Seattle Mom Blogs

Hola, I’m Isabel and you can usually find me over at Hola Isabel.  But for today I’m over here at Seattle Mom Blogs sharing the love for all things Seattle!

My husband decided that this summer should be known as The Summer of Fun for our little family.  I admit I was a little skeptical when he first told me this.  And then I remembered that I was due to have a baby at the end of August.  So yeah, we must get in all The Summer of Fun that we can before we introduce a newborn baby into our lives and get rid of all fun.  At least for a few months.

We’ve been trying to do a couple of Summer of Fun activities per week.  Thankfully Seattle is full of awesome and fun things to do, so we hadn’t had any problems coming up with activities.

Until last week.

We’d done one activity (had dinner on the beach) but were looking for something to do on the weekend.

Enter the Youth Theatre Northwest.

We were lucky enough to score some tickets (thanks to the director of the theater) to the Saturday night showing of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” performed by local youth from the age of 3 to 18.  I didn’t even know theaters like this existed.

And especially not on Mercer Island.

According to their website:

The Youth Theatre Northwest is a school, theatre, and home for children and families. At Youth Theatre Northwest, children and young adults explore the depths of their creativity and experience the thrill of live performance. Through the magic of theatre, YTN helps young people find their “inner light” of self-confidence, sensitivity, creativity, and leadership.

Sounds like a great program for the kids.  But also for the patrons of the theater.  (Like me!) (And my family!)  (The Summer of Fun continues!)

I decided that this would be the perfect way to introduce our four year old, My Sweet Babboo, to the theater.  I insisted we all dress up and we headed to Mercer Island. (Okay, so my kid wore shorts.  But look, he has a jacket on too.)

We don’t watch a lot of Disney movies at our house, so my son had never heard of “Beauty and the Beast”.  It had been a long time since I’d seen the movie, so I sort of forgot about THE BEAST being a little scary.

Oopsie.

Yeah, the beast scared My Sweet Babboo.  Which is really a compliment to the actor (an excellent actor named Atticus).  His voice was booming.  His singing was awesome.  And his mask was furry and scary.

I think I should have taken the few minute before the show started to warn my son that he might be scared a little.  Instead I took pictures of the stage.

Anyway, once Babboo got past his initial nervousness with the beast we all enjoyed the production.  Who knew such young kids could kick so much butt when it came to the theater?!  (I didn’t.)

The costumes were great.  The set was great.  The acting was great.  The singing was great.  (We especially liked the role of Gaston.)

I found myself looking over at my husband from time to time and, be assured, even he had a smile on his face the entire time.  It truly was the perfect Summer of Fun activity for the whole family.

My only complaint was the theater felt like it was about 20 degrees inside.  I’m 9 months pregnant and even I was freezing.  Oh, and I couldn’t bring my water in with me.  But that one I sort of understand.

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” is showing until the 15th, so you’ll need to get your tickets fast.

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” starts it’s fun on August 27th and continues through September 5th.  I would love, love, love to go and see it.  Here’s hoping we can sneak away from the baby by then.

So, if you’re looking for the perfect Summer of Fun activity for your family, drive on over to Mercer Island and watch some awesome and talented kids from the Youth Theatre Northwest put on a mighty fine show.

Just remember to bring a jacket.

Congratulations to Elizabeth!!  She and her family are the winners of the 4 Cirque du Soleil tickets!!    Elizabeth, just send us an email at to claim your prize!!

We hope you enjoy the show as much as we did!!

A few of us here at SMB were lucky enough to be able to preview the amazing show KOOZA by Cirque du Soleil for you!  If you have never been to a Cirque du Soleil show, you are truly missing out on a fantastic feast for the eyes!  Music, singing, dancing, acrobatics, illusions, humor- these shows have it all, and SO much more!

Here is what we thought of our KOOZA experience- in our own words:

LAURA:

Kooza was our first introduction to Cirque de Soleil shows.  It was everything I had hoped Cirque du Soleil would be.  All of us were very entertained during the entire show, including my 5 year old son.  Every seat in the big tent is a great seat.  We were 3 rows from the last row and we were still very close to the stage.
My son keeps talking about it and asking me what my favorite part was.  He hasn’t quit talking about it since we went.  I honestly can’t pick a favorite act, because I really enjoyed it all.  His favorite was the skeletons and the men walking, jumping and flipping on the big huge wheels.
My family loved it and we look forward to seeing another Cirque du Soleil show again in the future!

MICHELLE:

My family and I saw the Cirque du Soleil show Kooza this past weekend.  While my husband and I have seen 2 other Cirque performances, this was our son’s first introduction.  It is so nice that Kooza is appropriate for the entire family!  There were people of all ages there and the whole thing is entertaining to young and old!  I love that Cirque du Soleil tells a story in between the acrobatic performances.  The story caries throughout the whole show and keeps you entertained and laughing while they gear up for the next set of stunts.  The audience participation is hilarious and keeps you guessing if you might be their next on-stage “victim”.  Very funny.  The music is beautiful- performed live on-stage during the show.  As far as my favorite acrobatic performance goes, I would have to say that the teeter-totter flippers are really fun to watch!  The extreme flexibility of one of the acts made me cringe a little- but, of course, it was truly amazing!  When I asked my son what his favorite part was, he replied, “Everything!”.  We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and can’t wait until another Cirque du Soleil show rolls into our area!

LESLIE:

This venue was so unique!  The entire show site is comprised of several huge tents.  The show arena was very intimate and there isn’t a bad seat in the house! All four of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  It really is hard to pick one act that we loved the most.  The guys on the spinning wheels and the flipping acrobats on stilts were ones that stood out for sure!  One tip: Get there early!  They do restrict your entrance if you don’t arrive on time- ahem, not that we would know anything about that.

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When your week starts out like mine did on Monday, it’s hard for it to get any better. What I’m trying to say is that I’m still riding the high from the Cervical Cancer Awareness event at Grey Gallery that SMB co-hosted with The Yellow Umbrella (spear-headed by the lovely Christine Baze and her celebrity makeup artist co-hort, Debra Macki). If you weren’t able to make it, you truly missed out. It was an incredible evening of music and friends with an even more incredible message, that being SAVE THE HOOCH!

We were spoiled by our very own local professional photographer, Sarah Alston (of Sarah Alston Photography of course) who brought a ton of yellow props for us to play with as well as her enthusiasm for our group and the cause. We posed for silly photos in the photobooth that she lovingly set up and had no time at all coming out of our shells, as you can see. The night definitely would not have been the same without her and I know that she’s just as committed to spreading The Yellow Umbrella’s message as we are.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the term “SAVE THE HOOCH,” prepare yourself to be educated. The purpose of Christine’s non-profit, The Yellow Umbrella, is to educate, empower and inform women about the 3 very simple things that could one day save their lives, their fertility, and their cervix: the Pap test, the HPV test and the HPV vaccine.

At the age of only 31, Christine was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. It all started with an “abnormal” (how many of us have had one of those?) pap result and quickly turned into a diagnosis, a radical hysterectomy, laproscopy, daily pelvic radiation, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. In Christine’s own words, “Nothing hurts worse than having these things done to your body, not a shot, not a pap smear.”

Christine Baze and Debra Macki are in Seattle to spread the message, that cervical cancer is preventable. Through education and music, Christine sends her message to all women, everywhere, so they don’t have to go through what she did 10 years ago. With her uplifting lyrics that encourage us to live our lives while we can and her passion for this cause, she speaks to all women – as she spoke to us Monday night, telling them, telling us that cervical cancer IS preventable!

To accompany the message, Debra has designed an exclusive eye color palette for The Yellow Umbrella representing the 3 tools every woman needs in order to prevent cervical cancer. One of our lucky readers who wasn’t able to attend the Girlfriend Gathering will have the chance to win one of these palettes (valued at $36) just for doing one simple thing: telling us what she will do to prevent cervical cancer for herself, her daughter, her mother, her friend or her neighbor.

All you have to do is comment to win!  The awesome eye shadow palette is just the proverbial icing on the cupcake (a YELLOW one of course) in our effort to spread information and awareness of cervical cancer pevention.  Won’t you please join us?  Winner will be chosen by random draw on Monday, May 24th.  Best of luck and remember ladies (and gentlemen) SAVE THE HOOCH!

Right now through the saavy source, you can grab a Seattle Children’s Museum pass for nearly 50% off the usual membership. Get a year for $40 instead of the usual $75.

From the Saavy Source Site you get:
Oodles of Fun family membership offers unlimited free admission for 1 year for two adults living at the same physical address and all dependent children
2-for-1 coupons for participating Pacific Northwest Museums
4 free one-time guest passes
10% discount on all birthday parties, pre-registration classes, camps, workshops, and after hours rentals
10% off all purchases at the Children’s Museum Store

By purchasing through Saavy Source, you’re not only getting a great deal, you’re contributing to the local schools. Saavy works with local preschools to provide excellent education and give our kids a head start. I’m happy to endorse such a great cause and fabulous deals!

Just what this pregnant body needed!

I just discovered the joy of pregnancy massage.  As an early Mothers Day gift, my husband treated me to a night away at the Salish Lodge.

Our favorite part of Salish Lodge is the spa.  We have had the Salish Signature Hot River Rock Massage (highly recommend) and the couples fireside massage.   The spa is what calls us back to Salish whenever we need to escape from our crazy life’s.

This time I decided to finally experience pregnancy massage.  The spa at Salish has just introduced a new line of products for pregnant women called Mama Mio Mama’s Touch, a new collection of indulgent maternity spa treatments designed to carry expecting or new mothers through every stage of the nine month stretch and beyond.  I really loved the fact that they were specially formulated for a pregnant women’s skin and the scent is so very mild.

The whole experience was just what I needed.  Being in my final trimester, I am pretty sore everywhere and rarely am I comfortable.  I was so relaxed and so comfortable that the 55 minute massage went way too fast.  I wasn’t ready for it to be over.  Luckily,  the Mama Mio products are available for purchase at the spa so you can take home a bit of the experience and pamper your skin during and after pregnancy.

I highly recommend checking out Salish Lodge and the new Maternity Spa Treatment’s they offer.  I will be there for another massage before this baby comes!

Give Salish Lodge a call and book your own pampering spa treatment today!  Any day can be Mother’s Day!!

 My boys are just over 18 months apart, although you probably wouldn’t guess that now – looking at them – because my 11 year-old stands approximately 3 inches (maybe more) over his 13 year-old brother.  But trust me, they are close in age.  Which basically boils down to the fact that during their “toddler” years, I was one busy mom.   My house was never quiet, there were always little dirty footprints somewhere, and the constant buzz of toy cars crashing into one another never ceased.  NEVER CEASED.  Looking back, I have no idea how I survived.  I wasn’t even a big coffee drinker back then.

This weekend, we had a 4 year-old boy in our house.  Lucky for me, he adores my older boys (and Katie too) so I knew that he wouldn’t be following me around asking me to play Hot Wheels with him, but I knew that there would be a few things I’d have to do to prepare for his visit.  First, I’d have to clear the decks of anything a 4 year-old might trip over because HE NEVER STOPS RUNNING.  And second, I’d have to bring down the arsenal of toy vehicles (pick a vehicle, any vehicle, and I bet we have it in our toy car bucket) for him to play with.  But I knew that at some point, he’d tire of running and driving his cars all over the place and I needed something more…

Which is where the Handy Manny comes in.

I kid you not, after running nonstop for almost 3 hours (and my twitter page can attest to this ) I thought nothing would slow him down.  Not even the “breakfast for dinner” meal that I was cooking.  But Handy Manny came to my rescue. 

Now, I may have mentioned before my aversion to children’s programming that annoys the spots off a giraffe (a’hem), and the same holds true with the Handy Manny series.  I do not find one single thing about Handy manny annoying.  In fact, I kind of like Manny’s voice – it’s soothing, and agreeable, kind of like Anthony Bourdain after a really long day…

I digress.

Handy Manny’s newest DVD, “Handy Manny:  Big Race,” is a lifesaver, even for parents with very busy little boys and girls.  When I declared, “Time for a movie, and guess what?  It’s about race cars!”  The battle was over.  The running stopped,  quiet returned, and one very special 4 year-old’s eyes grew big with excitement as he watched the cars Vroom Vroom on the screen, clutching his “Mater” car the entire time, of course.

Seattle Mom Blogs has FIVE copies of “Handy Manny:  Big Race” to give away to our readers.  Please comment and leave a working email address at the bottom of this post by midnight on Tuesday, May 11th, for your chance to win.  Winners will be notified via email following a random draw and the DVD will be shipped, new in package, to your front door (or address of choice, within reason).

Edited: The giveaway has been extended to May 15th! Please comment for your chance to win or help spread the word! Thank you!

Comments are NOW CLOSED.  Thank you for entering.  Winners will be notified by email. 

 

Carrie Blankenship is the author of the blog Stop Screaming I’m Driving, where she attempts to tell her story of motherhood. She likes long walks in the park, dancing in the rain, and can be bribed to do just about anyting with a vanilla latte, extra foam. Contact her with column suggestions or just say “hi” at carrieb[at]seattlemomblogs.com. Or, .

When choosing what children’s entertainment to allow into our home, I’ve always relied on two very important criteria. 1) That said children’s entertainment not make me want to poke forks into my eyeballs upon listening to it. Hence, the absence of any and all episodes of “Caillou” or cds containing “Caillou” content because seriously? Does a child get any more annoying than that? And, 2) That said children’s entertainment be somewhat positive. I don’t mean that we have to be all “Veggie Tales” all the time, but when it comes to young children and the entertainment I want them to connect to, I’d kind of prefer if it be somewhat uplifting. No violence – but for the occasional SPLAT! on “Bugs Bunny” cartoons, which are exempt because they are classics.

Winnie the Pooh certainly always passes the test. A classic. A good, kind-hearted bear with good, kind-hearted friends. No super annoying voices…you get the picture. Although my daughter is just about finished with her first year of kindergarten, I’m happy that she still clings to the little girl stuff – babies, cups w/lids (saving me tons of money on Resolve for the carpet), bubble gum flavored Lip Smackers, crayons, Goldfish crackers and preschool programming, like “My Friends Tigger and Pooh.”

In fact, she loved the newest DVD, “My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths,” so much she asked to watch it every day of our Spring Break. Which was nice, because if you weren’t lucky enough to be on the first plane out of the Pacific Northwest to a more tropical (and less rainy) part of the world, you know all too well how much rain we had. To put it simply, we were spoiled with it! So, the gift of having a brand new DVD to watch was especially appreciated (thank you Disney folk) and the added bonus? The “Super Duper Super Sleuths” movie encourages healthy eating! It was a win-win situation.

In other words, this DVD saved our Spring Break. Although aimed at the preschool audience, my 6 year old loved it and I even caught her older brothers, aged 11 and 13, sitting through the entire, full-length adventure (but don’t tell them I told you, they would die). And from the kitchen, where I spent a lot of time rearranging my pantry, I heard no annoying voices, no name-calling, and no bad language – from my kids or the DVD. It was a Spring Break miracle!

Seattle Mom Blogs has FIVE brand new “My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths” to give away to FIVE lucky readers. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling us what your favorite form of family entertainment during our soggy Seattle Springs is, and you could win! All entries must be recieved by Tuesday, April 20th. Winner will be selected by random draw and notified via email.

Good luck!

*Comments are now closed.  Our five lucky winners will be contacted by email.  Thanks everyone!

 

Carrie Blankenship is the author of the blog Stop Screaming I’m Driving, where she attempts to tell her story of motherhood. She likes long walks in the park, dancing in the rain, and can be bribed to do just about anyting with a vanilla latte, extra foam. Contact her with column suggestions or just say “hi” at carrieb[at]seattlemomblogs.com. Or, .

Cross-posted from Because I Must Blog Dammit!

Friday evening several SMBs and one SDB (that would be Seattle Dad Blogger) had the pleasure of attending a demo for Games2U, a mobile gaming theater new to the Seattle market.

One word: Supermegaawesome!

Ok, that was several “words” (and poor grammar), but it’s challenging to articulate how ridiculously fun a temperature controlled 25 ft trailer with seating inside for up to 16-18 kids (or 12 adults comfortably), 6 – 52 inch flat screens (two mounted outside allowing for more room, more players and tournament play), an Xbox, a PS3 and a Wii is.

My son, a huge fan of all that is Lego, busied himself with Lego Batman while my daughter got her game on with Wii Tennis. They had so much fun that when it was time to pack it in, I had to do the 10 minute warning (then the 5 minute, then the 1 minute…you know the drill) because I knew getting them out of there would be a challenge.

This trailer full of awesome boasts more than 51 titles per game system and pulls right up to your home, school or corporate event. Your average party starts at $229, which in my mind, is reasonable considering all that it has to offer.

Alexis’ sons playing inside and a view of the outside screens

I know what you’re thinking: Why can’t I simply host a video game party at my home with my own gaming system? Well sure you could.

But would you have the space and equipment to facilitate different games at the same time and/or tournament play? Would you have two game assistants on hand who can instruct and assist with any questions? How about super cool laser lighting or the ability to set up laser tag to give the kids a break from gaming and get in a little physical activity?

And OMG their human sized hamster ball?!
While I didn’t try it this time I’ve added it to my “bucket list”.

What’s more, your party can be topped off with your child being able to shoot candy 50 feet up into the air via the mega cool “candy cannon” for all his /her friends to enjoy. Step aside pinatas, the candy cannon has arrived!

I could go on, but I’m guessing you get that this theater on wheels has just about everything you could want and more.

And if I wasn’t impressed enough with the mobile game theater, Lance, the owner of Games2U (and Clowns Unlimited which rents any kind of party, wedding or corporate event gear you could possibly think of) set up inflatable bouncers and carnival themed games to make sure our kids were thoroughly entertained.

Lance, and the Games2U crew, really are a class act.

He and his staff wowed me with their easygoing yet completely professional manner and their willingness to endure our endless questions and statements like, “wow I’d like this for myself for a grown up party. Can you put a keg in here?”

But I digress. *ahem*

In the words of my 6 year old son, who now cannot wait until his May birthday to play in the game theater again, “Mom it was even way more awesomer than I thought it would be”. And I concur.

So if you’re looking for a great party idea in the Seattle/Eastside area that will make you the coolest parent ever check ‘em out.

**Note – my camera was being uncooperative so these photos are borrowed from G2U, Alexis and Shana and because the FTC has to have it’s hand in everything (ugh) – Disclosure: G2U provided a free demonstration only. This is not a paid review

Thank you for such a HUGE response to Marne’s first EVER Housecleaning Give-Away!

After reading so many submissions, Marne found it nearly impossible to choose just ONE winner!  So…while your nomination may not appear as the first winner, stay tuned!  She will be doing more give-aways in the weeks to come.

Many of you nominated a friend or relative facing a difficult callenge.  Others of you thought about the people having a positive impact in our communities. All were very heartfelt descriptions of individuals that deserve a little pampering simply because of who they are!

That said…the winner of the Housecleaning Give-Away from Marne’s Housecleaning goes out to a Bothell Dad and his 2 teenage daughters! After losing their wife/mom to an incredible fight with cancer, they are doing their best to find their “new normal”. Her story is one of amazing strength and Marne and her team are excited to give them a DAY OFF from cleaning!!!   Congratulations!!

Thank you to all the SMB readers and members who nominated someone who they felt was deserving!