West Side Story

As Marina gets older, I'm able to take her to more theatrical productions.  West Side Story was one of the first shows I ever saw and I was about Marina's age. I was excited to introduce her to the show which I remember so vividly. My niece also wanted to see it, so she came with us.

We arrived at the theater early, so we had a look around and bought drinks and snacks. We found our seats and sat for a while. Marina got bored as we waited. The show started right on time.

Marina was attentive to the whole show. She giggled a bit during the rumble scene at the end of Act 1. I was pretty sure she was a bit uncomfortable which caused that reaction. She was very impressed with the singing voices of Tony and Maria.

In Act 2, she clearly enjoyed the comic songs "I Feel Pretty" and "Gee, Officer Krupke." At the end, the gunshot startled her. I knew it was coming, but I didn't warn her. When it was over, she said she really liked it.

After the show, the cast came out and mingled with the audience. We were able to meet the actresses who played Anita and Maria. Both Marina and Michelle wanted to meet the actor who portrayed Tony. He was very gracious and even gave Marina a big hug before the picture. She was thrilled!

Once the meet and greet was over, we went home. We'd had a great girls' night out.

Practically Perfect

We've seen the touring shows of Mary Poppins over the years, so Marina and I were excited to see a local dinner theater performing it this summer. We invited Michelle and Jessica to join us today. Marina brought her parrot head umbrella with her today.

We arrived just as seating began. Our server was Mrs. Banks in the show. Marina surprised me by ordering bangers and mash for lunch. She did seem to enjoy the food when it arrived. Once lunch was over, she impatiently waited for the show to start.


We've seen this show twice before but Marina was still excited to see it again. She paid close attention to the entire show. She particularly liked the big dance performances and Mary Poppins flying.

After the show, we were fortunate to get a photo of Marina and Michelle with Mr. and Mrs. Banks and then they each went on stage to pose with Mary Poppins and Bert. Marina showed them her umbrella and they were impressed when she showed it to them.

After the meet and greets were over, we headed home. It was a fun afternoon.

Dragon Boat Festival

Today our plans fell through so we changed course and went to the nearby Dragon Boat Festival. We’d never attended the Dragon Boat Festival before. We took a shuttle to the park and took a look around. We started by looking over some of the shops.

When we came across a face painting booth, Marina wanted to stop there. She asked for purple and blue swirls around one of her eyes. The artist was a bit concerned if the colors would look good together but once she was done it looked very pretty!

We continued looking around at the booths. The girls liked looking at jewelry and fans. We watched a martial arts demonstration and Marina played with a hula hoop for a while.

At one booth, she made a dragon rocket out of paper. She added wings and a face before taking it to the launch area. She clear enjoyed shooting it off.

By this time we were ready for lunch. Apparently so was everyone else because the lines for food were ridiculously long. So we decided to get lunch elsewhere. In the car we decided to keep the Asian theme and eat at a Japanese restaurant. It was nice to sit inside and relax for a while.

Kurios

Marina has been interested in seeing a performance of Cirque du Soleil for some time. So this time through I made sure to get tickets. The show was Kurios, Cabinet of Curiosities. I wasn't sure what the show was about and I hoped we would enjoy it.

The performance was in a large tent. Even the decor outside made us feel like we were entering another world. We were excited that our seats were much closer than what we expected.

Before the show began some of the performers wandered around the stage and even through the audience. The show opening had a train of musicians traveling through the audience. Marina leaned over to me and said, "Thank you for bringing me here!"

Each element of the show thrilled and amazed us both. One balancing act left us breathless and we were awed by the trampoline acrobatics. Marina repeatedly said, "That's so cool!" and "He's crazy!"

During intermission we walked around the tent and browsed the gift shop. Marina had fun trying on various masks and hats.

The second act was as exciting as the first. After the show was over, I asked Marina what her favorite part was. She answered, "Everything!"

Frozen Tea Party

A few months ago I saw a listing for a “Tea Party Worth Melting For.” I knew this was something Marina would definitely want to attend. After I told her about it, she insisted we invite Ainsley. Later on, Ainsley’s grandmother and cousin decided to join us.

The girls spent most of the morning getting ready for the tea party. This time, Ainsley wanted to dress as Anna, so Marina was Elsa. I put sparkly make up on them both and did their hair as best I could to go with their costumes. They also took the toddler Anna and Elsa dolls with them. They carried the doll she was dressed up as.

We went to Ainsley’s grandparent’s house after lunch and we all headed there together. It was a beautiful drive and the girls sang along to the Frozen soundtrack the whole way.

When we arrived a tent was set up in front of the castle. We were able to explore the grounds but not actually go inside. That was a little disappointing, but the grounds were amazing on their own. And the view from all sides was spectacular.

Shortly after we sat down, Elsa arrived for the tea party. She handed out snowflake stickers and posed for pictures. We were treated to blue punch and tables full of sweets – all blue and white. The girls loved all the desserts and even went back for more.

While they ate, the girls colored Frozen pictures. Then they had Elsa sign them. Each one made sure she hugged Elsa before we left.  On the way home there was more singing in the car. The girls clearly enjoyed the day!

Summer Ice Skating

This year for her birthday, Marina's friend Ainsley had an ice skating party.

The party started  with the kids got their ice skates and got help putting them on Then the party host lead the kids out onto the ice.

The rink was chilly and despite long sleeve and pants, Marina was still cold. She has been ice skating before, but her skill level wasn’t as high as the rest of the group, so she often she was skating slowly along the edge where she could hold on. But by far her favorite part was when she was holding hands with the other girls and they helped her skate faster.

After skating for a while, the kids stopped for lunch. Then they went out for a little more skating. That didn’t last long. So the party moved on to cake and presents. Then each child got a personalized goody bag created by Ainsley herself. Clearly everyone had a great time!

Sunday at the Zoo

The weather today was sunny, perfect to be outside. Since we hadn’t been to the Zoo in a long time, we decided to visit.

We had lunch before heading into the zoo. Marina wanted to see the big cats first. We saw a beautiful snow leopard and a maned wolf relaxing in their habitats. When we reached the tigers we saw one pacing around the enclosure. It walked by Marina at the window several times.

We moved on to the polar bears and tropical exhibits. After we looked around there, Marina decided she wanted to ride the carousel. On our way there, we looked spent time in the elephants and birds. 

The line for the carousel was short. Marina picked out a tiger to ride on. Today seemed to be focused on the big cats, so it was perfect for her! Once her ride was over, we were ready to leave. The hot weather had worn us out! 

Early Independence Celebration

The Fourth of July activities at the local historic park has become a tradition for Marina and I. This year, they moved their celebration up a few days to coordinate with the city’s fireworks. We went after dinner tonight.

The festivities were different from years past. The meadow area was filled with food trucks and an open space was left so people could settle in to watch the fireworks. Before we did that, we wanted to take a look around.

We found an activity table where Marina made a firecracker necklace. As she did that, we saw one of Marina’s former dance teachers. She showed Marina how to use stilts and play the old fashioned games they had on display. The Civil War display was smaller than previous years, but we still enjoyed looking it. We looked in on the blacksmith demonstration as well.

We picked out a spot in the meadow and bought a snack for while we waited. However, before the fireworks were scheduled it started raining. We took shelter inside the main building. The rain lasted over an hour. Marina socialized with other people inside the building while we waited.

We ventured outside a few minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to start. The grass was wet, but our blanket protected us. The fireworks were worth the wait. It took a long time to get home. Marina fell asleep on the way.