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In this movie, a young girl is evacuated to America at the start of World War II and has just returned after the war to England. Adjusting to the lifestyle and culture of England after spending her formative years in America seems to be a big struggle as she now considers herself American. 

It wasn't a very entertaining movie but I suppose it was a bit educational. The girl liked to use stencils, especially on the walls, so I took inspiration from that and used some circle stencils and paint on my scrapbooking project. 

Babes in Toyland

YAY! We finally made it to movies that begin with the letter "B"!! I watched Babes in Toyland for the first time with the kid.

I don't know where to begin. I might have been really tired, but I didn't follow this one at all. It felt so scattered... I really couldn't tell what the story was about! Where are we? Why didn't this girl know she had money? Why did she just believe and accept what these people said about her fiance and then go and say yes to some other guy's proposal? And suddenly we are in a toy workshop... I'm lost. 

Anyway, I decided to start on my annual Christmas Activity Calendar or December Bucket List. I have some pretty fun activities planned for this year. Can't wait! 

Avalon High

It is time for another Disney Channel Movie. This one is called Avalon High.

The actress from the recent Tomorrowland movie is in this and I so desperately wanted to like her Disney Channel movie but something about it seemed off. It all felt rushed and almost like for a second they were surprised that the Camelot characters were reincarnated and then a second later they got over it. But Disney sure loves to make movies about Arthur and Merlin! 

Since I watched most of the movie myself, I did the activity myself with a friend at work. We went for a walk at lunch through a trail, much like the one that Allie and Will run on in the movie. 

Atlantis: Milo's Return

I think they meant to make a TV series out of this, but instead put three episodes into a sequel and moved on and away from Atlantis after it didn't do well in the box office. 

If these stories were part of a TV series, we might watch it. But it was a randomly pieced sequel that didn't make much sense to the story overall. I found it hard to follow. Not much else to say about it!

We took inspiration by going on our own little adventure into the woods to take some pictures of the Halloween costume we have picked out this year. The kid also dressed up as Harry Potter and a Ghostbuster for some parades in the area. 

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

This time around we watched Atlantis: the Lost Empire. This movie is seriously underrated as far as Disney Animations go. I feel like when this came out, people were too focused on new things like chat rooms and getting their first cell phones before me. Or maybe I'm thinking that because I was just starting my teen years and those things seemed important to me instead of going out to see a Disney movie (you know how teens are...). 

I really liked that this was more of a science fiction and the animation was interesting and different. There were some funny characters, but there was also a lot of people dying in this movie. With Disney animations, I typically expect one or two key characters to go, but this one had lots of people dying here and there. I might be a little traumatized. 

We took inspiration from the glowing crystal and had a glow stick party with the kid's cousins. We played glow stick tag and what time is it Mr. Fox and just ran around with them in the dark by a fire pit. Fun times.

Around the World in 80 Days

The Kid was much too busy to watch our next movie with us, which was fine because it wasn't super entertaining for his age (or ours.. really). 

Some parts were funny, and I did like a lot of the cast, but the movie overall was certainly not the best and most entertaining for a family movie. There are many others to spend your valuable time watching. But I don't care - I am loving this Disney mission and glad to have another one under my belt.

The kid has been learning some geography. We started with a map of the United States. He is learning all of the states and their locations. Each time he gets one right, he gets the M&M that was sitting on that state. He likes that part! 

Annie (1999)

Our next movie is Annie - the 1999 TV movie version that aired on ABC. I think it may be our first musical, too. I like musicals. 

Annie is a classic, of course, but this version was not the best. It was a TV movie after all. Annie has been redone several times over the years. I do like the cast in this one, though. 

We were pretty boring about the activity this time around and just did some house chores. I didn't even get a picture of it! Unfortunately for the boys I do know all the words to It's a Hard Knock Life. I'll have to make them miserable with that next time I clean.