8/9/13: Win Tickets to King Richard's Faire

CONTEST CLOSED: CONGRATULATIONS CHLOE M. FOR WINNING!
Last year we went to King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA for the first time and had an awesome time.  It is a lot of fun for the whole family.  Now I am giving you a chance to win 2 tickets!  Read on to win.  

This Faire is the longest running Renaissance Festival and runs August 31st to October 20th on weekends plus Labor Day and Columbus Day.  Tucked away on 80 acres of beautiful, enchanted forest off Rt. 58,  King Richard’s Faire is a full day of live, interactive entertainment for all ages, including exotic tigers and a rare liger, daring knights jousting on horseback, and eight stages filled with song and dance.  Here is King Richard himself from the live show we saw him in last year. 

One of my favorite things was the Jousting.  It was really cool to watch and Dame Eliza won the match we watched.  Girl power!

 It was so much fun and put you in the middle of the action.

Here is some video of the Joust.

They also had a lot for the kids.  This year there will be two 4 pm children's costume contests that will take place on the King's Stage.  The first will be on Saturday, September 28th with a Prince and Princess theme.  The second one will be on Saturday, October 12th and will be a Fairies and Pirates theme.  Last year Evan enjoyed archery which was $4 for 12 arrows.

 Lauren had fun too.

 There were rides - for an additional fee.  Usually around $2-$4.  Cash only.

 There were meet and greets.  Here are the kids with a Cyclops.  Pretty weird looking huh?

 There was Princess Academy and an opportunity to meet Queen Anne!  

  I don't know what this is supposed to be, but Evan thought it was cool.

There was even a duel right in front of us!  Evan got to get involved.

Tickets are $28 for adults and $16 for children and you can buy tickets online here.  Enter the Rafflecopter below to win 2 tickets good for an adult (or child) that are good on September 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 21st, and 22nd.  

You must pay cash so make sure you have cash with you.  Check out how cool the stores look!  There are tons of shops with really cool stuff.

 This is the food area.  Note that you need to buy tickets to buy food.  All tickets cost .50 cents and are used to buy food and drink.  I found this annoying that you had to use tickets as the minimum amount was $5 worth and you had to figure out exactly what you wanted first to calculate how many tickets you needed.

 So pretty.

 Cool tree!

The Faire address is 235 Main Street, Carver, MA 02330, phone is 508-866-5391
Check them out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TheKingRichardsFaire 
Follow them on Twitter: @KRFaire
Hashtags: #KingRichardsFaire #renfaire

Disclosure:  I received four tickets in exchange for this review.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

8/8/13: Cavalia Odysseo in Somerville, MA

When I got the invite to Cavalia Odysseo in Somerville, MA I accepted right away knowing that this looked like an amazing show.  Amazing is an understatement now that I have seen it.  My best words to describe it would be visually stunning!

Here are the kids ready for the show.  As you may see my daughter has on a sparkly horse shirt.  She loves horses so I knew this show would be great for her.

Here is the White Big Top.  You can see it while driving on 93 as it stands 125 feet tall.  It is the size of two NFL football fields and has a 17,500 square feet stage.  There is also the Rendez-Vous tent which I will talk about later as we were lucky enough to attend the VIP reception after the show.

We were extremely lucky to be in the first row.  Really all seats are great in the theater.  The kids had seen the billboards around Boston and couldn't wait to see the show.

It is unbelievable to see so many horses trained to do such amazing things.  Horses combined with acrobatics, musicians, beautiful backdrops, and riders it is beautiful to watch.  The images behind on the screens made you feel totally enveloped in the action and allowed you to travel through many different landscapes.

Photo credit to Cavalia Odysseo Website

The journey leads the audience from the Mongolian steppes to Monument Valley, from the African Savannah to Nordic glaciers, from the Sahara to Easter Island.

It was unbelievable the things that they did on these horses.

Photo credit to Cavalia Odysseo Website

One of my favorite parts of the show was the Carousel which had people performing acrobatics on poles.  They were so skilled and beautiful to watch.

Photo credit to Cavalia Odysseo Website

Of course we loved the horses the most and so wonderful to watch.  It was a surprise to all of us that the area where they were performing was filled with water.  80,000 gallons to be exact!  The kids were mesmerized and so was I.  When my husband saw it he asked me if we were in the splash zone.  No need to worry even in the front row you won't get wet.

Photo credit to Cavalia Odysseo Website

One of my favorite moments was when the acrobats got the crowd involved saying "O Walu Guere Moufan".  When going to show you will learn what it means and why the crowd cheers when its meaning is divulged.  It is a phrase in the Susu language, spoken in the coastal regions of Guinea, home of many Odysseo acrobats.

Photo credit to Cavalia Odysseo Website

Here is a video preview:

As you walked around the tent there were beautiful pictures.

Then we were treated to the VIP Reception.  You can purchase this as an option and it provides access to the private RENDEZ-VOUS VIP Lounge 90 minutes before the show, during the intermission and after the show. Plus you get Center-row seats, VIP pass, Buffet with a wide variety of complimentary food served before the show, Wine, bubbly and beer at will, Dessert buffet, coffee and tea served during intermission and after the show, and an Odysseo souvenir from their boutique.  

Here are some of the desserts.

But the best part of the VIP Experience was the exclusive stables tour after the show that we got to experience.

The show features 63 horses of 11 different breeds including the Appaloosa, Arabian, Canadian, Holsteiner, Lusitano, Oldenburg, Paint Horse, Quarter Horse, Spanish Purebred (P.R.E.) and Warmblood.  All the horses are male – stallions and geldings. They hail from 7 countries including Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, Germany, The United States and Canada. You got to see all of them.  Many of them were getting their hair braided which was super cute.

Absolutely beautiful.  No touching or taking flash photography but you could take pictures with no flash.

The kids also got to meet some more of the cast.

They are all so beautiful.  The average age of the horses is 10 with the youngest at 5 and the oldest at 18. At the heart and soul of every Cavalia performance is the age-old bond between human and horse. The company fosters an environment where patience, trust and deep-seated respect for the four-legged stars come first. Cavalia’s training methods are designed to ensure the horses enjoy training and performing on stage. Trainers pay close attention to the horses in order to ensure that every request is adapted and respectful of what the horses are ready to offer.

Hair braiding!

The kids loved it.

There were fact sheets on the front of each of the stables to talk about that horse.  

Beautiful!

There was also a photo opportunity with one of the horses.  I am not sure what the cost was of this.

I can't say enough about this show.  It is really a must see!  They have already added shows due to the popularity of the show that goes till August 25th.  Get tickets here.

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cavalia

Follow them on Twitter: @Cavalia #Odysseo

Disclosure:  I received 4 tickets to Cavalia Odysseo and access to the VIP reception after the show.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

8/6/13: Modern Dads Tour and Premiere

I love reality TV.  I wanted to let you know about a new show on A&E called Modern Dads premiering on August 21st 10:30/9:30c.  I love that Dads interact with kids so much differently than Moms do.  

I know my husband loves to play wrestle with my kids and do all sorts of silly stuff that I don't do.  Even when they were little I remember him playing with them way differently than I did.  I think this photo says it all of one of the Modern Dads.  

In honor of the premiere there will be an RV travelling around as the Modern Dads Tour.  It will include fun-filled interactive experience and be coming to the East Coast.  

It is coming to two spots locally that I wanted to let you know about:

Six Flags New England Address: 1623 Main St Agawam, MA 01001 

Date: Wednesday, August 14th 

Time: 12:00PM- 4:00PM 

and

Pawtucket Red Sox Game at The McCoy Stadium 

Address: 1 Columbus Ave Pawtucket, RI 02860 

Date: Thursday, August 15th Truck will be on site @5:30pm and Game Time: 7:05PM 

We love Six Flags so that is really cool they will be there.  

Here are all the Dads.  There is Rick, father of 4 and stay-at-home-Dad.

There is Stone who is a single Dad to a 5 year old.

Sean the Step-Dad to an 8 and 5 year old.

And Nathan, Dad to a 1 year old.

More about the show:

About the Show MODERN DADS features four stay-at-home dads who may be a little unconventional, but they get the job done. Banding together, their “guys club” is a tribe of suburban, child-rearing dudes who are just trying to do their thing… with a kid (or four) on their hip. This new series will follow their exploits as they navigate their lives; juggling the requirements and social expectations of being both a `modern man' and ‘modern dad’ while their significant others are off at work. 

 So bring your Super Dad and come to one of these exciting interactive exhibits and of course watch the show on August 21st at 10:30/9:30c.

Give the show some love online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernDadsAETV

Twitter: @AETV #ModernDads

Instagram: /AETV  

Website link for clips: http://www.aetv.com/modern-dads/ 

Disclosure:  I was provided 4 tickets to the Pawtucket Red Sox Game to provide this post in addition to promotional items for the show.