Beltway Bambinos

(re) discover Washington DC through the eyes of your children

Spirit Untamed movie pass giveaway

(from left) Abigail Stone (Mckenna Grace) riding Boomerang, Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced) riding Spirit and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin) riding Chica Linda in DreamWorks Animation’s Spirit Untamed, directed by Elaine Bogan.

About Spirit Untamed:
An epic adventure about a headstrong girl longing for a place to belong who discovers a kindred spirit when her life intersects with a wild horse, Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in the beloved story from DreamWorks Animation. 

Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) never really knew her late mother, Milagro Navarro (Eiza González, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), a fearless horse-riding stunt performer from Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier. 

Like her mother, Lucky isn’t exactly a fan of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora (Academy Award® winner Julianne Moore) no small amount of worry. Lucky has grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them both back with Lucky’s father, Jim (Oscar® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal), in Miradero.

Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy little town. She has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone (Mckenna Grace, Captain Marvel) and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin, Little). Pru’s father, stable owner Al Granger (Emmy winner Andre Braugher, Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine), is the best friend of Lucky’s father. 

When a heartless horse wrangler (Emmy nominee Walton Goggins, FX’s Justified) and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose, and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy and to her Mexican heritage that she never expected. 

Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise that began with the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron and includes an Emmy-winning TV series. The film is directed by Elaine Bogan (Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television’s Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) and is produced by Karen Foster (co-producer, How to Train Your Dragon). The film’s co-director is Ennio Torresan (head of story, The Boss Baby), and the film’s score is by composer Amie Doherty (Amazon’s Undone, DreamWorks Animation’s Marooned).

#SpiritUntamed stars Isabela Merced, Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace and more!

Giveaway: Enter to win a 4-pack of passes to see Spirit Untamed June 1, 2021 at 7pm at AMC Tyson’s Corner. Comment below with the last movie you saw in a theatre! Winner will be randomly selected and notified on the comments below Saturday, May 29, 2021.

Note: Due to Covid protocols the theater will only fill the theater to 30% capacity,

The Grinch’s Grotto + GIVEAWAY

“You’re a mean one, 2020.” It’s been a year to say the least and even as the holidays approach, some may be feeling more grouchy than usual.  If taking those traditional cheerful holiday photos with the family is exactly what you don’t feel like doing, there’s now an alternative! Kilburn Live, a market leader in the Live Entertainment industry, has announced a new partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, a global leader in educational entertainment, to create “The Grinch’s Grotto,” an imaginative take on holiday photo shoots that will give guests a fun way to show off a bit of their grumpiness during  what is still the most wonderful time of the year. 

Guests will enter these free-standing locations for a one-of-a-kind visit with The Grinch in his special cave for a photo-shoot and other special surprises that are both intimate and in true Grinch fashion – socially-distant.  

Complete with a burlap sack full of presents, a Grinch stylized holiday tree and a backlit fireplace with hanging stockings just as depicted in the book, this true-to-form experience will place guests inside the classic tale in one of the most authentic ways possible. Guests will also be given the opportunity to pick a sign with their choice of a favorite 2020 slogan to be placed in their photo with the Grinch. Sample slogans include, “You’re a mean one, 2020” “2020: “Stink, Stank, Stunk,” “2020 – How The Grinch Stole, Well, The Whole Year” and some positive ones including “The Grinch still can’t steal Christmas!” 

“The Grinch’s Grotto” will run from November 27-December 31 and the location closest to us is at Tyson’s Corner Center.

GIVEAWAY: There will be 4 winners for this holiday giveaway!! Enter to win a family 5-pack to attend Grinch’s Grotto by liking our post on Instagram and commenting with your favorite holiday movie. You will be entered multiple times by tagging friends. Giveaway is also on Facebook in case you aren’t on Instagram. Winner will be announced on December 3, 2020.

Ring in the new school year with ‘Back to The Yards’ giveaway event

Lancer Photography, 2020. All rights reserved.

The Yards, DC’s most exciting waterfront neighborhood for living, dining, shopping, and relaxing, is ringing in back-to-school with Back to The Yards! While this school year looks different for many students and parents, The Yards will be giving away FREE boxes of fun school supplies curated for younger Yards guests when they dine-in or pick up take-out from any Yards Restaurant on Friday, September 25th from 5:00-8:00pm.

Back to The Yards boxes will contain fun, colorful essentials for back to school (or homeschool), wherever that may be! Boxes are limited to one per family, while supplies last, for pick-up at The Yards Park.

Back to The Yards boxes will include festive supplies like: pencils, notebooks, colorful post-its, stickers, highlighters and more fun. Special boxes with fun school supplies are free to each family with a receipt from any Yards restaurant. All participating restaurants can be found here – meaning a receipt from one of these restaurants will allow you to pick up a free back-to-school box from Yards Park. We hope the start of the school year has been okay for everyone.

Raffi celebrates 40th anniversary of “Baby Beluga” with fan-art music video + GIVEAWAY

Raffi has been the world’s best-selling and most influential children’s entertainer, delighting successive generations of kids and their parents with his playful, exuberant personality and his irresistibly infectious songs for over two generations. “Baby Beluga” is one of the most enduring songs in the children’s music canon as well as a catchy one. More than two million copies of the album have been sold since the original release on July 10, 1980, and the song has been streamed hundreds of millions of time across digital music services. “I think that kids love how the song makes them feel,” Raffi says. “The song plants a seed of love in young children, love for a magnificent aquatic creature. What you love, you want to protect. So, love for a beluga is symbolic for a greater love of our world of wonders, our big, beautiful planet.”

This year, Raffi is celebrating 40 years since he released “Baby Beluga,” a foundational song for the children’s music genre. When considering the art direction for a music video to commemorate the song’s enduring popularity, Raffi turned to the people who have been listening to the song their entire lives. Parents were requested to submit drawings that reflected the lyrical content of the song and its Earth-friendly message, and hundreds of children of all ages submitted their creations. The animator YOUSEF (Tame Impala, Robbie Williams, Iggy Pop), then brought a handful of the selected drawings to life as live animations.

Fatherly.com premiered the new “Baby Beluga” music video. Entertainment editor Ryan Britt, says it “perfectly captures the gentle spirit of children’s imaginations everywhere .”
 Millions of people grew up with “Baby Beluga,” which follows a little white whale through his happy day, a hit song that helped spark both a public appreciation of a threatened species and Raffi’s own climate activism.
 In July, Raffi and cellist Yo-Yo Ma released a 40th anniversary version of “Baby Beluga” as part of Ma’s Songs of Comfort web series, garnering millions of streams within the first week.  The celebration continued with the launch of Raffi’s official YouTube channel at Youtube.com/Raffi, and a new web store offering a range of special bundles around the beloved little white whale.

GIVEAWAY: Win Raffi’s original “Baby Beluga” CD. Comment on this blog post with your favorite Raffi song. Open to US residents only. Winner announced on September 7, 2020.

 https://youtu.be/mIBY-LQYkVA
Please tag Raffi whenever you share this. 
Hashtags for social media: #BB40 #BelugaGrads

For the latest Raffi news, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and visit here.

Flex Academies ONE online enrichment programs + GIVEAWAY

You may be familiar with Flex Academies as some local schools partnered with Flex Academies to hold enrichment classes. As we find ourselves not being able to go to school, Flex Academies has pivoted and adjusted their offerings to continue to reach your child at home!

Flex Academies ONE are classes taught LIVE by Flex Academy’s instructors. The classes are taught via a password protected Zoom room and an extensive list of classes are offered for kids in grades PreK-6. You are sure to find a class right for your child. Classes are categorized into arts, fitness, life skills and language classes. The great part is you can pay as you go or purchase a pack of classes. Visit the FAQ for answers to common questions and head to their YouTube channel to see classes in action.

GIVEAWAY: Enter to win a 10 pack of classes from Flex Academies ONE by commenting on our Facebook post with which class(es) you’d sign your Bambino(s) up for. A winner will be announced on May 8, 2020.

Harlem Globetrotters + GIVEAWAY

The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, featuring larger than life entertainers, are bringing their ALL-NEW show, “Pushing the Limits” to Washington, DC & Fairfax. Don’t miss your chance to get up close and personable with a star-stuffed roster including Big Easy Lofton, Hi-Lite Bruton, and woman stars TNT Lister, Swish Sutton, and Torch George. Every show features a blend of hilarious hijinks and incredible basketball skills including ball handling, high flying dunks, and a new record-breaking attempt. The Harlem Globetrotters are a one-of-a kind experience putting a new spin on family time. You won’t want to miss these memories worth repeating! 

The tickets for the giveaway will be 4 tickets for one performance of your choice. Leave a comment on our Facebook page + extra entry for commenting below on this post with which show you want to attend. Winner will be randomly selected and notified March 10, 2020.
March 20, 2020 | Eagle Bank Arena | 7:30 PM
March 21, 2020 |Eagle Bank Arena | 7:30 PM
March 21, 2020 | Capital One Arena | 1:00 PM

A frozen concert that appeals to children AND adults alike + giveaway

This post is written by Sam Sessa. You may have caught wind earlier this week of the upcoming concert he is bringing to the Miracle Theatre. Sessa is a former stay at home dad to 2 boys and lives in Baltimore. He works at NPR music station 89.7 WTMD as the station’s Baltimore music and community engagement manager. A couple years ago, he started producing a series of concerts for kids called Saturday Morning Tunes. The idea is to put on concerts that adults want to see, at times when they can bring their kids. He is debuting a “Frozen” live show, featuring classically trained opera singers The Outcalls in Washington, DC on February 22 at the Miracle Theatre. They normally perform with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra but Sam somehow convinced them to dress up like Princesses Anna and Elsa and learn these songs! Sam is going to be sharing some music-related posts with us over the next few months and hopefully he will bring DC more of his shows this year!

When we were kids, children’s music was pretty bad. Not that we knew it back then — at the time, Barney and Raffi seemed just fine.

Now that we’re adults, we know better, and want better for our own little ones. That’s why, in the past 10 years, a whole new genre of cool music for kids has appeared. It’s called “kindie” (a mash-up of “kid-friendly” and “indie”), and there are tons of bands making children’s music that parents can not only tolerate but enjoy.

You might recognize some of the more popular kindie artists, because they’re bands we loved in the ’90s who are now writing songs for their own kids: Barenaked Ladies, Presidents of the United States of America (remember “Lump” and “Peaches?”) and Lisa Loeb. That’s not to mention the dozens of talented bilingual kindie artists, with  albums in Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and other languages.

Here are five of the top kindie albums from the past few years. 

“Arriba Abajo” by 123 Andres (2016)

One of the best kindie artists is right here in our backyard: D.C.-based 123 Andres won a Latin Grammy for this album, which has several songs in Spanish, followed by many of the same songs in English. The songs are bright and sunny, and it’s a fun way to teach your kids a new language.

“Foreverywhere” by STEVENSTEVEN (2017)

What do you get when you a member of the experimental indie rock band the Flaming Lips teams up with the host of Nickelodeon’s “Blues Clues” to make a children’s album? The answer: “Foreverywhere,” a gorgeous psychedelic record with tunes like “A Fact is a Gift That You Give Your Brain.” Imagine Pink Floyd if they wrote songs about unicorns.

“Falu’s Bazaar” by Falu (2018)

A native of Bombay, India, Falu has collaborated with a who’s-who of the music industry, including Yo-Yo Ma, Wyclef Jean and Ricky Martin. After having her own son, Falu set out to create “Falu’s Bazaar,” a musical journey through South Asian culture. The songs weave in and out of English and Hindi, and “Falu’s Bazaar” is a great starting point for exploring the world of Hindi music with your children.

“I’m From the Sun” by Gustafer Yellowgold (2019)

The New York Times has called Gustafer Yellowgold “a cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss,” and for good reason. The project of singer/songwriter Morgan Taylor, Gustafer Yellowgold reaches back to the golden harmonies and power pop of the 1960s and 1970s and comes up with an irresistible mix of melodies on this new album.

“We Dream in 3d” by SaulPaul (2017)

Family friendly rapper SaulPaul was named Austinite of the Year in 2017, and his song “Rise (Remix)” — from this album — became one of the top songs on SiriusXM radio. SaulPaul enlists a cast of children singers to help with the lyrics, and the result is a mix of charming and tasteful rap tunes.

GIVEAWAY: Enter to win a family-four pack of tickets to the Frozen concert on February 22 at the Miracle Theatre. Make sure you are following Saturday Morning Tunes and then comment on our Instagram telling us you’d like to attend the concert. Winner will be announced on Friday.

Disney on Ice presents Celebrate Memories + GIVEAWAY

Disney On Ice presents Celebrate Memories at Capital One Arena- February 13-17, 2020

Your favorite Disney stories come to life at Disney On Ice presents Celebrate Memories! Sail along with Moana on her high-seas adventure and dance with Woody, Buzz and all the Toy Story friends. Feel inspired when love wins in Frozen and dreams come true for the Disney Princesses. Share the excitement and make new memories the whole family will treasure forever! Create memories with your family today -Tickets Start at $15

Show times at Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.:
Thursday, Feb. 13 @ 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 14 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sat, Feb. 15 @ 10:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 16 @ 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Mon. Feb. 17 @ 10:30 a.m and 2:30 p.m. (President’s Day)

Ticket prices:  $90 Front Row, $55 VIP, $35, $30, $20 and $15
Additional fees may apply. Ticket prices based on market demand and subject to change.

Giveaway: Enter to win 4 tickets to attend the show on Thursday, February 13th at 7:30 pm. Tag 2 friends on Facebook! Winner announced on February 4th.

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