Movie Review: Into the Woods

I went to the movies with two of my best girls a few weeks ago, and we saw Into the Woods. This is a Disney movie, but it is NOT kid-friendly. This movie is fantastic, but it's not your usual Disney family-friendly take on fairy tales. Instead, it's the dark and graphic version that you likely have never heard, unless you've read Grimm's Fairy Tales. 

The story is an interesting one, in that all the characters interact and are woven together through an unusual plot. You've got Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk), Cinderella and Prince Charming, Rapunzel and her prince, Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (Johnny Depp), and then there's the witch (Meryl Streep), and the Baker and his wife. 

I do not remember a fairy tale with a baker and his wife, but in this movie, the baker and his wife are infertile because of a curse the witch placed on the family after she found the baker's father robbing her garden. The witch appears immediately and tells the couple that in order to lift the spell that she placed upon the family, they would need to get specific items, bring them to her, and then she would be able to lift the spell and the wife would find herself pregnant. They were desperate, so they set out to find the items she requested.

The items needed included: Red Riding Hood's cape, Cinderella's golden slipper (not glass), a cow as white as milk (Jack's cow-- "Milky White"), and hair as yellow as corn. Because they needed these four items, they intertwined with each of the characters in some way.

I enjoyed the movie and found it to be really entertaining, but there was a LOT of singing. Like 85% of this movie is all song. It is, a film adapted from the Tony-Award winning Broadway musical, "Into the Woods."

I definitely recommend it to someone that likes musicals and wants something fun to watch while the kids are in bed.  :-)

Say Ahhhhhh

On January 19th, Gus was off for the day to celebrate MLK Jr's birthday. We started our morning by heading to Children's Dental Zone for dentist appointments for both Gus and Hugh. Gus went back in July for his first visit. It was a nightmare-- he was screaming and refused to let them do anything more than count his teeth (he even had to be moved to a private room).

This time, we went to a brand new location (they have a building that just opened that they designed specifically for their practice). I think it was a combination of a new building, more than enough time between the last visit and this one, and some time to mature, and it was a smashing success.

The boys were excited before we even entered the building. They have a tunnel for kids and they can crawl through the tunnel in the foyer to get into the office.

 

There's a foyer to enter before you enter the practice-- this is where the tunnel is

Once we were inside and checked in, the boys explored. They found the movie room, the game area, and their favorite of all, the slide.

 

Movie Room

 

For real. Their dentists' office has a slide!!

After too short of time playing, it was time to head back. The hygentist showed us around and then took us to the open bay area. Because Gus flipped out last time, we weren't sure how he'd do this visit, so they had a private room ready if he needed it. Thankfully, he did not. He was hooked as soon as he saw the tv in the ceiling and they turned on Paw Patrol for him. :-)

 

The wall of prizes

 

"Paw Patrol? On the ceiling?!?!"

Gus put the headphones on, watched his show, and the hygentist went to work. It was so quick and so easy!! As soon as Gus was done, it was Hugh's turn. He had been watching Gus, so he just did what Gus did. They took Gus back for x-rays and then he came back and wanted to hold Hugh's hand to comfort him during his cleaning.

 

Hugh wanted the headphones too and was excited to watch Paw Patrol :-)

 

One of the x-rays of Gus's teeth

After the hygentist finished cleaning Hugh's teeth, the dentist came over and she checked his mouth, counted his teeth, and then applied some flouride to their teeth.

They each got their coin for the machine of their choice and then earned Bravery Certificates that had a coupon for a free kids meal from Chick-fil-A! So awesome!

Because it was a gorgeous morning, we decided to head to the park for some fun. Our friends were supposed to meet us, but their mom had some unexpected car issues, so we played by ourselves. The boys had a great time together!

They were getting hungry, so we headed to what Gus calls "His City" (Burger King) for lunch. We came home in time for Hugh to nap and Gus and I talked about Dr. King and why he was so important to changing the course of history for our country. He's a bit too young to understand, but I figure we could start small and each year, get more and more detailed. :-)

We are looking forward to the next day off school, President's Day, because Steve will be off that day too and we'll get to do something fun as a family!!