Over the last few months, my kids have somehow wrangled an ongoing date Friday night movie celebration with their cousins. With no conscious effort, myself and my cousin have found ourselves alternating venues (her house or mine) and hosting these little get togethers. It’s an opportunity for the kids to eat a new meal together, watch a movie and chat about their week. We’ve actually been surprised how lovely the weekly experience is and look forward to it with anticipation.
To mark the release of The Book of Life on Digital HD which features the voice of Channing Tatum, we decided to mark the occasion with a little a Mexican fiesta. With the movie weaving the Day of the Dead celebration throughout we knew the obvious choice for our meal and group activities. What I didn’t expect was for the kids to suggest Sugar Skull painting was incorporated into the night.
For dinner we had a plethora of options. Burritos, Tortillas, Nachos…..so many options. Being the last day of term, and a particularly big one for us working mums, we decided to go the easy route and settled on Torillas. D prepared a range of ingredients for the kids to select. I microwaved the tortillas. Easy peasy. They were a hit immediately with the kids filling their tortilla with their preferred flavours.
We then started the movie. Master R was very reluctant to watch and asked if he could just play Minecraft. Ten minutes later, he was the most enthralled. The Book of Life centres around Manolo who is torn between the expectations of his family and what his heart actually wants. He needs to make a choice but before doing so, is thrust on an adventure across three worlds. Of course there is lots of drama and music along the way. One of my highlights was when he attempts to serenade his love interest thinking that it is the way to her heart only to discover that this strategy doesn’t actual work in the ‘real’ world!
As they watched, I painted their faces. As a novice, I’m pretty proud with my efforts but with a little more preparation could probably have made it look a lot better. Next time, right? D also made Nachos rather than the traditional popcorn. I think D and I ate most of them, so yummy!
For dessert we headed outside for a little piñata fun and ice-cream. There was squeals of laughter and then much movement as they all attempted to retrieve the lollies that spewed from the broken piñata.
With travelling planned for the next few weeks, I’m hoping I can persuade the kids to enjoy a Japanese film next!
With thanks to 20th Century Fox for providing us The Book of Life for viewing. We were under no obligation to write about our experience, but couldn’t help ourselves! We had so much fun! The Book of Life is available on iTunes for $16.99.
