It’s the last free Friday of summer, and we’re getting nostalgic, not only for the summer that was, but also for all of our Summer of Funner activities and posts from 2011 until now, the whole six years of ’em. As with every summer, we wonder, is this it? Is this our last summer of posting on this […]
This week’s Best Summer Movies of All Time are all about kids’ summers. The first, Kings of Summer, is a fantastic recent film about three older boys who “run away from home” to a fort in the woods for the summer. [Anyone who hasn’t seen it should. Hence, why I’m showing it to the kids […]
Things got a little heavy last week, what with Jaws and In The Heat of the Night. So, this week, we’re showing playful movies with a projector out on the back deck, movies that we could never go a summer without laughing over: Tati’s Jour de Fête and the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the […]
Last Friday, we screened Jaws and In the Heat of the Night as part of our Summer Film Fest. Afterwards, the kids said that both movies were “scary.” So, we got to comparing how these movies chilled us to the bone. Sure, Jaws had its shark and its shark music. But the shots of the crowds […]
You didn’t think we’d run a Family Film Fest dedicated to the Best Summer Movies of All Time without showing the kids Jaws, did you? [Thank goodness they’re finally old enough!] But what the heck would you pair it with? I suppose the easy answer would be Star Wars, or American Graffiti. But we’re going […]
This week’s Best Summer Movies of All Time are all about “brainwashing.” We’ve chosen Farenheit 451 and The Manchurian Candidate. First up is Truffaut’s excellent take on the famous novel in which novels are contraband and wall-screens are all the rage! Next up, and in honour(?) of the recent U.S. National conventions, we’re presenting a noirish […]
This week, the kids have picked their favourite films and what they consider to be the best summer movies of all time. The birthday boy chose The Last Starfighter – his fave movie about a kid from Silver Lake, California who gets “sucked” into a video game. And, the big sister chose The Count of Monte […]
If the other week was about the Manga Selfie, this week is all about the “shelfie!” Recently, one of us saw a gorgeous book bag which featured a shelf full of beloved book spines on offer from a big-name publisher. It was beautiful, and we wanted it. But, then, we thought, why not make our own? So, […]
Our Family Film Fest Continues with two “crime” stories, quite different in style – or are they? First up is one of our family’s favourite summer murder mysteries, Hitchcock’s, Rear Window [1954]. Next on the list is a movie which came out in Japan 4 years previous to the Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon [1950]. This film tells the […]
So, here’s the little slip of paper the kids found under their doors this morning! That’s right! Today, we challenged the kids to learn to play enough guitar to accompany themselves while singing a cover song. We didn’t give them a set rules about how they were supposed to accomplish this, only a command performance […]
What? Last week wasn’t hot enough for you? You’re in luck! It’s week two of our Summer of Funner Family Film Fest : The Best Summer Movies of All Time. And, this week’s best-ever summer films are Do the Right Thing and 12 Angry Men. Now, if you haven’t seen these movies or if you don’t […]
The kids are pretty interested in Manga these days. So, I thought I’d get them to make themselves over as Manga-style characters. When I told her about my idea, Bea, who had an amazing art teacher at school this year (xoxo Brie), took over and came up with the entire DIY! And, it sounded sooo fun […]
Our annual Summer of Funner Family Film Fest begins tonight. And, this year’s theme is The Best Summer Movies Of All Time. While we’ll mostly be picking movies with a bit of a “hot summer” aspect, our main focus is to show the kids the best of the best. Of course, not all of the […]
This year, instead of using our own free printable theatre reviews to respond to the plays we saw at the Stratford Festival, we decided to ask the kids for shorter, impromptu responses. Inspired by their dad’s season-long toronto #bluejays haiku project, or his #jaysseasonhaiku, we asked the kids to write haiku responses to the plays they saw at Stratford this summer. […]
Summer of Funner 2014 is coming to a close. And so is our Backyard Campout Week! You know what that means…. It’s time for our Backyard Summer Film Fest! Last week, I asked everyone in the family to pick two summer movies that they’d love to see outside. Tonight, and over the next two nights […]
Make your own piñata? Who knew? Without a papier-maché base? Even better!! Check out these awesome piñatas we made for Toby’s family birthday party!!! It’s actually fairly easy to make your own piñata! DIY Pacman [Or Any Shape] Piñatas Materials Cereal Boxes Scissors Masking Tape Glue Small Paint Brush Tissue Paper Strong cord and/or a […]
Somebody’s birthday is right around the corner, and we’re trying to come up with some fun ideas for a party. Whether you invite a large group of friends or just your parents and your sister, you still need invitations, don’t you think? One of the films that’s coming out soon is the Pixels Movie. So, we made an […]
Last week, we had a fantastic time at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. We took in four great productions from the 2015 Season: Hamlet, The Sound of Music, The Adventures of Pericles*, and The Taming of the Shrew. The shows were fabulous. The kids, who had never seen Hamlet before, were quite intrigued by the source […]
