We often travel to Wisconsin to visit my family. It is a 4 hour drive, so are always looking for ways to keep the kids busy and entertained.  Bill hates to stop, so it is a long four hours.  A great item to check out for car rides, bedtime, and really any time is the Giddio Audio Adventures.  We listened to the Billy Brown Goes Hiking CD on our drive home, and it was a life saver for us.  Will was super crabby, and the only thing that made him quit screaming was this CD.  It definitely holds your children’s attention.  It is geared towards kids aged 3 – 7 (though it worked on my 1 year old too!)  This is actually pretty cool.  Instead of a narrator reading a story, there is a full cast.  Everyone has their own voice.  I love that it makes my kids use their imagination.  I’m not the only one who likes this either — it has won several awards (Dr. Toy’s Best Products 2007, several iParenting media awards, and Creative Child magazine’s Seal of Excellence).  We ended up having to listen to it more than once, because they like it so much (run time is between 30 – 45 minutes depending on which CD you are listening to).

I love that you can even try this out.  If you go to their site, you can download Billy Brown And The Mystery Package for free!  You can also print off the CD covers and have your kids color them!  I highly recommend checking this out as a great alternative to TV!

Over the past week or so, I have been reading an awesome book called The Secret of Wellington’s Map.  Granted, this isn’t my normal reading genre (usually if I can get a few minutes away I pick up Stephen King or Dean R Koontz book), but you know what?  I enjoyed this book just as much as I do books by those authors (though I think this book would be considered in either the sci-fi or mystery genre).  I would say that The Secret of Wellington’s Map is probably geared towards the ten and up crowd.  However, as an adult, I truly enjoyed the book too.  I found the author’s style a joy to read, and she really caught the essence of teenage girls in this book.  I also enjoyed finding a book that girls are the heroines.  The other thing I liked is that even though the main characters are teenage girls, they weren’t boy crazy.  Granted, there were a few boy mentions, but their lives didn’t revolve around boys.  The author had the girls talking, acting, and dressing like teenage girls, so I found them very believable.  There is also a bit of real life history intertwined into the story.

The story centers around two girls, Jaime and Nicole, that had expected a carefree summer.  However, after they come across a magic map, they go on an adventure of a lifetime.  I hate to go into more of a synopsis of the book, because I don’t want to spoil any part of it for you.  I will tell you that the map is somewhat of a time space portal, and they do go through it and end up in 1885.  However, if you want to find out why and if they make it back, you have to go read the book!

Another one of Madison’s favorite books is Scooby Doo! Mystery Time is a book that teaches children to tell time and allows them to play sounds to go along with the story. Granted, the clock on the book isn’t Patek Philippe quality, but it does show kids how to tell time. You are able to move the hands and hit the time button. The book then tells you what time you have showing. There are also pictures throughout the story that correspond with buttons that make sounds below the clock. It makes the story much more interactive. On each page of the story, there is also a clock with what time the page is talking about. Madison loves it, because it is noisy. I love it, because it is teaching her things.

Do you like CSI? If so, you will like Dr. G: Medical Examiner. You can catch this show on the Discovery Health Channel. Tonight, they are having a marathon if you have not seen this show yet.

This is the real life version of CSI. Dr. G is the head of the medical examiner’s office in Florida’s District Nine. You get to see what a medical examiner does. You also get to see the mystery that surrounds death. It is her job to figure out why a person died. You get to see real life stories that she encounters on a daily basis. It is nice to see a strong smart woman on TV.

I find this show extremely interesting. It is a little gross at times, so be prepared. However, if you like true “reality” TV, you will like show.