Days 222 – 228 of Project 365
Sammy's Great Escape (Review & Giveaway)
Last week I took The Boy to the cinema for only his second time, more significantly his first time seeing a film in 3D.
Having to wear the special glasses confused him at first, and he was reluctant as he hates things on his head. That was until the film started; he sat bolt upright and reached out to grab the fish swimming towards him. He then pulled the glasses down, looked at the blurred image, pushed them back up again and tried to grasp the fin of the turtle lazily transversing the ocean.
It was magical.
The film, Sammy's Great Escape, was really very good, entertaining and brilliantly animated throughout with worthwhile rendering into 3D, but seeing my son think that he was under the sea with the marine life was enchanting. I thoroughly recommend a trip to take your little ones there.
©2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment. All rights reserved.
© 2012 AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS SPRL PARADIS FILMS SARL EAGLE PICTURES
"Sammy and Ray, leatherback turtles and friends forever, are enjoying an atoll’s water and sand, shepherding new hatchlings Ricky and Ella out to sea. Suddenly, a poacher swoops in and ships them off to be part of a spectacular aquarium show for tourists in Dubai. The kingpin of the place, Big D the seahorse, enlists them in his plans for a great escape. But with their new friends Jimbo the bug-eyed blob fish, Lulu the snippy lobster and a whole family of penguins, Sammy and Ray hatch breakout plans of their own. That is when little Ricky and Ella arrive, determined to break in to rescue them. After a series of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes, our heroes head south to meet up with Shelly, Sammy’s first and only love."
To celebrate the release of Sammy’s Great Escape, in cinemas February 15th, Warner Bros. Pictures and TheBoyandMe are offering one lucky reader the chance to win an ‘Adopt a Turtle’ pack from the Marine Conservation Society.
The pack contains:
- A cool cuddly turtle toy
- Talk Turtle – the MCS newsletter on turtle conservation work – delivered twice a year
- A fact sheet and pictures of turtles in the wild
- A personalized adoption certificate
To be in with a chance of winning this pack, please complete the Rafflecopter form below.
The Marine Conversation Society is a leading UK charity working to protect sea life. Leatherback turtles like Sammy and Ray are critically endangered, but you might be lucky enough to see one when they visit UK seas to feast on jellyfish. The ‘Adopt a Turtle’ pack helps protect sea turtles in the UK and overseas. Find out more at mcsuk.org/adopt.
Days 41-47 of Project 365
41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)
42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)
43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)
44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)
45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)
46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)
47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)
I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.
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Saturday 1st September 2012 – 'The Big Screen' (245/366)
On Thursday I spied an advert for the new Thomas the Tank Engine film: Blue Mountain Mystery. We'd been invited to the premier of it at ThomasLand this forthcoming Tuesday, but unfortunately I've been asked to work that day and we can't go. I was really disappointed about that and so therefore booked the tickets quickly.
It's the first time we've been to the cinema with The Boy; he's never sat through an entire film on DVD at home before and only manages it in the car because he's strapped in and can't go anywhere! However, I was sure that he'd love it because it was Thomas. I wasn't wrong! The film is really lovely, there's something really special about seeing the little blue steam engine that big on the screen, and the animation was excellent; it looked almost 3D at times. After a while he climbed on my lap for a cuddle, because those are awfully big seats when you're three and Diesel is being naughty again.
Blue Mountain Mystery is on across the country and you can find venues here or buy the DVD here. (Not sponsored, just sharing!)
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Going to the Oscars
Until I recently received two super movie packages for our enjoyment, I hadn't realised just how many great films had been made by Warner Brothers. Obviously they are a major player in the film industry and have been since the early days of the great studios, but when the movies are dominated by animated spectaculars, it is reassuring to know that there are still brilliant films being produced by these giants of the silver screen.
Last week after the film extravanganza of the year, I received a themed package from Warner Brothers celebrating some of their successes at the Oscars.
Inside this glitzy box were four Warner Brothers classics from the past and present, none of which I've seen, all of which I've wanted to:
- Gone With The Wind: this special five-disc collector's edition celebrates an amazing seventy years since Rhett told Scarlett that 'quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn' after the most tumultuous period romance in cinematic history. This DVD pack contains the remastered film spread over two discs, a disc about the making and restoring of the legendary film, a disc about the cast and a bonus disc with various documentaries.
- An American In Paris: A classic from Gene Kelly and directed by Vincente Minelli (Liza's father), this tells the story of an ex-GI's long-standing love affair with the French capital and a new one with a perfume-shop clerk. This is Gene Kelly at his best; swirling, romancing, prancing and singing his heart out. Little wonder it won six Academy Awards!
- Doctor Zhivago: Omar Sheriff is swoonsome in this film telling the tale of 'Russia divided by war, and hearts torn by love.' With epic stories and even larger scenery, this winner of five Oscars is another must for all fans of classic cinematography.
- The Blind Side: I wanted to watch this film when it was out in the cinema, but The Boy was just a tiddler and sleep was the only thing on my mind. Sandra Bullock finally won an Oscar for her portrayal of the mum who adopts a homeless teen, helping him to become an American football star. I love Sandra Bullock and she rarely does wrong ith her films, in this film she proved her pulling power as she became the only actress to date to have a film marketed with only her name above the title which then passed the $200 million mark in domestic gross. The only issue I have is that surely she's not old enough to start with the mum roles yet?
Mr. TheBoyandMe and I will be enjoying these over the next week or two, and I may even let him share the chocolate mini-Oscar lollipops.
I was sent this package for the purpose of this post. My opinion is honest and unbiased.
Hairy Coconuts, Kings and Sea-shells
What did we get up to this weekend?
Well I had a minor meltdown around lunchtime on Saturday. The usual: tiredness, monotony, my house looking like a tip, etc. I've not had a happy week, and while I may enjoy moaning I have not enjoyed feeling down-right miserable. Action was needed, we needed to do something. Have fun!
We started with a haircut for The Boy. I used to cut his hair while he slept, but after the last time when I ran from the room crying after the first snip when I'd cut above his ear too short, I vowed never to do it again. We took him to the barber's that hubby uses and she did a reasonable job, plus she only took four minutes. We frog-marched The Boy in and she asked what we wanted done. I looked at her slightly incredulously, highlights and some extensions I felt like saying. Clearly he is a baby, I just want a trim for his golden crown.
Um no, you can't use the clippers on my 20 month old son's hair; he has beautiful hair, if I wanted him to look like a flipping skin-head I'd shave it myself. Use the scissors, you know this snippy things? Marvellous invention! He sat ever so well on my lap while she snipped away for 10 minutes. Marvellous! Haircut done, I didn't need to stress.
Next?
So where do you go when it's 1°C but you want to go somewhere fun? I knew the answer to this and was desperately hoping that a new facility would pop up suddenly. Let's face it, it was never going to happen. We ended up where I didn't want to go, not because I don't like the place, but because we go there so frequently. There are four main soft-play centres; one smells of urine (the carpet was laid in 1873), the other has a fab ball-pit which stinks of wee (come on children, use your nappies!), the other has broken/missing toys and food all over the floor. This is why we always end up in the fourth place: Coconuts. Clearly everyone else had the same idea! There must have been about 100+ children there, including three birthday parties. I let hubby and The Boy race off while I cocooned myself with my 3G connection and twitter. I'm not being boring: I know every single section of the multi-level play area blindfolded, I know the areas that he needs a hand up, I know which bits my arse derriere won't fit through, I know how to fix the ball-suction-run thingy. Besides let them have a little boy time. They had fun, I got my Silent Sunday.
Then in the evening, hubby and I did something we haven't done in ages. Mind out of the gutter people! Hubby and I went out! By ourselves, without The Boy! Don't worry, he was tucked up in bed with Nana listening in to his every breath and mumble. We toddled off to view the wonders of regal history with Mr. Darcy and The Corpse Bride. She's quite good in it, he is magnificent. Colin Firth turns in an amazing performance and because of him, 'The King's Speech' is amazing; engaging, funny, endearing, heart-breaking and rousing. He is so deserving of an Oscar win for his performance as Bertie Windsor, and Geoffrey Rush (not that much of a fan) is over-whelmingly humble in it. You have to see it. We ate lots and lots of nachos with yummy, gloopy cheese sauce. Nutritional value = –567, calorific value = +4957. Not good, but oh so scrummy. Of course, I do find that Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia helps cool the mouth down after the spicy cheese sauce. Ahem! I'll go for a walk tomorrow or something.
Today we've been to the beach. Once the boys had returned from failing to get 60% of the items on my shopping list, we popped out to get some fresh air. I know, lets go and play 'plopping' with the pebbles down the beach. I forgot about the bloody tide! We found a few square cm to park him down in and he had great fun as the sun set on a beautiful weekend.
Only thing is, ever since The Boy's haircut, I've noticed how God-awful it looks. No feathering, no layering, she cut his fringe straight across so he looks like he has a bowl cut! His beautiful hair! I'm going to have to wait until it grows out for a few weeks and then put some shape into it.
Oh and he learnt a new word: FUN!
