There’s a new breed of potato out there. It’s not the Yukon Gold, and it’s not even the proverbial Couch Potato. It’s much worse than this– it’s the Young Couch Potato! Doesn’t that sound awful! I know that my children are much more sedentary than I was. When I was young, we didn’t have video games (well, except for Pong, and that was like, ICK), we didn’t have DVDs or all the electronic games. “Games” to me meant hide and seek, Monopoly, or cowboys and indians. I’m amazed at how quickly our culture and childrens’ lifestyles have changed. And I know how impossible it is to yank the kids away from those durn computer games and Playstation games!!

Well, I’ve taken the long way around just to mention a nice site for parents and kids. It’s called Kids Off the Couch. They’re not paying me or sending me a boxful of bananas or baseball hats to mention them either! I just saw the website and think it looks neat. It has ideas for activities for kids and parents. I think it’s a good site to generate a little creativity. Homeschooling families might find it especially helpful, because a lot of the activities are educational. So lets get the kids off their butts and onto their feets!

I can’t believe it’s the end of October! Where does all this time go?! Our biggest holiday of the year is Thanksgiving– just one month away! We exchange gifts during that time, too, so I really need to be on the ball. I am sadly behind this year, it’s just gone too fast.

One great gift idea I lean toward every year is VistaPrint. I first heard about them when a young man handed me one of his business cards (he was a tree cutter and we had a dangerous dead tree). He said that he got his cards from VistaPrint– for free! I visited the website and was completely wowed by the selection and the prices there, especially by the lovely photo cards that can be customized. (I like the personal touch for my cards). I tried out VistaPrint’s business cards, and was so happy with my purchase that I bought more for me and my daughter. I now go to VistaPrint for all my printing needs. They are reliable, trustworthy, very professional, offer great ideas and designs, and have excellent prices! For example, you’ll see that some holidays photo cards are on sale right now for $3.99. That’s NOT $3.99 each like it is in the stores– that’s $3.99 for a bundle! And you can have the cards with your own photo and your own message, shipped to your door! I think it’s a great deal.

I highly recommend VistaPrint. They have everything! And they do a terrific and timely job. Check out their website for more ideas and information.

Well, we went out today for a little car trip! FINALLY! I’ve been so cooped up this summer, it’s awful! We took a drive out to a little museum, and then went to the country to a great park. I’ll be blogging about it on my travel blog.

Choosing where to go wasn’t easy this time. We’ve been to just about every (free admission) place in my county. I didn’t have any brochures for any of the other surrounding counties, and their online web tourism sites aren’t terribly informative. I purposely look for the odd-end, small museum, but BOY they are hard to find. Don’t the businesses know that they’d get much more business if they promoted themselves a little? Sure, if you go to the printing shop, expect to pay an arm and a leg. But things are changing, because now there’s VistaPrint! Brochures designed fast and easy, and inexpensively! I have used VistaPrint services, and I love them to pieces!

You don’t need to own a business to print brochures, either (although every tourist attraction should definitely have them!). You can have brochures printed up for family reunions, picnics, anniversaries, anything! That’s what I love about VistaPrint– they’ll do anything YOUR way. The only limit is your own creativity.

Printer ink is waaaay too expensive. Let VistaPrint take over! And here’s a coupon code for ya– use this code in your order: FreeBrochures08 and get 25 free brochures. I think I may just plan a special event, just to get some brochures printed up! I plan on making some of my own “New York Traveler” t-shirts and magnets with VistaPrint sometime soon.