WEEKEND Stuff to Do: May 2nd-4th

 

FRIDAY

• Head to Northshire Bookstore Friday at 10:30am to join illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi for a special story time and interactive art activity for children as she presents her new book, Naked!, a hilarious new book about a boy who refuses to wear clothes, from comedian Michael Ian Black and illustrator Debbi Ridpath Ohi, the team that brought you I’m Bored, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book. In addition to Naked! and I’m Bored, Ohi is the illustrator of the newest editions of Judy Blume’s books, and of the forthcoming picture book Where are my Books? which she also wrote. Free and open to the public.

•  Calling all babies and toddlers! Friday at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga join them for their newest weekly program, Busy Bees from 9:30 to 10:45am. This play group is designed exclusively for the youngest visitors and their caregivers. They will provide the space and the activities to create an environment that fosters early childhood development in a social setting. Meet new families, make new friends, and lasting memories! Children MUST be birth-24 months. Program is FREE with museum admission.

SATURDAY

• Join local story-teller, Karen Pillsworth, as she invites you to find your “inner princess” while enjoying the entertaining story of The Paper Bag Princess at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. Children will participate in a craft directly after the performance. Pre-registration is required, please call the museum if interested. FREE with Museum Admission. Ages 4 and up. Two times are available, 10:30-11am & 11-11:30am.

• Saturday is I Love My Park Day and you can help out by pitching in as a family to volunteer to keep our Saratoga Spa State Park clean and beautiful! Click here for all the info on how to participate, registration is required.

• Also on Saturday there is a free performance by The Saratoga City Ballet of excerpts from this year’s story ballet, Hansel and Gretel. Come meet some of the dancers, see parts of the ballet and learn a few dance steps. This program is appropriate for families and all ages. Call584-7860 for more information.

SUNDAY

• Today at Northshire Bookstore get out your feather boa and your fancy hat for their Fancy Nancy Tea Party from 11am to noon, and join their booksellers for a fun morning of tea party inspired stories, crafts, games and snacks! Free and open to the public.

• Don’t miss the Food Truck Showcase from 12p-6p at Saratoga Eagles Club (373 Crescent Ave) including 9 food trucks that are all local to 518. Admission is free, and Saratoga Eagles Club will provide a beer/wine pavilion, local bands High Peaks Band and Middle Grove will be providing 6 hours of live music, and for the kids there will be a bouncy bounce (free of charge) and an instructional arts and crafts table presented by Trinity Alliance of Albany. For the younger kids, Trinity Alliance will have sidewalk chalk and face painting. Click here for more info and to see which awesome food trucks will be participating.

• Join the fun at Saratoga City Tavern for a cause on Sunday from 2pm to 8pm to support the efforts of the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society with food, raffles, silent auctions, live music, and of course tons of fun!

We will be away this weekend celebrating Sean’s mother’s birthday in Cape Cod! The kids are super excited for our little road trip, if you are on Instagram follow along here! Have a great weekend! xoxo

 

 

WEEKEND Stuff to Do: September 20th-22nd

This weekend is all about two words for me: FARM AID! Want to follow along as I explore all that Farm Aid has to offer? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I’ll be sharing photos and details of the events!

FRIDAY:

• The Adirondack Balloon Festival is taking place this weekend! Click here to get all the info!

• Check out Movie Night Under The Stars at The East Side Recreation Fields on Friday night at 7pm (on Lake Avenue across the street from St. Clements) to benefit the Caroline Street PTSO, The Playground Fund and the entire community! Gather your friends, family and blankets and join them under the stars for a fun night out for the whole family. Refreshments will be available for purchase and tickets are $5.00 per person and will be available at the “door”.

• There is a SECOND Family Movie Night Friday night at the Saratoga Rec Center on Vanderbilt Ave. This movie is free and open to the public, also at 7pm, and they will be showing the movie Epic.

SATURDAY:

• Ellms Family Farm opens for the season today! Did you enter yet to win a free family package? Click here for more info and to enter to win now!

• The Adirondack Trust Allegiance Bowl is today at the Saratoga Springs High School football field where Cornell will face off against Franklin Pierce, with pregame activities starting at 12:45pm and kickoff scheduled for 1pm.

• The Saratoga Horse Expo takes place Saturday from 10am-6pm (and Sunday from 10am-5pm) at the Saratoga Race Course with Equestrian Events, seminars, clinics, shopping, food and drink, children’s activities, pony rides, a petting zoo and a bouncy house! Adults $8.00 Family of 4 $20.00 Children under 6 free.

SUNDAY

• The Henry Street Harvest Festival takes place today on Henry Street in downtown Saratoga Springs with fun for the whole family. Pumpkin decorating, vendors, food, crafts and more. Get the info right here.

• Do you have a little ballerina in your family? Have them audition for the Nutcracker with the Northeast Ballet Company today at Proctors Theater! Get all the info including age groups and times right here.

WEEKEND Stuff to Do: May 11th & 12th

• There are two performances of Alice in Wonderland by the Saratoga City Ballet at Skidmore on Saturday. We went last night and just loved it, don’t miss it! Read my full review and get details on ticketing here.

• The Saratoga Springs Horse Show is going on this weekend with the main event happening on Saturday, click here for details!

• Spots are still open for a sweet Mother’s Day themed class for kids at Healthy Living Market, get the info here. xoxo

• Saturday is Healthy Kids Day at the Saratoga Regional YMCA. From 10am-2pm the Saratoga Regional YMCA will be hosting this FREE community event at the Saratoga Springs Branch as part of their commitment to addressing critical gaps in health and education. The Y is kicking off efforts to encourage kids to stay physically and intellectually active over the summer with a 1k run, an obstacle course, brain buster games, and lots more! Healthy Kids Day is also part of the amazing Saratoga 150 events, as the YMCA helps celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Saratoga Race Course.

• Stop by Barnes & Noble on Route 50 today to support SaratogaArtsFest. It couldn’t be easier! Shop in the store or online, submit their unique bookfair ID: 11085990 and Barnes & Noble will contribute a percentage of every sale made to SaratogaArtsFest! It’s rainy, so bring the kids for story time, 11am and 1pm. Also, from 10am – 4pm, complete their scavenger hunt for a chance to win an ARTSPASS!

• Did you see what I’m loving this week? Find out here…

• My poem from me to all the mamas out there, I love you guys. Keep truckin’.

• There are going to be Llamas in the Saratoga Springs Public Library on Sunday from 2 to 3:30pm. An up close and personal encounter with live llamas from Katrina and Gary Capasso’s Dakota Ridge Farm. Owners will introduce their llamas and share some llama facts. Celebrate Mother’s Day with a reading of “Is Your Mama a Llama?” and children will have the opportunity to pet the llamas so bring your camera! For all ages. No registration necessary.

Mamatoga Review: Saratoga City Ballet’s Alice in Wonderland

We went down the rabbit hole tonight and I have to say, all three of us-my mom, Levy and myself, were all absolutely enchanted. We were there to watch the dress rehearsal, as performances are going on tomorrow night and Saturday, and immediately I loved the intimacy of the Skidmore Dance Theater. You get an up close and personal feel to the stage and Lev just loved the idea that she could be that near to the dancers.

Alice was just beautiful, in the classic Alice blue dress, and the ballet started off nice and lively. To create the “rabbit hole” Alice danced around in a swirling circle of lights projected on to the stage and Lev was just captivated. The White Rabbit came out next, cute and sprightly, and checking their pocket watch they started the adventure. I have to say, the way they were inventive with the costumes was really ingenious. In the scene where she is supposed to drink the potion that makes her shrink, a dancer came out with a tiny table around her waist. When Alice “shrank”, the dancer brought the table up around her head, it was perfect. Levy clapped when the be-whiskered Cheshire Cat appeared, and had to tug on my sleeve to tell me “There’s the Cheshire Cat!” like she had just seen Lady Gaga or something, it was too cute.

The whole ballet incorporated little dancers too, and in the next scene there was a sweet smattering of adorable toadstools with the caterpillar, who was fantastic by the way. She had a long trail of tulle as her caterpillar tail and really was one of the stand out dancers for me. The trio of the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the March Hare were perfect. Their energy jumped off the stage as they goofed around with Alice and the Cheshire Cat. The Duchess with the pig (you remember her, right?) was so funny, coming out with a pepper grinder and then having them both reveal a big stuffed pig. If I lost you here trust me you’ll remember this part when you see it, and if you don’t, it’ll be even better as a surprise. The Duchess should consider a career in theater too, her performance was funny and physical and spot on.

Lev loved it when the flowers all came out, and there were a lot of laughs as they danced around in their pots, tricking Alice. The dancers all had these great big smiles on their faces, and you could tell they were really having fun, while also being so poised and graceful. The bugs and the Mock Turtle came next, which were among Levy’s favorites. There was a fabulous Preying Mantis (I think that is what she was supposed to be, either way, girl in green-you were great), the Mock Turtle, little turtles and ladybugs who came out with the cutest little ladybug umbrellas.

The youngest members of the cast really did such an impressive job. It must take a lot of courage to get up there and dance and they all did it with smiles, grace and the absolute cutest poise I have ever seen. Brava to all of them.

The first half of the performance ran about thirty minutes, and then there was a nice quick 15 minute intermission, making it ideal for younger kids to get up and take a potty break. As the second half started Levy was all excited to see “the Queen”. She did not disappoint. The Queen came out, excellently cast with a humorous tone to her performance, and the cards, the cards! They were so cute! So I’m sitting there wondering, how are they going to do the flamingos and the croquet? Well, out came these two adorable kids in hedgehog costumes (Levy broke into spontaneous applause at this point) and then the Queen and Alice start with two plastic lawn flamingos as their croquet mallets. Genius. It was beyond. The jester, I have to point out, was really great too, he’s got some serious talent. The entire cast really turned out a fantastic performance, and what a testament to Saratoga City Ballet. I had to keep reminding myself that some of these performers were still kids! They looked like full fledged ballerinas! And the little ballerinas, oh my goodness. Cuteness overload.

The second half was also about thirty minutes, and they really fit so much into it. It was incredible how with very little props or scenery they really captured your attention for the entire performance, not to mention my four year old’s attention. Lev has been known to be on the fidgety side, but she was transfixed the entire time. Her review is thus: “I loved Alice and the ladybugs and the hedgehogs”. I turned her light off tonight for bed, listening to her telling Finn about the evening. “Finn, the Queen was there, and she had these red ballet shoes, and the White Rabbit came, and oh, oh, there was a whole bunch of turtles…”. It was magical for her. And sitting there in that little space with my mom and my daughter watching a ballet with all these amazing local kids, it was magical for me too. Don’t miss it guys, I guarantee you will love it.

Get the ticket info right here, the Skidmore Dance Theater is by the gym in the Sports Complex, you park in the tennis courts parking lot (that’s my little editorial note for you as I got a little lost). Have fun readers…xoxo

Mamatoga Giveaway!

Want tickets for the exclusive, invitation only dress rehearsal performance of Saratoga City Ballet’s Alice in Wonderland? Click right here to enter, but hurry up, winners are drawn on Wednesday!

Free Ballet and Zumba for Kids at Saratoga City Ballet on May 25th

Saratoga City Ballet is hosting a dance day with FREE ballet classes for kids ages 3-7 and a Zumba class offered for kids ages 7-12 on Saturday, May 25th. It is going to be a lot of fun and a great way to try out the children’s classes at Saratoga City Ballet all taught by the fabulous Ms. Leslie. I must say, here at Mamatoga we LOVE Ms. Leslie, she is just the greatest, sweetest teacher and I can’t recommend her enough. Levy adores her and you will too. Read more about our experience with her Creative Movement class right here. To pre-register for any of the free classes email them at info@saratogacityballet.com, walk ins are welcome as well. Click on the photo above for all the info and stay tuned to Mamatoga for a special giveaway from Saratoga City Ballet coming SOON! xoxo