Day of the Dead

It’s become an annual tradition for us to go to the botanic gardens Day of the Dead festival. It has become a popular event and parking is difficult. We had to park fairly far away but the walk wasn’t too bad. I had already purchased our tickets, so we went right in.

We started by going into the café and picking up drinks. Once we had those, we went to check out the activities. We started by looking over the crafts. Marina decided to look into them. She came back a few minutes later with a paper flower for me.

We stopped for a while and watched some of the Mexican dancing. The woman next to us knew quite a bit about it. It was interesting to hear what she was saying. Next we went into to look at the frames created by school children around the area. We also looked at an elaborate alter set up in a greenhouse in the Japanese Garden.

We walked through the gardens to get to the Community Alter at the front. We each wrote down the names of those we lost, including some pets and added them to the alter. It seemed appropriate to have Mexican food for lunch, so we stopped by a restaurant near home.

The Basque Things in Life

This afternoon we were excited to go back to our favorite children't theater for a show. It has become our habit to invite Justine to come with us. Marina was very excited to spend time with Justine today.

Before the show, we all went out to lunch We had to hurry a bit, but we finished with plenty of time to get to the theater.

When we arrived the manager recognized us immediately and checked us in. Marina found a table with books and little sheep.  The show was called The Basque Things in Life. It was the story of a group of Spanish Basque people who relocated to Idaho. The main character discovered the Lamiaks – wood nymphs with duck feet who work while people sleep. It was a cute show.

After the performance was over, we talked with some of the performers and got our traditional photo of Marina with the cast. Then we headed home.

Cuba!

We haven’t been to the nature and science museum in a while. They currently have an exhibit about Cuba. Marina had already seen it but I hadn’t, so we decided to see it today.

When we arrived at the museum we were able to find a parking place right away. So we went right in and went to the third floor to see the Cuba exhibit. It wasn’t a large exhibit but it had many interesting items on display. We saw a vintage car as well as tobacco drying. Marina’s favorite part was the underwater coral reef.

After we finished the Cuba exhibit, Marina wanted to go to health exhibit. It was fairly crowded so she just wandered through at first. She saw that a show about Optical Illusions was coming up. So we sat down to watch it. The show was really fun and Marina befriended the host. After it was over she even got to wear the actress’ hat!

The last place Marina wanted to visit was the space exhibit. What she really wanted to visit was the Virtual Arcade. We got in line to try the Jurassic Sea ride. After a bit of a wait it was our turn. The ride was fairly intense and I could hear Marina’s reactions throughout. After the ride we decided to go home.

Italian Festival

We had a good time at the Italian Festival last year, so Marina and I decided to go again this year. We decided to go to the festival late and have dinner there before the show.

When we arrived we caught the end of a circus show. Unfortunately they didn’t have any more performances for the day. But we did get a few photos with the performers. We shopped some of the booths. Marina loved looking at candles, cork art and accessories. We watched part of the flag throwing performance.

Marina was thrilled to see fried calamari for sale at one of the booths, so she picked that for dinner. I got an Italian beef sandwich. We sat down with our food and listened to a singer while we ate. Once we finished eating, it was time for grape stomping. Marina didn’t spend as much time on that as she did last year. When she finished, she wanted to watch a ventriloquist who was performing nearby.

We wandered around the booths again. Marina had a cotton candy flavored lollipop for dessert. I stopped to listen to a Frank Sinatra song and Marina petted a nearby dog. By that point, we were ready to go.

Cinderella at the Ballet

Last year Marina and I saw The Sleeping Beauty performed by the Moscow Festival Ballet. This year they came back with Cinderella. Marina didn’t consider wearing a costume this year, but she did choose a blue-green sparkly dress with white heels. I’m pretty sure it was “Cinderella-inspired.”

It was snowing lightly when we left the house but we didn’t have too much trouble getting to the Arts Center. It was pretty cold, so Marina ordered a hot chocolate to drink.

Before the show started, Marina played on her phone. She did put it was a few minutes before the show started. As we were waiting, I found that the mom and daughter sitting next to us were next to us for The Sleeping Beauty as well.

During the show, Marina watched attentively. We both enjoyed the silly antics of the stepmother and the jester characters. Many of the dancers we recognized from last year’s show. The performance seemed by quickly.

After the show we saw that not only had the snow become heavier, but it was sticking to the ground. I had to brush quite a bit of snow off the car before we could even leave. With the snow, the drive home took a bit longer than usual, but we arrived home safely and not too late.

Coco Movie

During the busy holiday season, Marina and I didn’t have time to see the new Disney movie Coco. It seemed like a good idea to see it to start off the new year.

We were early for the movie and the theater was not crowded, so we were able to get our tickets and buy popcorn quickly. We picked out our seats and had a bit of a wait until the previews started.

The action of Coco took place around the Day of the Dead festivities. We have gone to the botanic gardens celebration the last two years so Marina loved that connection. It was a beautiful movie about family. I was a bit teary by the end. Rather than teasing me, Marina offered me a napkin to wipe my eyes.

At then end of the  movie, we agreed that we loved it.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Earlier this year, Marina and I went to see a show at a children's theater. At that time, they announced they would be presenting Anansi, Western African spider stories this fall. She let me know she wanted to see it. So when tickets went on sale, I got them. Good thing I did because the shows filled up quickly.

When we arrived, the owner, recognized us immediately. She showed me a photo from The their last show that I gave her. She said it is posted in her office.

Before the show began, Marina spent time talking with the children who arrived. She sat on the floor in front of me through the show. Anansi was a collection of folk tales performed in a variety of different types of theater. There was a dance, a puppet show and a radio play. Marina enjoyed all of them.

When the show was over, we got photos with the cast. We spent a bit of time with one of our friends. She commented on how tall Marina has grown.

Dia de los Muertos

We attended the Day of the Dead Festival at the Botanic Gardens last year. We had a great time and one of our friends said she would like to join us the next time we went. So we invited her to join us today. Fortunately, she was able to come.

Marina wanted to dress up, so I had her try on a black lace dress of mine. It fit her pretty well. We added a flower wreath from the Renaissance Festival. She looked great!

We picked up our friend, then drove to the Botanic Gardens. Not only was today the Day of the Dead Festival, it was also a free day. So we were concerned about finding parking. Fortunately, we found a great spot right away, so we were quickly into the gardens.

We started by getting Marina’s face painted. The line was slow but the face painter Marina got was amazing. She created a design to go with the flower wreath she was wearing. She looked beautiful and received compliments all day.

We checked out a few of the crafts. Marina made her own picture for an ink press and designed a frame. She also decorated a clay “sugar skull.” After the crafts we watched a few bouts of Lucha Libre wrestling. Marina even got her picture taken with one of the wrestlers.

We went into the gardens which were fabulously decorated. There were banners everywhere and statues put up for the Day of the Dead celebration. We got a chance to look at displays set up by families to honor their loved ones who had passed away. Near the Japanese Garden was a greenhouse with colorful sticks that we could write loved ones’ names on. Marina wrote one for Melanie our cat and put it in a display for pets.

We decided to stop for lunch. Marina got a salad with grapes and goat cheese. She also tried my chicken mole panini which she also liked. While we were eating, she talked with two ladies who were sharing our table. They talked about cats, anime and Comic Con. She clearly had made some new friends!

After lunch we went into the greenhouse to see the tropical plants. Our friend knew a lot about those plants and she talked about them with Marina. After we looked at the greenhouse, we looked around at the gift shop for a while. By then, the gardens were getting very crowded, so we decided to go home.

Festival Italiano

We’ve checked out many cultural festivals this year. Today was the beginning of the Festival Italiano. We were looking forward to checking it out. Marina put on the colors of the Italian flag – red white and green. She said “Look how fabulous I look!”

It being held at an outdoor mall. It felt like a street fair. When we arrived we looked around all the booths. We were hungry for lunch, but we wanted to see what all our option were. After looking around, Marina decided she wanted to try the Sicilian pizza. It was a huge piece – big enough for both of us.

Next we looked at some of the items for sale. Marina spent a lot of time looking at pieces made of cork and she loved the glass pieces for sale.

Next, we checked out a kids area. I signed Marina up for stomping grapes. We saw a group of kids playing chess and Marina joined them. After that we watched a group of Italian flag throwers. It was an amazing performance!

We shared a dessert cannoli and then got in line for grape stomping. We met at four year old girl and her family. When it was their turn, the ended up in the same tub. Marina thought stomping the grapes was fun. She stayed at it for a long time. She also thought the grapes and the juice tasted good!

After she spent some time coloring a picture, we met with a walking Mona Lisa painting. It was a man in a costume and he was really funny. Marina asked for some Italian ice. We sat down while she ate and listened to a singer perform songs by Frank Sinatra. She liked that he finished with “New York, New York.”

After the singer finished, the announcer came out picked people for Simon Says. Marina volunteered me, so I made sure he picked her as well. Neither of us got very far. When he announced he was having a bubble gum blowing contest, she wanted to participate in that as well. He also needed adults and since he didn’t have enough adults, Marina asked me to join, so I did. Then at the last minute, she dropped out.

I hadn’t tried to blow a big bubble in a long time. When the contest started, the first bubble I blew was huge. I could hear Marina’s surprise in the audience. So I made the finals. In the finals, I blew another really big bubble and ended up winning the contest. Marina was so excited, she ran up and hugged me. I won a set of blue fuzzy dice which she hung in my car.

Shortly after that, we left the festival. We’d had a great afternoon.

Polish Festival

This year, Marina and I have been exploring various cultural food festivals. And since we have Polish ancestry, we were very interested in the Polish Food Festival this weekend. We decided to go there for lunch. When we arrived, we started off by eating potato and cheese perogies. We really enjoyed them. We sampled some “Angel Wings” for dessert.

We decided to take a look inside the church. It was beautiful. Once we did that, Marina acted a bit bored. I wanted to watch some of the folk dancing, so we decided to try a potato pancake until the dancing started. As we were eating it, one of her friends from school walked by us with her family. They picked up some food and joined us in the shade of a tree.

After we ate, we watched the folk dancing. Then we all went to see the church since her friend's family hadn’t seen it yet. The girls wanted more dessert, so I gave them tickets to get some. Marina chose cheesecake!

Since it was such a hot day, we decided to head home. It had been a fun festival.

German Festival

Earlier in the summer, Marina and I went to the Greek Festival. At that time, I learned about the German Festival. Marina was interested in attending since we actually have German heritage. So we checked it out today.

We arrived around lunchtime, so we checked out the food first. We each got a bratwurst, which were very good. Marina followed that up with a watermelon slush and we shared an apple strudel.

After we ate, we looked over the booths. Marina really loved the jewelry. One booth in particular had gorgeous pieces and we talked with the creator for a while. There was a German band playing, so we sat down and listened. They played the German Duck Dance, but I couldn’t convince her to take part in that.

After a few hours, we were ready to go home.

Happy Birthday, Molly Brown!

We’ve been to the Molly Brown House Museum for tea in the past. Today we decided to try something else. For Margaret Brown’s 150th birthday, the museum held a block party. True to the name, the entire block the house stands on was closed off of the event. Marina decided to wear an outfit inspired by the era – a lace summer dress and a fancy straw hat with flowers. All day she received many compliments on her outfit.

We had a short wait to check in and then we started to check out the vendor booths. We found many places we go to had booths. Marina learned about military supplies at one booth and painted a firefighter’s badge at another.

We listened to two opera singers perform songs from Carmen and then Marina insisted we check out the animal shelter area where they had dogs and kittens up for adoption. She fell in love with them all – especially a black kitten that she held for a while.

Once she was willing to leave the pets behind, we went through the house and even found a new room that was recently opened to the public. As we left the house, we met the actress who plays Margaret Brown. She remembered us from the tea party in March and talked with us for a little while.

We each had a piece of birthday cake while we watched Mexican Fiesta Dancers. Marina said goodbye to the pets before we left the party. It was a really fun event!

Greek Girl

Every summer, Marina and I look forward to the Greek Festival. I took the day off today so we could go – the first day is usually the least crowded. Marina chose an Egyptian costume. Without the collar it looked Greek.

Today was a hot day, so Marina took her black fan and blue parasol. She looked so pretty! One man we ran into said he thought she looked like Helen of Troy. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. When we explained that Helen was called the most beautiful woman in the world, she liked it!

We started off shopping the various vendors set up outside. Marina especially liked looking at the jewelry. We decided to have lunch next. Marina was disappointed that they didn’t have calamari this year – she had been looking forward to that! Instead, we both had gyros. She did enjoy it.

We watch a group of children perform some simple Greek dances for a while, then we went into the church to look at their beautiful icons. By then, Marina was ready to go home. So we bought ice cream to enjoy on the way out.

The Silent Princess

I recently became aware of a theater that presents shows based on fold tales from around the world. Their current production of The Silent Princess sounded interesting, so I made reservations for us to go today.

When we arrived we were welcomed by the playwright and manager of the theater. We had met her on several theater hikes in the past and we happy to talk to her again.

The Silent Princess was a Turkish folk tale and the while place reflected it. The theater was small but each seat was designed to look like a fancy carpet. Marina picked up a pink scarf from the lobby and wore it over her hair. Two musicians played music while we waited.

The play was funny and interesting. Clearly Marina liked the princess. She laughed at the jokes and paid close attention throughout. When the show was over she had a conversation with the actress playing the princess. Then we were able to get a photo of her with the entire cast. We both agreed we like this new theater.

Tea and Valentines

Today a tea room near our house advertised a Gummy Heart Festival. I thought it sounded like fun. I also scheduled for us to have high tea there as well. Marina dressed in pink and red for the occasion.

When we arrived, there was one girl already trying out some of the crafts. Her grandparents own the tea shop. Marina worked on several Valentine crafts alongside her, until it was time for us to sit down for our tea.

We started with soup and salad. Marina had the salad but she enjoyed some of my potato leek soup. The starter was followed up with a huge tray of sandwiches and sausage rolls. As we were eating. the girl Marina befriended came by with her lunch. We invited her to sit down and shared some of our sandwiches as well.

By the time our scones arrived we were pretty full. So Marina went to do more crafts. They ended up making Valentines for each other. Before we left, Marina gave her new friend her phone number so they could keep in touch.

As we left we ran into two more of our friends. They were hoping to join us. Marina was ready to go home, so they went in and had lunch together.

Day of the Dead

We were recently at the botanic gardens for their Halloween event and I saw their Day of the Dead celebration scheduled for today. We thought it sounded like fun, so we decided to check it out. Marina chose an outfit which was similar to traditional Mexican clothes. She also carried a fancy fan.

On the way there, we talked about the Mexican traditions around the day. Marina found it interesting.

The first thing Marina wanted to do was have her face painted. We were happy to find the line was not long. Marina was given an activity sheet while we waited. When it was her turn, she requested a design to go with her outfit. She was very happy with the results.

After her look was complete, we checked out the crafts set up throughout the gardens. First Marina decorated a sugar skull and made a festive banner decoration. She created a special picture frame for "someone who is my moon and stars" and colored in a mask.

Along the way, we ran into Popsicle, the mascot for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, which supplies funding to many of our favorite places. Marina has wanted to meet Popsicle for a while now so we were both excited to see him there. Fortunately we were able to get a picture with him.

Once we went through all the special activities we went home. But in keeping with the theme of the day, we had Mexican food for lunch!

Golden Dragon Acrobats

This summer I took Marina to see her first Cirque du Soliel show. She enjoyed that so much that when we had the opportunity to see the Golden Dragon Acrobats from China, I knew she would love it. She wore an Asian inspired dress and brought her American Girl Ivy in the Chinese New Year dress.

We arrived early for the show but Marina just wanted to go to our seats. She had a snack while we waited. Once the show started, she was completely engaged. The performance was a combination of dance, gymnastics and acrobatics. Clearly she was amazed at the skill level of the performers.

We stayed in our seats for intermission. Marina soon began a conversation with the woman next to her about her American Girl dolls.

The second act was more amazing than the first. One stunt involved an acrobat creating a tall stack of wooden chairs and performing balancing acts at the top. We were both breathless.

After the show was over, Marina ran into one of her friends from school. They spent a few minutes talking before we left.

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.