GIVEAWAY: Bugs Bunny On Broadway at Merriweather Post Pavillion Saturday July 11

Here's a unique melding of cartoons and classical music, a retro performance and a modern outdoor venue:

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is going “Looney” on Saturday night July 11, 2009 with Bugs Bunny On Broadway. The orchestra will perform the original scores of classic Warner Bros. Studios cartoon live as the Looney Tunes are projected on the big screen.

Emmy Award-winning conductor George Daugherty will lead the orchestra in perfect synchronization of the musical masterpieces featured in the cartoons. Wagner, Rossini, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and more were used to convey the excitement and humor of “What's Opera, Doc?,” “The Rabbit of Seville,” “Corny Concerto,” “Baton Bunny,” “Long-Haired Hare,” “High Note,” and many more.

You can buy tickets here for the concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Saturday July 11 at 8:30pm.

Would you like 4 free lawn tickets to the show ($80 value), courtesy IMG Artists? To enter, simply leave a comment below with your fave Looney Tunes character before midnight Tuesday July 7th.

And for your and your child's viewing pleasure, here's Louvre, Come Back to Me featuring my personal fave, Pepe Le Pew:

But of course, mon chéri: Looney Tunes and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

4th of July 2009

If you're in town this weekend, there's a whole lot of fun going on.

First off, here's The Washington Post's comprehensive 4th of July guide to find fireworks, parades and celebrations all over the Capital region. I'm sure you all know how to park a blanket on the National Mall, get a sunburn and then feel patriotic as country singers (OK, this year it's Barry Manilow, Natasha Bedingfield and the denizens of Sesame Street) belt along with the National Symphony Orchestra before fireworks explode around West Lawn of the Capitol in a burst of patriotic pride.

If you're still doing that with little kids in tow, I tip my hat to you. However, rather than roasting all day, you can take the family to the cool tents of the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival before the evening show.

We're more of a parade and bbq and maybe local fireworks show if the kids aren't passed out type of household. I wish we could light some sparklers in the backyard, but sadly or smartly (depending on your maturity level) private purchase and use of fireworks is illegal in the MoCo and PG County. Small novelty fireworks and sparklers are legal in The District and Virginia...nothing big and explosive though.

But enough chatter, here are my personal family favorites for celebrating Uncle Sam's birthday:

The Takoma Park Independence Day Parade
I adore this hometown parade and we take our kids every year to see the rescue vehicles, marching bands, Caribbean kettle drums and floats. The parade kicks off at Carroll & Ethan Allen Ave., proceeds south along Carroll Avenue to Maple Avenue, then turns right on Maple Avenue and ends at Sherman Avenue. There's also a fireworks show at Takoma Park Middle School at 7611 Piney Branch Road at approximately 9:30pm.

Town of Kensington Bike, Scooter & Wagon Parade
Kids are invited to decorate their bikes, scooters, wagons and mom and dad can pretty up the stroller and march through the streets. Line up at St. Paul Park at 9:45 a.m. and follow the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department truck and then return to St. Paul Park for prizes, ice cream and soda for all. To volunteer, or for more information, please contact the Town at 301-949-2424 or email Shirley.Watson@tok.md.gov

The Palisades 4th of July Parade
This local tradition is a DC-insider fave. The parade starts at 11am at the corner of Whitehaven Pkwy NW and MacArthur Blvd. and ends at the Palisades Recreation Center on Sherier Place NW. If you would like to participate in the parade, no registration is necessary. Just line up starting at 10:15am on Whitehaven Pkwy. Free picnic following the parade at the Palisades Rec Center with hot dogs, juice, moon bounces, pony rides and live music under a big tent!

Mid-County Sparkles: Wheaton/Kensington Fireworks at Newport Mill Middle School
Children’s carnival and activities begin at 7:30pm, along with performance by Superfly Disco. Fireworks start around 9:15 pm. The viewing areas will be at the front of the school on the ball field and at Newport Mill Middle School, 11311 Newport Mill Road. No on site parking at the school or nearby properties is allowed except for handicapped parking, but shuttle buses will pick up passengers beginning at 6:15 pm at Westfield Wheaton and the Wheaton Metro Station. Low lawn chairs and coolers are welcome but booze is not. For more information call the 240-777-8115.

Downtown Silver Spring Summer Concert
If you don't feel like slaving over a hot grill or fighting a crowd, you can take the family out downtown and then listen to Doctor's Orders, a Motown-themed band, while your kids play in the Ellsworth Fountain.

Have a safe, wonderful weekend!

Giveaway of Kids' Books on APISS Reviews

C'mon over to APISS Reviews to learn about all the reader resources at the Scholastic Summer Challenge, check out my kids' book reviews and provide your own. You could be the winner of a pack of 4 brand new children's books, handpicked for your kid's age and stage.

Enter here at APISS Reviews!

Rocknoceros & Great Zucchini Take Over 9:30 Club & DC Improv?!

Stop trying to buy Sonic Youth tickets on Craigslist and just admit
you belong at the Rocknoceros show with a kid on your shoulders. You're welcome.

Did you once lurk around the 9:30 Club? Frequent the DC Improv? You can again, and you won't need to call a sitter.

Ultimate kids' rock band Rocknoceros and actually watchable kids magician The Great Zucchini are taking the stage at these DC institutions for family matinees in July. You get to hit your old haunts AND entertain your kids.

The Great Zucchini at the DC Improv
Saturday, July 11
Doors 10am, Show 11am, 40 minutes, Tickets $8
No food or bevvies will be served (no 2 juicebox minimum)
This interactive and entertaining magician gears his show specifically for preschool and kindergarten aged kids. He's silly, he's imaginative, he won't scare your babies...kids love him. He teaches the kids new G-rated jokes and magic tricks too.

Rocknoceros at the 9:30 Club with The Great Zucchini opening
Sunday, July 19
Doors 2:30pm, Show 3pm, Tickets $15.
Buy a beer get a juice...however, this could be a jokey way of saying they're not serving. Hope not. All attendees get a free Rocknoceros DVD. Gotta love kid swag.
Here's my review of the band and the new album PINK! It's great. Seriously.

If you and your spouse book tickets, look for me. I'll hold your baby and dance with your kids while you guys go make out by the bathrooms for old time's sake.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Adventure Theatre

Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Charlie, Sally and Snoopy - the gangs' all here at
the Adventure Theatre's production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

This week, celebrate the nation's birthday with an American classic, Charlie Brown. The Adventure Theatre at Glen Echo Park is putting on You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the beloved stage production of the Charles Schultz cartoon.

There's an onstage band, voices trained to sound just like the ones we all remember from the cartoon holiday specials and the Peanut gang's patented weird dancing. And of course there's Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Sally, Lucy, Schroeder, even Joe Cool, the shade-wearing Snoopy lookalike that graced my old Trapper Keeper. But don't take my word for it - it was listed as a Best Bet by the Post.

Seats are still available for this week's Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows and the production runs until August 8th. Buy tickets and see complete show schedule and times here or call 301-634-2270. Adults are $15, kids 12 and under are $12.

Your family can also see the show and contribute to a good cause: On July 11 after the 1:30pm performance, the audience and theatre company will be making blankets for seriously ill and traumatized children as part of Project Linus. Only 15 spaces are available for this special event, so register now.

Super Why Super Reader Challenge Update & Winner

As I wrote earlier this summer, my kids and I took the Super Why Super Reader Challenge. The kids had a fabulously fun time and reinforced the reading and pre-reading building blocks we work on each day.

Five year old Charlie gained more confidence in his sounding out and sight reading abilities. Three year old Eve pleased herself by her savvy letter knowledge and problem solving. I enjoyed that when posing to the kids that we be Super Readers for five days, the kids' limited TV watching became not just chill out time, but a learning experience.

For five days we watched Super Why on PBS Kids and performed some fun activities.

We utilized these free printables :

• Day 1
  
• Day 2
  
• Day 3
  
• Day 4
  
• Day 5

We enjoyed these fun games and crafts:

• Letter Identification Bingo
  Enjoy the fun of BINGO while reinforcing letter identification and learning to discriminate between letters.
  • Instructions
    
  • Bingo Cards
    
  • Placemarkers
    
  
  
• Character Masks Have fun acting out the adventures of Super Why and the Super Readers with these printable masks.
  

• SUPER WHY on pbskids.org Are your kids into a limited daily "computer time?" Then set the timer and and head to Super Why online. The site's mission is to help kids learn key reading skills, including alphabet, word families, spelling and reading comprehension, through interactive online games, activities and more.

In the DC area, here is when Super Why airs:

6:30-7am Monday - Friday on WETA, WETA Kids & WETA HD
8:30-9am Monday - Friday on MPT & MPTHD
1:30-2pm Monday - Friday on WHUT
3:30-4pm Monday-Friday on WETA, WETA Kids & WETA HD

If you live elsewhere, use the PBS Kids easy TV listing finder.

And the randomly-drawn winner of her family's own Super Why DVD, Super WHY! The Three Little Pigs & Jack and the Beanstalk DVD, is Sue of Loads of Pink. Hugs to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Admin Stuff

Before APISS, freelance work and service to two pint-sized bosses, I spent a good amount of time at desk jobs. Although the skills needed for the administrative assistanty stuff and the marketing geek and ghostwriter gigs differed, the goals were always the same:

Please the peeps. Give 'em what they want.

Now you guys are my bosses. You deserve a website that pleases you and efficiently gives you the information you need. To that end, I've made some changes around here:

• Improved search: Type something about activities or kids in the Google search box at the top of the left-hand sidebar and the only results that will come up in a separate window are links to APISS articles about your search subject. No ads, no random shady stuff floating about the www.
  
• Less ads: I've eliminated that big BlogHer tower and ads between posts for easier reading and usability.
• Better organization: If you come to the site searching for a new activity idea, cruise the left-hand sidebar links and topic links. There's a lot of data there, and I'm working to ensure it's easily accessible.
• Repaired feeds: The Feedburner/Blogger issue has been fixed. RSS subscribers may need to re-subscribe in a reader. Email subscribers will receive their daily dose between 1-3pm each day of new content. This delivery time will only be changed for urgent announcements involving free beer or Gymboree clothing.

And speaking of beer, stay tuned for more changes that will improve your APISS experience. As Kristen of Baby Brewing and Mommy Needs A Cocktail fame laid out for me in one of our come to Jesus conference calls/group therapy/improv comedy routines, it is time for me to pony up and take this blog resource website to the next level.

Mommy Needs A Website Design and Re-Launch.

And you know that when there's a launch, there's a party. With food, booze, grooves, boobs (tastefully presented or in use by small humans), the whole nine yards. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, this former secretary will continue to give you what I got with continued homespun style and crazy.

Images courtesy Eye Heart Glasses and Buena Vista Pictures via HotFlick.net