Guys! Hey Guys! As you have surely noticed, I love to travel. Like, LOVE it. (To be fair, the actual traveling part stresses me out, but that's another story). I have been sharing some of my travel experiences on here, but this is not the only place I contribute to. I actually love to contribute reviews on sites like TripAdvisor and Google.  One of the things I do fairly often is to post pictures on Google maps of places I go. Most of them get a few views (like 1-1000), but I have one that I posted a couple weeks ago (the one pictured above) that has exploded to 160,000+ views because it is the MAIN picture you see when you google the place, Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. Check it out here and see if my picture shows up as the main picture for you: Turtle Bay Resort on Google Maps. 

I am SO excited to be able to tell you all about an awesome new game invented by an even more awesome person! I had the chance to test it out with my family a while back and we loved it! We got to play the game when it was in early prototypes. 
What is it?
The game is called Lawn Battleship and it was invented by a man smart enough to marry into the same family I did. Cody Jarrett (who is married to my husband's sister for those of you curious to know the relationship) is the inventor. He has started a kickstarter campaign so he can move Lawn Battleship into it's next stage of development and hopefully get it on store shelves near you eventually. Before I tell you my experience with this great game, watch this video to learn more about it from Cody himself:



What did Beckee (and the fam) think of it?
Cody was nice enough to send us a prototype to try out when we lived in Sunny Scottsdale, AZ. And as Cody said, Lawn Battleship combines elements of a classic board game with the sunshine and fun of outdoor sports. So, we were golden, right? Well, mostly. We actually lived in a rental house there where our whole yard was covered in rocks. It was not a conducive space to set up. So, we rounded up the kids and the game and headed to a local grassy park. 
As we were setting up the game, we drew a lot of attention to ourselves. By the time it was set up (which really did not take long), we had a crowd of kids who wanted to know what it was and how to play. We started to play with our kids (all 5) at first while the others watched. After the first game, we had a couple more kids join in, and by the end of the night there were quite a few people who had joined in. We found that our oldest child was freakishly good at the game, infuriating her younger, more competitive, athletic brothers. It was fun to see that you did not have to be a super athlete to play!  (By the way, if you want to 
When it started to get dark at the park and we started to clean up, the other kids at the park were asking us where to get the game and begging (BEGGING) us to come back the next night with the game. 
It was seriously fun. Fun for me and Wes, and fun for all the kids (ours and the park kids). (I just realized this sounds creepy-like we picked up stray kids at the park and lured them into our game-not so. They were kids that went to school with our kids, and their parents were right there-just to clarify. In fact lots of parents were playing close attention to the game and I think were just not as willing to jump in as their kids were).
I would absolutely recomend this game for any group. PERFECT for families, but I also think it would be an ideal group date night activity! (By the way, if you want to see how to set up and play Lawn Battleship, check out this video.)
Where can you find this game? (Or how can you help get it mass produced and available near you?)
Well, as I mentioned before, Cody has started a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is an all or nothing deal. So, if he does not reach his target goal, he gets no money at all to move Lawn Battleship to the next level. Here is what they had to say about the campaign:

Through our Kickstarter campaign, Lawn Battleship is battling for the funding it needs for mass production. To take Lawn Battleship to the next level, we need your support. Help us bring the outdoor-fun of lawn battleship to families everywhere: Pledge your support on Kickstarter.

I am asking you, my amazing readers, to please show some support for this great game, and go pledge a little something to the Kickstarter campaign. Every dollar helps him get to his goal! I would really like to see this game get mass produced so you can all get your hands on it as well! You will love it!

What can I WIN if I donate?

Here's what I am going to do. I am going to run a little contest here. I will give a $20 Amazon.com gift code to one lucky donater (is that a word? I think I made it up...). If you donate anything to his Kickstarter campaign, you are eligible to enter. You can enter on the Giveaway Tools entry form below, but make sure you make a pledge before you enter. I will be checking the backers list to make sure people are really backing the campaign, and I will delete false entries (I so hate being "that" person, sorry--necessary evil). You can also enter by liking Lawn Battleship's Facebook page, so even if you cannot donate you can show a little support and still get an entry into this giveaway!

Here are easy step by step instructions to make sure you get all the entries in:

1. In the Giveaway Tools box below, enter your name and email address.

2. Once you have entered those, 2 different ways to enter the giveaway will appear in the box:

         a. The first is to back the Kickstarter campaign, then come back to the giveaway tools box below and type in the name you used to back/donate to the Kickstarter (yes you have to put your name in again-or your spouse's name, or fake name you used to back the project...) That option is worth 3 entries in the giveaway.

          b. The second options to enter is to like the Lawn Battleship Facebook page. That is an easy peasy entry worth 1 entry, all you have to do there is to click in the giveaway tools box where it says to like the page. The Giveaway Tools box will walk you through it!

3. You can do both entries if you want to, or just choose on or the other (of course if it were me, I would do both to get the max entries possible and up my chances to win!)



Disclosure: Please note, I was sent a prototype of the game for my family and I to test out. No other compensation was given for this review and as always, all opinions expressed are my own. Also, I need to officially disclose that the inventor is a relative. But keep in mind I don't say things I don't mean-not even for a relative! I really liked this game a lot and believe in it! So please, help back it! :) If you want to check out what other people have said about it, check out the testimonials video here. Also, Facebook

Thanks for reading!

I have a favorite treat. I eat way too much of it. I won't mention it's name here, but I love it. LOVE it. It is a treat for me to have in the house. I learned that Hershey's was coming out with a similar product, and I could not wait to try it! Luckily, I did not have to wait! Thanks to Hershey's and Crowdtap, I was able to try it out right away because they sent me a sample of it to try out and tell you all about! YEAH!
What is it?
Hershey's now offers Hershey's Spreads in three flavors: a chocolate spread, a chocolate almond spread, and a chocolate hazelnut spread. I am a huge fan and I jumped at the chance to try any of the three flavors. The one they sent me to try was the Chocolate almond.
What did I think?
Well, first let me tell you that I love to eat spreads like this with lots of different things: Pretzels, bread, apples, bananas...really I will try it with anything. When I got the package in the mail with the Chocolate almond Hershey's Spread, I happened to have a box of pears at my house, so we cut it up and tried it out. I loved it! LOVED it! In fact I ate too much and shared too little... My kids did get some though and they liked it on bread with peanut butter (some of the kids liked it on bread alone).  And, I am not sure I should mention this, but I had my favorite competitors spread in my house, and my husband and I did a little taste test. Let me preface this by saying this other brand has been my favorite treat for many, many years. I love it. Still. BUT...in a blond taste test, I preferred the Hershey's almond spread over the other brand.  Where can you find it? Well, luckily Hershey's Spreads hit the shelves on December 6th, so next time you are out and about, check your grocery store shelves and see if you can find it! If you do, pick up a bottle and enjoy! I'm pretty sure you won't regret it (just don't eat the whole bottle in one sitting. Try to pace yourself...it will be hard...) Seriously, go try it out!! I loved it, and so did the family!  By way of disclosure, I did receive a free sample of this product to try. Thank you Hershey's and Crowdtap. But as always, all opinions expressed are my honest opinions!  Thanks for reading!!