Jump On In is one of the latest bounce house places for kids that have opened up in the area.  Kids love these places and they’re celebrating their anniversary this month too apparently.

The Boonton NJ location is a bit hidden amidst a set of commercial buildings, but it’s relatively close to the exit off Interstate 287.  Just take Mrytle north about 1 miles and then it’s a quick left onto Fulton and you’ll veer left into the commercial zone.  85 Fulton St, Boonton NJ.

The facility is not huge, but it’s big enough if your kids are in their sweet spot, which I’d say is between 4 yrs old and 7 or 8 yrs old.  There’s basically, two large rooms.  If you’re having a birthday, they also have two party rooms.  So if you can imagine it, they can run two parties at once, each one taking turns in one of the large bounce rooms and then switching and then party room to end.

Because it’s a relatively new facility, it’s clean and modern.  You can take a look at the photos below to see what they have in store for the kids.

They have OPEN JUMPS which are open to the public, $10 per child — which is reasonable for the 1 1/2 hour sessions. Parents don’t pay anything here.

Not much for parents to do there – they do have some chairs on the side of each room for seating.  No free wifi available, couldn’t find any open signals at all.

QUESTION: WHAT AGE IS THE UPPER LIMIT FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND THESE JUMPING FACILITIES?

One where you wish you never had to tell in the first place.

But it is also one so shocking that I am still, well…in shock.

Take a look at this video I took on the spot and see for yourself. WOW. That’s all I have to say. . .

UPDATE: Actually, I’m not speechless anymore about this experience gone bad at Raul’s Empanadas Town on Morris Street, Morristown NJ. Here’s a link to the Yelp post that shares more of the details.

QUESTION: WHAT’S THE WORST DINING EXPERIENCE YOU’VE EVER HAD?

Aside from www.LivingstonNavigator.com, the WE Tribune doesn’t seem that well adapted to the Google world we live in.   They do offer some brief highlights from the paper available online at the Navigator site, but that’s about it.

So this is where competition is good for the rest of us.  Micro-local websites are creeping in everywhere, and Livingston, NJ isn’t immune to it it seems.

Enter www.LivingstonPatch.com — a micro local news outlet that has steadily been providing coverage of the town’s news, events, and more.

QUESTION: What elements of the West Essex Tribune are keeping you from going digital and getting ALL your local news from LivingstonPatch.com, NJ.com and other websites?

]]> http://www.fingerclickinggood.com/livingston/2010/08/west-essex-tribune-has-some-competition-for-local-news/feed/ 0 http://www.fingerclickinggood.com/livingston/2010/07/how-squirrels-survive-the-heat/ http://www.fingerclickinggood.com/livingston/2010/07/how-squirrels-survive-the-heat/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:14:40 +0000 admin http://www.fingerclickinggood.com/livingston/?p=446 It’s has been scorching HOT around here this summer!

This past weekend, we experienced the hottest day of July so far — almost 100 degrees in many areas.

What are you doing to survive the summer heat this season?  It’s the perfect excuse to go to the mall, library, skating rink or the pool.

If you’re a squirrel, you don’t have as many choices.  Check out this little fella I found in the neighborhood, trying just to get through the heat wave. . .

QUESTION: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO STAY COOL THIS SUMMER?

You can buy two Entertainment Books for $5 each with $1 shipping and handling.

And if Shop Rite is your grocery store of choice, you’ll find $5 off coupons at the front of the book, basically making the rest of the book free.  Actually, if you get the book in time, you might be able to use a 2nd $5 ShopRite grocery coupon before the expiration date (the coupon valid thru dates are scheduled basically one per quarter throughout the year)

Just think: If you use just one more coupon in the book, you’re ahead of the game.

Some big discounts can be had in the book, such as $15 off Radio Shack or buy one get one ski lift tickets, or $7.50 AMC Lowes movie tickets, etc.

This last-ditch promotional discount is scheduled to end August 2nd, so go ahead and spend that 10 bucks today, you’ll be glad you did after your first couple of discounts.

Or if you commute in and out of the city by the Long Island Railroad, you probably have memorized your normal commute options and carry around one of those nifty pamphlets that lists their train schedules for times when you need to get on a train outside of your normal rush hour commutes.

For the times when you’re on the go and you just want train schedule options you don’t have to search online at the Long Island Railroad website or dig and find where that darn printed (probably outdated now) schedule is.

Just pick-up your phone and within seconds, you’ll have your answers. It’s better than picking-up the phone. Faster, less hassle, no humans involved! ;-D

All you need to remember is 266266.

HOW TO GET LIRR TRAIN SCHEDULES BY TEXT MESSAGE:

• Send a text message in the following format to 266266
  • “LIRR Penn to East Hampton”
• You’ll receive a text with the next couple of train options.  If there is a letter at the end of the line (d=delay), there’s a note — JUST REPLY with that schedule’s letter to find out more details.
  

The service is completely free (expect for texting fees from your carrier as usual) and very convenient.  Now if only NJ Transit followed-suit and offered something similar, our daily commute would be that much easier.

QUESTION: How do you normally look-up commuting schedules (bus, train, etc)? By Phone? By Internet? By Paper Schedule? Share your answer in the comments below.

And actually, you’ll see what America *will* see because it will be for the TV show, America’s Got Talent.

They are doing a taping of the show here in New York next month and if you click over soon enough, you can score some free tickets to a taping.

If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see acts that are nuttin’ but strings. . .

Take a look at what I mean:

It’s your chance to be in the audience as the best amateur performers from around the country compete in front of Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan and Howie Mandel as judges. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with this show yet, it’s produced by Simon Cowell…)

Here are the tapings for America’s Got Talent in NYC that are still available:

The show is being taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom [Manhattan Center Studios: 311 West 34th Street]

View Larger Map

QUESTION: Have you ever watched America’s Got Talent On TV? Leave a YES / NO answer in the comments below!

It’s located right off the NJ Turnpike at the Mt Laurel Marriott (attached on the same property).  Most times you can book a “Water Package” stay at the Marriott for $200 or so that includes one night and water park passes for the entire family for *both* the day of arrival and the day of departure — two full days of water park fun.  The park is open from 10am to 10pm most days, so you’ll have plenty of water time.

Here’s what the seating area inside the water park area looks like:

But wait, there’s more!  On the second floor over part of the facility . . .

There’s a pirate ship wading pool for toddlers!  See that pirate ship sail? It’s a projection screen tv that plays continuous movies and kids tv programming.

The “main” water park area is really made of a large water play structure.  If you’ve been to Hershey Park or Sesame Place in PA, it’s basically the same concept — but indoors in a climate controlled setting where it’s basically 84 degrees year round.

There are 2 tiny water slides (left side yellow) for small ones.  And there’s a orange and blue slide (right side) for older toddlers.  To the far right is a lazy river that has both single and double inflatable tubes.  If you get tire of the lazy river, there’s another pool with basketball hoops all round where you can swim around with the little ones as they try to grab some basketballs and shoot.

To the far left rear, there’s a indoor-outdoor hot-tub pool which is restricted to 18 and over – they do come around and kids the little ones out periodically.  There’s also a water lily pad obstacle and in the far back of this main play structure above there’s 3 water slides that’s several stories high (4 stories? a LOT of stairs is all I can say).  There’s a regular tube and a completely dark tube.  And there’s also a single rider body slide (no tube, just you jetting down inside the slide).

While they do sell day passes for the park at $22 and $32 per day (weekday / weekend), if you stay at the Marriott, it is physically attached.  I don’t recommend staying on the bottom floor — which *is* the closet the park, but basically you’re in a walk-out basement setting and ALL the hotel traffic going back and forth to the park goes down that hallway.

They are going through a renovation of the property.  We’ve stayed in rooms before and after and were pleasantly surprised this time.  Here’s some photos of the guest rooms at the Marriott Lt Laurel:

On the desk, next to the flatscreen tv is a neat little media box:

You’ll notice the various connection options available so you can hook up your laptop, portable DVD player, iPod, etc to the flat screen TV.  Here’s a close-up shot of the connections for the techies reading this post:

There’s an outdoor pool, but I don’t know who would use it, unless you didn’t have a Water Package stay:

And the hotel gym on the 1st floor is small, but adequate:

And ah-yes, there’s a decent arcade if your kids get bored of the water.  We usually venture across the street to Bob Evans for a meal after coming out of the water in the evening, come back and hit the arcade for a bit before ending the day.  Overall, it’s a nice little getaway for families with little ones.  There’s a competitor indoor water park just minutes away — Sahara Sam’s.  It’s not quite the same — there’s not hotel connected to it, so it’s more of a day-park local scenario and the facility is not as nice.  (Local hotels do have similar “stay and play packages” like the Mt Laurel Westin, Alot hotel, etc).

Coco Keys is no Great Wolf Resort, which our family prefers (larger, nicer, better themed experience) — but two days at the indoor water park is a nice little break for the kids, especially when the weather isn’t showing any immediate signs of letting us all outside to play anytime soon.

QUESTION: Have you *every* been to an indoor water park?  Which one and what was your experience like?

Woke up this morning, yearning for the caffeine fix as usual.

And found this deal that makes we want to scratch my head. . .

Why is Starbucks discounting, setting up freebie promotions? Boy, have (economic) times changed.

Gone are the days when Starbucks can rely upon just straight-up coffee.   How can you tell?  Have you noticed their new line of *INSTANT COFFEE*?  How about the Instant Oatmeal now on their menu?  When I ordered it on my last visit, they literally open a packet of instant oatmeal just like the single-serve Quaker oatmeal packets we have at home — pour in hot water, stir it up and give it to you with premium packaged toppings that completely goes against any eco-friendly message they are trying to send out.

For me, I go to Starbucks for the high caffeine content in their coffee — one Starbucks Grande Cup has more than 4x the caffeine that 4 cans of Red Bull.

Drop by the Starbucks – whether on Mt. Pleasant & S. Livingston, or on Eisenhower Parkway or on Millburn Avenue in Short Hills/Millburn with this printable coupon.

You’ll get a free Starbucks pastry of your choice to go with your coffee.

The sun made a good showing this past week, but the forecast is bringing another FLOOD ALERT this coming week.

What to do?

Especially if you have kids on Spring Break?

Well, if you haven’t been over to Hanover Lanes lately, they’ve renovated the place — including a new arcade area in the back (pretty sizable) with new games and a brand new bar/eating area — with PizzaHut Express with decent prices.  (Seemed like 1/2 the people bowling got the $3 =  soda + breadsticks combo by looking at the tables in all the lanes)

Here’s a great video that should inspire you all the way to Hanover Lanes on Route 10 in East Hanover:

To make it even more enticing and enjoyable, here’s a free printable coupon for two free games when you pay for two games:

Click on the thumbnail above to get the  full printable coupon for the discount.

QUESTION:  When was the last time you went bowling?