M.A.D.E for indoor winter school holiday fun

The hunt is on!

Come to M.A.D.E (Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka) during the winter school holidays to get out of the cold and experience a museum in a fun and kid-friendly way with a winter treasure hunt. 

Then become a curator by learning to make snowflakes and adding to the exhibition space in M.A.D.E’s Kid Curated Corner.

M.A.D.E’s yummy Saltbush Kitchen is offering a special kids winter warmer to boot – a hot chocolate and cookie deal.

When:

Monday 27th June to Friday 1st July and Monday 4th July to Friday 8th July, 2016

Where:

M.A.D.E - Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka

102 Stawell Street South

Ballarat

During the school holidays, M.A.D.E is offering FREE entry for children to the museum.  Until Monday 4 July this includes the final week of 19^th Century Bling Goldfields Jewellry exhibition.  Entry also includes the school holiday program.

Museum entry:

During 19^th Century Bling Goldfields Jewellry exhibition:

Adult $12

Children FREE

Tuesday 5^th July onwards: 

Adult $12 

Children FREE

Free for Ballarat locals upon presentation of identification

To book tickets please call 1800 287 113

More information: www.made.org/whats-on/ 

Stadium Stomp 2016 is almost upon us! Have you registered??

What a great experience and opportunity to raise much needed funds! Melbournians, you could be racing through the iconic MCG over 7,300 stairs or in the short course of 1890 stairs.

With most fun runs decreasing in numbers Stadium Stomp is increasing in popularity!

Get set for the stair climbing event of EPIC proportions!!

Stadium Stomp uses the stairs within some of the largest sporting stadiums in the country to test willing participants in the ultimate stair climbing challenge.

And for the fourth consecutive year Australia’s largest sporting stadium, the MCG, will host Stadium Stomp MCG on Sunday 26 June, 2016 making this Stadium Stomp the largest of its kind in the country. The event is in place to support the Leukaemia Foundation , by encouraging the participants to fundraise for the foundation or a charity close to their heart, as a way of making every step count

Stadium Stomp MCG covers over 7,300 stairs up and down the MCG’s grandstands.

St Kilda Film Festival Full Program Released

The St Kilda Film Festival has revealed its exciting ten-day calendar for the 2016 event; running from Thursday 19 to Saturday 28 May 2016.

Proudly produced by the City of Port Phillip, the Festival will kick off with Opening Night on Thursday 19 May, where the Palais Theatre will welcome 3,000 industry guests and film-lovers on the red carpet to sample a selection of the best shorts from the 2016 program.

For the second year, the magnificent St Kilda Town Hall will be transformed into a state-of-the-art, purpose built cinema to host Australia’s top 100 short films, music videos, archival footage, international programs, youth screenings and an extensive filmmaker development program.

City of Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss is excited by the diversity of the films, genres and submission locations of the 2016 program.

“We have a great selection of films in this year’s Festival program from many different genres and from across the country and world. We’re looking forward to this year’s films going on to join our previous  success stories, including filmmakers being nominated and winning Academy Awards and major prizes at international festivals, being developed into feature films and leading to enduring collaborations. The City of Port Phillip is proud to be the home of a thriving creative industries hub and to be able to showcase the film industry as part of this landmark event.” said Cr Voss.

Festival Director Paul Harris said he was delighted to announce a world-class line up of short films created by some of Australia’s most talented filmmakers. 

Highlights from Australia’s Top 100 short film program include:

·     Perry - World premiere– starring Toby Schmitz, Ryan Johnson, Adrienne Pickering – Director Matt Day

A drug dealer outstays his welcome at a middle-class dinner party.

·     Whoever Was Using This Bed –Victorian premiere – Starring Radha Mitchell – Director Andrew Kotatko

A married couple is woken by a mysterious phone call that begins an unsettling journey into love and fear.

·     Young Labor – World premiere – starring Geraldine Hakewill and Taylor Ferguson – Directed by Leon Ford

A satire surrounding the world of politics, as shown through the passionate Youth division that is "Young Labor".

·     Ernie Biscuit – Director Adam Elliott

The clayography of a deaf Parisian taxidermist whose life is turned upside down when a dead pigeon arrives on his doorstep.

On Thursday 26 May, SoundKILDA will showcase the best music videos of local and international musicians created by many of the country’s most talented filmmakers. Some big name artists will grace the screens for SoundKILDA this year including Missy Higgins, Vance Joy, Boy & Bear and The Jezabels. 

Other special programs and screenings outside of the Top 100 program include Wild at Heart, a showcase of films created by artists across Melbourne and Victoria, the Under the Radar youth short film competition, the new edition of a Web Series program and more.

The Festival will incorporate an all-encompassing free program for development of emerging filmmakers, where attendees can marvel in everything about film including forums, workshops and couch conversations with names like Lee Matthews (Emo the Musical), Jannine Barnes (Downriver, The Wilding) and Adam Elliott (Harvie Krumpet).

The St Kilda Film Festival is proudly produced and presented by the City of Port Phillip, and is Australia’s longest running publicly owned Short Film Festival with a prize pool that totals more than $50,000. Award-winning films from the St Kilda Film Festival will be eligible for consideration in the OSCARS® Short Film and Documentary Short Awards.

The full St Kilda Film Festival program is now available. For further information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au

For this weekend only, Disney Live! is on at the Melbourne Convention Centre, lovingly still known as Jeff's Shed at our place!

I took the girls today and boy were they blown away! We had so much fun being transported to the fantasy land of Disney. Dancing with princes, fighting evil step mothers, singing with fairy godmothers and falling for beasts. And yes I said we. I am a sucker for fairy tales, I have always wanted to have a little girl that I could share these stories with and I was blessed with three, and all three of them watched on in awe.

The music and dancers were divine. The sets were detailed and mobile and they made great use of a small area, creating different scenes in seconds as the characters moved about.

Hosted by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald and Goofy, the group opened the magical book and that's when the magic begins! Snow White was the first story followed by Cinderella and finishing with Beauty and the Beast and as I said, the girls watched on in awe. 

The costumes were out of this world, our favourite (decided in the car on the way home by a tough panel of judges) were the Seven Dwarfs. Running a close second was the old hag that the witch turned herself into, we thought she was very well done. And the winner of I never want to see that one again was the Beast! That one was too scary the little ones declared!

With the minor hiccup of two scared children by the fight between Gaston and the Beast, the day was a huge success! Then we had the amazing opportunity to meet Snow White and Dopey after the show! The girls were beside themselves! It was such a fantastic day, leaving with our arms full of Mickey Mouse cups, balloons, crowns and bags, plus a lifetime of memories.

The best part is that as soon as we return home, the kids set themselves up falling every princess little people we have and they reenact the show then let their imaginations run wild on a whole new journey! Thanks guys, I could recommend this more!

Yes, last week was our annual visit to the city Christmas edition.

Every year I pack up all the kiddies and we head into the city to do the Christmas thing, first we visit the Myer windows. For those unfamiliar with the Melbourne Myer windows, here's the deal! Every year the shop windows are decked out with moving puppets to recreate a book. 

***SPOILER ALERT***

So this years windows were adorable! The best ones since the Nutcracker ... here goes it! Santa Clause and the Three Bears! They were adorable! Santa went in to their house and ate the porridge, broke the chair and fell asleep in the bed! So totally cute! The book is available to purchase in store too! 

Myer is in to its 59th year this year, and I have been visiting the Christmas windows since I was a little girl. So I am looking forward to seeing what their 60th year brings! Well done on another marvellous year!

Then we head inside to SANTALAND! This is a fairly new thing, I never had this as a child but since Mikayla was two, we have been visiting Santaland after the windows. Here the children get to enjoy 

a free train ride on the POlar Express, Santa photo's are available abd although we get them done here every year, this year we had to pass as the line just was not moving and I had two very restless kiddos! And lastly we head into the Christmas trim section and find a special ornament that we can add to the tree. I look forward to the day that our tree is completely decorated in the ornaments we had purchased on these trips.

Last year we found the Gingerbread village at the Epicure centre at The Melbourne Town Hall, but as I had been completely cleaned out of coins we weren't able to make it in this year, but if you are in the area do check it out, it is amazing!!

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What we did find was Christmas Square, in the city centre, just a few blocks away from Flinders Street Station. Here there is roving entertainment, interactive candy canes and free Santa photo's. I just learned to that there is a light show on every Friday night, so get down there tonight to see it in action! Look out for the helpful nutcrackers too, they may have given my kids a little fright though!

Ending the day with an ice cream at the station and a train ride home, the kids had a ball. I love our trips into the city, they are too far and few between. Hopefully now that Nate is a little older we will be able to more of this! Summer in Melbourne is a wonderful thing, so many beautiful gardens and hidden secrets to find! 

Merry Christmas to you all! I would love to hear what you have done to get festive this year!

Yes the holiday's are upon us once again! 

What do you have planned? We plan on lots of day trips, lots of play at home and general school holiday bumming around!

I'm looking forward to seeing ... I mean, I'm looking forward to taking the kids to see the new movie Boxtrolls!! ​​