Alexis and I headed up to Sandusky, Ohio for a free night at Castaway Bay, which just so happens to be the hotel closest to Cedar Point. It's a bit more than a hotel, though. It also includes an indoor water park, an arcade, and a plethora of other entertainment.

We didn't make it past the water park.

That kid is half fish. I swear it.

Castaway Bay features eight water slides (Alexis was tall enough for five of them), a giant wave pool, a toddler area, a couple of pools, and even a hot tub that extends outdoors. Why, yes, we did manage to sit outside on a cold, snowy January day while wearing our swimsuits. Of course we did! I would have photos of that, but that would have required taking my arms out of the hot tub, so, uh, NO. I don't like freezing, thank you very much.

I stuck to taking photographs where it was warm and cozy. And wet.

Castaway Bay is the perfect size for the kindergarten/grade school sect. There's plenty for them to do, but it isn't so big that you have to worry about losing track of them.

As an added bonus for us paranoid types, there are lifeguards approximately every 17.4 inches. They are clearly there to keep everyone safe, rather than being there to act as the Fun Police. I honestly forgot they were around because they kept a low profile while making sure everyone was safe.

Even better, it didn't matter that Alexis is a fairly competent swimmer. The rules for Castaway Bay are clear--anyone under a certain height has to wear a life vest in most parts of the water park. I'm totally cool with that because it means I can relax a bit as I watch Alexis try all sorts of crazy stunts.

I think Alexis summed up our day at Castaway Bay best when she said, "I LOVE it here! Can we come here every weekend?"

If only, kiddo. If only.

As part of the blogger event that we attended, I was given four Day Passes to Castaway Bay to share with one of you. Valued at $29 each, those passes will get you unlimited access to the entire water park. You can choose to purchase a night at the hotel, or make use of the convenient lockers and showers that are in the waterpark and make it a day trip. (It took us three hours to get there from Pittsburgh, so a day trip really would be doable.)

If you'd like a chance at winning those Day Passes, just leave me a comment telling me your favorite warm weather vacation destination. I'll select a winner at random on February 17th.

Disclosure: Our visit to Castaway Bay was free, but I was not required to write this post or include any of the information in it. I did it because I'm nice and because we really did have a great time.

There are advantages to that.

Think for a minute about the network of people you're connected to on Facebook. Business owners and professionals and people of all walks of life, right? Ever thought about what would happen if you could harness that huge database of connections to help you find a job?

BeKnown has done that. It's a plug-in for Facebook that connects it to Monster.com. Here's a little description straight from the people who developed it:

About BeKnown:

Monster.com recently launched BeKnown, a professional networking app for Facebook. Since many professionals spend more time on Facebook than any other networking site, Monster wanted  to give people the opportunity to network professionally within the world’s largest and most popular social network. BeKnown allows you to set up a professional profile directly on Facebook that is completely separate from your personal Facebook page (think along the lines of a network within a network). It also lets you conduct a job search of Monster's database of jobs without ever leaving BeKnown or Facebook. By tapping into the networks of their Facebook friends, professionals can easily connect, send messages, and see who among their existing contacts is connected to a company, job opportunity, or person they are interested in.

Monster.com also released the mobile version of the app, so now users can take their networks with them on their iPhone or Android devices.

Facebook app: http://bit.ly/taDAud

Mobile apps: http://app.beknown.com/mobile/ (only accessible from your mobile phone)

iPhone app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beknown/id459774317

Android app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beknown.android

I just started using it this past week, so I haven't drawn any significant conclusions just yet. So far my general impressions are that it seems useful and is certainly more stream-lined than other professional networking sites. I like that it keeps "personal" and "professional" separate while taking advantage of some of those personal connections.

To promote the release of BeKnown, Monster.com has graciously offered to allow me to run a giveaway here. You can win an Ulta Makeup Kit, a $10 Starbucks gift card, and a professional business card holder just by leaving a comment below. You can also gain an additional entry by tweeting about this promotion. Leave the URL to your tweet in a comment on this post. I'll draw a winner on January 16th.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I received the same items you have a chance of winning in exchange for this post. However, the words and opinions are mine, all mine. As always.

In two words: Do it.

I haven't found a reason yet why the Kindle Fire can't be a great multi-purpose tool for a kid who is old enough to read (still fun for kids younger, but I think that reading thing is very helpful). Currently, I have a couple of things set on Alexis' Kindle Fire that I think help make it better for her.

First of all, the Wi-Fi is password protected so that she can't get internet access unless I give it to her. That means she can't accidentally make a purchase (technically she can't anyway--the Kindle Fire is linked to an Amazon account that doesn't have any payment information saved so One-Click purchases don't work). She also can't end up in a maze of in-app purchase screens. Most importantly, she can't go cruising around the internet unless I decide it's a good time for her to do so.

If that sounds like I'm controlling her universe a bit much, yes, I am. She's five. I get to control her.

What she does have access to on the Kindle Fire is a bunch of games, apps, books, and a few movies. Mostly I've picked up the Free App of the Day on Amazon, but there are a few that I either paid for or that would have been worth paying for if I hadn't managed to catch them when they were free. The apps she uses:

Where's My Water: This is a Disney app that is basically a puzzle game. The objective of each level is to fill the bathtub for the alligator. To do that, you have to strategise to connect the water source to the bathtub. I haven't found any impossible levels yet, but it definitely requires some problem solving skills.

Angry Birds: It's a classic. It belongs on every device.

Angry Birds Seasons: Alexis' favorite version of Angry Birds is this one because she's a fan of the different scenes for different holidays.

Greedy Spiders: This is my new Angry Birds. It's essentially a puzzle game where spiders and bugs are on a web. The players job is to stop the spiders from reaching the bugs by breaking off pieces of the web. There is some serious strategy involved, especially when you get to the higher levels. I am SO addicted to it.

Fruit Ninja: It's a quick-reaction game where you have to slice fruit while it's up in the air. It's pretty brainless, but that's OK by me.

Kids Ultimate Finger Painting: It basically turns the Kindle Fire into a blank piece of paper and lets Alexis color, draw, and create images to her heart's content. She can save her creations to the photo gallery.

Whacky Moles: It's Whack-a-Mole for the Kindle Fire. Nothing unexpected here.

Little Piano: It literally turns the Kindle Fire into a little piano. It only has a few keys, but it's plenty for Alexis to be able to compose some "beautiful" music.

She has some other apps installed, but those are the only ones she has played with any sort of regularity.

She also has a number of books, most of her music (I had the privilege of deleting Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber from my iPhone--HUZZAH!), and a couple of movies. The movies she has are installed locally on the Kindle Fire since I don't normally let her have internet access. She can't access Cloud stuff without internet access, obviously.

However, we do let her stream a lot of stuff when the time is right. We have an Amazon Prime account so she has access to a ton of free content. Amazon Prime has already paid for itself in the number of movies and TV episodes that she has been able to watch. From Fraggle Rock to Glee and from the Jetsons to The Electric Company, there is more than enough content to keep her happy. Most of the free content is older, but there have been some additions lately that were a bit more recent (although, not Alexis-appropriate--for example, Greys Anatomy, Pushing Up Daisies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, etc.). Hopefully that means that even more new content is on the way.

In terms of durability and overall usefulness, so far I'm happy with the Kind Fire. She has dropped it once in our driveway (and promptly broke out in tears, so I think she learned a lesson without me saying a word) and it suffered only a very minor scratch. To protect it a bit, I have added a gel case (only $7) and a screen protector. I think it will hold up a bit better than an iPhone since the back is far more scratch resistant, so it's all good.

Also, the battery life is pretty solid. Alexis was able to watch movies, play games, and listen to music during our six+ hour drive to and from Indianapolis and still had pretty of battery life left to spare. It charges pretty fast so we haven't had any problems with battery life at all.

All in all, Alexis LOVES her Kindle Fire. It's probably her favorite thing she got for Christmas (THANK GOODNESS). I expect that she'll get a ton of use out of it for years to come. It was a much wiser purchase than a Nintendo DS since the price of new games is so much lower AND she's able to do so much more with it than just play games.

We done good.

Seriously. I know Christmas always falls on December 25th, but I swear it comes earlier every year. Have we started skipping days in the middle of the summer or something? UGH.

The good news, for me anyway, is that I've been done shopping for a long time. A VERY long time. The catch, however, is that this is the week when my wonderful husband calls me and says, "Hey, got any ideas for <insert relative name here>?" He ALWAYS waits until just before Christmas to admit that he's not done with what is technically his shopping and I ALWAYS end up bailing him out.

I'm doing it again this year. I think it must have been in our wedding vows. Right after "through sickness and health" I think I said "I will cover his ass when he procrastinates to the point of insanity."

There is one more of his gifts to take care of and I would love to share with you what exactly I'm doing for that one, but the family member getting the gift reads this site. I can't be spoiling the fun, you know? So, let's just say it involves my laptop, my printer, and some Modge Podge.

Seriously. I'm printing for one of this year's Christmas gifts. I'll share the project sometime next week because it pretty much rocks my socks off.

In the spirit of last minute fun with printing, HP has put together a little fun.

Follow the little linky love to download and print holiday recipe cards, coloring pages, seasonal gift tags, address labels, and more. Alexis has been having fun with the coloring pages because they feature Mickey and Minnie and a bunch of their friends. The one with Goofy rocking out under a disco ball has kept her entertained for hours because she keeps coloring more and more copies of it. I think she's planning on wallpapering her playroom with the results.

(Remind me to hide the Modge Podge...wouldn't want her to get any ideas.)

Continuing the holiday fun, HP has given me a $50 gift certificate valid on their online store to give away to one of you. Just comment below and tell me who your last minute Christmas shopping is for and you'll be eligible to win. For additional entries, you can also post to twitter or facebook about this giveaway. Please come back here and leave me a comment with the link to your tweet or post. In case math isn't your favorite, that means you can enter to win up to three times.

I'll draw a winner on December 26th. Annnnd....go!

Disclosure: HP sent me a Tackle the Holidays gift set but they did not require that I write this post or any of the words in it. That's just me sharing the love.

If you call to schedule a session by the end of February 2012 (the session can happen later), mention discount code BURGHBABYHOLIDAY, and you'll get 15% off of your session. Check Nerd Behind the Lens' website for contact information.

Which is to say, the photographs are absolutely stunning, but there are some animals that I don't think I would want to have to figure out how to photograph.

See? AMAZING photography! The lighting blows my mind! But, I don't think I want to know what's involved with getting a crawfish to hang out while I snap photos.

Curious Critters arrived at our house for review at a most excellent time. Each month Alexis' class works on a "theme" and has to do a project to fit that theme. The book arrived just in time for Animal Month, so Alexis was able to use it as one of her references when she put together her little cereal box habitat. SCORE!

Basically, the book is a series of photographs along with some information about the animal written in the first person. There's a lot of learning going on. Alexis positively loved it. Her favorite page is the Bush Katydid, probably because she's never actually seen a pink bug.

Since it's Christmas Crazy time around here, I thought I'd do a little more than just post a review of the book. How about I donate a copy to the toy pile (which will go to Womansplace) AND give a copy to one of you? Just leave a comment telling me which animal you would love to photograph and you'll be eligible to win. I'll draw a winner at random on December 9th.

Psst...I received a free copy of Curious Critters for review purposes, but all of the opinions are mine ALL MINE. Contest and donation to Christmas Crazy are by me.

Photo by Nerd Behind the Lens

One of my favorite things about the Pittsburgh social media community is that everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, is incredibly supportive of others. That includes the Pittsburgh photographers who actively use Twitter. I've heard stories about photographers in other cities refusing to answer even a quick question from someone trying to start a photography business, but in Pittsburgh? That doesn't happen.

I love this city and its people.

One of the photographers who I've gotten to know via twitter is Nathan Shaulis, the man behind Nerd Behind the Lens. He's good people, you guys. Oh, and I've featured some of his photography here before.  (How dare Alexis grow that much in one year? GAH!)

Nerd Behind the Lens has kindly offered to allow me to host a giveaway. One lucky winner will get:

• One free 1-hour photography session
• 3 images on disk
• One free 8x10

You'll also have the option of purchasing additional images or prints if your little heart so desires.

Want to win? Just leave a comment below telling me who you would love to have photographed. I'll draw a winner at random on December 6th.

Disclosure stuff: There's nothing to disclose. I just like featuring local businesses who are awesome. :-)

Ahem.

One thing that doesn't suck about her constant presence in my personal space is that she's not likely to wander off. If we're at the mall, she's usually right beside me. When we travel to Disney World, she never leaves my sight. On the extremely rare occasions that she has managed to wind up more than ten feet from me in public, Alexis has straight-up panicked and started crying at the top of her lungs. It's super easy to find her when she sounds like a depressed tornado siren!

Yet, I still worry. What if she DOES wander too far? What if she suddenly decides to open the front door and march around the neighborhood while Mr. Husband and I are sleeping? What if someone takes her? Serious. Panic. Material. I get all sorts of upset just thinking about the possibilities.

A friend of mine has started a company called Guard-A-Kid. It's a business that's in the business of keeping kids safe. They offer free safety education as well as  Child Identification Kits and a line of safety-related products.

Door Guard Alarm? YES, PLEASE.

Wireless Child Locator? YES, PLEASE.

Possibly related: why didn't anyone warn me that parenthood would be scarier than any horror flick I could ever possibly watch? THE HELL?

Psst....This was in no way a sponsored post. All my opinions. All my words. You know, the usual.

Remember The Little Monster Books by Mercer Mayer? Man, I loved those books. So much. They're still around, you know. I've bought several for Alexis over the years because, like I said, there's nothing better than getting to share a book that you loved as a child with your own child.

And now a new Little Monster book has been released.

The Little Monster Fun and Learn Book is a collection of four stories bundled together into one adorable package. I recently received a copy to review and Alexis and I have spent many a night reading and re-reading the stories.  And by "re-reading" I mean Alexis has asked me to read the Bedtime section over and over and over and over.

Shhhh...don't tell her, but that's my favorite section, too. I'll happily read it as many times as she wants because I love saying all of the silly monster names.

Since it's Christmas Crazy time around here, I thought I'd do a little more than just post a review of the book. How about I donate a copy to the toy pile (which will go to Womansplace) AND give a copy to one of you? Just leave a comment with the title of your favorite Little Monster book and you'll be eligible to win. If you need a little help remembering a favorite, check Amazon for a bunch of ideas. I'll draw a winner on December 4th.

Psst...I received a free copy of The Little Monster Fun and Learn Book for review purposes, but all of the opinions are mine ALL MINE. Contest and donation to Christmas Crazy are by me.

There is a fine line between being that mom who mostly has things under control and that mom who is a frazzled mess. Between taking care of Alexis, working full time, keeping the house from looking like savages live in it, running this site, making sure everybody is fed, and all of the other millions of things I need to do each and every week, week after week after week, it's a VERY FINE line.

I try to stay on the side of having things mostly under control.

A lot of being on that side involves remembering that I have to do some things for me, only me, and YEAH, IT'S ALL ABOUT ME. I need to find joy in every day. Joy is my roadblock to The Frazzles. If I’m suffering from The Frazzles, everything falls apart. If I'm doing a decent job of taking care of my own well-being, well, life just seems easier.

There are two things I do every single day just for myself. They are my sanity keepers. The first is that I spend every evening curled up on the couch with my laptop writing a blog post. Everyone else in the house is asleep when I do it, so it's time that I can spend not being a mother, wife, and pet wrangler. I'm just me and my keyboard and an hour of decompressing, reflecting, and being completely selfish. No one climbing on me. No one saying my name. No one demanding anything of me. It's my time to sit in my cocoon and reflect on how incredibly fortunate I am to be as busy as I am. There is a lot of joy to be found in all of that hustle and bustle. I have to take a few minutes to stop and look for it each day.

The other thing I do every single day, no matter what, is that I take a long, hot shower. If I don't start my day with a shower, EVERYONE HAD BETTER RUN. I need those 15 or so minutes to slowly wake up and begin focusing on the good in life. I don't think about what I need to do that day or stress over any details of life, I just hang out with some hot water and some bubbly body wash.

Specifically, I hang out with Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash.

True story. (How convenient is it that I was asked to write a review about a product I already use? VERY.)

I don't like to be jerked awake by heavily perfumed anythings. I don't like dealing with body washes that will dry out my skin. I don't want any sort of icky film left on me when I step out of the shower. I don't want to be annoyed by anything. I just want a body wash that is calming, soothing, moisturizing, and that rinses clean so that I can step out of that shower ready to focus on the joy that is in my life. Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash helps make that possible.

If I can get a little mushy on you (as if you could stop me . . . ), I like to think I'm a lot like this butterfly.

My wings may be a bit tattered, but I know how to find a little beauty in every day.

What about you? What do you do help make sure you start your day feeling mentally nourished? Answer below in the comments for a chance to win a $100 SpaFinder gift card.

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a)      Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b)      Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c)       Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d)      For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, or a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. More chances to win are available on the BlogHer.com Promotions and Prizes page. Enter between November 21st - December 21st.