I recently had the opportunity to review a S107G Mini Gyro.  In plain English, it is a remote controlled helicopter.  While the review is over on Lisa Reviews, I wanted to talk about it over here too just due to the amount of fun my kids and our family has had with it.  It is oftentimes hard to find something that interests everyone.  The S107G Mini Gyro does just that:

We brought this over to Bill’s brothers house for a small get together they had over the holiday weekend.  What amazed me most was that everybody tried it — even my mother-in-law!  (She flew it over my brother-in-law’s house!).  I taped in the house due to the wind.  It was super windy outside when I was trying to tape, and it wouldn’t take off.  However, my brother-in-law’s house is set up perfect for flying helicopters.  I think everybody took a try at this. I do have a word of caution though — we lost the back propeller when it crashed into the deck (so be careful around decks).  We think it went between the planks.  The best part is that it comes with a spare, so our helicopter still works. 

My kids can fly this too.  Bill has to help them a bit, but they do a pretty good job.  Will’s birthday party is this weekend — do you think everybody is going to play with it again?  I do!

The Syma S107G is one of those things that everybody enjoys.  I recommend it for any upcoming gifts you may have (or just get one for yourself!). Thanks again to XenonProject.com for sending us the RC helicopter to review!

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This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Mike Golch

Lt. Ronald Markiewicz

All Information Was Found On And Copied From ArmyTimes.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Well, I finally did it.  There is a conference there in September that I had registered for months and months ago.  However, I was looking for a roommate and hadn’t set up my plane or my hotel yet.  However, now it is done.  I am using the free Southwest ticket I won at BlogWorld last year to fly there (when I called to set up my flight, the lady was so nice and friendly and even spoke English!).  We are going to be staying at the Courtyard Marriott.  I found an awesome deal on their website (better than the deal that the conference was getting for us!).  I wish I would have time to do some fun playing at the theme parks there, but I have to get back to my kids plus the conference has us booked up.  Let me know if you are going to be there too, so we can meet up!

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I am so bad. I have been so busy since I got back, I am finally now writing about this awesome event. I was contacted about this the day before my birthday (I know, what a great birthday present!!!). Sony wanted to talk to 15 mommy bloggers and give us some cameras (I didn’t know this last part till the day before I left for the trip!). All expenses paid trip, how could I say no?

I flew out on April 16th to San Diego. They got me an a flight through Midway (which I seriously needed since Midway is only 15 minutes away and Ohare is about an hour). Sitting in the airport always sucks, but I made due. My plane flight there sucked. A little girl screamed the whole way. This is why I don’t fly with my kids. I am terrified that is going to be me. The mom was by herself, and she walked up and down the aisle for the four and half hour flight. I felt so bad for her.

We then got to San Diego and I had a limo driver waiting for me. He had my name on a sign. It was super cool. I know I’ll never see that again. He took me to the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla (it was about a half hour drive). The hotel was awesome (I’ll be writing about it on my travel blog, so I won’t go into too many details here). Sony had boxes set up in our room (to use to Fed Ex our cameras back). They also had left us headphones for our kids, a rose, and two chocolate candy bars. They obviously know the way to a woman’s heart. We were on our own for Wednesday night (though we did have a $50 certificate to use at the restaurant). I met up with Deanna and Anne Marie , and we went to dinner. I had filet mignon. It was super yummy. It was one of those steaks that you didn’t even have to chew it — it just melted in your mouth.

The next day we had to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had a buffet breakfast (which was awesome). This is the view we had from the room we were in. Beautiful, isn’t it? We spent the first two hours after that introducing ourselves. We then had lunch out in the beautiful sunshine. We were only out there for about an hour eating some of the best food ever and I got sunburned!!! Here’s a list of all the awesome ladies who were there (if you have more blogs that I haven’t listed, let me know and I’ll get them added):

• Ciaran from MommiesWithStyle.com, Celebrity-Babies.com, CarandCaboodle.com
• Jenny from Momminitup.com
• Stacy from MomCentral.com, MomCentralConsulting.com and Mother-Talk.com
• Deanna from DomesticChicky.com, Apronista.com and HappyHousewivesClub.com/hotmama.html
• Kim from InAShoe.com
• Tracey from Sweetney.com, MamaPop.com and RocknRompBaltimore.com
• Erika from PlainJaneMom.com and emomsathome.com
• Heather from TheDomesticDiva.org and idivalicious.com
• Anne-Marie from AMamasRant.com, MyReadableFeast.com, ThisMamacooks.com, The-Write-Spot.com
• Christina from GeekGirlfriends.com and Tynanwood.com
• Amy from Amalah.com, MamaPop.com and Advice Smackdown on AlphaMom.com
• Laura from PaulnLaura.com
• Janice from 5minutesformom.com

After lunch, we got to learn about Sony and the impact of women on their business (Let me tell you, we have a huge impact!!!). We then got to start playing with the cameras we got. Oh wait, I didn’t show you the cameras yet —-

Camera #1: Sony Cybershot

Camera #2: Sony DSLR-A300K

Camera #3 – Handycam HDR-SR10

Yes, Sony gave us all three cameras! They also set aside time for us to work with their trainers so we could learn how to use them!

We then got instruction from photography expert Me Ra Koh. She gave us shooting instruction and tips of how to get specific results. She was really nice and she’s a blogger too!

We then got to go out to the beach and play with the cameras!

We then got a little bit of time to run up to our room and get ready for dinner. I took these pictures from my room!

We then met up with Sony and went to dinner at the Azul Restaurant. I got back to the hotel between 10 – 11 and went to bed.

On Friday, (April 18th), we met again for breakfast. Me Ra took some of our photos and critiqued them for us. She told us how to make our photos better. We then had a presentation from Rocket XL (the advertising agency who helped pull this all together). Us mommy bloggers ended up taking over that session with our opinions and thoughts.

After this session, we were able to do whatever we wanted till we caught our plane. Sony also gave us certificates for the spa, so I went and had a deep tissue massage. I then ate lunch and then had to get on my plane.

And that was my trip to San Diego!

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At this time on Friday, we will be sitting in Georgia waiting for our plane to Sedona (actually, we fly into Phoenix).  I know, it makes no sense that we have to fly from Chicago to Georgia and then to Phoenix, but that’s what we have to do.  What really sucks is that we have to be at the airport at 4 am!  Anybody want to drive us?  lol  What I am really having to figure out is if we need to pack shorts or not.  Anybody want to drive us?

We definitely need to get away.  Madison pretty much ran a 104 temp all day yesterday.  Today, we are down to 100.  Also, our sump pump quit working too.  Well, actually, the sump pump works fine.  The pipe that the water goes into isn’t.  The sump pump runs and the water doesn’t drain out of the pit.  Bill figures there is ice in the line.  He threw some salt in there, but that didn’t do anything.  Fun times, let me tell you, fun times.

I am getting over my guilt for leaving.  I am actually getting a little excited.  However, I need the kids to get better, so we can go.  I can’t leave 2 sick kids for my mother in law to take of (it would be nice but I’m not that mean).  I am pretty sure Madison just has a cold.  It’ll just be a matter of time for her to get over this.

Keeping my fingers crossed and going to see if I can find the temperature for Sedona . . . .

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