Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure Review

Disney Pixar Adventure game for the Xbox Kinect is absolutely amazing!!  I don’t think people can grasp “your body is the controller” until they actually try the game themselves!  If you want your character to run, then you run in place.  If you want your character to jump, then you jump…and so on.   I am completely blown away by this game and how much fun it is!  I had guests at my Rush party ranging from 5 years old to 40 years old and everyone loved it!! 

There are different worlds you can enter and each one is a blast!!  You can enter the worlds of Cars, Toy Story, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and UP.   My oldest daughters and their friends loved driving in Cars.  My second youngest loved being Remy in Ratatouille.  She used her arms to climb, throw things, and zoom down a zip line.  My brother and husband favored the Incredibles because they became superheroes.  They would have to use their bodies to ski down hills and jump in time to make it onto the tops of buildings where they would then fight villains by throwing large objects at them.  My youngest couldn’t pick a favorite, she said “they are all the best”.

I ABSOULTELY LOVE this game.  Children have to use their entire bodies to play instead of just fingers and thumbs.  It is one of the better Kinect games that actually requires you to move, and doesn’t allow you to succeed with minimal movement.  I actually think my kids get more exercise with this game than they do playing outside. 

*Disclaimer - I received the item mentioned above, free of charge, for review purposes. In no way did this alter my opinion of their products. All of my opinions expressed in this post are one hundred percent honest and true.*

Creative Gift Giving!

What do you get the person who has everything?
 A gift they never knew they wanted!!!
I love shopping for those unique gifts that most people have never seen.  How could one add something to their wish list if they never knew it existed?  There are tons of websites that offer great, crazy items.  Could you imagine the look on that special someone’s face when you hand the world’s largest gummy bear??

Or how about a melted clock? (I especially love this one!)

The Queen of Dollhouses!!!

First, I must apologize for my temporary leave of absence.  I left for vacation in November to Florida for a couple of weeks and visited Disney.  Then I was busy with Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping.  Then I spent December playing catch up with finances to pay for our vacation and buy Christmas gifts.  Now I am back and ready to BLOG AWAY!!!

Anyhow, I have to tell you about my quest for a dollhouse.  I needed a dollhouse for all the Disney princess dolls that I bought in Florida.  I was out on Black Friday looking for a great deal and a great house.  I found Barbie’s Dream house and a Princess doll house at Walmart for around $149 - $179.  Although the girls would love either one of those, I knew they would only last a month (if that) because they were constructed with cheap plastic.  I then came across this dollhouse that was wooden and furnished with wooden furniture.  It stood four and half feet tall and four feet wide.  It had 8 rooms, an elevator, and the garage had working swinging doors.  I thought to myself “Do I really want to spend $200 on a dollhouse?”.  After the hour and a half of assembling the dollhouse (by daddy), I was then thinking to myself “I AM THE AWESOMEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!!” 

This dollhouse is AMAZING!!!  I know I played with Barbie dolls until I was 8 years old or so, and the fact that I am going to get the 3-4 more years of play from this house makes the expense worth it.  The best part is the strong construction that will allow me to resell it once the girls are tired of it.  The funny thing is….I could’ve stopped at the dollhouse….they didn’t even care about the other gifts.

Where were IPOD's when I was growing up???

For Christmas my oldest daughters each wanted an IPod touch.  So my husband and I let them open every single gift under the tree and watch the disappointment as they did not receive the biggest gift on their lists.  They then moved on to their stockings, which were usually filled with candy and dollar store items.  However, this time in the toe of the stockings was the IPod Touches they asked for.  I couldn’t understand why such a strong desire for another IPod…was it because it was a touch screen? 

 
They immediately transferred the iTunes to the new IPods, and nearly 9 months later, I have yet to see a day they don’t have it with them.  I think this is one of the best purchases we ever bought them.  It wasn’t like past gifts that I frantically searched and fought for on Black Friday (such as the Wii Fit) only for it to be shoved under the couch a month later and never be played with again. 

The IPod Touch 4^th generation is much more than a MP3 player.  It has a camera that allows still pictures as well as video.  It allows you to Tweet and Facebook.  It has a HUGE market of applications that can be downloaded, many of which are free.  My ultimate favorite application (I believe it was already preloaded) is “Facetime”.  It allows you to have a video chat with someone that could be down the hall or even across the country.  I was impressed with the video quality and the speed!  The girls have downloaded so many games that the wait at a doctor’s office is no longer intolerable.  I, too, became addicted to Angry Birds while waiting for the test results regarding my daughter’s appendicitis.  The IPod touch can be educational as well; they have downloaded scientific calculators and apps to learn Spanish as well. 

Overall, I give the IPod Touch 4^th generation five out of five stars due to its capabilities.  I would strongly recommend a 32 GB or 64 GB because the 8 GB can be used up pretty quickly with all the pictures, games, and music that is available.  I’ve seen my girls drop their IPod Touches more than once, and yet they are still going strong.  So durability is another plus; however, I wouldn’t recommend dropping it to find out.


Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation) - Black - Current Version

Apple iPod touch 32GB (4th Generation) - Black - Current Version

Apple iPod touch 64GB (4th Generation) - Black - Current Version