Fun Things to Do in Atlanta with Your Kids (and a free ebook download)

Here are some great things going on in Atlanta to get you in the Christmas spirit. Ho! Ho! Ho!

I’m a major fan of the 1964 version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (remember the Island of Misfit Toys and Hermey the Dentist?). Although I was excited to take my 9-year-old daughter to see it at the Center for Puppetry Arts, to be perfectly honest I didn’t see how they could capture the charm of the original version in a puppet show.

I was wrong.

The puppets look just like the movie and the vintage-feel of the production will charm both you and your child.

My daughter and I enjoyed making puppets of Hermey the Dentist after the show, which runs until January 6.

Beauty and the Beast at the Fox Theatre

Last night my 7-year-old daughter and I saw the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast at the Fox Theatre. (Can you believe she’s never seen the movie? We had it on VHS way back when, but I didn’t realize my youngest ones never saw it. Now it’s at the top of our Netflix queue.)

The actors who played Beast and Gaston were especially funny, and Belle is everything you’d want her to be (I love a heroine who’s a bookworm). The singing is lovely. My daughter said that Mrs. Potts, who was turned into a teapot, was her favorite character. My eyes felt a little misty when Chip, her son, turned into a boy again at the end.

This production is a whole lot of fun!

Download the ebook of Les Misérables for FREE!

Although I’m reading Jane Eyre (for the third time) along with the homeschool high school class I teach, and want to read The Hobbit again before December 14th, when my last three years’ worth of students will descend on a local theatre on opening day of the movie, I’ve also got a bigger goal in mind: read Les Misérables before the movie comes out on Christmas day.

I downloaded the ebook today on my iPad’s Kindle app and saw that it is currently free at Amazon. The regular price is $9.95, so grab it now!

[Disclosure: Tickets were provided for our family to see these productions. Affiliate links used in this post.]

7 Comments

Southern Gal on November 28, 2012 at 6:17 pm

I love Les Mis! We are going to the play in March. I can’t wait to see the movie. I’ve read the book twice. Skip huge part about the French sewage system and you’ll be good. 😉

Dawn on November 29, 2012 at 11:06 am

I’ll have to remember to watch for sewage sections! 😉

Rebecca on November 28, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Dawn, This is fantastic!

Thank you so much!!! Hope we can get together soon!

Mary on November 29, 2012 at 9:39 am

Dawn –

Thanks! We have done both of these and you are right – they’re wonderful! Yesterday I took the kids to see A Christmas Carol at the Alliance and it was spectacular. Check one off my bucket list. 😉

Dawn on November 29, 2012 at 11:07 am

Mary, I meant to mention A Christmas Carol, also. We haven’t seen it this year, but I saw it the past two. It is just wonderful!

Mindy on December 2, 2012 at 4:49 pm

Thanks for the tip on the e-book! I am reading Les Mis in paperback right now – such a thick book to hold. I am anxious for the movie. A definite Jane Eyre fan too : )

Dawn on December 2, 2012 at 6:51 pm

Mindy, I’m still wrapping up Jane Eyre, so I haven’t started yet. I’m reading it out of a large volume of the combined works of Charlotte and Emily Bronte, so I know what you mean about a thick book. I think you’ll find it helpful to have both the print and ebook. When I’m in the car at night (and my husband’s driving) I’ve been reading it on my iPad. I even read some of it on the iBooks app on my phone while waiting for my daughter’s choir concert to start. It’s handy how the ebook will sync to the same place between iPad and phone. I need to finish—Les Mis looks like a time investment, for sure!

Southern Gal on November 28, 2012 at 6:17 pm

I love Les Mis! We are going to the play in March. I can’t wait to see the movie. I’ve read the book twice. Skip huge part about the French sewage system and you’ll be good. 😉
- Dawn on November 29, 2012 at 11:06 am
  
  I’ll have to remember to watch for sewage sections! 😉
Rebecca on November 28, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Dawn, This is fantastic!

Thank you so much!!! Hope we can get together soon!
Mary on November 29, 2012 at 9:39 am

Dawn –

Thanks! We have done both of these and you are right – they’re wonderful! Yesterday I took the kids to see A Christmas Carol at the Alliance and it was spectacular. Check one off my bucket list. 😉
- Dawn on November 29, 2012 at 11:07 am
  
  Mary, I meant to mention A Christmas Carol, also. We haven’t seen it this year, but I saw it the past two. It is just wonderful!
Mindy on December 2, 2012 at 4:49 pm

Thanks for the tip on the e-book! I am reading Les Mis in paperback right now – such a thick book to hold. I am anxious for the movie. A definite Jane Eyre fan too : )
- Dawn on December 2, 2012 at 6:51 pm
  
  Mindy, I’m still wrapping up Jane Eyre, so I haven’t started yet. I’m reading it out of a large volume of the combined works of Charlotte and Emily Bronte, so I know what you mean about a thick book. I think you’ll find it helpful to have both the print and ebook. When I’m in the car at night (and my husband’s driving) I’ve been reading it on my iPad. I even read some of it on the iBooks app on my phone while waiting for my daughter’s choir concert to start. It’s handy how the ebook will sync to the same place between iPad and phone. I need to finish—Les Mis looks like a time investment, for sure!