Tag Archives: #DriveKia

LEGO, Photo-A-Day, Toys, Travel, Vlog

Philly #BrickFest LIVE – Day 1

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Drew Plus Woody
Photo-A-Day #4392

Brian (From Built From Bricks) and I drove down to Oaks, PA for Philly BrickFest LIVE. We took the Kia Sorento down for the trip. DriveShop and Kia provided us with the car for a week. It was a great ride down. so nice to be talking with Brian all through the ride. It made the trip go by so quickly.

When we arrived we went right to the Oaks EXPO Center. We unloaded Brian’s MOCs and claimed our space. then we walked around and met a bunch of people. I went to a special class for animating LEGO bricks. I learned some fun stuff from David from Brick 101. I made a great Stop Motion video using Stop Motion Studio. It was so much fun and I learned some great techniques. Then I made this movie called Dagnabit!

We hopped out and got some Chinese food which we brought back to eat while participating in the charity auction.

We attended an auction and I bid on some Avengers sets and got them for $25, which was a good deal. I donated a LEGO Dinosaur set that went for $81! I can’t believe how much that set went for, I only got it for free because of a mistake and tried to send it back. I had it for over 2 years now. Glad I could help raise some money for the Charity auction.

Later that night we went to a bowling activity and it was so much fun. We bowled with teams of 5 and as each person bowled their frame they had to go back to a table and build part of a LEGO set as a race. My team did not win but I did win the set in a raffle. Brian did, too!

Family, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

All Good Things…

Pewter Fairy
Photo-A-Day #4391

Our last day at the Pollard Brook Resort and we started with a lazy morning where Allison, the kids to some extent, and I, finished the Marvel themed Funko Pop figures puzzle. That was a tricky one with many similar pieces that could have fit int he same places plus the layering of the figures into the image made it even more challenging. Our April vacations are pretty laid back and making a puzzle has become a yearly tradition. Last year was Marvel themed comic book covers and this time was the Marvel Funkos. We finished the puzzle before we went out for a late breakfast over to Peg’s in Woodstock.

Peg’s is a nice place but they only take cash so make sure that you have some before you go in or be prepared to use the ATM and get a fee charged. The food was good, the portions were adequate. I had stuffed french toast and it was really good. The bacon was also really good. Andrew and Eva worked on T-shirt designs for a Life is Good Contest.

After our meal we walked up the street a bit and checked out Fadden’s General store where we had to get some of their pure maple syrup. We had a little bit at breakfast and needed to get some for our pancakes and waffles at home. Then we checked out a couple other stores before heading back to the room. We stopped and picked up the bath fizzies that the kids made yesterday. Andrew’s were solidly packed little bath fizzies but Eva’s fell apart when we took them out of the molds. Not enough water. She was disappointed and I helped reassure her that it was okay and that we could always make them at home sometime. I think she was unhappy that hers fell apart but Andrew’s looked really good, but I helped Andrew so he had an advantage. We’ll know more for next time how to make them better.

Then it was back to the room to pack to go home and I had to complete a blog post for an assignment while the kids played and watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Then we drove to our friend’s house so that the kids could visit and Allison could visit. They moved a few years ago and we try and see them whenever we

Comic Book, Disney, Family, Movie, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

Family Road Trip to New Hampshire

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The Family with Groot and Rocket
Photo-A-Day #4388

Today we drove to New Hampshire. We have a Kia Sorento to drive for the week. DriveShop and Kia provided us with the car and opinions are our own. We’re staying at a timeshare for a few days and are going to explore the area. There are some really beautiful places to see.

On our way up we stopped at Double Midnight Comics. That is a comic book shop that is owned by a couple of friends from college. The kids loved the store and enjoyed getting a few things. Eva got a DC Superhero Girls book and Andrew a Trolls comic. I got a copy of Transformers #78 from the original Marvel run. I’m still missing some of them but am closer to completing the whole run.

We continued on to Lincoln, NH and there we had lunch at a Mexican place called El Charro. There were some excellent dishes there. We got stuffed silly.

It was still a bit early to go to our timeshare so we drove around a bit and saw more of the town and the surrounding scenery. We went up to the Flume and then further up to Franconia Notch, we turned back close to Cannon Mountain. We still had some time but went to Pollard Brook early and our room was ready. The kids were so thrilled to see it. They loved that there was a room for them and also a Jacuzzi tub in our room. What they wanted most of all was to go to the pool so we got changed and hit the pool for an hour. We got back tot eh room and from there I went to get some things at the supermarket. I also picked up a pizza and salad for dinner and we had a nice meal. After dinner the kids played with some LEGO sets that they had gotten for Easter while I tried to get Google Chromecast to work. This is certainly not an exact science at this point. I’m not sure if it has something to do with the network of the timeshare or what but one phone didn’t work for it and the other did. I’m going to have to play with it some more because I brought it so that we can do some movie watching at night. Allison and I watched Doctor Strange but the sound was all kaflooey that it made it not as enjoyable.

Review, Travel

The Kia Sedona, a Staycation Superstar

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The Kids Loved the Kia SedonaBack in April we had a Kia Sedona Minivan for a week while we were on a mini Staycation. DriveShop provided us with the vehicle and we had a great time using it. Opinions of the loan are our own. This is our story.

I am a Kia driver. I lease a Kia Forte. While I am no fan of the dealership where I got the car (that was a whole kerfuffle) I do like my car and I was anxious to try out one of the minivans to see how it would work for our family. It is funny. I was actually on a trip with Josh from DriveShop and he put the idea in my head to try out the Kia Sedona. We had April vacation staring us in the face and I figured, what can we do during our vacation that isn’t too far but can be a lot of fun.We packed so much in the Kia Sedona

We decided upon going to Cape Cod. My parent’s home was going to be empty and we’d have the place to ourselves so we started making plans. When you have a big minivan with lots of room you make big plans. I loaded in more fun than we’d ever get to do in the few days that we’d be on the Cape. The back half of the Kia Sedona had fold flat seats and I was able to load in the kid’s MobiCruiser, something we never got to use. We didn’t get to use it because we had so much more to do.

Kia by the Sea

A trip to Cape Cod is a great way to use a minivan loan. The kids had plenty of room in their seats and even had wireless headphones so they could watch DVDs on the ride. They did a great job behaving on the trip and felt like they were in complete luxury while they road. Well, that is because they were. Not only did they have those wireless headphones and a DVD player, but their seats were almost like recliners with footrests and everything. Eva was incredibly excited about that feature. You can see that in this video

One of the things that we did on our staycation was to go to Wellfleet with my Aunt and Uncle. We had plenty of room to take them with us in the Kia Sedona. With the third row of seats it was easy to reconfigure the Sedona to fit everyone comfortably. People with large families can really benefit from a vehicle like this.

More Seaside Kia Time

for me, the coolest thing was having cameras all around the vehicle so that when I was backing up I could see everything around me. It looks like an overhead shot of the vehicle, which I marveled at thinking that satellite technology has gotten insanely detailed. then I loved closer. While everything around the vehicle was very detailed, the vehicle itself was a generic Kia Sedona that did not have the sunroofs that ours had. It was an icon and the cameras around it made it look like an overhead satellite image. It was very cool. I’d occasionally switch into reverse to put the Sedona in the perfect parking spot. I had so much fun with that feature.

Kia Sedona at SunsetThe Sedona was excellent for our needs during our staycation. We made use of the dual remote sliding side doors and the remote trunk release so often. I hated turning the Kia Sedona back in at the end of the loan. It had so many useful features and tons of space. It also drove very well. It had plenty of power no matter how many people were in the vehicle and it rode very smoothly. We enjoyed the entertainment system and the ability for Allison and I to enjoy whatever music we wanted while the kids did their own thing with the DVD player. I’d love to drive one again, maybe across country or at least for a few state road trip.