Off to Neverland

Eight years ago, the ballet presented Peter Pan. Marina and I really loved the show. When it was announced as part of this season, we wanted to see it again. We invited some friends and family to join us.

Today was cold and snowy. Marina’s school was cancelled. So we were a bit worried about getting downtown to the show. Fortunately, not many people were on the roads and they were clear of snow. We decided to take the light rail to be safe.

When we arrived, we went to the box office. They had a great offer on seats today so I asked if we could upgrade ours. The man we were speaking to was very nice and he arranged for all of us to be on the main floor instead of the Loge level. However, we were all in different sections.

The show was as wonderful as we remembered. The "fairy fixers" that each child got were slightly different but still fun. And the moment Tinkerbell was brought back to life was spectacular!

Once it was over, Marina and I walked to the light rail station. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the train to arrive, but the trip home seemed very long. We were both very tired and ready to go to bed.

A Pirate's Life For Me

After a late night last night, Marina and I slept in this morning. We had a big breakfast before getting ready to go out today. The Pirate Festival has become an annual tradition for Marina and I. We each created a pirate themed outfit and headed out.

We ran into terrible traffic on the way to the festival, which was frustrating but ultimately we got there and found a place to park. Then we headed into the park.

The layout was different this year, but it’s not a huge events, so it wasn’t too hard to find anything. We met up with a woman dressed up as Ursula, the sea witch and a siren. We took photos with them. Then we found Tinkerbell. It turned out she was Brittany, one of our friends. It was fun to see her. The mermaids this year were different. They were having story time when we walked by, so we decided to come back afterwards.

We were wanted to watch the cardboard boat races but they weren’t on the lake. Finally we saw a sign that said they had been moved to the recreation center across the street. We headed over there where the races were already underway. We managed to find a place to watch the rest of the races. Once they were over, we went over to say hello to Captain Jack Sparrow. We had a few minutes to talk with him before we went back to the festival.

Marina liked looking at the jewelry for sale and we ultimately got to take photos with the mermaids. We also found the Lego pirate. After a few hours we were both hungry. The food truck lines were long, so we decided to get food on the way home.

Unicorn Palooza

Marina and I had plans for today, but unfortunately the event was cancelled. So we had an open morning and afternoon. Today was Unicorn Palooza at a local outlet mall. So we decided to check that out since we also had some shopping to do.

We had a big breakfast and then headed out. It turned out that Unicorn Palooza was very popular so there were large crowds around all the activities. Marina and I walked around to see what they had. We walked by the Mermaid Lagoon and saw one of our friends was there. We waved to her but he line was really long.

We decided to let the lines die down while we went shopping. After we finished our shopping, we stopped at the food court and got smoothies before going to check out the Unicorn activities. We stood in line for the petting zoo first. It moved quickly and Marina really liked getting close with some animals. She liked the donkey and emu in the pen, but her favorite was the rabbit they had there.

Next we went back to the mermaid lagoon. The line was much shorter and it moved quickly. We spent a few minutes chatting with our friend when it was our turn. It was such a hot day we felt bad for her!

Marina was ready to go home, but we still hadn’t seen Tinkerbell. Her spot was at the end of the unicorn stalls. The line for that was huge, so we asked if we could just see her. The actress recognized us right away. We were able to sneak in for a few photos before we left.

Unicorn Festival

Today was the annual Unicorn Festival. This year, we invited Ainsley to join us. After considering many options, Ainsley wore her Belle costume. Marina was excited to wear her new Anastasia costume.  I offered the girls capes to wear over their dresses instead of jackets since it was chilly today.

We arrived at the Unicorn Festival early. We found a really good parking spot and checked in quickly. We had to wait for about 15 minutes until the festival opened. While we waited a little girl asked if she could have her picture taken with Ainsley and Marina.

When the festival opened we went first to the Princess Palace. A friend of ours was dressed as Mary Poppins. We visited with her for a few moments. We also knew the actress playing Moana, so we took photos with her as well.

Next we went to the Mermaid Lagoon. Last year it had a long line all day. We arrived before it opened and had a short wait for our turn. We took photos with two mermaids before meeting Ariel. We got some nice photos there as well.

When we exited the Mermaid Lagoon, we were at the Mad Hatter Tea Party. We planned to wait for the show but it was taking a bit longer than usual, so we browsed some of the booths. We went back for the show and after we got photos with Alice and the Mad Hatter, we stopped for lunch. I also bought fancy cupcakes for dessert.

After lunch, we decide to wander around the festival. The girls loved shopping the various vendors. Marina insisted that we stop by the Harry Potter Sorting Hat. She was pleased that both she and Ainsley were sorted into Hufflepuff. We ran into Peter Pan and Tinkerbell along the way.

We headed back to the Princess Palace where we took photos with Tiana and Jasmine. Cinderella arrived as we were there but her line was pretty long, so we decided to come back to see her.

We did a little more shopping. At one booth both Marina and Ainsley found necklaces they loved, so I bought them. By this time, Cinderella’s line had shortened, so we took photos with her.

We checked out more booths and the petting zoo, which both girls loved. They also went through the castle maze. By this point it was starting to sprinkle. Because of that, the line to sit on a “unicorn” was as short as we had seen it, so we waited for Marina and Ainsley to have their photos taken on the larger “unicorn.”

By this time, it was starting to rain. At the Princess Palace, Anna and Elsa were there. Since there wasn’t much else to do, we waited in the line. It was pretty cold by then so we teased Elsa that she must have brought in the bad weather.

We were all ready to go home but since Rapunzel was due in 15 minutes, we decided to take a photo with her and then go home. Unfortunately the waited ended up being nearly and hour. Marina got a bit grumpy. Eventually she went over to the Storytime Cottage and talked with the drag queen there. Apparently she was asking for makeup tips.

Eventually, Rapunzel arrived and we quickly took a photo with her. After the long, cold wait, we were all pretty miserable. We headed to the gate, stopping along the way to pet more “unicorns.” So we left the festival and stopped for dinner.

Another Princess Partea

For the past two years Marina and I have attended The Princess Partea. While Marina said she wanted to go, at times she felt reservations about being too old. However, today she was excited to go. She wasn’t sure what to wear, so I suggested a Cinderella costume. She finished it off with sparkly shoes and a blue crystal tiara.

The hotel the Partea was at this year is fairly close to our house. So we were able to arrive early. We ended up in a long line when we arrived but it moved very quickly. Once inside, we looked for the princess meet and greet lines with the shortest wait. We quickly saw Merida, Mary Poppins, Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty. Then we saw Jasmine’s line was fairly short, so we met with her. Marina was particularly excited to see her with a new Aladdin movie coming out soon.

At that point, we were shocked that the line for Anna and Elsa was pretty short, so we went o see them. Last year their line was long the entire time, so we happy about that. Next we went over for pictures with Moana, who had an amazing palm tree made of balloons near her.

One of the longest lines was for Belle. But we were willing to wait. She was, as always, just lovely to us. After a few pictures, we went into the Under the Sea Tea Party where we sat down for a bit and had a snack. Then we got into the fairly short line to see Ariel.

The longest line during the whole party was for Cinderella. But since Marina was wearing a Cinderella costume we had to see her. While we were waiting in line, Marina saw there was no line for Moana, so she talked with her and Merida to pass the time.

After a lovely visit with Cinderella, we saw that the lines for most of the princesses were practically nonexistent. So we stopped by to see many of them again before we were ready to leave.

Patriotic Parade

Marina and I slept in this morning after a late night last night. Our plans were to go to a July 4 parade, just like last year. We left the house early and set up on the same corner. As we waited for the parade to start, a woman and her daughter arrived. We watched the parade with them last year and we were all happy to do it again.

While they waiting, the girls entertained each other. Once the parade started, they moved closer to the street. During the parade the both managed to get some candy, but Marina really got interested when the character performers came by. First she saw Belle and gave her a hug. We also saw Ariel, Tinkerbell and Marina high fived Captain America.

Once the parade was over, we went over to the shop in order to say hello to our friends. Unfortunately, they were not outside as they were last year. So we looked around at some of the other festivities before deciding to get out of the sun and go home.

Unicorns, Fairies and Princesses

Last year we attended the first annual Unicorn Festival. It was very overcrowded and poorly organized, but we decided to give it another try, especially since some of our friends would be there!

Marina wasn’t sure what to wear this year. Last night she put together a dance costume someone gave us with one of her skirts, fairy wings and a flower wreath to be a fairy. It was a cute outfit!

We left the house fairly early because we knew a lot of people would be there for the beginning of the festival. We didn’t leave as early as we hoped but we did arrive at the park before the festival opened. We got into line to enter and talked with the people around us. While we were waiting, we saw Snow White arrive. It was one of our friends!

It only took us 15 minutes to get inside after the festival opened. So we went immediately to the Princess Palace to see Phoebe. There was no line to see her, so we took pictures and talked with her for a while. We also saw Moana.

We moved on to some of the vendor booths. Marina loves to shop and she happily looked around at everything on display. While we were looking around, we ran into Prince Charming. We’ve been running into him since Marina was six and he was amazed at how much she has grown. We also came upon a group of fairies and Captain Jack Sparrow.

The line for the mermaids looked short, so we got into it. It moved really slowly and we were roasting in line. Bur fortunately we finally got through to see the mermaids. At the end was Ariel. Marina spent quite a while visiting with her.

While we were waiting for the mermaids, we saw Anna and Elsa arrive at the Princess Palace, so we went over there. This time there was a line but it moved quickly and we got to meet with them before their sing along. By this time, Jasmine had arrived at the Agrabah Bazaar. Marina joined the kids for story time and then waited in a quick line for a photo with her.

Next, we checked out a petting farm with "unicorns,” goats and a bunny. Marina loved that! We also met a large white “unicorn” who was a bit restless. Then we stopped in a shady spot to eat lunch. We made our way over to the Princess Palace again to meet Merida. She had a bow that Marina tried out and they posed with them.

We wanted to walk around the rest of the festival and ran into Tinkerbell who remembered us from the Princess Partea last month. We looked around a some of the other activities and then went to make sure we got to meet Belle, who was another of our friends. We had a bit of a wait, but we were thrilled to see her.

We decided to look at the Creation Station to see what crafts they had set up. Marina decided to make a wand. We had to scavenge around for the pieces but she ended up with one she was happy with. Marina wanted “something sweet,” so we looked around the various food trucks and she decide she wanted a snow cone. We sat for a while as she ate it. The line to sit on a “unicorn” was as short as we had seen it, so we got in it. It took a while but it was worth it. Marina got to sit on a white unicorn and pet a baby one. The foal tried to eat part of her costume!

By the “unicorns” was a Harry Potter sorting hat. We both tried it out and were surprised we were put into the Slytherin House. Rapunzel was the last visiting princess and we could see it was another friend of ours. Even though the line was long, we wanted to say hello to her. We were both tired so we decided this would be our last stop. We got some really cute photos and then we decided to go back to the car. It was a fun day but we were both exhausted.