If you follow my blog on a regular basis you might recall my post from last week about our change in holiday plans. We were supposed to go on a road trip to Pennsylvania to spend the Fourth of July holiday with my cousins. Our plans had to change because we had no one available to walk our dog for us and check on our cats, plus feed them at dinner time.
Determined not to sit home all weekend long we changed our plans and decided to head down to the beach on the Fourth of July. Part of me felt that it was an insane thing to do – after all everyone heads down to the beach for the holiday. I was hoping that if we left early enough we could get a decent parking spot and place on the beach before the crowds showed up.
Well… that plan didn’t pan out either. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to rain. In fact it rained (or drizzled) most of the day until late afternoon. We ended up spending the holiday at home. Thankfully we do have a great view from our balcony to watch several fireworks displays, so at least we got to enjoy some fireworks from the comfort of our home/balcony – and no crowds.
Things finally changed on Sunday. We woke up early again and found that the weather was in our favor. So we packed up the duffle bag and other necessities and head down to the beach.
Fox Home Entertainment sent my family some goodies to take along with us including branded water bottles, ear buds, straws, “Oh” toys, bubbles, light up head bands, an iPad Air, a iPad case and a code to download the film Home.
My kids are teens so the light up head bands were not something they would wear (they are cute – I opened one up). I plan on bringing them to work with me to donate them to the kids I work with. I’ll use them as special treat.
We love bubbles. Bubbles will always be enjoyed with my family (even our pets love chase them). We did bring one bottle to the beach with me which I ended up giving to two little boys who were seated by us. They loved them.
I downloaded the film as soon as I had the code. I wanted to see the film when it was in theaters but never had a chance to see it. I really wanted to watch it so I cheated a little bit and watched a snippet of it before my family saw it.
Since the trip to the beach (the beach we go to) is an hour and forty-five minutes without traffic I had my kids watch the film to keep them entertained.
I neglected to download the film on the iPad so we had to run back upstairs to do that (we needed our WiFi). Thank goodness my son noticed that before we drove away (we were packing the trunk when he was trying to pull up the movie.
I love the iPad case (pictured next to my son).
I also should have added ice to our water bottles. Our water got warm quickly in humid weather. Oh well.
My kids watched the film on the way down to the beach. I didn’t get to watch it because I was in the front seat, but I did listen to it as much as I could. My husband and I didn’t get a chance to watch the film until later on that evening when we got home.
Home is from DreamWorks, the same studio that brought us Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Turbo.
Home is the story of the Boov. Boov are cute little aliens who always seem to be on the run from their enemy, the Gorg. The Boov move from planet to planet in hopes of finding a place to call home. Sadly the Gorg always find them and they have to move again in order to survive.
The Boov decide to move to a planet called Earth. It’s already inhabited (by us!). They remedy this by creating a special area on the planet (I believe it’s Australia) and bring all the humans there. They refer to it as “Happy Human Town.” It looks like a fun place to live – like a giant carnival.
The Boov take over and move into the human’s home and proceed to adjust to their new home.
One Boov inparticular is super excited. His name is “Oh.” He received his name because every time people saw him they would sign “ohhhh…” LOL!
Oh is super excited about his new home and sends out an Evite to everyone inviting them over for a house warming party. The only problem is that he sent the Evite to EVERYONE – including the Gorg.
The Boov are angry with Oh and want to put him under arrest. Oh was able to escape. That is when he meets up with a human girl name Tip. Tip and her cat Pig managed to hide and not get sent off to “Happy Human Town.” Sadly her mom was taken away and Tip was left all alone. Now Tip is on a quest to find her mom.
Oh and Tip didn’t get along too well the first time they met. After all, Oh is a Boov and he’s the “enemy.” Soon Tip realizes that she and Oh have a lot in common. They are both alone and they both want to feel at home again.
Will Tip ever find her mother? Will Oh ever find a place he can call home? And what about the Boov? Will they have to move again before the Gorg show up? To find out you need to get a copy of Home. It’s currently available for download (you can purchase/download it here – http://www.foxdigitalhd.com/home) and will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on July 28, 2015.
Home stars the voice talents of Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory), Rhianna, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin.
It’s a cute movie. It’s hard not to fall in love with Oh and the other Boov characters. Their language is a bit odd (they say words out of order) but aside from that I liked the characters.
The animation is suburb, right down to the hair on Tip’s head and the fur on Pig’s back. It’s also a very colorful film. I loved all the bright colors and the cool inventions the Boov had.
Overall the movie had a nice message to it and reflected upon what home means to different people, love, friendship, acceptance and determination.
I haven’t watched the bonus features yet. I normally do but I haven’t had a chance to yet. I will when I get a chance and update this post.
The film has a decent soundtrack too.
Anyway… back to our road trip.
We made it to the beach in good time (before the crowds). To be honest it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be. I think it’s because it was a Sunday and most people had to head back home. We did encounter traffic on the way home, but not as bad I thought it would be. That is because we got to the beach around 10:00 AM and left for home around 2:00 PM, so we missed most of the traffic. Had we left later I’m sure we would have hit more traffic.
The beach was fun as always. We don’t actually swim in the water. We just like to stand in it and let the waves splash us.
The entire time my kids were on the look out for sharks. With all the shark attacks down south lately they were reluctant to go in the water. It took a bit but we got them to go in.
The weather was ideal (thankfully) and we had a enjoyable time.
I love feeling the sand on my feet and building sand castles (I forgot to pick up sand toys). The next time we go I’ll swing by the dollar store and pick some up.
I sat under the umbrella (we rent one) and read a little bit too. It was one of the rare times I get to read.
I wish I had thought to download another film for my kids to watch on the way home. In hinesight I should have done that. Oh well. They amused themselves by listening to music on their phones.
What did you do this holiday weekend? Feel free to share your adventures.
To see how other bloggers spent their holiday weekend check out the hashtag #HomeRoadTrip on social media. You can also see more photos from our trip on my Instagram (SheScribes), Twitter (@She_Scribes) and Facebook (SheScribes) accounts.
Here is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received free products (mentioned above) in exchange for my participation. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Debbie Welchert says
I haven’t seen this movie either but it sounds really cute and one the whole family would love. It would make a great family night movie.
Sarah Elyce says
Sounds like you made the best of a change in plans!