Spice Up Your Road Trip

You never forget where you were the first time you heard those immortal lyrics:

I really really really want to Zig a Zig Ahhhh....

Do you?

Admittedly I was a bit long in the tooth to be a Spice Girl as when they launched I was in my mid twenties and a little old to wear micro mini skirts, 7 inch platform boots and wear my hair in bunches, but I do remember being at a club and hearing that song for the first time and being blown away by the youthful infectious energy behind it.

The reason I mention the Spice Girls is that my girls (age 8 and 11) are obsessed with the film Spice World. They run around the house screaming in Cockney 'Spice up your Liiiiiifffffe!' and 'Girl Power!'

But they do have a few bones about the outfits. They say if they were the Spice Girl managers they would have dressed them all the same as Posh is the only one who always looks good and the rest sometimes look like a dog's dinner, especially poor Sporty who really gets the worst outfits, mostly swaddled in dayglo baggy shell suits.

My girls were all set to be the new Spice Girls but I'm afraid I burst their bubble by explaining that no, the Spice Girls were not all sexy schoolgirls who made up the song Wannabe in their lunchbreak before being head hunted by a major record label. That in fact they can't write lyrics for toffee and probably had to jump through more hoops than a circus monkey to audition to join the Spice Five.

I must admit I did watch a bit of the movie and was, well amazed at the amount of energy those young people expelled. It was like watching a bunch of kittens in a sack. They did not stop moving or yacking.



All aboard the Spice Bus


It reminded me of some painful road trips I have taken with my kids. Even if you take the DS, the laptop to play DVDs, the books on tape about wierd subjects etc etc. Sooner or later someone will spill juice on the laptop, the DS will run out of juice and someone will start crying that they are bored. So what better way to spice up your road trip this summer than with a free download - yes I said free - from those lovely people at Netflights who are offering a downloadable puzzle pack to keep the little scamps busy at the back of the car this summer.

I am pretty sure if the Spice Girls had had such a puzzle pack at their disposal they would not have leapt from the tour bus and hyjacked a boat and almost drowned!

So go on, grab a Kids Summer Holiday Puzzle Pack today! No need to thank me.

So....What are your PG rated memories of the Spice Girls? And where were you when you first heard Zigazig Ah?

Thankful Thursday: Candy Haiku

Today I will mostly be trying to compose a haiku:

Thanks to the Easter Bunny

Who made this week

So very scrummy



I bit the heads off a dozen peeps
Murdered six rabbits
Licked the life out of

Fourteen bubble gum
Flavored lollipops
And a licorice bear

Now I would like
For all the woodland
Animals

To creep through my window
And eat the rest of my candy
Stash

Before my stomach explodes
Showering shards of sugar
Over the neighborhood

So come on squirrels
And non-rabid raccoons
I need you to

Scoff the rest of
My stash before
I turn into a sugar mama

What do you think of my Candy Haiku? And what are you thankful for? Link Up!

This is a link up to:

Black Tag Diaries
Kate Says Stuff
Brown Eyed Bell

Confessions of a Cake Addict

Cakeaholic Kate Pickles is feeling the weight but when she falls hopelessly in love with a sexy Austrian she is caught in a Viennese Whirl

Hurrah! My novel Confessions of a Cake Addict is now available in paperback and Kindle! So do me a favor and buy it. And leave a review on Amazon if it tickles your Fondant Fancy!

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH:

MORE BLURB:

Londoner Kate Pickles has hit rock bottom. She's funny, kind, and talented but totally unaware about all the great things she has going for her. Day in and day out, she sits back and whines to her sister Laurie in Sydney, Australia, as her boss walks all over her and her best friend Eva bags the hot guys while Kate ends up dating whack jobs and comfort eating cake. Pouring out her heart to Laurie in a series of letters and emails, Kate longs for her sister to confirm she really is the loser in love she fears she is. Abruptly, Kate's life is turned upside down when, on a trip to Vienna with her glamorous pal, Eva, Kate falls for a sexy Austrian and gets sucked into making a Bollywood film a bit like this one:

CHARACTERS:

The story unfolds in a series of letters and emails between overweight, insecure Gherkin (Kate) who lives in London, is tortured by her boss The Haddock at the advertising agency she works at and whose life has generally hit the skids since she split up with her long term boyfriend and has started dating a string of losers. Whenever things go wrong she muffles her feelings with cake. Her sister Egg (Laurie) lives a perfect life in Sydney, Australia, is happily married and has two perfect, high achieving kids. However, the kids do leave her frazzled so she enjoys dipping into Kate's messy life and living vicariously through her romantic disasters but can't resist giving her dollops of sisterly advice. Laurie pulls no punches when commenting on Kate's bad life choices and echoes the reader's sentiments that zany, kooky Kate really needs to get a life.

Laurie is a refreshing burst of reality, cutting through Kate's delusions and encouraging her to lose weight and go for it with Count Alex von Pappenberg when she's scared to be vulnerable. Alex von Pappenberg, is a handsome but sensitive Austrian Count who is similarly disillusioned with life and love as Kate and lying low in the Austrian sticks in his Schloss. Like Kate he is stuck in life - his once successful vineyard has gone bankrupt and he's too unmotivated to start it up again. When Kate arrives at his Schloss as part of the entourage making a Bollywood movie Alex is determined to win her love but scared to make a move himself. Readers will enjoy seeing two insecure people grow to the point where they can take a chance on finding love again and facing the challenges of the future together!

IDEAL READER:

If you enjoy stories about hot holiday romances you'll enjoy this. It's aimed at women aged about 20-40 who are adventurous and full of fun who are tired of romance 'bodice-rippers' with their formulaic plots and unrealistic heros. If you're looking to be entertained by a romantic comedy that's chock full of quirky characters and hilarious situations then you'll love Confessions of a Cake Addict! People who like authors like Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Jenny Colgan Lisa Jewell will find this 'just their cup of tea' and a cake to go with it.

Review by Alice Castle, Author of Hot Chocolate (4 Stars):

I've long been a fan of Emma Kaufmann's blog, Mommy Has a Headache, so was very much looking forward to reading her novel, Confessions of a Cake Addict. It didn't disappoint. I loved the immediacy of the epistolatory format between the accident-prone heroine, Kate Pickles, and her sensible, grown-up sister, always ready to shower Kate with advice which proves all too easy to ignore. Kate's relationship with her best friend and flatmate seemed very real, with occasional flashes of jealousy, envy and loneliness against a background of deep affection. The two, of course, are chalk and cheese. In many ways, Emma has followed the successful pattern of chicklit formula but has added her own characteristic dashes of quirky humour and atmosphere. I loved the sudden injection of Bollywood into the scenes in Vienna, for instance, and the faded glamour of the Austrian castle owned by our hero. The central love affair is nurtured like a delicate bloom and we are rooting for Kate at the end. A great fun read which will make you want to have your cake and eat it too.

Check out more juicy info about the book over at Shelfari!

If Guinea Pigs Could Tweet

This is a fab new idea for a meme from Slummy Single Mummy.

You can read all about it by clicking on the badge but the bottom line is we’re going to attempt to summarise our week in seven tweets. They can be tweets you actually sent or just a 140 character summary that you write in retrospect. Can’t be that hard, right?

Now, it's not often that something bites me in the bum and inspires me but this idea lit a flame under my tush. I have to say I don't want to give you my own week of tweets as nothing much happened apart from me having a blocked toilet, but what about tweeting as the Queen, Kate Middleton or Graham Norton? The sky is literally the limit! So whose weekly tweets to try? Obvious really. I have adored my kids' guinea pigs for six months now. So why not ask one of them - the Alpha Female Marshmallow - to give me her week in tweets?

Genius!

So here we go, I give you Marshmallow - superstar extrordinaire - putting paw to keyboard to give you her tweets. She is forced to share a cage with her brown colored pal Peanut. I hope this week in tweets will show, once and for all, that guinea pigs have a lot going on between their ears.

Hi, Marshmallow speaking

My nemesis - Peanut - don't be fooled by the innocent face

Marshmallow's Week in Tweets

Monday - Peanut has been farting uncontrollably all day. I told her she had a mung bean intolerance but she doesn't listen. Made her sleep in the other hut

Tuesday - We were let out of the cage today and Peanut chewed through some electric wires and then looked innocent & blamed it on me. I got shouted at!

Wednesday - Decided enough is enough. Buried Peanut in bedding and didn't answer when she wittered on about whether we'd be getting hay cookies today or just plain old guinea pig food

Thursday - No more Mr Nice Guy. I was having a nap while we were fed and Peanut ate all the strawberries and peed excessively on every surface. This is war.

Friday - Peanut is molting all over the place. At this rate I will be able to spin wool out of her fur and knit a hat with ear flaps out of it

Saturday - Peanut taken out to have her nails clipped. She came back looking depressed but I told her one has to suffer for beauty. She farted in reply

Sunday - Peed on Peanut's food dish to show her once and for all that I'm King Pig around here.

Now, next step, Marshmallow would really love it if you joined in. If you do fancy taking part, grab the badge and start writing.
What have you been doing this week? Give me your week in tweets (or your daughter's, pet's or famous pal's) Please leave your link below! Marshmallow and I promise to read them all.

I'm not a tourist, I live here

It is a funny old life, being an expat. I suppose when you tell people you are an expat it gives the impression that you have chosen a life of fun, excitement and adventure by choosing to wear the expat hat, when in some (namely my own) cases you were simply offered an opportunity to leave your country of birth and hopefully ended up somewhere better. I came to Baltimore, USA eleven years ago without much of a clue as to where I was moving to. The locals told me 'Baltimore grows on you' which sounded much like an unwanted wart on the sole of my foot! But I have to say I did grow to love Baltimore more with every passing year. It has a real community feel to it and pretentious people are thankfully few and far between. In fact, I was reading through the The Expat Explorer survey (The largest survey of its kind. In 2011 over 3000 expats answered questions relating to their finances, quality of life and even what it's like to raise children abroad) and must say it's a really fascinating read.

It has a neat little function where you can compare and contrast two countries to see which one is the better deal. I typed in the UK and the US and you can see the results here. It did feel great to find out that in most ways I was doing better in the USA. I also have still not gotten over the fact that people here say 'has anyone ever told you you look like Kate Winslet?' The answer is 'No, well no one outside the USA.' The Americans here hold the Brits in high esteem are always gushing about my 'cute British accent.' I don't want to burst their bubble by saying, 'Yeah I am pretty unique, there are only about 60 million of us back home!' What I'm saying is if you become an expat you become a somewhat unique person in your host country especially in a smaller place like Baltimore where I have only met maybe 30 other Brits.

But what about the rest of the expat world? If you are an expat check out the survey and see how your new country compares to your old and if it is doing better then give yourself  a slap on the back.

And remember, if you are a bored expat sitting by the pool idly fiddling with your iPad that our fabulous book Cocktails at Naptime - A Woefully Inadequate Guide To Early Motherhood by Gillian Martin and Emma Kaufmann is now available for download worldwide. It can be downloaded to an Apple device such as an iPad or iPhone at the ibookstore here.

The book is a laugh out loud guide to the first year after birth and is the funniest book about childbirth since the New Testament. So what are you waiting for? Download it now! And if you want to know how two authors wrote a book in cyberspace go here.

The Geography of Style

The divine Bourbon and Pearls has got me thinking about the connection between geography and style. If like me, you are an expat, do you find that when you moved to your new country you took on the fashion mantle of your new home? I must say I did!

I do feel a bit like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz since getting to sun drenched Baltimore many a moon ago. I have stepped from black and white into technicolour although thankfully I have yet to encounter any flying monkies.

My UK look except less Maria Rinaldi more M&S (posed by model obviously)!!

When I lived in London I dressed in dreary black, grey, off-white, eggshell, navy, sludge, taupe, with a touch of dark red. I also covered my body up a lot with layers of wool and thermal undergarments. That is mainly because it is freezing in England for much of the time.

Emma's US signature look: Hot Pink and bare to dare skirts

Eleven years on my wardrobe screams with clashing shades of hot pink, black, white, light blue, light green, and is peppered with short skirts, shorts, barely there t-shirts and flimsy linen blouses. That is because it is mostly very hot here.

I don't really emulate Baltimore style because I don't think much of it. It is preppy and boring and when taken to extremes can look just plain hideous:

I think New Yorkers are more stylish but there is not much individuality there alas. On a trip to Manhattan in February every single woman was wearing black leggings, knee length boots and a black long anorak coat. It looked hot though and I snapped up a dozen pairs of black leggings and some flat boots!

The New York look that is somehow insanely hot

What about you? How has your signature style changed since you moved to hotter or colder climes? And do add pics if you have them!

Also do check out my fabulous new interview over at Blog Expat where I dish about ex-pat life warts and all:

Having your Cupcake and Eating It?

So a revolution of sorts has occurred apparently, with curvy models recently featuring in Italian Vogue. Now some people think this is great and some see it as a symptom of the continuing objectification of women. I say these curvy ladies are serious hot and it is great to see women with a bit of meat on them in a fashion magazine.

Arguments abound that women are objectified and the argument is always 'men oppress women by sexually objectifying them.' But isn't the reality that no one is really oppressed just by having a man look at you in a lustful fashion? If you are talking about the fashion industry well yes that is an extremely distasteful industry on every level. Models are certainly dehumanised and just treated as clothes horses. In all the babble coming from the chattering classes about 'going green' I suppose no one has noticed that following fashion is not only pointless but perpetrates huge suffering amongst fashion workers in the third world. If you really want to do something radical for women's rights then boycott fashion!

As for objectification of women in real life much has been made of the rise of retro femininity and the fact that many women in public life seem to have embraced a purely decorative function, coupled with an obsessive interest in baking cupcakes and wearing frilly aprons. Tanya Gold wrote in an article recently that she was appalled at going to John Lewis and finding out that:

"Sales of crafting fabrics are up 31 per cent on last year. Jam pot covers – remember them? – are up 50 per cent. And cupcake cases are up a howling, punched-by-Kirstie-Allsopp 65 per cent. I wish I could paint that sentence pink so you could see how important it is. We are living in a time of retro femininity."

I'm not sure what's so appalling about that as I love making cupcakes and wearing frilly aprons and apparently it's not just me. Gold states that Samantha Cameron, Duchess of Cambridge and Michelle Obama are little more than Stepford Wives in that they are seemingly playing second fiddle for now to their spouses (but are they really?)

To which I say you can look pretty, bake cupcakes and wear frilly outfits without losing your feminist credentials and if you make the stuff yourself surely you're saving the women who work in the Indian sweat shops from a life of hell. Also women are always going to be objectified because men like to look at pretty women. Also women like to be looked at by men. There, I've said it.

No one is forcing women to look pretty. If you want to go out looking like a dog's dinner it's your right. But there has always been a rather bizarre feminist link made between men's economic dominance and looking at women. Some clap trap about because they earn more that gives them the right to look at women, somehow diminishing women via their gaze sort of like how Alice in Wonderland might shrink after drinking some patriarchal potion!

Well enough clap trap. Looking at women does not oppress them okay? (Although obviously sexual harassment is another story). But my real point is this, do you think feminism has gone off course with the advent of more women wanting to look pretty and have a nice home or can you have your cake and eat it too?

 Tweet

New York on a Nickel

Today, author Ayun Halliday has dropped by for a virtual chat. She is probably best known for a witty little zine she pens, The East Village Inky, which features cartoons about the hells and highpoints of motherhood. She’s also just published a book in the UK called Mama Lama Ding Dong: A Mother’s Tales From the Trenches (The Big Rumpus in the US) in which she chronicles the trials of bringing up Inky and Milo in small apartments with bad plumbing in New York City. Despite how pricey it is to rent an apartment, she is passionate that the Big Apple is, for her, the best place to bring up her kids.

What would have become of me, she writes in Mama Lama Ding Dong, if I did live in a suburb, or even a city like Los Angeles, where it’s normal for new parents to have cars and backyards and their own swing sets? I would have gone mad from the isolation! … In the same way that people who choose to live in areas of great natural beauty would go crazy without easy access to the ocean or mountains, my mental health hinges on my proximity to colorful characters, like the transsexual who dresses in a tutu and a bedraggled cat suit to ride an oversized bicycle with a harp strapped to the back, playing accordion for tips.

The stimulus I need as a stay-at-home mother is not provided by clean yards, affordable housing, excellent public schools or natural beauty.

I hear you Ayun! In fact, her descriptions of living in New York are so lively and invigorating that you might be tempted to move there yourself. I also love her warts and all description of labor with her daughter Inky. Everyone will be able to relate to how the best laid plans often go astray when there’s a baby trying to get out.

I went into full labor on the corner of First Avenue and 9th Street. Then I rampaged through our apartment for four hours, yelling my head off (while Greg slept intermittently on the midwife’s instructions), though our gallant neighbors insisted they never heard a thing through the thin tenement walls. I writhed on our unmopped kitchen floor, sandwiched between the refrigerator and the sink, watching a cockroach marching along the baseboard. That was the first omen that my labor was not going to be the beautiful experience I had anticipated.

What can I say? Go out and get Mama Lama Ding Dong or The Big Rumpus. Why? Because you’ll love it, that’s why. And if you’ve ever read my blog, you’ll know I’m pretty stingy in handing out praise. Unless it’s due, which it is in this case!

Now then, back to my chat with Ayun.

Where will you be doing book readings over the next few months, so people can go see you?

I'll be heading to Philly, Chicago, Austin, Portland (OR) and the Bay Area next month. Here's the nitty, with some gritty to follow as soon as Webmaster Dave gets off his heiner and quits his day job!

You now live in Brooklyn. Since I’ve never been there, I’m curious to know, is it really populated with the kind of nutty pseudo-intellectuals like the ones featured in The Squid and the Whale?

Oh, yeah. I think a lot of people went to see that movie and sucked in their breath, thinking , "There but for the grace of ..." And while I envied Laura Linney her square footage (we're on the top floor of a brownstone), I felt the set designer did a great job of creating a believable space in which those characters could dwell. Actually, I read an interview with Noah Baumbach and he said they shot it in a family friend's house, and that Jeff Daniels wore his dad's old clothes.

Now, because I’m a notorious cheapskate who loves a good deal, I’m keen to know how you entertain the kids in New York for next to nothing. Is it easier to find cheap or free things to do with the kids around your neighborhood? Or was there more to do in the East Village, where you lived before?

The East Village was feeling pretty well gentrified by the time we left, though there are always $1 ice creams, free sprinklers and cheap breakfasts to be had, even if you don't know where to look. Now our Brooklyn neighborhood is shooting down that flume. Every time a bodega closes, the space reopens as a French bistro, an American Apparel Outlet or a boutique with $40 ringer tees featuring cereal box mascots from my childhood. But you can still buy a 50 cent cup of Italian ice from a street vendor, enjoy a tall glass of watermelon juice & some dirt cheap tamales at Fast and Fresh Deli, make a killing with or at a weekend stoop sale, and chuck water balloons or play scully in a playground (with bottle caps scrounged from the trash!) The housing projects don't seem to be going anywhere, and there's a very well established Arabic community who don't seem to be going for the $40 ringer tees, but I am sensing the old timers dying off or moving south.

Here's a thing about New York though. Subway's only 2 bucks! And it's a little murky when children start to pay. (Okay, 45 inches, but nobody's standing around with a measuring stick, least of all me!) You can get to the freebies, however far flung they may be!

What are the best sources for finding out about free kids’ activities in New York?

http://www.gocitykids.com/calendar/?area=197> Go City Kids

Time Out is good for the whole family. I believe you have to be a subscriber to access their special Time Out Kids calendar, but especially if your children are out of the toddler stage, regular Time Out should do you just fine! You can pick up a copy of Time Out or Time Out Kids at the newsstand. The Village Voice is free, and is particularly good for listing the free concerts in the summer.

There are a bunch of guidebooks geared to experiencing the city with kids. The one we used (I say used b/c I think we have been to so many of the places listed that we think we discovered them on our own) is called The Cool Parents' Guide to All of New York

Finally, I have a few suggestions on my website, but I wrote a book or two and celebrated at least 2 children's birthdays since the last update, so as with any guidebook, phone first!

What are your top five activities to do with kids in New York that won’t make a dent in your wallet?

Five? You can't wind me up and expect me to stop at five! Granted, some of these will cost you more than a subway ride, but having once traveled through Italy for a week with only one restaurant meal to show for it, I can't in good conscience go so hardcore on you as to steer visitors clear of the memorably worth-it splurge (i.e. an adult MOMA ticket, the Wonder Wheel, some tuna maki at Taro Sushi)!

Eating coconut buns at Nice One Bakery on Bayard Street in Chinatown.

Riding the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island.

Making Monty Python-style animations at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.

Swimming in the enormous Red Hook pool.

Dressing up funny and dancing to the Hungry March Band.

Freaking out other visitors to Central Park’s Conservatory Garden, who don’t know that wisteria is edible.

Making a big deal out of seeing the Statue of Liberty out the window of the F Train around Smith & 9th.

Hanging out on the stoop.

Watching the Chinese wedding parties roll up for photo ops at the Fulton Ferry landing on Sunday afternoons.

Climbing on the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

Going right up to the enormous Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in the sleet, when everyone else is taking shelter under the overhanging eaves.

Ordering steamed milk for them and cappuccino for myself in boho cafes.

Facing the wall in opposite corners of the foyer outside the Grand Central Oyster Bar, which is built in such a way that if you whisper into the wall, the person in the opposite corner can hear you plain as day! Enjoy the funny looks from passerby who don’t know about this magical architectural phenomenon.

Taking Milo to Taro Sushi on Dean St, near Flatbush.

Taking Inky for a special-occasion manicure at whatever corner nail salon we happen to be near…and watching the manicurist’s delight when she notices Inky’s extra thumb. (Most NYC manicurists seem to come from cultures where an extra digit is considered lucky.)

Browsing through the comics at Rocket Ship on Smith Street.

Making paper flowers and decorating papier-mache skulls at the Museum of the American Indian’s annual Day of the Dead celebration.

Ordering cream puffs from Beard Papa.

Watching Greg play softball in the Broadway Show League in Central Park.

Breaking up errands in whatever playground happens to present itself.

Cooling off in the shady sprinklers at the top of Tompkins Square.

Swapping outgrown duds for new (used) finery at Jane’s Exchange.

Discovering over lunch at New Green Bo that there is something beside coconut buns that Inky will deign to eat in Chinatown.

Pointing out grafitti of interest.

Thinking about the day I will take them to Jackson Heights as a test run for taking them to India.

Making the annual pilgrimage to see Santa at ABC Carpet and Home.

Gamboling between the bridges in Empire Park.

MOMA (kids get in free!)

Examining the merchandise and reading every single label at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.

Blowing 50¢ on a Dixie cup of Italian ice from a guy pushing an insulated metal cart strung with bells.

Waving to the passengers riding on the upper decks of the red tourist buses.

Giving quarters to anyone playing music in the subway, regardless of musical talent.

Taking in a show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s annual Children’s Film Festival.

Climbing the indoor rock wall and flipping around on the various trampoline-like things at Chelsea Piers, as long as someone else is footing the bill.

Ice skating in Prospect Park.

Riding a Black Cowboys’ Association pony at street fairs throughout Brooklyn.

Examining the unicorn tapestries in the Cloisters.

Seeking out “the squid and the whale” at the Museum of Natural History.

Being nice to babies on the sidewalks of New York.

Deciding not to freeze our heiners off with the multitudes who head to 81st and Central Park West to see the giant balloons being inflated the night before Thanksgiving.

Volunteering to help feed the hungry at the Church of the Holy Apostles’ long-running soup kitchen.

Admiring the produce at the Union Square Farmers Market.

Holding our noses during the canine costume contest in the Tompkins Square dog run a couple of days before Halloween.

Recognizing Dan Zanes on the street.

Hitting the Children’s Museum Of the Arts during their weekly “pay-what-you-can” admission time.

Chilling out in PS1’s café after absorbing the requisite dose of culture.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Drinking the molten-pudding-like hot chocolate at Jacques Torres’s flagship store.

Exploring the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum.

Sledding in Prospect Park’s long meadow.

Making a big deal out of a haircut at Le Chandelier.

Getting creeped out by the marionettes at Puppetworks.

Buying stationery and notebooks for less than a dollar at BJ99 on Pike St.

Rubbing all the herbs and then smelling our hands in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Fragrance Garden.

Watching Circus Amok in a public park.

Leafing through the Tin-Tin books at La Petite Abeille.

Avoiding restaurants that, like Bubby’s and the Two Boots on Avenue A, are so celebrated as great places to go with children, they are chronically filled with screaming children and their tense & snappish parents.

Wow! You've certainly given me a lot of ideas. Thanks for dropping by Ayun!

My pleasure. See you on top of the Wonder Wheel!