering to a rule that wasn’t spelled out properly.)  Tweets should still name @TechyDad and have a link here, though, since those requirements were listed correctly.