Eight Below

The next movie on our list is Eight Below. It was a great movie inspired by a true story. There were these wonder huskies that were in the Antarctic surviving on their own as they waited for their owner to come back to them. The owner tried so hard to return but it was difficult. Paul Walker plays the owner, Jerry, which made the movie seem even sadder because he passed a few years ago. 

It was a good movie and I certainly recommend it if you are a dog lover or interested in the Antarctic. 

Bolt

This movie came out when I wasn't concerned too much about watching new Disney movies. I was a senior in college and we were all into the retro/nostalgic things so we watched old Disney movies from the 90's instead. That being said, I have seen Bolt before and liked it enough - I thought it was cute. It was even better watching it with a 6 year old son, though. Hilarious.  

Big Red

The next movie on our wonderfully long list of movies is called Big Red. 

The movie had a slow start but it got more interesting as it went on. Disney sure loves its dogs. There are so many stories about them! 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!

We watched the last sequel to the Beverly Hills Chihuahua series. In this one, they move into a hotel when their owners get a job there. They were able to get a job at the hotel only if Chloe would make special appearances to promote the hotel. The puppies had to go to a Doggy Day School and Papi uncovered some mysterious things happening at the hotel.

Definitely better than I expected it to be, which is always a plus with a sequel. The Kid enjoyed it. 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Continuing with the Beverly Hills Chihuahua series, we move on to the sequel.

Disney loves doing the talking-dogs thing, and it doesn't seem to get old. This movie was cute and there were definitely some funny parts that the kid enjoyed. I'm noticing a theme with the dog movies - the dogs always end up being a hero and catching some sort of bad guy. Interesting. 

One more in this series to go! 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

We watched a cute movie about a stuck-up rich dog who is quite pampered. She got kidnapped in Mexico and is saved by another dog who was not so pampered. It was a funny movie and the kid loved it. He liked that there was some Spanish in this movie. 

Benji the Hunted

I watched this movie on my own. It was about a cute dog taking care of some little cougars who were sadly orphaned after their mother was killed by a hunter. The dog tries to save them from various threats. 

It was a very quiet movie, which at times became a problem for me because I kept forgetting I was watching something! 

Air Buddies

Air Buddies is a spin-off of the Air Bud series. 

It was cute. This time the animals talk so that adds a little extra interest for the kids. Some of them were pretty funny. The poor puppies ran away after they found out they were being given up for adoption. A little bratty kid wants the puppies. The story line is similar to the original series. 

We decided to stamp a few puppies and color them. I made my puppies into a card. 

There are quite a few of these "Buddies" movies, but instead of doing them all now we are going to watch them later as they come up in the alphabet. Trust me, it is better this way! 

Air Bud Spikes Back

Air Bud is back and he learns to play another sport, this time Volleyball. 

I love kid movies but I think we can all agree that this particular plot is getting old. Maybe if I didn't just watch the first four movies this one would have been a tiny bit more exciting. Maybe. I think at this point I was just done with the series. At least there was a parrot this time. 

We went over to the park and played at the volleyball net. Volleyball isn't really one of my favorite sports and the sand was pretty hot. It was neat to try something new though. 

Air Bud 7th Inning Fetch

Get ready for another sports movie about a skillful dog and yet another villain who likes to kidnap puppies. 

Another repetitive plot, but this time we get to see a girl play. Another villain comes along to kidnap the puppies. Buddy the dog plays baseball and tries to save his pups. The kid seems to really enjoy this type of movie so I think a 4-7 year old audience won't really notice. 

We love baseball in this family. The boys are always playing in leagues during this time of year. This week we were able to watch one of my nephews play in a tournament. It was very exciting to watch the winning team!  

Air Bud: World Pup

Back again with another Air Bud sequel. This time, he plays one of the kid's favorites, soccer. 

Buddy got a bit busy this time around and had some puppies. Big surprise - they get kidnapped! Another villain, another sport, another kidnapping. These movies are starting to get a bit predictable! This one was straight to video. 

I am sure you could take a wild guess - we were inspired to play soccer! The Kid seems to be enjoying each different sport, so that's nice. Honestly, though, we were at a birthday party with a pool when I tried to play soccer, so it lasted maybe 3 minutes. Oh, well. 

Stay tuned for even more Air Bud movies... next time!

Air Bud: Golden Receiver

We watched the sequel to Air Bud, and this time it was all about football. 

Another couple of villains show up in the sequel wanting to make Buddy work in their circus and Buddy gets kidnapped again. It is the same boy in the movie, but now he is a little older and upset about his mother dating a new guy. This guy buys Josh a football and they find out that Buddy is excellent at another sport. Buddy joins the football team with Josh - because the township still hasn't made a rule against animals who don't attend the school playing for the team. 

It was a pretty good sequel, and the only other Air Bud movie that actually played in theaters. We were inspired to play football while down the shore this weekend. 

Air Bud

Get ready for weeks of Air Bud movies. We start our first one with the original Air Bud. 

The first Air Bud really is sweet and reminds me of some other classic 90's sports movies, but it adds in the dog aspect, which was also pretty big in the 90's. 2 for 1 deal. The villain is pretty good as far as villains go. The kid cried and cried at the part where (SPOILER) the boy tries to abandon Buddy. It was very emotional. 

We took inspiration from the movie and decided to practice shooting hoops at the park down the street. It was a nice day outside and there are so many parks around here, might as well use them. 

102 Dalmatians

We have reached the end of the Dalmatians! 

There were some cute parts and I especially liked the parrot, but a lot of main characters from the first movie were missing, which bummed me out. 

We decided to take inspiration from the end of the movie where the dogs battle Cruella in a bakery. We made cupcakes! I think the boys liked the aftermath of this activity. 

101 Dalmatians (Live Action)

Already I get to see a remake of a classic, this time a Live Action version. The Dalmatian craze continues...

Cruella is definitely not as nasty looking in this version. I like the retold story of how Cruella and Anita know each other, too. In the animated version I just didn't understand how Cruella knew about the puppies to begin with. Again Chris giggled at Jasper and Horace, and Frank was less impressed with the Live-Action version of his favorite. 

This week we stopped at a local pet store to visit some puppies - a free activity unless you end up going home with one! We did not, but they are cute.

101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure

Continuing with the 101 Dalmatian series: 

This one didn't live up to the original for Frank, as the first was his favorite Disney movie. I thought it was cute and funny! Definitely some good parts in this movie, but I was disappointed not to get too much screen time with the other favorite pups- like Lucky. 

We were inspired by the funny artist in this film, who enjoyed painting spots on canvas. My son and nephew painted Dalmatian spots on canvases that I had with my craft things and they will be hung in my new house! 

101 Dalmatians

Today we watched the first movie in the challenge: 101 Dalmatians. 

I remember watching this as a kid and letting myself fall asleep to the sound of Pongo's British accent as he narrates. This is Frank's favorite Disney movie and it was the first time Chris saw it. He giggled at Jasper and Horace much like he giggles at Marv and Harry from Home Alone. 

I found some old shirts that were on their way out and decided we could use them for our movie inspired craft this week. 

We had a fabric marker already and we both just made dots all over and colored them in. Dalmatian spots aren't perfect, which made this project even easier.

A Cruella inspired outfit, a puppy in the middle, and my casual Dalmatian inspired outfit. Now we are ready for the sequel and live-action films!