New Library and Movie Time

Leave a comment

I am a huge fan of the Salt Lake City public library system and was excited to check out the latest branch (no pun intended). It is called the Glendale Branch and is located around 1300 South and 1200 West. Everything is new and clean and shiny, including all of the books! They also have a large play area (pictured above) that has blocks and other toys that fidgety kids can enjoy. (Also, hello, it’s going to be over 100 degrees soon, and A/C is a must.)

One fun activity coming up that you can attend and also see the new library is the Big Hero 6 interactive movie screening on July 11. Theo and I went to the same event at our local branch (which is only 6 blocks from our house) and had a fun time. They hand out bags full of props and goodies and tell you when to use them (cheering for the good guys, etc). Sidenote: It was the first time I had seen the movie and I found it interesting that the main character is a multi-racial Asian/Caucasian boy. Studying biracial characters in children’s media has been an interest of mine since graduate school.

Anyway, I am also very looking forward to the new Marmalade Branch of the library system opening soon! It is slightly closer to where we live and I can’t wait to check it (and its books, and its programming) out! (Pun totally intended.)

Dental Spa for Kids

Leave a comment

We are very lucky and grateful that Theo doesn’t have much of an aversion to going to the doctor, including the dentist or optometrist. He is so fascinated by their tools and procedures that he doesn’t even notice the slight discomfort or unfamiliarity. We are also extremely lucky and grateful that we have found a wonderful pediatric dentist that I have been raving about to all of my friends. Dr. Debbie Graham with Kids Dental Spa is the absolute best.

The trend in pediatric dentistry I’ve noticed is to include as many bells and whistles as possible to distract kids. This practice has plenty of amenities, including a waiting room with arcade games, massage chairs for parents, a movie room with bean bags, and iPads for the kids to play with while they wait.

But sometimes I think these fun details can be at the expense of quality dental work. We went to a practice that is widely known where the hygienists wear silly costumes, the kids are bombarded with video screens, and they (and their parents!) receive gifts and gift cards after a visit. Giving into the hype, we frequented this practice along with several of our friends… until the quality of the dentistry we experienced was so subpar that I began to feel that it was all a marketing ploy, not a truly reliable dentist. I had heard of the Kids Dental Spa because I go to their counterpart for adults (The Dental Spa — if this was an “Adventures with Stina” blog I would go into much more depth about how great it is, but you’ll have to take my word for it). “Dr. Debbie” (as she prefers to be called) took such great care to give us a second opinion (which I verified with a THIRD opinion with another dentist friend we know) and repaired and re-did dental work that Theo had to have done (yes, re-do; the other place [which shall not be named] messed things up so much that he had to have the same procedure twice on the same tooth).

I have since referred other friends to transfer to this practice instead of (ahem) the other one and everyone is unanimously in approval of Dr. Debbie and the wonderful staff at Kids Dental Spa. It shows that it is possible to create a comfortable and fun space for kids, as well as provide excellent dental care, which is the point of going to the dentist after all!

Nostalgia and Charlie Brown

Leave a comment

Allow me to get a bit sentimental about my childhood for a moment: when I was in 6th grade, my middle school’s annual musical was “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” I still remember auditioning for the show with the song “Happiness” and having so much fun rehearsing and putting on the show. I’ve been in several musical performances since (in the last, ahem, 20+ years), but for some reason this show sticks in my mind as one of the best theatre experiences I ever had.

Somewhat-relatedly, Theo has been really getting into this series of books that were hand-me-downs from my husband:

My husband only had Volumes 1, 4 and 5 in his collection and Theo devoured them. I couldn’t find the others in our local library so had to order them off of Amazon. We got Volumes 2 and 3 and are collecting the “‘Cyclopedia” series also written by Charles M. Schulz. The reading level and illustrations are perfect for Theo, and he loves reading about these “non-fiction” (in his words) topics. My husband and I enjoy seeing what totally obsolete topics they discuss (the section on communication included the telegraph, radio and telephone… e-mail, SMS, and smartphones were years away).
Anyway, the combination of the two anecdotes above are the reason why I am inexplicably excited that the University of Utah’s Babcock Theatre is performing the musical next month. The production runs from June 11-21 and I promise that you and your kids will enjoy this show, even without all of the nostalgic baggage that I carry. The songs are charming and clever, the characters are familiar to fans of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the other Peanuts regulars, and, as always, I’m a big proponent of family-friendly theatre.

Summer Kids’ Book Club & Writing Workshop

Leave a comment

As I’ve mentioned several times on this blog before, we are big fans of the local book shop, The King’s English. I was so pleased to see that they have summer programming available for children (from preschool through young adults) in the forms of Book Clubs and Writing Workshops.

For the Book Club, they have a different curriculum and set of books for every group, segmented by grade level. The group meets weekly and the discussion is facilitated by an educator. I find it interesting to see what books each group is reading so that kids can read those on their own even if they don’t join the book club.

The Writing Workshops are for kids in grades 3-6 and span different types of creative writing. These could be a great way for a budding author to begin exploring various genres of writing.

I’m so glad that the book shop is committed to educating the community as well as being a lovely book store to visit.

Fun Playgrounds Around Utah

1 Comment

This is a quick post based off of this fun article, “Utah’s 5 Coolest Playgrounds.” We haven’t been to any of these, but need to keep these in mind if we’re ever headed on a roadtrip and need a place to stop and get some wiggles out.

At a glance, the playgrounds listed in the article are below. I made a little map showing the various locations since I am not well-versed in Utah geography beyond the SLC area.

  • A – Castle Heights Playground in Fruit Heights
  • B – Wild West Playground in Jordan
  • C – Freenotes Harmony Park in Moab
  • D – Electric Park in Layton
  • E – Adventure Playground in Logan
If anyone has been to any of these playgrounds and can vouch for the accuracy of this article, please let me know!

Inside Out – the next Pixar film

Leave a comment
Update: We went to see the movie this weekend and it was great!
…..

A few weeks ago, we were lucky to attend a lecture where two of Pixar’s top talent, Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera, spoke about their latest film, Inside Out. They asked us not to take any photos or video since during their presentation, they showed clips of the movie that won’t be released to the public until the movie opens in June.

It was a fascinating discussion and they showed us the origins of the movie and how they did meticulous research to develop the story. The premise of the film is that five driving emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Worry) are at play in a young girl’s mind and how she navigates life through the eyes of these emotions. My undergraduate major and master’s degree were in psychology and it was amazing to see how deeply into the research the film’s creators delved. Theo enjoyed seeing how the animators drew sketches by hand and by computer and how it ended up being the film we got to see.

The voice talent on this film is also amazing — including Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Phyllis Smith (from The Office). We got to watch almost 15 full minutes of the completed film and I absolutely cannot wait to see the whole thing. Yes, it’s a Pixar animated film and for children and families, but I have a feeling that this will be a really emotional film for all ages. It opens on June 19!

Hatch’s Magic and Music

Leave a comment

Theo has been interested in doing magic tricks since he was really young. He loves learning tricks and practicing how to perform them. He has perfected his “Abracadabra!” and “Ta Da!” We always try to catch the shows that magicians perform at the library and other community events. Three years ago, we had the opportunity to see the Hatch Academy of Music and Magic perform at the Ring Around the Rose children’s series at Rose Wagner Theater.  We’ve seen a lot of different shows on different topics through this series. Tickets are relatively inexpensive at $5/person and they are a kid-friendly environment.

It was such a fun show! Richard and Rosemary Hatch perform classical music (piano and violin) with magic tricks and have some stunning combinations integrating both. I was so excited to see that they are doing another show this year, and will be performing on May 9. You can find out more about the show and buy tickets here.

I was looking around the Hatch Academy website and saw that they teach different courses on magic. The class “How to be an Amazing Grandparent!” caught my eye and I was tickled to think about grandparents learning fun tricks to share with their grandkids and friends. I think it is so great that the Hatch family used their varied talents to put together a show that presents both magic and music and it is really a unique opportunity to experience both.