Des Moines Families

REVIEW: Phanfare.com, Family Photo Album Site

Submitted by Adam

The title in and of itself does not begin to give credit to the amount of things you can do on this website. Like your typical website, you are able to upload your photos to the website and display them while selecting different backgrounds (themes) to use for each album on your site.

It’s easy to get started... you just need to open an account. After that, it’s just a matter of setting up your albums in an edit mode. Then, you can select “View on the web” to see your finished product. It is easy to do and you can alter the albums anyway you like, whenever you like. You can also do minor alterations to the photos themselves (cropping, red eye reduction, etc.).

The fun part to this site is the actual sharing of your family photos, because in all honesty, that's why we display them in the first place. Phanfare used to allow anyone and everyone too view all photos and albums. Not so any more, and this new security feature is a nice one.

The album owner (you) would need to send an invite to a person to view your album. That person would then have to set up their own password, but after that, they are free to view all albums on your site. I like this in that only those people I want viewing my photos can do so. There is also a feature to be notified whenever new photos are added.  So when you're  done adding photos of your Saturday afternoon picnic with the kids here in Des Moines, Grandma in Denver would get an e-mail saying there are new photos on your site, and she could view them that day.

There are also many other features you or visitors can do. You can upload videos (baby’s first steps for example); visitors are also able to order photos directly from the site using many different vendors (Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc.). They can also order products with photos on them, if you like that sort of thing, as well as download music to accompany the albums to add to a specific theme.

There is 1GB of space available for free from the site to start and maintain, anything greater requires a fee of $54.95/year. In my opinion, it's well worth it for the ease of sharing, choices available and security provided.

If you are looking for a site to house your photos and make them accessible to family members while providing security, in my opinion, Phanfare is for you.

REVIEW: Porky's Diner, Des Moines

Porky's Diner is a great place for breakfast! I had no idea. I always thought of this little joint up on Douglas as a biker hang-out. And while I'm pretty sure it still is during the summertime, it's also a great place for families right now. They only have morning and lunch hours until summer.

Couple of fun things... Ask for a coloring sheet; they'll post your kids' artwork up on their giant corkboard. And, there's a life-sized piggy bank over by the bathrooms, but it's in the smoking section, so you might not notice it if you don't make a special trip. If your kid is as tickled by dropping coins into ceramic objects as mine, you'll love this excuse to get up from the table.

Have fun!

REVIEW: Christopher's, Beaverdale

I've been meaning to review Christopher's for some time, as it's a family favorite.

While my husband and I love to have "date night" there, we also take the kids quite a bit. While the candle-light atmosphere and linen table cloths might lead you to think otherwise, this is actually a very family-friendly place. With plenty of high chairs and a super friendly staff, every Des Moines family should feel completely comfortable and welcome.

I'm pretty sure there is not a changing table, though, so pack those changing pads, 'cause you might need to use the countertop. (I could be wrong about this, so if someone knows differently, comment away!).

The food is great, and there is a kids menu with upwards of five choices.

This is one of Des Moines' most storied restaurants, and parents should definitely get there... even if they don't have a sitter.

Oooh, one other thing... Wednesday night is free dessert night!

REVIEW: Danielle Fox Photography

There are quite a few cool artists in Des Moines. Among them is child fashion photographer Danielle Fox. We were lucky enough to get two photo shoots with Ms. Fox to document our son's first and third birthdays.

What I loved about Danielle, in addition to her adeptness at taking the perfect shot even when the boys were acting not-so-perfect, is her flexibility.

I wanted photos of the boys in their first childhood home, so I was thrilled to find out that she'd come right to the house for a photo shoot. It was so great to have all of their clothes, toys and favorite things right there to choose from. Here's a few of the images that came from the in-home shoot (click here to see more). Love them!

As usual, our three-year-old was super rambunctious with a guest in our house, so I asked if we could also try a studio photo shoot. I had seen Danielle's work on her blog and wanted to do some "plain backdrop" stuff. To my happiness, she fit us into the schedule, and we got to try the more traditional route. Here's what came out of that shoot:

    

REVIEW: Rock Bottom Brewery, West Des Moines

This brewery-meets-grill restaurant has by far the most genius idea for a kids menu -- Build Your Own Pizza.

Now before you roll your eyes and accuse me silently of being a lame-o who hasn't ever heard of Build Your Own Pizza, just listen (or read on, I guess).

They actually bring the pizza out to the table while it's still in dough form. They present it to the kid on a brick-oven style wooden tray, and next to it on the tray are the sauce, cheese and pepperonis in three little stainless ramkins.

So, the kids actually do get to build their own pizza. My son freaked. He loved it. And when the server came to get it for the oven, he was so excited he could hardly contain himself.

And by the way, it's great-tasting pizza, too. I'm pretty sure they beefed it up a bit in the back before cooking it, as it looked a lot better than the one we sent back for baking. Delicious.

Other cool things to note... plenty of high chairs and crayons, no sighs at extra-napkin requests, attentive servers, and a very accomodating "split" policy (perfect for parents who just realized the importance of 401Ks over meals out).

Enjoy... oh, and tell 'em DesMoinesFamilies.com sent ya'!

REVIEW: Little Angels Annual Charity Photo Shoot

I finally put aside my stupid paranoia about dressing a baby boy like an angel and took my almost 1-year-old to East Village Books for the Little Angels charity calendar shoot on Saturday.

You've heard it from me before, but photographer Lori Nordstrom has got this down, boy. She had my son in and out in less than 10 minutes... and had taken at least 30 outrageous photos.

(Yes, I gave in and bought one... but just one... and they are totally cool with that... here it is...)

Keep in mind my son is famously into the "mommy phase," so he didn't want me to leave his side. I'm thinking, "Great, now we'll never make the calendar with my fat double chin in the background." But it was no problem for Lori. She plopped us both down together and took the photos so close in that I wasn't even a factor.

And let me tell you, she knows how to butch-up an angel outfit. My little man doesn't look fairy-ish at all. He looked like the studly little cherub he is.

I know Lori has two more dates to shoot calendar contenders, so if you're at all interested, give her a ring today. 515-462-9211.

REVIEW: Old Chicago, Merle Hay Mall

It's hard to sing praises when your mouth is stuffed with Italian Nachos from Old Chicago, but I'm gonna give it a try.

I adore this place. Adore it. I love the menu (kids and adults), and the staff is phenomenally friendly with families. I've only been there twice, but each time, the wait and hosting staff has been so great with our kids.

Last week, our server checked on us probably every 10 minutes. To a couple without kids, this could get annoying, but it was perfect for us, as we usually require something from our servers every 8 minutes or so.

Give it a try. The location is great. The wait is short. The food is awesome. And the people are fantastic.

REVIEW: Maverick Grille, Urbandale

Submitted by Tony

In all I'd say Maverick Grille was pretty average. We saw a lot of what I'd consider first week jitters.

My first question came as we ordered drinks, and I asked if they had any happy-hour specials. We were told happy hour was from 2pm-4pm. Knowing that couldn't be right, we questioned the waiter, and he came back with a much better 4pm-6pm happy hour which didn't apply to us since we weren't at the bar (sigh).

After taking our drink orders, our waiter came back with three *glasses* of water for our three girls. In the time we waited for him to bring out child-safe cups one of our girls spilled (Murphy's Law, anyone?). There wasn't any kid's menus and it took one of the managers (or owners?) to walk by before the kids were offered the paper and crayons.

We then ordered...a $5 grilled cheese and a $5 pasta dish. C'mon, I'm not the cheapest guy in the world, but $5 for grilled cheese and pasta?

My wife ordered the Mahi-Mahi sandwich, and I had the Bouillionbase, a seafood dish with shrimp, oysters and scallions with a base broth of some sort. She got the Mahi-Mahi dish served on a bed of rice, not the sandwich she ordered. She much preferred the "mistake," and I was satisfied with mine (except I felt the $16 price tag justified a bit bigger proportion).

Bottom line is I don't feel the Maverick Grille is meant to be a family joint. I don't hate on them for that, some places need to cater to the kid-less crowd, but I was still disappointed since this place was so close to home (and on the way home from work).

The inside of the place was well-decorated and definitely doesn't encourage frequenting by the blue-collar after work. Drink prices are a touch high minus the house cab I drank at $6.25 a glass.

The upside is the menu has potential, some classic American dishes with a few surf-and-turf options. On a 5 star scale I'd give it a 2.5 but feel that a better waiter could have made it a 3 or better. The downside for them, though, is I don't see my wife and I going there much. We'll give them a few more weeks to work out the kinks and see how things change.

REVIEW: Trophy's Sports Bar & Grill

Let's cut right to the chase, this is not a family-friendly joint. Rest assured, I can hear you all saying, "Well, what did she expect?" But honestly, I expected more than a three-booth, one-table non-smoking section. And yes, I actually expected the non-smoking section to include second-hand smoking. Not the case.

In addition to the tobacco cloud, we were also engulfed in a poop stink, as some woman had gone #2 in the bathroom and the only thing separating non-smoking section diners from that bathroom is a flimsy door. There's no hallway, not even an alcove... you are right there, my friend... with a great view to both see and smell what's going on in there.

All would be forgiven if the food had been even remotely good, but it was not. My pizza, which was gross all around, looked like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for a half-hour (which, judging by how long our food took to arrive, it had.) My husband said his wrap sandwich was gross, and my toddler ate his broccoli and carrots before his chicken fingers... now if that doesn't say it all.

Our server may have been new, so I'm not going to rag on him. He was nice. But he was slow. And when he brought us the ice cream that comes with the kids meal, it was half melted.

Each of us had to strip down and wash our clothes after dinner to get the cigarette stench off of us. No biggie for the kids, as it was bath night, but I wasn't ready for pajamas at 8:30 p.m.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back, as it looks like a great place to have a few beers. (And I'm pretty sure that's the only way one can enjoy the food... with a few adult beverages to accompany).

REVIEW: Yost Family Chiropractic

Submitted by NJ

I have had chronic back pain since high school and had just learned to live with it.

When I became pregnant, I decided to check out chiropractic care and went to Yost Family Chiropractic.
I began receiving care from Dr. Heather when I was approximately mid-pregnancy. 

Prior to starting care, my friend told me that seeing a chiropractor would help with a quick delivery and effective contractions.

After talking with Dr. Heather for the first time, I realized that there were many more benefits to chiropractic care other than a speedy delivery.

She spent time listening to me and reviewing my health and back pain. She completed a detailed assessment of my spine and neck and explained each area of concern to me. After my initial visit, I began seeing Dr. Heather regularly and did not experience one day of back pain during my pregnancy. And yes, my delivery was quick!

My daughter sees Dr. Heather as well. Each time that my daughter is cared for by Dr. Heather, she is more relaxed and a seemingly a calmer baby. Dr. Heather greets, holds and talks to her as though she is her own and listens to my fears and concerns as a mother.

I was apprehensive about taking such a delicate and precious treasure to be adjusted but after voicing my anxiety, Dr. Heather validated them and walked me through every step of her adjustment. In addition to having a healthier baby, I continue to sleep and feel better with the continued care that I receive from Yost Family Chiropractic.

Yost Family Chiropractic is a family place whose doctors are committed to each and every patient they treat. The results from continued chiropractic care are apparent in my family and we will continue to see Dr. Heather as long as we can.