{Tuesday's Tip} Appreciate the Arts

Recently I took my daughter to a local Christmas talent presentation.  It was relaxing and enjoyable to be together.  I think it is important to expose our children to different arts.  It does not have to be expensive Broadway plays, operas, and ballets.

At this time of year there are many different inexpensive performances happening in the community.  Why not try taking your family to a local showing of the Nutcracker, Christmas carol, or other musical performances.

In my town, there is a small Christmas opera that is playing this weekend at a local church, a ballet that is coming up, and a symphony rendition of The Messiah playing just before Christmas.  Each of these events are $5 or less and they all sound like perfectly fun events! 

So be sure to check out the local arts events that are going on in your community so that you help encourage your children to appreciate the arts.  Also, it can help to demonstrate to your children the proper manners and respect that is appropriate when attending such events.

Trip to Hawaii

If you remember last week my daughter and I "flew" to Scotland.  You can read all about it here.  Well, my daughter liked it so much that she wanted us to fly somewhere else.  So this week we are going to Hawaii as a family.

 
Similar to our Scotland trip, I printed boarding passes for the flight and set up the living room like an airplane.  We boarded the plane and watched video clips of hula dancing and listened to Hawaiian music.  When our plane "landed" we put on our flower leis and headed off to "Honolulu" to go shopping, of course!

In case you've never been, there's a big outdoor market/swap meet held frequently near Honolulu city.  In our town they were having an outdoor arts festival for local artists and craftsman to sell their merchandise, so that's where we went shopping.  It was fun to have our own little "outdoor market and swap meet" nearby.  Be sure to check out any upcoming arts festivals in your community, they are so much fun!

We enjoyed our shopping trip and made some fun purchases.  We relaxed and watched the music performances.  When it was time for dinner, we headed back home for a Hawaiian meal of Teriyaki  chicken, Kailua pig, macaroni salad, and sticky rice with soy sauce.  We also made tropical smoothies with fresh mango's, banana's, pineapple, and nectarines.

While we ate dinner we enjoyed watching Lilo and Stitch together.  What a wonderful day we had in Hawaii!

If you want to take your own "trip to Hawaii" but don't want to go shopping, another fun alternative would be to set a swimming pool or sprinklers in your own backyard!