Win Tickets to Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale© at the SoWa Power Station #partner

Photo provided by Imagine Van Gogh Boston

Boston, MA / Wednesday, December 15, 2021—Boston has declared its love for Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale©, and with demand soaring, organizers have extended the exhibit through to March 19, 2022 at the SoWa Power Station.

You can sign up to win tickets from Parental Ideas Blog here:

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The exhibit, created in France by Artistic Directors Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron, has captivated audiences and received rave reviews from critics. This stunning immersion into 200 of Van Gogh’s paintings has travelled coast-to-coast and dazzled North American audiences. It will be making its U.S. Premiere in Boston on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 – and due to popular demand the exhibition has been extended.

 

Filling 24,000 square feet of the SoWa Power Station, Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale©, allows the viewer to enter and roam the luminous dreamscapes conjured by Vincent Van Gogh, projected in infinitesimally fine detail and at the grandest scale, accompanied by the music of Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Mozart, Satie, and more. Invented by Albert Plecy in 1977, Image Totale© has been adapted by Mauger and Baron to offer passage into the visionary works of a beloved genius, where we become engulfed by those famously tactile brushstrokes.

 

Annabelle Mauger is the original creator of the first immersive Van Gogh exhibition, presented in 2008 at Cathédrale d’Images in France and in 2011 at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. Her creation inspired various digital Van Gogh exhibitions that toured around the world in the years since. In 2017, Mauger and Baron presented a new, elevated version of Imagine Van Gogh in Image Totale© at Halle de La Villette in Paris.

 

Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale© is designed as a contactless experience and will have timed entries and will operate in full accordance with current safety guidelines established by the CDC and the Massachusetts government – all visitors are required to wear masks both inside and outside the SoWa Power Station regardless of vaccination status.

Tickets are on sale now at www.imagine-vangogh.com.

NOTE: We were provided with tickets to the Imagine Van Gogh exhibit in exchange for this post.

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Check out Disney on Ice and Harlem Globetrotters in Boston, Providence and Lowell!

Are you looking for something fun to do this weekend? We had the chance to check out Disney on Ice at Agganis Arena in Boston through Sunday, January 2 and the Harlem Globetrotters in Providence on December 30. The Globetrotters will be going to Lowell's Tsongas Center on Sunday, January 2nd!

Disney on Ice's new show, Mickey's Search Adventure, is a new take on many of your favorite Disney classics. Feld Entertainment uses the latest technology, acrobatics and updated costumes to bring the shows we love to life. It was an awesome adventure we went on with our kids.  

Mickey's search party was a great way for the kids to interact and kept their interest going strong through the whole show.  They loved figuring out the clues and the magic meter that filled up after each movie/ice show.  There was so much to watch that it was hard to know where to keep your eyes.  There were  people doing acrobatics, others on stilts, more on trampolines! The little mermaid scene had awesome colors and terrific costumes.  Aladdin was a treat to watch. The Genie was great and our kids were thrilled with the fireworks.

If you're looking for something fun to do, check out Disney on Ice at Agganis Arena! If you are too busy, don't worry - they are coming back in February at the TD Garden!

Harlem Globetrotters Bring All-New Spread Game to Lowell’s Tsongas Center on January 2nd

We had the chance to check out The Harlem Globetrotters yesterday at the Dunkin Donuts Center for their Spread Game Tour and we loved every minute of it!

The Globies brought their usual antics against the Washington Generals but also played a great game. We loved the jokes and the craziness on the court and even had the chance to meet the entire team after the game as they stayed to sign autographs for fans young and old! There is still a chance to check them out Saturday in Worcester and then Sunday in Lowell!

The World-Famous Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their newly reimagined Spread Game Tour to the Tsongas Center in Lowell on Sunday, January 2nd at 2:00 pm. Spread Game is excellence shown through basketball wizardry night after night and demonstrated through years of commitment to unsurpassed entertainment.   

For over 95 years, the Harlem Globetrotters have been committed to spreading joy through their artful athleticism and unparalleled basketball skill. The Globetrotters are now relaunching their brand through the Spread Game Tour, a fully redesigned interactive family entertainment sports experience like no other. Ankle-breaking moves, jaw-dropping swag, and rim-rattling dunks are only some of the thrill you can expect from this fully modernized show.  

Tickets for the Harlem Globetrotters game on Jan. 2nd start at $31 and are available at www.tsongascenter.com or by calling 866-722-8780. To learn more about the 2021 Spread Game Tour, visit https://www.harlemglobetrotters.com

Celebrating the new home of The Skating Club of Boston and raising money for a good cause! #partner

We had the opportunity to join The Skating Club of Boston and attend their Grand Opening Gala of their new facility in Norwood, MA. It was hosted by Olympian Scott Hamilton and featured many local skaters as well as some national and international champions. 

The new facility located in Norwood, MA, is absolutely gorgeous and it was great to watch a live show in person. We enjoyed seeing various local ice skaters who raised money for Dana Farber and Mass General Brigham as well as the Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer fundraiser from Scott Hamilton Cares foundation. There was a silent auction to also help raise money for these causes. It was great to see the skaters really have a great time on the ice in front of an audience. We felt okay as everyone was required to wear a mask indoors and everyone seemed to comply as well. We are thankful to the Skating Club of Boston for the chance to attend this wonderful event.

NOTE: We were provided with tickets to attend the Grand Opening Gala of The Skating Club of Boston. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are our own.

Looking for a fun place for a birthday party? Full Send Ninja in Norwood is great!

Our kids are pretty active and enjoy running around. They especially love to play on jungle gyms in playgrounds. When it came to pick a place for our kid’s birthday party we were super excited to find out that a new Ninja gym opened up right near us in Norwood, MA. Full Send Ninja is an American Ninja Warrior-style gym that was built specifically for folks who enjoy ninja-style training and workouts and it looks just like the sets of American Ninja Warrior on TV!

They opened in August 2021 and we were fortunate to check them out during their open house. We booked a birthday party and then worked out the details of food. You could go through Full Send Ninja to add pizza and drinks to the party for an additional $100, but we decided to bring our own and they still provided the paper goods and utensils for us to use.

Although we are still going through the pandemic, we were comforted by knowing Full Send Ninja is taking every precaution they can in terms of sanitation and hygiene. There are hand sanitizing stations throughout and they encourage everyone to wash their hands before and after the course so they are nice and clean before you eat anything!

We all had to wear masks because we were inside, but the gym room is very spacious with really high ceilings so that too made us a little more comfortable.

The kids were all led around the course by two instructors, one of whom has been on ANW multiple times and frequently tests the course builds prior to each show taping. They even let the parents and adults try the course as well - I quickly realized that you have to be in top shape to attempt some of the obstacles - even the zip line was a little too much for someone who isn’t used to a lot of physical exertion or being in a position of hanging from your arms.

In the back at the end of the course, they have three sizes of warped walls, an 8 foot one, a 12 foot one with a cutout to hang onto at 10 feet, and the regulation size 14 foot warped wall. Here is a picture of me standing next to it - I can’t believe people actually get up it and the instructor, Mark, made it look so easy but I know it took lots of training.

We strongly recommend this as a great place for a birthday party - so much so that one of our friend’s already booked it for their kid’s party! They also offer classes and open gym times and we hope to have the chance to tell you all about those experiences as well.

NOTE: We were provided a discount off the birthday party package in order to facilitate the review. As always all opinions are our own.

A Mental Health Map of information in your hands from Genomind!

Mental Health is more important than ever these days and you now can order a map of your own mental health based on your genetics from a company called Genomind.

The Mental Health Map by Genomind tests for specific genetic variants that have been shown to influence behavior, mood, stress response and more across the 7 Core Genetic Mental Health Capabilities: Mood, Eating Behavior, Social Behavior, Anxiety, Focus and Memory, Sleep, and Substance Use and Habits.

One of the best benefits of getting the Mental Health Map test is that you also receive access to an app called NeuroFlow which lets you track your feelings and provides activities to complete along with guided breathing. I have found that the most useful and one nice perk is when you complete the activities, you earn stars/points which can be redeemed for gift cards once you accumulate enough points. The best benefit is greater insight into yourself!

They also have a clinical product called PGx which you can test 15 genes for core anxiety and depression or 24 genes for a full mental health report to inform treatment decisions for a range of mental health conditions. The PGx reports have to be ordered by a physician and can help guide medication from data rather than just trial and error. 

The test for the Mental Health Map and the PGx products are the same - you get the kit, swab, ship and then get the results. If you're getting the results for the PGx your clinician will receive the results and then talk to you about them. If you get the Mental Health Map, you would order that yourself and you get a 30 minute phone conversation with a professional consultant who will give you personalized insights and actions to help support you and learn about your mental well-being.

I had the chance to review both options and found it very insightful to get a map of my own mental health and talking about it with a coach from Genomind through the 7 core cababilities. I found the results from the PGx test to be very helpful as I have found it very difficult that there still is a trial and error approach to some medications. With the availability of the PGx clinical test that has been studied it has been helpful to find medications (even ibuprofen and acetaminophen) which may respond better because of certain genes.

NOTE: I received these tests at no cost to me in order to faciliatate this review. The Genomind team was no a part of any of my opinions and analysis and all opinions are our own. No other compensation was provided.

RISE Brewing Nitro Cold Brew Oat Milk Vanilla Latte is a great start to the day!

RISE Brewing has a great product in their Nitro Cold Brew Oat Milk Vanilla Latte. I've been a huge fan of RISE Brewing's Cold Brew cans for the past few years but this Vanilla Latte with Oat Milk is amazing! It is dairy-free, creamy, smooth and slightly sweetened with Vanilla.

It is all organic, dairy free, gluten free, plant powered and nitrogen-infused. I've found that the added nitrogen makes the coffee smoother and less bitter while providing an added kick in addition to the 80 mg of caffeine per can!

I had it as a daily start to the day and strongly recommend it, it's so smooth and delicious! The folks at RISE Brewing have offered you, my readers, a code for 15% off and free shipping on your first order using code FYIRISE15.

NOTE: We were provided with a sample case of RISE Brewing Nitro Cold Brew Oat Milk Vanilla Latte to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided and as always, all opinions are our own.

Kids in Sports is a great local sports education program for your kids!

Kids in Sports in Walpole, MA is a local franchised sports education program that teaches children the fundamentals of sports. We had the opportunity to try this program for our little guy and he had so much fun participating in it with two of his friends from school along with around 10 other kids.

We enrolled him in the juniors program which is a one-hour drop-off class for four and five year olds. Every week or few weeks the kids are exposed to a new sport and how to play the game including baseball, basketball, floor hockey, football, soccer, and volleyball. Kids participate in both individual and group instruction while emphasizing the basic rules as well as movements.

The owner, Coach Mike, energetically teaches the kids about each sport and is sure to give the kids frequent water breaks. In our class there are three instructors, with the ratio being around 1 instructor for every 4 kids. The focus is for the kids to try their hardest and to be a good sport.

During the time of this pandemic, everyone is masked (except when the kids are drinking water) and the kids don't seem to mind. Even though the class is a drop-off class most of the parents seem to wait in the lobby (myself included) all wearing masks and watching the kids play and have fun.

The kids are so excited throughout the class and by the end of it, they are energized but also a little worn out from expending so much energy.

NOTE: We were provided with an enrollment in the class for our little guy in exchange for this review and another one later on in the season. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are our own.