Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Presents DRAGONS Review

I remember as a kid, sitting in a seat between my parents or my grandparents, eating cotton candy and pop corn, waiting to see what the circus had to offer!

Now I got to take MY kids to see the circus!   Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus!  And the COOLEST thing... there were DRAGONS!

Going opening night has its perks!  We got to see the animals before the show.  We also learned facts about elephants!

My friends kids and mine looking at the animals and learning!

My little ones and husband! My baby girl LOVED the elephants!

Once inside, we were able to go down to the floor.  We met the clowns and some of the performers.  We also got to see some previews of some acts! 

There were big cats!  Little cats!  Horses! Dogs! Llamas! Donkeys! Elephants! 

Trapeze artists!  Martial Arts!  Motorcycles!  

CLOWNS!

My hubby is a clown in training!

The circus never disappoints!  There were kids ages 0-99 attending! GREAT fun!

And I was pleasantly surprised that I had only 2 melt downs from my children!  And they were both from the 1 year old who was tired.  But the melt downs were short and she was dancing and clapping again!

Thanks to all the performers and promoters and everyone in between for a WONDERFUL night!

All pictures were taken by me!

ABC Mouse Offer! First Month FREE!!!

If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or teacher, CHECK THIS OUT!  Get your first month of ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy  for FREE!!!!!

ABC Mouse offers a full online curriculum for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten in the subjects of reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Children can start anywhere and move through the curriculum at their own pace! ABC Mouse has won numerous awards, including the Parent's Choice, Teacher's Choice, and Mom's Choice GOLD awards! Get your first month FREE!

Here is the LINK to Get this GREAT offer!!!

The Winner of the GIVEAWAY

It is that time!  And the randomly picked entry was from

Theresa Stuteville:

"The BEST thing I have ever done on Halloween is...take my babies trick or treating (while drinking, of course!)!

Theresa won the $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card! Congrats! 

Now lets get 25 Followers and we will do another giveaway!  Unless there is an individual or company or whatnot that needs a reviewer and someone that wants to sponsor a giveaway!  

Mile High Farms Fall Festival

Fall Into Fun September 21- October 31

Our passion is harvesting new family traditions through a fun and creative oasis of activities. Our approach is simple; plant with imagination, water with fun, grow something special. Attractions include an adventurous corn maze, a plentiful pumpkin patch, antique tractor hayrides, and an imaginative fall festival town. There are so many creative seeds waiting to sprout that our farmers secretly planted all over Mile High Farms! We're looking forward to sharing our farm with you and your family! Visit our web site often for more details and join us on Facebook to see what else our farmers have up their sleeve. Located at 11 Cavanaugh Road in Bennett, Colorado.

I am SUPER excited to visit MILE HIGH FARMS this year in the fall!  From what I hear, they have a great petting zoo, a really cool corn maze...( I heard something about it being shaped like Payton Manning?), pumpkin patch, Grover's Garden and Grover and his friends! 

Check out this great video of their Payton Manning Corn Maze

My little family is starting to form our own family traditions and I love the idea of going to farms in the fall and  doing fun things for Halloween!  

Here is a coupon to get ya started!

                   $2 OFF Adult & $1 OFF Children $ Senior Admissions

I know some of my friends are not here in Colorado and are unable to check out this great place!  So go to USFamilyGuide.com and find something fun to do this fall and Halloween!

Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus Presents DRAGONS!!!

In one week the Circus will be here!  And they brought DRAGONS with them!

What are you waiting for?  Get your tickets and we'll see you there!

Don’t miss DRAGONS, where this once in a millennium event that honors the Spirit of the Dragon! Children of All Ages will witness astounding acts of bravery and astonishing athleticism from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®! Playing September 27 – October 7 at Denver Coliseum. Get your tickets today at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/245767/1657755!

DRAGONS opens with the All Access Pre-show available to all ticket holders. Families can join Pre-show Host Andre McClain and participate in interactive experiences such as learning juggling and balancing skills, get performer autographs, see one of Ringling Bros. majestic Asian elephant’s paint a one-of-a-kind masterpiece and meet the Ringling Bros. Clowns, whose side-splitting spoofs, absurd antics and comical parody are guaranteed to keep audiences roaring with laughter!    

Save $4 per ticket! Click here for more details:

 http://www.coloradokids.com/coupon.php?id=23050795&referralcode=true

More special deals at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/245767/1657755:

$10 Kids Tickets for 9/27 - 10/4 Shows 

Additional Fees & Restrictions Apply

Opening Night (9/27) Tickets for $12

Additional Fees & Restrictions Apply

Do you live somewhere other than Colorado??? Check out USFamilyGuide.com and look to see what deals they have in your area!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: The Changing of the Seasons

For More WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, go to 5 Minutes For Mom

Here comes the GIVEAWAY!!!!

As promised, here is the GIVEAWAY for hitting 10 followers!  Thank you to all of you for being such ROCK STARS!

And this happens to be my first GIVEAWAY EVER!  

What's for grabs?????

$25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!!

Ok! Here are the rules!

- The GIVEAWAY runs from SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2012 at 8pm to FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st 2012 at 8 am. 
- Open to US Citizens only
-Only ONE MAIN Entry Per Person.
- In the comments, tell me: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME? 
 (also make sure there is a way for me to get a hold of you so I can let you know when you win!)
- Want more entries? Here are some ways to get BONUS entries:
     - Become a FOLLOWER of Gretel's Modern Day Fairy Tale and leave me a "Hey I am a follower!" comment in the comments.  If you are already a follower, still leave a comment!
     - Leave a comment with the answer to the following: "The BEST thing I have ever done on Halloween is...."

On Friday after 8am, I will randomly pick a winner.  Once I see how many entries have be submitted, I will take that number and have my husband pick a random number... "Hey Babe!  Pick a number between 1 and..."  That person who is that lucky number will win this wonderful $25 BARNES AND NOBLE GIFT CARD!

(This also means that my hubby is disqualified to enter and win this giveaway! Sorry babe!)

Good luck to all!

And once I hit 25 followers I will do another GIVEAWAY!

FREE Children's Art Kelly Kit!

Kelly Kits encourage art play using a wide variety of creative tools & materials beyond what coloring books can offer. The Original Kelly Kit comes complete with one set of five unique activities that cover the five art disciplines: painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, & collage. Each kit contains all of the tools & materials needed for the activities, the user just needs access to a kitchen! To increase functionality for homeschooling parents, each activity includes an instruction card with an enrichment idea to adapt the art activity to a school lesson. Kelly Kits are designed to encourage creativity & teach!

To get yours, go to this link, www.kellykits.com,

 and use PROMO CODE: USFG99

The Circus is Coming! The Circus is Coming!

"Don’t miss DRAGONS, where this once in a millennium event that honors the Spirit of the Dragon! Children of All Ages will witness astounding acts of bravery and astonishing athleticism from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®! Playing September 27 – October 7 at Denver Coliseum. Get your tickets today at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/245767/1657755!"

"DRAGONS opens with the All Access Pre-show available to all ticket holders. Families can join Pre-show Host Andre McClain and participate in interactive experiences such as learning juggling and balancing skills, get performer autographs, see one of Ringling Bros. majestic Asian elephant’s paint a one-of-a-kind masterpiece and meet the Ringling Bros. Clowns, whose side-splitting spoofs, absurd antics and comical parody are guaranteed to keep audiences roaring with laughter! "

Save $4 per ticket! Click here for more details:

 http://www.coloradokids.com/coupon.php?id=23050795&referralcode=true

More special deals at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/245767/1657755:

$10 Kids Tickets for 9/27 - 10/4 Shows 

Additional Fees & Restrictions Apply

Opening Night (9/27) Tickets for $12

Additional Fees & Restrictions Apply

Wordless Wednesday: A Taste of Colorado

For More Wordless Wednesdays, go to 5 Minutes for Mom!

A Taste Of Colorado 2012 Review

I have been going to A Taste Of Colorado since I was a tween.  Every year on Labor Day Weekend, Downtown Denver's Civic Center Park and surrounding area is taken over by booths filled with vendors, food, art, crafts, and everything else that is part of Colorado.  Stages are scattered all over the area with all kinds of different genres of live music and demonstrations.   Rides and carnival games line Colfax and Broadway.  

There is truly something for everyone of all ages and types.  

I remember as a tween going to A Taste of Colorado at night and seeing all the games and rides lit up!  As a parent, I watched the excitement appear on my 4 year old sons  face when we told him he could have ice cream for lunch!  And the "OH!" that came out of my 1 year old daughters mouth when she saw the Carousel.

This wonderful event is called A Taste of Colorado for a reason.  There are so many different restaurants and catering companies lined up and down the streets of Downtown Denver.  To taste the wonderful Colorado based food in one place is an awesome thing to experience, ages young and old!

We started off trying samples of XING TEA at the companies tasting booth.  My family is a HUGE fan of XING TEA, so to try some of their new beverages and some that we had not seen in the store was a HUGE treat!  They have new juices out as well as their wide selection of flavored teas.  My favorite is the Raspberry Tea with Honey.  My husband likes the Half and Half (Half Lemonade, Half Tea).  I think we drank our weight in XING TEA while we were there!

Next, we stopped off at the Bryers Ice Cream booth so my son could try the Cookies and Cream Ice Cream... FOR LUNCH!  He loved it!

Our next food adventure was my husbands choice.  Stopped by the Monster Grill Booth.  There, my hubby enjoyed their version of the Philly Cheese Steak. The MONSTER PHILLY CHEESE STEAK SANDWICH!

*NOTE: I was unable to find a website for Monster Grill.  If you happen to find it, please contact me so I can set up the link.  Thanks!*

Next... My turn!  I ALWAYS have Bayou Bob's Fried Gator Tail!  EVERY YEAR!  It tastes like a chicken and a cat fish had a love child.  And it is so good!

A Taste of Colorado is about food... come on!  So we ate ALL DAY!  

The next thing we tried was PIZZA!

Hands down, Grammy's Goodies has THE BEST PIZZA EVER!  Great fresh ingredients and there is plenty to eat!  This is ONE SLICE!

My handsome husband with his big ol' slice of pizza!

We ended the day with dessert!  My 4 year old heard CUPCAKES and had to have one.  

Gigi's Cupcakes has a GREAT and ORIGINAL selection of cupcakes. 

The one selected by my son was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake.

Now lets move on to the vendors!

At A Taste Of Colorado, there is EVERYTHING!  Family owned food vendors, art of all kinds, clothing, you name it... I think it was there!

I chose to share some of my favorites based on my tastes!

BTS Chocolate.  BTS= Better Than Sex. 

 And from the looks and sounds coming from my husband, this chocolate is!

A WIDE variety of different tastes and flavors, this Dark Chocolate is mixed with either Honey or Agave.  And flavors range from RazzGasm to Chocolate Espresso and MUCH MUCH MORE!

And the owners are way cool!

There were three artist that I found amazing and different!  All I wanted to do is remodel my home and put their artwork EVERYWHERE!

Justin Hillgrove's Imps and Monsters are fun and colorful!

Weird Chief Pictures is just amazing.  I saw the booth and was drawn to it!  Different and raw!

And Kevin Eslinger Art Gallery!  Creepy and just AWESOME!  

A Frog on the Wall has some BEAUTIFUL works of art!  Place it outside in the garden or inside your home!  

                    

                                                              This one is my favorite!

*NOTE: A Frog On The Wall's website is currently under construction.  Once it is up and running I will remove this note and add the link!*

Little Adam and Eve has AWESOME Baby Clothes!  They are fresh and different and fun!

I can not wait to get my daughter all decked out in some fun outfits!

Last but not least.... The rides and games!

2012 has been a very hard year thus far for Colorado.  Having such an amazing event to honor the different aspects that make up Colorado and it's people is a great way to remind everyone why we live here and why we love Colorado!  My only complaint about A Taste of Colorado was the weather.  90+ degree weather makes for a sunburned and cranky Gretel.  BUT I will take that complaint up with Mother Nature!  

Thank you to EVERYONE who made A Taste of Colorado a wonderful success!!! And see you next year!

Make sure to check out the vendors mentioned above. I truly believe you will not be disappointed! 

** This review is my opinion and mine alone!  I was not paid by anyone that is mentioned in this review.  **

***Any pictures in this review were taken by me.  Any use without my permission is prohibited.  So please ask!***