momstown Music & Movement with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes and Broadstreet Dance

momstown Music & Movement
with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes

and Broadstreet Dance

Saturday, March 16th

1:30-3:30 pm 
Dance Victoria
111-2750 Quadra St. 

Stroller entrance is through the back parking lot.

$5/child or FREE for momstown members

On March 16th, momstown Victoria moms and kids will get a chance to channel their inner dancers and ballerinas! We have an exciting Music & Movement event sponsored by Broadstreet Dance taking place at Dance Victoria to celebrate the DVD release of Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes.

Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is a new release which is will be available on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD on February 26th, 2013. Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is an exciting ballet movie in which Barbie stars as Kristyn, the hard-working dancer, who wows the big ballet company in her performance of Giselle and Swan Lake. Through this journey, Kristyn learns that when you dance from your heart, your dreams can come true.

Little ballerinas will love the new line up of Barbie dolls, accessories and a playset so that they can recreate some of their favorite scenes from the film! A must-have is the Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes as Kristyn Farraday™.  Two in one, girls can simply twist the doll and her skirt reverses for a magical transformation!

Broadstreet Dance will be doing both a Dance to the Music class and ballet demonstration, and each child will get to take home a themed craft from the event. And of course, everyone is encouraged to come in their best dance or ballerina outfit and bring their favourite doll or buddy with them. 

This is event is FREE for momstown members! If you're not a member yet, simply register online for your FREE 4-week trial or sign up at the event!

Enter to Win a Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes DVD!

Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is an exciting ballet movie in which Barbie™ stars as Kristyn, the hard-working dancer, who wows the big ballet company in her performance of Giselle and Swan Lake.  Through this journey Kristyn learns that when you dance from your heart – your dreams can come true.

To enter the contest, please leave a comment in the section below about why your child loves Barbie™. One entry per email address. Make sure you sign in with your email address so we can contact you if you have won (or if you don't have an account, please leave your email address in the comment).

Contest open March 1-31, 2013. Winners will be drawn on March 31, 2013 and contacted via momstown.

momstown Victoria Discovery Field Trip: Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary

Our momstown Victoria Discovery Field Trip this month was to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary! Our moms, babies and kids were given a hands-on and humourous introduction to each of the creatures that live at the Nature House, beginning with Wrinkles, the resident turtle. We learned interesting facts about turtles, such as that they come out of the lake to lay their eggs on the first hot day in June, and that Franklin is a "fake" because turtles can't remove their shells!

Next, we met Licorice, a beautiful black garter snake. Each child got to hold or touch Licorice (if they wanted to, that is!) The children learned that snakes are dry and not slimy, and that Licorice smells with her tongue and hears with her chin.

Lastly, we met a nice, bumpy, lady toad. We looked at her ear drums and let her sit on our hands, and Scott told us that because she doesn't have an upper bone in her mouth, she uses her eyeballs to swallow her food. Unfortunately, Ms. Toad wasn't hungry for the worm we offered her, so we'll have to take his word for it!

Afterwards we walked down to the lake and fed the ducks with flattened oats bought from the Nature House. We explored the boardwalks and floating bridge, looked for wildlife, and we certainly did find some! We saw a group of lean cormorants hanging out on one of the floating piers.

We had a fun time and some great memories to take with us! Thank you to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary for showing our toddlers and preschoolers the animals that live at the Nature House. Swan Lake offers a wonderful program called Biology Buddies for ages 4 to 6 years, where kids can learn about topics like Fabulous Fossils, Sounds of Spring, Wildflowers and Bodacious Bugs in a series of 2-hour drop-off sessions. Please check it out, and tell Scott you heard about it from momstown Victoria! ;)

Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial with momstown today, and join us at our next Discovery Field Trip to the Sidney Museum! Our membership is chock full of amazing value, and when you sign up or renew your 1-year momstown membership in 2013, you'll receive a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent Magazine subscription! Contact us at info.victoria@momstown.ca for details.

momstown Victoria Baby Book Club: "Welcome, Baby!" by Barbara Reid

"Welcome, baby, welcome!

All the world is new,
And all the world is waiting
To be introduced to you."

momstown Victoria moms and babies enjoyed circle time together and shared an essential baby board book by Barbara Reid, called "Welcome, Baby." The beautiful message and bright pictures of Reid's trademark Plasticine artwork would make this board book a perfect addition to a baby's first book collection.






Congratulations to this month's lucky winner of our Baby Book of the month from Scholastic Canada! Scholastic also sponsors our monthly Tales for Tots program at Chapters and next month's Mama Book Club at Story Studio. Your momstown membership includes access to these great literacy support programs and so much more. (Plus you get to hang out with the nicest, coolest and smartest bunch of moms ever!!) Try us on a FREE 4-week trial today!!!

momstown Victoria Tales for Tots Welcomes Local Storyteller, Jennifer Ferris

Today at momstown Victoria Tales for Tots we read  "The Very Hungry Bear" by Nick Bland, about a bear who makes a deal with a polar bear. The illustrations are bright and whimsical, and the rhymes and the bolded words help the reader to bring the story to life for young listeners. This is a wonderful book that parents and kids will love to read out loud together!

We also welcomed Jennifer Ferris to our Tales for Tots program! Jennifer has been active for 20 years in schools, at community events, nature sanctuaries, schools and festivals. Through her work and volunteer activities in the community she has used story to engage and entertain pre-schoolers and their parents. This year she has been busy as the president of Storytellers of Canada - Conteurs du Canada but always finds time to tell a story. 






We are so pleased that Jennifer will be sharing her stories with us each month, and today she engaged our group of parents, toddlers and preschoolers with delightful stories about a little bear cub to accompany our book! 

After story time we did a polar bear craft together! We used tissue paper to make our bears fluffy and put stars in the night sky. 

Congratulations to the lucky winner of our book! momstown Tales for Tots sponsored by Scholastic Canada is on the third Wednesday of every month from 10-11 am at Chapters Victoria! Grab a coffee and join us in the wonderful children's area for a story time and craft, and enter our contest to win the book of the month!

momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support moms in Greater Victoria! Our 1-year membership is only $45/year per family and includes a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent subscription! Click here to register for a 4-week free trial!

Soozsports and Yoga Therapy with Dr. Suzanne Flannigan, PhD

Dr. Suzanne Flannigan, PhD, triathlete and
owner of Soozsports and Yoga Therapy

SoozSports and Yoga Therapy offers a variety of customized and highly individualized coaching programs geared toward two groups of people: those who want to become more active, vibrant and healthy; and, those who want to improve their competitive performance in general fitness, swimming, biking, running and/or triathlon.  

SoozSports and Yoga Therapy also offers individual and small group (10 or less) yoga classes in a beautiful and serene yoga studio. Yoga sessions help individuals calm the mind and rejuvenate the spirit while releasing stress and strengthening the systems of the body. Yoga sessions improve flexibility, strengthen the core and remove physical, mental and emotional toxins from the body. 

In addition, SoozSports and Yoga Therapy offers specialized mini and small group yoga sessions. These programs are specifically tailored toward the needs of each specialized group. Our yoga programs will increase flexibility, decrease tightness, build strength and energize the entire body.

"I have a PhD in Higher Education, am a 200-hour certified and registered yoga instructor, and I am a Canadian National Coaching Association Level 2 Coach in triathlon (and will be doing my level 3 assessment in less than 2 weeks.) I have been an athlete all my life, competitive in swimming, gymnastics, track and field, cross country, and triathlon. I have done yoga most of my life as part of my athletics. And, I have celiac (a gluten allergy) so am well-versed in nutrition."

Follow Soozsports on facebook and twitter!

Suzanne is offering a $5 drop-in yoga session for momstown Victoria members on Wednesday nights for 12 weeks only, from February 20th to May 8th. Space is limited and signups will close on the Monday night prior to the event. You must a be a member to attend! Not a member yet? Try us FREE for 4 weeks and you'll have access to this yoga class and many more great events to connect with other moms around town!

Meet the Membership Ambassador of momstown Victoria: Dominique Jones

Dominique Jones has been the Membership Ambassador with momstown Victoria since December 2013. This means she has the awesome job of talking with all the members, fielding questions, collecting comments, and meeting with the mamas to get them as excited about momstown as she was when she was a new member. Working directly with Victoria’s momstown mama Melissa Hogg, Dominique loves to collaborate on ideas and to help with the organization of events that give momstown the uniqueness of being more than a playgroup. Totally in love with being a mom in Victoria, you can meet Dominique and her son at a lot of the events, or drop her an email with any inquiry you may have at dominique.jones@momstown.ca.