Chromilo Amin

For the past August long weekend, we went down to Mike's Beach Resort (http://www.mikesbeachresort.com) in Lilliwaup, Washington which is about 2 hours west of Seattle. Thanks to Jade, Kim, and Ava for setting up this memorable family vacation. It would have been nice if my mother was able to join us as originally planned but her health problems just made sure that didn't happen. The resort was very popular because of all the oysters and clams. Fish and crabs were also in abundance but not as much as the oysters. They were everywhere. This was our first trip here so I have a few things that I can provide expert advise on to make your visit more enjoyable. 1) Book the Honeymoon Cabin. I know you save some money by booking the family cabins because they can house multiple guests in bunk beds but the bathrooms are very tiny and not in the best condition. On top of that, the hot water tanks appear to be shared between family cabins and the community washrooms because we ran...

We had an issue with our Panasonic NN-P994SFR Genius Inverter 2.2 cubic feet counter-top microwave oven. Initially, it would draw too much power and cause our breakers to trip. At first I thought it was because we were sharing the circuit with some other appliance but that wasn;t the case. This happened twice, tripping the breaker each time but continued to work on a breaker reset. On the third time, the LED display didn't show any life and that was that. My wife called a friend with some background in electronics and he suggested replacing the fuse. That sounded like a great idea and he said he would come over and have a look. He brought his ohmmmeter and we opened the microwave oven. Continuity tests showed that the fuse indeed blew and he asked if I had a spare. I said I would have to go and buy one so in the interim, he completed the circuit by tying thin strands of wire to the ends of the blown fuse. We put the covers back and plugged in the microwave oven. The LED display s...

Quick tip for new baby stroller owners: Do not inflated your deflated stroller tires at a gas station air pump. The reason for the above tip is to avoid the uneccessary expense of replacing the entire wheel because of a tire explosion which was so strong and extreme that it shattered the rims. It cost me $40+ to purchase a new wheel at Phil&Teds which I could have easily spent on manual tire pumps instead. The maximum recommended is 22 PSI for baby stroller tires and using the air pumps at the gas station makes it hard to estimate that unless you use a tire gauge. The tires exploded while we were at a food court, while we were immobile and kids weren't even seated in the strollers. It just popped and caused everyone to look because it sounded like a gunshot. Glad nobody got hurt from any flying wheel rim debris.

This is the second year we have donated to Samaritan's Purse www.samaritanspurse.ca for the Operation Christmas Child program. Here was last year's post talking about what we put in the box http://www.chromiloamin.com/2011/11/donate-to-operation-christmas-child.htm . It's always a worthwhile cause to donate instead of just buying family gifts during Christmas. Don't know about you but that always stresses us out. We will drop off one shoebox filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies for a 2-4 year old girl. As usual, we have also included a monetary donation on top of the $7 fee to cover shipment charges for the shoebox. Here are the items my wife was able to cram into the box this year. Can I just publicly say that she is awesome at all this especially under pressure. It's too bad the kids were already asleep when we put this together because they would have enjoyed preparing the gift box which contains: - Lion plush toy - Toothbrushes - Bars of soap - Cray...

I didn't know arts & crafts for a kid's birthday party could be so much fun. That's what my kid tells me after attending a friend's birthday at 4Cats Arts Studio in Whiterock. For activities, the kids colored with crayons and molded clay into picture frames that they later took home with them (see Star Wars Jedi characters Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker masterpieces). This was followed by healthy snacks which was all part of the package from 3:30pm-5pm. And here is a famous quote from Yoda if you are looking to try out the studio for your next birthday party: "Do or do not. There is no try." (4Cats Arts Studio, 1195 Johnston Street, Whiterock, BC; 604.560.5300; http://www.4cats.com/whiterock )

This is a continuation of my post linked here http://www.chromiloamin.com/2012/10/where-to-get-little-mermaid-ariel.html . As you know, we went to Party City in North Vancouver BC to try and find some Little Mermaid party supplies for my little kid's birthday. We didn't find any at that location so we thought the Burlinglington, Washington location would carry a lot more because any licensing restrictions the Canadian counterparts had would be lifted, or so I thought. The US store didn't carry any more stock. We concluded the following when it comes to getting your Little Mermaid party supply fix: 1) Order your supplies online at http://www.celebrateexpress.com and have items marked as US-only delivered to a friend who lives in the US. Ask said friend(s) if they could ship the package to you and be eternally grateful for their help. 2) Go to Disney Store at Metrotown Burnaby http://www.metropolisatmetrotown.com/stores/disney-store for the rest of your Ariel party supp...

This is actually posed as a question because I don't have the answers. It's my little girl's birthday soon and we are planning a Little Mermaid (Ariel) themed party. However, I realized it was very hard get this specific Disney character shipped to Vancouver, BC. We usually order our birthday party supplies from Celebrate Express ( www.celebrateexpress.com ) and am able to get some supplies like balloons and banners with Ariel printed on them but am unable to order invitation cards, party favors, or table cloths with same Disney character. Why is that? It can't be a licensing limitation because everything should have been barred if that was the case. My wife found this store in North Vancouver called Party City ( www.partycity.com ) and she said that they sold the Little Mermaid birthday party supplies so we decided to head out there this past weekend. They did have Holloween supplies with the Little Mermaid character on them but no birthday party suppl...