Finding Neverland !!

We've had the movie Finding Neverland for a couple of years now. I started to watch it once, but Jaidy was very bored. We have tons of dvd's, a 32 inch flat screen TV, a home theater system and movie night is one of our favorite things.

I usually try to make this a special event. I always lower the lights, and serve something fun for the movie. Sometimes it's brownies and milkshakes, other times I put m&m's in the popcorn just for fun & serve this with Hawaiian Punch. It could just be twizzlers and Sprite. Just depends on what we have on hand, but a cool snack is a must.

I always buy her colored straws, because let's face it - as a kid - straws are just plain fun !! What kid doesn't want to blow bubbles in their drink ? We always find some way of making movie night memorable.

We were going through our movies earlier this week & organizing them, and I came across Finding Neverland. I had really wanted to watch this one, and had forgotten about it some time ago. I loved Peter Pan when I was growing up, and I especially loved the book by J. M. Barrie. I figured Jaidy was old enough to watch it with me now, and she was actually delighted. I had to explain some of the plot to her.

I made Root Beer Floats, popped some popcorn, lowered the lights & turned up the home theater system. This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I am a big Johnny Depp fan to begin with. I remember when he was in 21 Jump Street. I love the diversity he brings to the screen from Edward Scissorhands to Pirates of the Carribean. I am a huge fan of Titantic as well, and Kate Winslet did a wonderful job in this role.

Jaidy loved this movie so much, she is begging to watch it again. It is a romanticized account of how the story Peter Pan came about. I shed a few tears at the end when J.M. Barrie's character is talking to Peter Davies. It's definately a wonderful movie, and well worth renting !! We will be watching this again in the future.

I love to watch a movie and then plan something fun for Jaidy later. We love dramatic play, and I built her a tent in her playroom once after watching Peter Pan so she could play with her stuffed animals like Wendy and the Lost Boys. We put her in her Tinkerbell Costume, and she had a ton of fun sprinkling fairy dust on them and pretending they could fly. Dramatic play is huge at our house. She has a closet full of dress up clothes in her playroom & when her friends come over, it's even more fun.

I found the book Peter Pan online, and I am going to start printing each Chapter and reading it to Jaidy at night. I think I will sit and draw some pictures with her of the story each day. We only have 20 more days until school starts, and there are 17 short chapters to the book, so I think we can try to read one chapter a night.

It's always fun at our house - that's for sure !! Good fun, good food, and lots of laughter !! They are only little once, so make the most of it !!