50 Fun Summer Activities

1. Go to the beach at Honeymoon Island
   
2. Have a movie marathon day at home
3. Spend a day at Adventure Island
4. Make snow cones
5. Play at the park with friends
6. Have a pool party!
    
7. Go get frozen yogurt
8. Take a bike ride on the trail
9. Make homemade ice cream
10. Go fishing
    
11. Complete a summer reading log for Barnes & Noble
12. Take our dog to a dog park
13. Make cloud inspectors and watch the clouds
14. Have a sleep over at your cousins' house
    
15. Play LEGO zip line games
16. Go bowling
17. Have a water gun fight
18. Go roller skating
19. See a movie
    
20. Have a sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's house
21. Play in the rain
22. Make lava lamps
23. Run a 5K race
    
24. Find dandelions (do they really produce cool colors when on fire?)
25. Make mini volcanos
26. Star gazing at night and look for shooting stars
27. Read some of the Sunshine State books
    
28. Built a fort out of blankets and pillows
29. Make cookies
30. Go out for lunch
31. Play Guitar Hero World Tour and learn a new song
32. Go canoeing or kayaking
    
33. Play board games
34. Go swimming
35. Microwave a bar of Ivory soap and see what happens
36. Take a nature walk at a park
    
37. Have breakfast for dinner
38. Play in the sprinklers
39. Visit the zoo
40. Watch fireworks
41. Fly a kite
42. Paint a picture
    
43. Stay up late
44. Tie dye t-shirts
45. Make popsicles
46. Play balloon volleyball in the house
    
47. Visit the library
48. Build a sandcastle
49. Go on a treasure hunt
50. Plant flowers

 

What fun things do you have planned for summer?

Disney On Ice Let's Celebrate review

 

Our family had the pleasure of seeing Disney On Ice's newest show, Let's Celebrate! at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in downtown Tampa.  Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate! brought more than 50 Disney characters to Tampa for one colossal party on ice!  This all-new show featured an action-packed, magical montage of celebrations and was set to a blend of contemporary music and favorite Disney songs.

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse started out the show with some of our favorite characters as they celebrated a Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter.

 

 

After the Unbirthday party, Mickey donned a hat and robe as he captured the crowd with his magical life-size brooms from Fantasia.  The kids in the audience, including my own, loved these glow in the dark, dancing brooms and familiar music.

 

 

Since Mickey was dressed in costume, the rest of the gang wanted to dress up too.  Jack Skellington hosted a Halloween haunt with our favorite Disney Villains.  This was Jared's favorite act from the show.  We were excited to see Maleficent since her upcoming movie will be out soon.  It was also fun to see Captain Hook since Jared and I just watched the season finale of Once Upon a Time.

 

 

From frightful to delightful, the showed moved on to a Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses.  Each princess entered the ice with her one true love.  They danced to a contemporary version of one of their movie's songs.  At this point I noticed the kids in the audience getting a little restless.  It may have been the slower moving act or the contemporary song versions that were not recognized by the younger patrons.

 

 

Following intermission, Mickey and the gang traveled around the world visiting different celebrations.  We saw Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen; a Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch; a Japanese Spring Holiday with Minny; a Chinese New Year with Mulan; and a winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear.  I loved the Rex and Hamm costumes from Toy Story!

 

 

We had fun seeing all of our beloved Disney characters in one big party on the ice!  Both of my boys really enjoyed the show.   Dylan thought our time there flew by, indicating he was enthralled with the entertainment.  This was a wonderful show for the entire family.

Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate skates into The Tampa Bay Times Forum May 15-18.

Performance Dates and Times:

Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 7 p.m.

Friday, May 16, 2014 - 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 17, 2014 - 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 18, 2014  - 1 p.m., 5 p.m.

Ticket Prices
Rinkside Dining $75
Premium $45, $40, $32, $28, $25, $18, $15, and Kids Tickets start at $12.

Save $5 on select performances using promo code MOM5. This offer is not valid on Rinkside Dining or Premium seats. No double discounts. Not valid day of show. Not valid for Sat. 11am, Sat 3pm or Sun. 1pm performances.

Tickets are available at DisneyOnIce.com or ticketmaster.com, at any Ticketmaster outlet, by calling 800.745.3000, or at the Tampa Bay Times Forum ticket office (phone for information only: 813.301.6500).  For group ticket sales and information, call 866.248.8740.

To discover more about Disney On Ice, go to www.disneyonice.com, visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

*Disclaimer: My family received 4 tickets to see Disney On Ice presents Let's Celebrate in exchange for promotion and review.  All opinions are my own.

Margarita Festival & Giveaway

The Tampa Bay Margarita Festival is coming to Tampa Bay's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park on Saturday, May 24th from 1:00pm-10:00pm. There will be margaritas, live music, fireworks and FUN!

Grammy winning artist Los Lonely Boys will headline the 2014 Tampa Bay Margarita Festival. They just released a new album titled "Revelation" and are making Tampa their Florida tour stop. In addition to Los Lonely Boys, the Tampa Bay Margarita Festival will feature live bands throughout the day, exciting games such as a mechanical Corona bottle, and margaritas in all flavors and varieties. You'll find margaritas with traditional and exotic flavors, along with a variety of craft margaritas.

Tequila brands participating include Sauza, Hornitos, Camarena, Don Julio, Dobel, Margaritaville. Other brands include Corona Light and Bud Lime-A-Ritas.

There will be plenty of food trucks at the festival hosted by the Tampa Bay Food Truck Rally. The Tampa Bay Margarita Festival will end the night with a bang, displaying the largest fireworks show in the area.

How to fest:
General Admission tickets are $15 now and $20 at door (if available).
GA gives you access to the Tampa Bay Margarita Festival (with re-entry privileges), enjoy the live band on stage all day, games, and more while you enjoy your margaritas at $4-$8 per drink.

VIP Experience tickets are $85 now and $100 at door (if available).
VIP includes access to the Grand Marnier VIP Cantina at the Tampa Bay Margarita Festival where ENDLESS MARGARITAS will be served from your own VIP Bar, including the top shelf Grand Marnier Margaritas. The Grand Marnier VIP Cantina will feature decorated shaded areas with lounge furniture and cooling systems.

A Grand Tequila Tasting event is also scheduled for Friday, May 23rd, 2014 at the Epicurean Hotel, where attendees can sample 40+ tequilas, including ultra-premium and rare ones. Food pairings will also be provided by chefs at the Epicurean Hotel.

For more information, visit www.TampaMargaritaFest.com.

GIVEAWAY!!  One lucky reader will win two General Admission tickets to the Tampa Bay Margarita Festival featuring Los Lonely Boys!  Enter through Rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

STOMP at the Straz

My husband and I saw STOMP years ago and loved the show.  It's back in Tampa at the Straz Center so we took the opportunity to see this fantastic show again but this time we included our two boys, ages 12 and 9.

STOMP was an explosive percussion performance that appealed to audiences of all ages.  STOMP's eight member group used anything but conventional percussion instruments during their 90 minute show.  They started the show using push brooms to make sweeping sounds and then added tapping and banging sounds.  Needless to say, they broke a couple wooden brooms with their vigorous floor pounding.   The broken brooms were tossed off stage and a replacement broom tossed right back to its user. My boys found this hilarious!

My nine year olds favorite part was what he called the train scene but I think it sounded more like motorcycles.  The lights were off with only the troupe's headlamps lit.  The deep, loud, percussion music rumbled throughout the audience.  Dylan said he could feel the vibrations in his bones.  When the lights illuminated the stage, we saw four group members in bungee seats playing the various items on the wall.  It was amazing how seemingly simple, banging on common household items could create such beautiful music and rhythms.

The STOMP performers continued to amaze us with magical rhythms using matchboxes, wooden poles, garbage cans, zippo lighters, shopping carts, plastic bags, newspapers, inner tubes, paint cans and even kitchen sinks.  There was some boy humor throughout the show.  My boys laughed when four performers pulled the drain plugs on their kitchen sinks that were positioned at waist height.  One guy even shook his sink when he was done...if you know what I mean.

One of my husband's favorite parts was the huge steel drum stilts worn by performers who proceeded to smack the drums with long sticks.

 

My twelve year olds favorite part was a quiet comedy scene involving newspaper.  Who knew how many different sounds newspaper could make by ripping, shaking, crumbling, and folding it.

One of my favorite scenes included zippo lighters.  The theater was dark, then I heard the flick of the flint hitting the striker, saw the flame and finally heard the snap of the lighter closing.  All eight performers had two lighters.  It was like watching a domino light show.  A flame started a one end and quickly made its way through the group on stage.

Our entire family thoroughly enjoyed STOMP!  My youngest son was learning about the different families of musical instruments in school.  He knew right away that the show used percussion instruments (there's that FL education at work).  It was fun for him to see a wide array of real world percussion items.  We had a wonderful and educational evening!

Check out the STOMP performance at the Straz Center April 30 - May 3.

Tickets are available
Friday, May 2 - 8:00pm
Saturday, May 3 - 2:00pm and 8:00pm

Ticket prices range from $49.50 - $69.50.

Disclaimer:  As a member of the Tampa Bay Bloggers, I was given four tickets to see STOMP at the Straz Center in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own.