Our American Girl Cinderella Adventure

When we saw that Cinderella was on the schedule for the ballet this season, Marina and I knew we wanted to see it. Naturally, Marina was thrilled when the American Girl store decided a trip there would be their first ever excursion. We've both been looking forward to it for months.

There was no question what Marina was going to wear, her Cinderella costume. We have a Cinderella dress that fits her dolls as well, so that is what Kailey wore today. Marina loved showing off her dress and talking about Kailey.

We arrived early for some "private shopping time." Of course, all the girls talked about their dolls, which one they brought with them and which ones they have at home.

When it was time to leave, we loaded on to two buses and had lunch while we drove to the theater. The bus also featured TVs which played an American Girl movie during the trip.

We arrived at the theater early and were allowed to watch the dancers warm up on the stage. I pointed out to Marina that their workout wasn't much different from her ballet class.

After the warm up, we were able to relax in a beautiful private lounge before taking our seats. Our seats were in a box which were interesting to say the least. We were assigned to sit in high chairs which we had to move around the box in order to see the stage. It wasn't ideal but Marina and the other girls had fun playing on them during the intermissions.

The ballet was wonderful. The stepsisters were played by male dancers and they were hysterical. The story was easy to follow since we all know the story.

After the performance was over, we were led through a door and onto the stage, which was already completely bare by that time. The girls had a question and answer time with the Artistic Director, who was very interesting. He even explained how some of the "magic" happened. The girls also had the opportunity to meet the dancer who portrayed the Spring Fairy.

Once the meet and greet was over, we got back onto our buses for the ride home. It was a long day, but an very special adventure!

Cool Zoo

The weather forecast called for a beautiful day today, so we deiced to go to the zoo. Brian and Emily were able to come as well and we were looking forward to it. However, the weather didn't cooperate as planned and it was fairly cool today, but we went anyway. Marina brought Kailey along in her backpack. They even wore matching shirts.

The animals seemed to enjoy the cool weather. We saw some interesting behavior from them. In one exhibit, a group of peacocks and peahens were all showing off their plumage. I've never seen a peahen do that before!

At the feline house, we saw two hyenas wrestling with each other and having a great time. When the tigers were brought inside, they stalked around their areas to find treats the zookeepers had left for them.

Later on as we were walking by the pachyderms, we heard a loud banging noise. The rhinoceros was charging a plastic container hanging in his enclosure. It was fun to watch.

Because of the cooler weather, we made sure to visit all the indoor exhibits. The building with tropical animals was especially welcome! We checked out Bird World and the elephant exhibit. As we were preparing to leave, we saw an elephant demonstration about to begin. So we stayed for that. It was fun to see how smart the elephant is!

Shortly after the demonstration, we headed home. Despite the unexpected weather, it was an entertaining day!

Princesses and Pirates

As soon as Marina learned the Disney Junior show The Pirate and Princess Adventure was coming to town, she wanted to go. I was a bit surprised since those shows are directed toward a younger audience, but we decided to check it out anyway.

Marina would have loved to dress as Sophia the First but Disney doesn't make those costumes in her size. She was disappointed so we improvised. She wore a purple dress since Sophia does and we added a Sophia amulet and tiara. Marina was happy with that. She also brought along her Marina the mermaid doll from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

The show started with a short performance by Doc McStuffins. Then Mickey and Minnie Mouse came out to emcee the show. Marina was engrossed in the Sophia the First story. She even correctly predicted some of the songs before they sang them. And along with all the other princesses in the audience, Marina was thrilled when Cinderella made a cameo appearance.

During the intermission three pirates from the show came out to meet and greet with the audience. At first, Marina was hesitant to approach them, but she discovered they were nice pirates and had her picture taken with them all.

The second act was based on Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She was excited when Tinkerbell and Peter Pan made special appearances in the show.

After the performance was over, Marina was very enthusiastic about it. She told me that if it comes back here she wants to see it again.