December 17, 2013
Dora Live! #WW w/linky
Our WW post this week is from our great adventure we had last week. We braved the first big snowfall (well big to me as I do not like winter driving!) and headed down to see Dora! We had an incredible time (you can read about it here). Here is our favourite photo from the day:
Link up below so I can head over and see your post as well!
December 13, 2013
Dora The Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys: An Interactive Production
LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!
Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys landed at Hamilton Place this week and stole our hearts!
Our family was so excited to attend the live Dora show – especially our youngest son who is the world’s biggest Dora fan. He has us watching Dora re-runs over and over!
Hamilton Place was full of children of all ages excited and ready to see the loveable Dora and friends. There were little girls dressed up in orange pants, pink shirts and purple back packs. My son declared they were truly Dora-fied! Amongst those adorable Dora costumes was a diverse group of young boys, toddlers and adults excited to experience the magic that is Dora.
The entire production was an incredible experience. I kept wondering how they were going to make the animated Dora come to life! The casts and crew accomplished this in the most interactive and exciting way possible. The seventy minute live theatrical production included all aspects of the televesion show Dora – songs, actions, problem solving, language and all characters (including Back Pack and the Map!). There was also a short intermission that was a huge relief so we could get the kids to the bathroom and back, although our youngest was quite anxious to get the show back on the road!
The entire audience was singing, dancing and laughing along with the cast. I found myself clapping and singing right along with my boys (it is amazing how you can know every word to each song!). Dora had all of us involved in each part of the show clapping, dancing, stomping our feet, solving problems along the way as Dora and Boots search for the City of Lost Toys.
Each set change had us anticipating what new adventure awaited Dora and her friends. We were all anticipating the moment when that Sneaky Swiper would make his appearance. Our youngest was on constant Swiper watch and as soon as he saw that tail he would shout and throw up his hand “Swiper No Swiping!”.
Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys was an incredible experience for our family. It was honestly one of the most engaging and exciting family productions we have ever been to. I would definitely bring our family back again to see Dora and her friends.
Disclosure: I received tickets to the show to help facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
December 12, 2013
Capturing Perfect Moments with the Nokia Lumia 1020
I have always loved the arts. Painting, photography, sketching – they all bring me so much joy and help me unwind. There is nothing more satisfying than capturing that perfect moment in a photograph! My husband recently purchased me a new DSLR (which I have affectionately refer to as my third baby!) which I adore but because of it’s large size (and my fear of damaging it) I do not bring it out as much as I would like to. I tend to rely on my smart phone camera more than anything else. Up to this point I can’t say I have been really impressed with my smart phone cameras (in the past two years I have owned a BlackBerry and an iPhone). The quality has been grainy, blurry and very rarely can you ever actually have them printed out in a decent quality.
I have been testing out the Nokia Lumia 1020 for the past month and I can honestly say it has blown the competition out of the water. The quality of the pictures I took were incredible. I could not believe that those photographs were coming from a smart phone!
To give you a little bit more background information on the phone, the Nokia Lumia 1020 has an incredible 41 mega pixel camera sensor, Pure View technology, Optical image stabilization and high resolution zoom. The device is powered by Windows Phone 8 and has the ability to create action shots, blur out objects (or even remove them!) or shoot in full HD video.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 was a bit larger then any phone I have ever used but I also found that was to my advantage when I was taking photos and editing on the actual device. Because of the lens it feels heavier on the one side so I would completely recommend purchasing the Camera Grip (which also adds to the phone’s battery life – something I learned at the Telus Learning Centre).
I am pretty comfortable with technology and I have a super savvy tech husband at home if I ever have questions but the Telus Learning Centre session was very much worth the time to head in store for. The Telus rep that I met with was incredible. He was incredibly passionate and knowledgeable in his field. He taught me so much about the smart phone (things I was even able to show off to the hubby later with!). The Nokia Lumia 1020 also has an amazing battery life. I took it up to three days before having to charge it! This is coming from a person who needed to charge her Blackberry after six hours and the iPhone after twelve hours daily!
My favourite part of the Nokia Lumia 1020 was how versatile it was. Not only was it perfect to bring along to snap family photographs, I could bring it to work and use it for my day to day activities but I also challenged myself for the past month and a half to use ONLY the Nokia Lumia 1020 to take and edit photographs for my blog. To my surprise it cut down on my editing and uploading time! I was able to take photos and edit right there and then. No more taking my photographs, waiting for the kids to go to sleep, uploading to my desk top, editing the photos, putting my blog name on it and then uploading to the blog. The Nokia Lumia 1020 allowed me to increase my efficiency for my blogging and allowed me to spend more time with the ones I love.
I was able to capture so many bodies of work that I am quite proud of. I am posting a few of them here in my post but you can find the complete album in my Google + post here.
I found it so hard to believe how beautifully it captured the rain drops on this leaf while I was out hiking!
And then all the prickly ends on this bur!
Here is an example of how I was able to put together photos for my blog post.
Over the past month and a half I have fallen in love with my Nokia Lumia 1020. It makes my life as a mother, photographer and blogger that much easier! Not to mention it looks pretty darn cool in that bright yellow shell of its! It is definitely a smart phone worth looking into!
Disclosure: I received the product mentioned above to help facilitate my review. The opinions expressed are my own.
December 12, 2013
Weekly BlogLovin Hop with Journeys of the Zoo!!
Welcome to the Weekly BlogLovin Hop at Journeys of the Zoo!
I am so excited to be co-hosting this week’s BlogLovin Hop! Are you ready to meet amazing new bloggers and friends? Then get ready to link up!
Here is our lovely host:
Sarah is the author at Journeys of The Zoo. She brings to you the daily life and international travels of the Zoo: Ed, Sarah, The Kids, two rescue dogs and a geriatric cat!! Sarah is an incredible person who loves to support her friends. She is always there to share and support fellow bloggers and share product reviews. Her posts are full of her humour. Sarah became a mother for the first (and last) time when she had Triplets in 2009 – sadly, Alexander passed away. These are the Journeys of the Zoo.
Your co-host is me, Carla:
I started my blog while off on maternity leave with my second son. I wanted (and needed!) an outlet for my love of cooking, photography, baking and meeting other parents. I have two young boys who definitely keep me on my toes as I try to balance my work life outside of the home and my family life. My blog is a reflection of my life and in it you can find recipes, photography, product reviews and so much more! Welcome to my story!
Make sure you link up with your direct link to your BlogLovin account. Looking forward to getting to know you all!
December 10, 2013
Up It Goes! w/linky #WW
We finally were motivated to put the tree up! It was so much fun as our youngest helped out as much as he could putting the decorations on the tree. His big brother was right there helping him out the whole time. I thought this would be the perfect #WW link up this week! Do you celebrate Christmas and if so is your tree up?
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Link up below so I can visit your #WW posts too!
