My boys love animals. So when we went to GE Kids Day in Albany’s Empire State Plaza, they loved seeing the different animals that were there.

First up were some bears.  Ok, perhaps these weren’t real animals, but they still loved seeing the Care Bears.

They also liked seeing some of the other costumed animals roaming around.

Onto the real animals, though.  As we approached the two by two petting zoo, we saw this cute turtle and rabbit pair.

From here, we moved on to some goats who were quite happy that kids were offering them leaves to eat.  It was like an all-you-can-eat-goat-salad-bar.

Moving on from the goats, there was a red kangaroo that was taking it easy in the hot, midday sun.

Then, there was a black and white lemur whose screech was quite impressive.  (Sadly, he stopped screeching as soon as I got my camera set on video mode.  Mischievous little lemur!)

A blue and gold macaw was sitting pretty on a perch.

Prowling around their cage were a pair of coatimundi – omnivorous animals that are related to raccoons.

There were also a few lizards and an alligator that NHL and JSL got to pet.

After the petting zoo, we moved onto an animal experience of a different kind.  NHL and JSL got to ride a pony.  NHL has ridden one before, but this was in kindergarten so he likely doesn’t remember it.  This was JSL’s first pony ride.  They both donned helmets and one after the other got atop Zoe the Pony for a ride.

Alongside the pony ride were some baby chicks, goats, and sheep to look at as well.

Given that the boys and I made lots of new memories and that this experience has deepened the boys’ love of animals, this was a wonderful way to spend a day.

Looking to the future, and going to Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I’ve also been thinking back to what sparked my love of Disney.  I’ve always liked Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, and Toy Story.  I’ve also loved some of the short cartoons, especially Goofy.  Still, my enjoyment of Disney didn’t quite spark into full-blown Disney Love until B & I got married.  That’s when she convinced me to take our honeymoon in Walt Disney World.

For our honeymoon, we stayed in the Beach Club resort, a stone’s throw from Epcot and Hollywood Studios (then called Disney-MGM Studios).  We not only rode on classic rides like Small World, but we saw fireworks at Epcot, had incredible meals, took some behind the scenes tours, and even visited the water parks.   (Though the latter doesn’t exactly hold pleasant memories considering that we found out that B could sunburn in a half hour even *with* sunscreen on.)

The overall Disney World experience had me enthralled.  Nobody knows customer service like Walt Disney World.  They would repeatedly go out of their way to make us feel special.  They must see thousands of honeymooners every month, but they made us feel like our celebration was extra-special.  I was hooked.

Since then, we’ve brought little bits of Disney home with us.  When our kids were old enough, we brought them to Disney World and the pixie dust magic quickly hooked them as well.  Every trip back brings some familiar sights and yet is special in its own way.

Growing up, I loved the rare Twinkie or Hostess cupcake.  Are they healthy to eat?  Not by a long shot.  Are they as good in quality as a fresh baked treat?  Of course not.  Still, there’s something special (and nostalgic) about opening that package and eating those cream filled cakes.

When I heard that Hostess was declaring bankruptcy, I felt a wave of sadness.  I hadn’t eaten one of their snack cakes in years.  I couldn’t even remember if NHL or JSL had ever eaten one.  I know that the bankruptcy will likely just be a reorganization of the business, but I decided to introduce my kids to this snacking phenomenon.

We went to the grocery store and stopped by the display.  I let the boys pick out a box each.  NHL decided he wanted Twinkies.  JSL chose the chocolate-y Suzy Q’s. (I was secretly hoping that they would pick the cupcakes so I could show them how to peel off the fudge-like top to save for the end.)

When snack-time rolled around, the boys were highly impatient.  They wanted to dive right into the snack cakes and didn’t appreciate that dad was taking so long with the pre-snack photographs.

Up first was the venerable Twinkie.  Introduced in 1930, it’s a snack cake that many generations have enjoyed.  My boys loved seeing the little yellow cake come out of the package and get unwrapped.  To better take a shot of the cream in the middle, I split the Twinkie in two and showed the boys the delicious filling.  As a bonus, this meant that I could give each boy a half of a snack cake.  They could each try both cakes. This way.

NHL seemed to love the Twinkie.  At least, that’s the impression I got when, after an initial bite, he nearly shoved the remaining Twinkie in his mouth whole.  JSL seemed to savor it more.  He liked it but wasn’t as enthusiastic.  (He really is a chocoholic and Twinkies completely lack chocolate.)

Up next was the Suzy Q.  Suzy Qs are much younger than Twinkies (introduced in 1961).  To be honest, I don’t think I had ever eaten one.  After taking my picture, I split the cake into two and gave the pieces to the boys.

NHL and JSL both loved this one, but their levels of appreciation were reversed.  JSL loved each and every bite of the chocolate, cream filled cakes.  NHL, meanwhile, liked it but wasn’t as enthused as he was with the Twinkie.

In the end, the boys loved the cakes.  B and I split one of each of the cakes also.  They were good, but I’ve got to admit that I remember them being better.  Perhaps the haze of memory and nostalgia has enhanced how I remember them tasting or perhaps my tastes have simply grown up.  Most likely, a combination of both of these.  Still, they were good.  I’m not going to make eating these a daily routine, but as a once in a very long while treat for the boys, they aren’t too bad.

Do you buy Hostess (or similar) snack cakes for your kids?

This year, NHL was able to join his school’s band and choose an instrument.  He decided to select the drums.  Last night, he had his first concert.  The days preceding it were filled with him getting more and more anxious about the big day.

I tried to calm him down with a tale about one of my concerts when I was growing up.  I quickly realized why this wasn’t a good story and shortened it.  I told NHL that I was very nervous and my orchestra teacher gave me the option of not going onstage.  I decided to go through with it and had a great concert.  All this is true, but (for NHL’s sake), I left out the part where my nerves overwhelmed my stomach and I hurled in the hallway.  I don’t think that detail would have helped him any.

Even NHL’s fortune cookies seemed to be telling him to push through.

In any event, the big day came and NHL went off to his band.  Up first was the orchestra.  While they played, memories began flooding back.  As I mentioned above, I was in the orchestra.  I played violin for many years.  I was actually kind of coerced into playing.  My orchestra teacher at the time seemed overly anxious to get me to join.  He asked me how I would respond if, in a future job interview, I was asked what instrument I played.  Naive kid that I was, I didn’t want to risk my future employment by not being able to play a violin.  (You’d be surprised how rarely that question came up in my job interviews, though.  It’s almost as if employers don’t care whether their web master can play a violin!)

In any event, the orchestra at NHL’s school began to play a tune pizzicato.  This means that they didn’t use bows, but instead plucked the strings during the songs.  Suddenly, my fingers began tingling.  I could almost feel those thin, metal strings digging into my index finger with each note played.

Then, watching the kids’ fingers move, I remembered the anxiety I felt over my finger placement.  There are about 8 different places your fingers could rest on the strings (including one position with no fingers on the strings).  Each finger-string placement results in a different note.  There are also 4 strings.  Which string to play and which finger placement to use is represented by one note.  Just one.  When you look at the sheet music you need to see the note, remember that this means to play this particular string with these fingers in place, get them in place, play the note, and then move on to the next note.  I was never very good at this.  I just could not do all this fast enough.

NHL, luckily, chose the drums.  Although this entails playing the bells (aka the xylophone), for which he does need to hit certain keys at certain points, the drums mainly require him to keep a steady beat.

When his time came, NHL went up with 2 of his drumming classmates and played Mary Had A Little Lamb.  He did a fantastic job and we were all very proud.  NHL realized that his nervousness before the concert faded away and he had a blast.

When you were in school, did you play an instrument? If so, were you nervous before performances?

I have many good memories of my father growing up.  One of the big ones involved wrestling.  For a time, we were both big WWE (then called the WWF) fans.  We would watch Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, George “The Animal” Steel, Andre the Giant and many others tangle and try to be the best there was.  We even went, on more than one occasion, to WWF wrestling matches when they were close enough.  One of my best memories of these was the time that my father (through connections of his) got box suite tickets.  We got to sit in nice, comfortable chairs and watch the match through either a glass window, looking down on the arena, or via a television screen.  To my young mind, it was like sampling the ultimate in luxury.

I’ll admit that I thought that wrestling was real for much longer than I should have.  Perhaps I was holding on to the fantasy to preserve a common interest my father and I held.  Or perhaps I was just very naive.  (Probably a bit of both.)  Either way, my interest in wrestling faded.

Although I’m not a wrestling fan currently, I still have fond memories of wrestling.  When I heard of the WWE Defining Moments figures (ARP: $22.99), I was interested in just how realistic the figures would be.  There are many different figures including “Macho Man” Randy Savage (from WrestleMania® VII), Ultimate Warrior (also from WrestleMania® VII), Shawn Michaels (The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania®), and The Rock.  I received Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior to review.

The boxes themselves were impressive.  They showed off the figures quite nicely and had detailed description of the match they were from on the back.  I’ll admit that I considered leaving them in the box for display.  In the end, though, I figured that I couldn’t review them properly if I didn’t remove them from the packaging.  Besides, NHL and JSL were chomping at the bit to try them out.  (I did wind up saving the description on the back of the box.)

Removing them from the packaging, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were extremely detailed.  Ultimate Warrior’s knee pads and tights, for example, feature images of him and his opponent (Macho Man) from their match in WrestleMania® VII.  The figures are also highly articulate.  Knees bend, ankles turn, midsections move and heads turn.

My boys, although not wrestling fans (JSL refers to Ultimate Warrior as “the cowboy”), immediately claimed the figures as their own and had some mock-fighting sessions with them.

Of course, the details on these figures is impressive enough that they could be displayed prominently in the display case of any wrestling fan.

Disclaimer: I received the two figures mentioned above to review.  All opinions mentioned above are my own.