Disney on Ice

by Amanda I took my son to see the show on Friday night at 7:00 pm.  It was such a wonderful event!  First of all, I myself am a huge fan of Disney.  You just can't go wrong.  It is truly fun for the whole family.  If you follow me on Twitter you would have seen my tweets throughout the show.  I didn't intend to Tweet like that during the show, but, I was excited, and my 4 year old was even more so!

When we walked in the front doors to Scotiabank Place we were immediately bombarded by the souvenir stands.  Immediate eye candy, for both him and me.  Of course I let him have a look, and of course I let him have an Incredibles spinning light toy!  It is his favourite Disney movie!  He is a particular fan of Dash because "he runs really fast Mommy!".  I bit my tongue and just paid the $20 for it because it made him happy.  I did not spring for the $12 popcorn or the $15 snow cones, however the mugs they came in were very cool!!

Off we went to find our seats a few minutes before the show started.  We ended up having really good seats.  We were able to see everything with no difficulty and close enough to make out facial expressions!

The show itself covered many wonderful Disney movies, they played out on the ice the most beloved scenes from each movie that was part of the show while Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy narrated between scenes.  I will give you some highlights from each scene.

Act I

Alice in Wonderland:  The playing cards had amazing choreography.  It was fairly intricate group skating with a lot of intersecting lines where the skaters had to be quite close together.  It looked so good!

Peter Pan:  The crocodile costume that the skater wore was incredible!  He skated on his hands and feet with picks on the front and his blades in the back to maneuver around the ice.  The Lost Boys set was very true to the movie with a tree house and slide.  Tinkerbell was a little firecracker and got to be suspended by wires, how cool was that?

Act II

The Lion King:  Again, wonderful costumes, skaters with billowing 2 piece costumes, one part was carried overhead and they looked like a herd of what I think were meant to be buffalo, they were just gorgeous!  They also did the giraffe in the same style, very visually appealing.  And what can I say, I LOVE Timon and Pumba.  I sang every word of Hakuna Matata.

Snow White:  Snow White and her Prince were beautiful dance style skaters.  I really enjoyed just watching their skating solo.  They were expressive and to me their skating was quite good.  Again, fantastic costumes on the dwarfs and the witch.

Aladdin:  Amazing job on the set in this scene.  Jasmine's balcony was just like the movie.  I was disappointed they didn't have Rajah, Jasmine's tiger in this piece!  He was such an important part of the movie!  Or  Abu, the monkey!  ("Kiss the monkey, Blech, hairball!")  They of course had Genie and the magic carpet ride, but I honestly think this one could have been better!

The Little Mermaid:  Ariel, Sebastian, and fish of many beautiful fluorescent colours.  It really looked like it was Under the Sea!

The Frog Princess:  I have never seen this movie, but I am glad to see that Disney is embracing multiculturalism more and more.  Princess Tiana had a gorgeous dress and I enjoyed the skating the most in this scene.

The final group skate incorporated many characters from movies they didn't cover during the show.  We saw Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mulan and so many more!  What an enjoyable evening.  My son was very well behaved, he was enthralled by the show, and he smiled and danced throughout the performance.  He also amused himself with his spinning light toy, just like a boy!  It was all said and done just before 9:00 pm and of course, my son fell asleep in the car on the way home, surefire way to tell the evening was a success!

Check out this link for clips on the official website! http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/

Did you go? Are you going to the show?

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

A Gymnastics Tale

by Amanda J started his gymnastics class today.  I was apprehensive, mostly because this kid, will never go barefoot. When we got our introduction letter in the mail, I was made aware that bare feet were compulsory.  I was determined not to let this stop him from trying something new and something that I was fairly certain he was going to enjoy.  I started prepping him a few days before the class would start that he would need 3 things in order to participate:  a t-shirt, shorts, and bare feet

We learned of this class via an advertisement that came home from his school.  School sends home tons and tons of paper with the kids and I find it very hard to sift through it all.  I am glad I did not throw this one out along with the school catering menu or something.  Not only were the classes happening at his school which is a hop, skip and a jump away, but the timing is perfect.  8:45 in the morning on a Saturday for one hour.  I was also looking for a bit of a change from his usual activity which is swimming.  He loves those classes too, but I thought that over the winter, we would try something different.

The City of Ottawa is offering a great program for 4-5 year olds.  It is called Gymnastics - Junior Gym.  The goal is to learn basic recreational gymnastics skills as you are introduced to various gymnastics equipment.  It is approximately a 4 or 5 : 1 ratio and the kids get to participate at several activity stations with different gymnastic apparatus that are laid out in an obstacle course.

I was very impressed how they integrated pictures into the activity to give the kids a visual aid about which skill to perform and how it is done.  It meant that if the coach was working with another child they could still understand what needed to be done at a different point in the obstacle course and could attempt it on their own.  They got to bounce on a trampoline, jump off the springboard, walk the balance beam as well as snake across it on their bellies, swing on the "high" bar (it wasn't that high off the ground and there was plenty of padding for soft landings), and perform some simple tricks at the tumbling area.

J learned very quickly how to get into a handstand position against the wall by squatting beside it, putting his hands in front of him on the floor, and then walking his feet up the wall.  He was so proud of himself! All in all, it was a great experience.  I also felt so proud of him!  I always knew he was coordinated, but today I really got to see it in action!

I highly recommend this class to anyone wanting to encourage their child's gross motor, visual-motor, balance/coordination and problem-solving skills!  Very sensitive kids may not enjoy it so much as it was a very loud and busy room with lots of distractions since they had three different groups running all at once.

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.