"The Squeakquel" Did Not Disappoint

We made it.

We made it across the desert from LA to Phoenix on Friday. Left at 12:30 pm and arrived 8 hours later. A drive that should take no longer than 6 hours. That is, if no kids are involved.

But we had kids involved.

Three of them.

And that means stopping to "rest." More than once. And for longer than 5 minutes. Uh, much longer than 5 minutes.

But just as I predicted last week, I had something up my sleeve that would pull us all through beautifully. My ace-in-the-hole.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"

Our brand-new DVD of Alvin and his crew was watched approximately 2 1/2 times on the drive.

And that means for approximately 4+ hours, the kids looked like this:

I'm not gonna say it was a perfect drive. Because really, is there ever a perfect drive? I'm just not gonna show you photos of the not-so-perfect stuff that went down.

Bottom line is - "The Squeakquel" pulled us through. And now I'm here in Arizona under sunny desert skies and I'm relaxed.

And because Easter was just so fabulous, I have decided to extend "The Squeakquel" giveaway for one more day.

So do you have a drive coming up? Or do you need some quiet time at home? "The Squeakquel" may just help you get what you need.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment. And if you tweet about it (and include @leevandeman) you will get an extra entry.

As always, if your comment makes me laugh, I'll give you an extra entry too.

And if you've never commented before, this is a good time to do it. Just make sure you leave an email address so I can reach you.

Yay for Spring Break! My brain is already turning to mush.



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On the drive, I downloaded the Hipstamatic app to my iPhone and just wow. I'm having so much fun with it. Well worth the buck 99.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: A GIVEAWAY to Celebrate a 7-Hour Drive Across the Desert

Tomorrow, I will leave our Westside Los Angeles home in a Honda Odyssey packed with a 7-yr-old, a 5-yr-old, a 2-yr-old, an assortment of suitcases, bags, and snacks, and ONE DVD that holds the promise of getting me almost the ENTIRE way to Phoenix (7-ish hours) without any whining or crying:

Alvin and The Chipmunks: THE SQUEAKQUEL!!!!

All three of my kids are hooked to the core of their beings on Alvin and his buddies. When they watched the 2007 Alvin and The Chipmunks movie on HBO, they sat spellbound and just fell head over heels in love with these lovable furry creatures. We've seen that flick like 50 times.

They saw "The Squeakquel" twice in the theater and I am not kidding that ever since then, they have been asking "When will The Squeakquel come out on DVD?" Isn't it mind-blowing that kids are already clued into the marketing pattern of kids' films? First a theater release and before the hype dies down, a DVD release.

So when I received an email with an opportunity to receive the DVD, I truly could not contain my excitement. I get my share of product opportunities, but as you know, I do very few reviews/giveaways. I only talk about stuff that truly resonates with me and my lifestyle and since Alvin is already such a HUGE part of our lives, I could not resist this one.

The brilliant Squeakquel addition to The Chipmunks scene has been The Chipettes, the chick-munk counterparts. My girls dig Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette so when I brought them a stuffed TY Brittany doll after my recent Chicago trip, they flipped.

My kids dance to The Chipmunks and The Chipettes through the iPod hookup in their room and trust me, they can totally shake it (including Tommy, my 2-yr-old dude) to the Chippettes version of Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Tommy totally believes he is a single lady. Hey, I'm not gonna be the one to burst that bubble.

As the "mom", I can say that I have totally gotten sucked into the movies. I like the hip, campy fun of the plot lines and the diverse personalities of all of those furry rodents. The only bummer for me was that the quirky, lovable, character of Dave was minimized in The Squeakquel. But what both me and my husband especially love is that the film is not scary. At. All. My kids get totally freaked out when it comes to the required, evil character in all kids' films. I think that's one reason they really love The Chipmunks. They know there is nothing to fear.

I love how this film is kid-friendly but also modern and hip with the cool tunes. I mean, how can you not be into your kids learning how to shake their groove thing?? Unless of course, you're NOT into your young kids learning how to shake their groove thing. But I love me a good story and I can totally get behind my kids dancing like mad in their room to some good Chipmunk tunes. Sold and sold.

So if you're already a Chipmunk fan or you're willing to give it a whirl and be indoctrinated into the fan club, here's a cool giveaway....

I have FIVE copies of "The Squeakquel" to give away to my loyal readers.

Want one?

All you have to do is leave a comment for an entry.

And as always over here, if your comment makes me laugh, you get another entry.

And if you tweet about it or RT it and @me (@leevandeman) then you'll be given another entry.

Sound cool?

So the deal is I've held off letting my kids know that I have the DVD in hand and I'm gonna pull it out tomorrow after about 5 minutes on the 10 Fwy heading West when they ask me "Are we there yet?"

And I'm betting that "The Squeakquel" is gonna give me a much more peaceful trip than usual. And I'll be tweeting along the way to update you on my progress.

So when does this giveaway end? At the end of Easter day 4/4/10. (Blogging Standard Time)

I'm off to start packing.


P.S. Make sure you leave your email address if your profile doesn't link back to you. And if you don't have a profile, who cares? Leave your name and a valid email address and you're in!!