6/21/16: Northeast Comic Con and Meeting Micky Dolenz

Recently I got to attend Northeast Comic Con at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA with Lauren.  We had a lot of fun and got to meet some cool celebrities and see some pretty cool stuff.

 The highlight for me was meeting Micky Dolenz from The Monkees!  I absolutely loved watching the Monkees when I was a kid.  The show was so funny and I loved their songs.

He had a booth where he was signing items and also taking pictures.  A portion of the proceeds from the autographs and pictures went to the Make A Wish Foundation.  Here he is signing a picture of the group for me.

I also got to attend a question and answer session with him.

Would you believe The Monkees are celebrating their 50th anniversary?

Here is some video of the question and answer session.

I love my autographed picture! 

 There were also lots of cool photo opportunities.  Most at an additional fee.  Here you can see the Delorean from Back to the Future.

Here is The Chariot from Lost In Space.

 
There were also lots of celebrity sightings.  Here is Barry Bostwick.

You could pay to get autographs or pictures with them.  Here is Karyn Parsons from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

 Here is actress Kathy Garver, fondly remembered for her starring role as teenage niece Catherine “Cissy” Davis to series character Uncle Bill Davis in “Family Affair” on CBS in the 1960s.

 There were lots of cool items to buy also.  There was a lot of Ghostbusters stuff which I love!

 

 These were pretty cool masks.

There were also a lot of LEGO Minifigures.

 There were also a lot of people dressed up and competitions of them.

Bill Cipher was the winner.

 Lauren even met the Nestle Quick Bunny.

 We had a great time!  Keep an eye out for upcoming Comic Con events on their website. 

Disclosure:  I was provided with tickets for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

6/19/16: Win 2 Tickets to Water Country in NH and Discount Code

CONTEST CLOSED: CONGRATULATIONS MICHELE FOR WINNING!
It is heating up outside which means one thing, it is time to cool off in the water.  We love water slides and wave pools and can't wait to head back to Water Country in Portsmouth, NH.  As one of my lucky readers I am giving you a chance to win 2 tickets to Water Country!  Plus I have a discount code!

We love to enjoy water slides as a family and there are plenty of options for the daring or the more cautious riders.  
Use Promo Code: EvanAndLaurensCoolBlog16 or go here to save $3 per ticket:  https://www.watercountry.com/blogger2016?promocode=EvanAndLaurensCoolBlog16

There is a lot to do with 26-acres of kids attractions and rides.  There are family slides, a wave pool, lazy river, and more.  There are even Cabanas to relax in and take a break during the day.

There are so many slides for all types.  You don't need to be a thrill seeker to go on. My kids love these slides.

The kids also love the whirlpool pool.

Lauren gives Water Country two enthusiastic thumbs up.

But if you are a thrill seeker there is plenty for you too.

Evan was daring enough to try this one out.

There are options for two riders so you can go with a child that may be a little apprehensive.  Lauren and I went on this slide together.

This is the double tube you ride down in.

The wave pool is awesome too!

Here we are in the Adventure River.  This is one of my favorites.

This is Dr. Von Dark's Tunnel of Terror.

There are many kids areas to play in that are shallow.

Here is the Pirate area.

It is such a fun place to spend the day.

So gorgeous.

Head to Water Country this summer and have some fun!  Enter below to win 2 tickets.

Disclosure:  I received a family four pack of passes to Water Country in exchange for this post.  I also received the two tickets for giveaway.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

6/18/16: ivivva Coast to Coast Summer Festival in Boston

Disclosure:  Although this post has been generously sponsored by ivivva Coast to Coast Summer Festival, the opinions and language are my own. 

My daughter is extremely active.  She loves to baton twirl and dance and it keeps her very fit and busy.  She is on competitive teams with both baton and dance and it makes her work hard.  I was extremely excited when ivivva invited us to their Coast to Coast Summer Festival for Boston at Gillette Stadium!  This awesome festival connects girls through movement and empowers them to dream big!  Plus the event is FREE!  You heard that right, it is free!

What does every young girl like to do?  Shop of course!  When we arrived we started out with some shopping in their pop up shopping area.  There were lots of cool ivivva tops and bottoms to chose from.  Lauren loves comfortable clothes that she can do splits in, hand stands, and turn in.  She loved the feel of all of the ivivva clothes and especially liked the sports bras.  ivivva is a word meant to embody the strength and beauty in all girls and is inspired by active girls just like Lauren.

ivivva is created by the same people as lululemon so you know they will be high quality.  Their clothes come in sizes 6-14.  You can shop online or find the store nearest you at www.ivivva.com.  At the event there was even a dressing room for her to try on some outfits.

I love that ivivva is co-created with girls!  Their designers listen to girls’ feedback and ideas and design what they need.  Their stores are community spaces that quickly transform with moveable fixtures to host complimentary events like dance, yoga, run clinics, and a variety of athletic classes so girls can try new activities, make new connections, and have fun we encourage girls to test out the gear they are trying on, and they have the space to let them move and see how it feels.

Lauren picked her favorite colors purple and teal.  The purple tank she is wearing is sold exclusively at the event with limited quantities.  She also got some cool shorts, a sports bra and matching headband.  The sports bra is now her favorite as she says it is so comfortable.  I know she will be wearing it with her leotard to dance class and to baton under her tank.

After we were done shopping and Lauren was all suited up we moved on to some of the activities.  Outside there was face painting and a fun little photo station.  Lauren loved taking a picture with an emoticon and tried to make the same face as it.

Everyone was so welcoming, especially the Boston Pride Women's Hockey Team!  This first-ever all women’s professional paid hockey league, the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), officially debuted in October 2015.   In March 2016, the NWHL’s Boston Pride defeated the Buffalo Beauts to win the inaugural Isobel Cup.  They spent time talking to Lauren and asking her what her favorite activities are.

Lauren also got to chat with a Patriots Cheerleader.  Lauren's teacher used to be a Patriots Cheerleader so she talked to her about that.

This festival is hosted between June 17 – July 23.  The 4 major stops on the tour are Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and will host up to 500 girls.  The festival started with some free play.

The program started out with an inspiring message from the Boston Pride's forward Jillian Dempsey.  I enjoyed her talk and encouraging girls to try hard and also to thank their support system all around them including their parents, coaches and more.

She talked about her experience growing up and getting to be on the first-ever all women’s professional paid hockey league.

After this inspiring message the girls got to do some yoga.

There were also some snacks and drinks for the girls if they needed a break.

Each girl was given a card to put what their dream was.

Lauren put "To become a professional baton twirler".  I sent this to her baton coach who was very excited to see this.

All the girls got to put their dream up on to the Dream Boards.  Some girls went up to the microphone to share their dreams with the crowd.

Last but not least was the crowd favorite, POUND!  Girls were given Ripstix and had a rock out workout!  This was awesome to hear and be a part of.

This was a type of exercise I had never seen before and it looked so fun!  It is a cardio jam session where you have fun making music with the sticks! 

POUND was founded in 2011 by two female drummers, and now has over 7,000 instructors, teaching in various gyms and studios, worldwide.  For more information go to: www.poundfit.com.

Here is some video to get a feel for what this was like!

Make sure your daughter makes it to this wonderful festival!

Find them on Social Media:

Instagram: @ivivva_coasttocoast #ivivva #ivivvasummerfestival

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivivvacoasttocoast/ 

Find our more and register today at www.ivivvasummerfestival.com 

6/15/16: New Kids on the Block Rock This Boat Season 2

Recently I was able to interview the New Kids on the Block in Boston and last week I was lucky enough to travel to New York City to attend a live QA with them that was live streamed and it was an amazing experience.  Here is the fully live streamed Q&A.  These guys are awesome and it was so fun listening to them talk about their experiences.

We got to learn a lot of cool things from them.  I found out that Mark Wahlberg was originally in the group.  All the guys in the group were friends back in 1984 from their Boston neighborhood when they formed the group.  Danny Wood joined the group when he found out Jordan was going to be in the band.  Not only did I get to be there for the Q&A but I also got to take a picture with Donnie Wahlberg!  So cool.

We also got to screen episode 2 of their Season 2 of "Rock This Boat".  The show is hysterical and shows the New Kids on the Block on a cruise with all of their fans.  As Joey says "It was Spring Break in the best way possible"..."we want to give our fans the best time of their life".  You really need to watch the show, it is so entertaining.  If you are a fan or even if you are not you will appreciate the experience that these celebrities deal with.  The cruise really is "Mayham".  I also learned that Jordan calls it Mayham not Mayhem.

Every year they try and make the cruise better and better for their fans.  They truly care about their fans which I love.  The show really portrays their experience on the cruise.

The episode we watched made us all laugh out loud when they had to perform a concert on the cruise and were forgetting the words to songs.  Before the concert they had spent 6 hours taking pictures with a line of fans which must be so exhausting!  They talk about how their body aches from hugging everyone and taking pictures with them.

Donnie talked about how they still love performing and have a great time.  They really enjoy being together on the cruise.  He also talked about the love his Mom showed for him.  Donnie's son loves to play the drums and they love doing that together.  He talks about caring for what your kids do.

 These guys are truly a class act.  The whole group is so wonderful.

We had such a good time.

This picture makes me laugh.  It is like Where's Waldo?  Find all of the band members in this picture if you can.

Here is a little preview!  Get ready to "Rock This Boat"!

Tune in weekly and watch "Rock This Boat" on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT on PopTV!

Join the conversation online:

Twitter:  @RockThisBoat #RockThisBoat #NKOTB

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RockThisBoat/

Disclosure:  I was invited to New York City to be at the live stream with the New Kids on the Block members and was provided with a travel stipend.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.