Lionsgate Turtle Tale
We are huge fans of exploring, learning and exposing our kids to new experiences. The thought behind it is that we not only have fun, but we get to see what catches our kid's attention, and what interests them. The more we know about their interests, the more we are able to tailer our activities to help harvest those interests.
Recently, we had the opportunity to visit Reptacular Animals in Sylmar, CA, for a Lionsgate movie release party. The movie? Turtle Tale, an adorable live-action movie about a turtle named Hank, who is eager to leave his pond because he is convinced that great adventure awaits.
The setting was breathtaking, with 360 degree views of the mountains surrounding us.
The lovely property immediately inspired the boys to start dancing.
We were seated in a lovely shaded area where, we were the boys (and mama), were taught all about turtles and tortoises, and they got to touch and hold several different species.
Both of our boys loved interacting with these reptiles, but, Skyler, our little one, simply could not get enough. He kept yelling out "Mama! Want to touch again! Again mama!" until our sweet host would come back around to let him see and touch these gorgeous creatures again.
After the fun presentation, we were taken on a short walking tour of the Reptacular Ranch. The boys were blown away by the site of Llamas (we have a giant painting of a Llama in our living room, so this was special), piglets, a zebra, a camel, a few ponies, a couple of donkeys, sheep, baby goats, and of course, giant tortoises.
We were allowed to spend some time in the tortoise enclosures, where we were able to truly interact with these enormous animals, who, contrary to popular belief, are rather fast. Well, at least they seem pretty fast when one of them mistakenly thinks your toes are berries and bolts for a nibble. Note to the ladies, wear closed toe shoes if you are wearing bright nail polish. Let's just say, leaping out of the way was my only option.
Once our lovely time with the tortoises was over, we walked back to our tables, to find beautiful wicker lunch boxes, for each of us to enjoy.
Lunch was delicious, and we had the pleasure of having our host with us the entire afternoon, answering the kids questions and peaking their curiosity.
Now, the part that surprised me most, both of my boys could not wait to get to the arts and crafts table after lunch. They were so enthralled with all of the turtles and tortoises, that they ran directly to the turtle painting station, and got straight to it.
They were both so excited to take their painted works of art home to show their papa (who had to stay behind to get some work done).
After a few more arts and crafts activities, the boys sat down with the other kids, to play with and watch the baby tortoises crawl around.
It was not easy getting the boys to leave this fun Lionsgate event, but, they soon realized that we were going home with a copy of Turtle Tale.
We came home, got some snacks ready, and had a Turtle Tale movie night, to wrap up our amazing day, full of all things turtle.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Turtle Tale will be out on DVD, Digital and OnDemand, June 26th!