Carmen

One of our summer traditions is participating in the Take A Child to the Opera event. Last year when Marina learned that Carmen was the featured opera this year she immediately wanted to go. She decided she wanted to wear a sparkly red dress, after all, red is the color most commonly associated with the main character.

We didn’t get as early a start as I had hoped. It was a long drive to the mountain town, but Marina passed much of the trip by admiring the scenery. She even took pictures with her phone.

We were a bit late, but fortunately they hadn’t started yet. Each child was given a list of clues for a scavenger hunt and a bag of supplies. With these they went from place to place and had their gold ore weighed and got candy in payment for it, created a souvenir coin and wrote down important dates from plaques. When they completed the scavenger hunt, they were given a pair of sunglasses as a prize.

We took a break for lunch. Marina and I had a picnic in our usual spot, the garden on the west side of the opera house. After lunch we went back to the stables where we had a special speaker, the actress who plays Carmen in the regular production of the opera. She sang a bit and demonstrated how she uses the castanets in a dance. Each child got a set of plastic castanets to practice with.

Before the opera we lined the streets to watch the usher march. As usual, it was fun to see. Then we lined up at the opera house to take our seats. We had a good view of the stage and Marina was anxious for the show to begin. When the lights went down she was audibly excited.

The opera is a long one, but it was very well done. The young artists in the lead roles were very talented and fun to watch. Marina particularly enjoyed the “Toreador” song. At intermission we went out to the patio to stretch our legs. While we were outside we saw many of the musicians enjoying their break.

 When the show was over, we went to the patio for the meet and greet. Of course, Marina wanted to meet them all. It was quite a lot of people, so we waited for the crowd to die down before we got in for pictures. That gave Marina a bit of time to talk to them as well.

After the meet and greet we went back to the car for the long trip back home. Marina still enjoyed looking at the mountains. She had a snack while we drove home after a fun but tiring day.

The Ballad of Baby Doe

Last year we had a wonderful time at the Take a Child to the Opera event. So Marina and I were looking forward to going again this year. This year’s show was The Ballad of Baby Doe – the story of a famous Colorado woman. The opera was set in a mining town, similar to the one we were in. In fact, this was the 60th anniversary of the show, which premiered in the opera house.

We drove into the mountains this morning. It was a beautiful day. Our activities started off with a scavenger hunt in the two blocks around the opera house. For every location we found, we got a brief history of each place. We even got to see some of Baby Doe’s furniture on display. After we completed the hunt, we checked out a small museum which focused on law and order in 1860’s.

 
We had a break for lunch, so we found a shady spot on one of the opera house patios and enjoyed the food we brought with us. After lunch, we went for a talk with the opera music director and one of the singers. They talked extensively about The Ballad of Baby Doe. By then we were excited to see the show.

We lined up on street to watch the famous Usher Song. Then we went into the opera house for the show. Our seats were in the second row, so we had an excellent view of the stage. Marina loved the opera. She especially liked the voice of the actress singing the part of Baby Doe. After the show was over, it started to rain outside. So they moved the cast meet and greet inside the opera house. Marina was thrilled to meet the actors playing Horace, Baby Doe and Augusta.

We got out some leftovers from lunch to eat on the way home. We were all hungry and tired. But we’d had a great day.

Historic Opera

Marina and I have had an interest in opera lately. A historic opera house in an old mining town offered a program called “Take a Child to the Opera Day.” The program included several activities and a performance of La Traviata. That sounded like a great way to check out this historic opera house.

We had to leave fairly early this morning because it was pretty far away. We got to drive into the mountains and were treated to some spectacular views along the way. The activities began in the livery stables across the street from the opera house. The stables have been turned into a small performance space. We were led in several theatrically themed games. Marina was a bit self-conscious about the mirror game, but she loved the “Director Says” one.

After the activities, we went to a local museum which featured many artifacts from the city’s history. We walked past mock stores and an old fashioned classroom. Marina even tried ringing the school bells. But her favorite part was clearly the Nautilus submarine on display.

After our visit to the museum, we went to the opera house and had lunch on one of two lovely patios next to it. We ate on a shady bench with a girl and her grandmother. After they ate, Marina and her new friend played in the gardens.

After lunch, we went back to the livery stable for presentation by one of the Central City Opera singers. He was a baritone and he talked about the opera and life as a singer. He also performed one of the arias from La Traviata. After his performance, we went to the Teller House, next door the Opera House, and Marina made a camilla, since the opera was based on a book called “The Lady of the Camillas.” She was also given a set of opera glasses, which she loved.

Once her flower was finished, we went outside to watch the song of the ushers. It is tradition that the ushers stand in front of the box office and sing the song before marching to the opera house and opening up seating. We settled into our seats shortly before the opera began. The theater inside was gorgeous. The opening was a festive party and it captured Marina’s attention. The opera was sung in Italian, but the translation appeared on a big screen at the front of the theater.

Act 1 was short, followed by an intermission. We went outside onto one of the patios where Marina met up with her new friend again. Act 2 was slower and less dynamic, so Marina played with her opera glasses a bit. She met up with her friend again during the second intermission. This time, the girls discussed the death of Violetta which they knew was coming at the end of the opera.

Marina clapped enthusiastically at the end of the opera. She was tired and ready to go home. But I encouraged her to take advantage of the opportunity to meet the cast. She was a bit reluctant, but she agreed. There was a bit of a crowd, but we patiently waited our turn. First we got to meet the actor playing Alfredo. He was very nice and when I asked to take a picture he pointed out his mother was there taking pictures as well. Next we spoke with Violetta. She was very friendly and encouraging to each child. Marina was so impressed with her that she gave her the camilla she made earlier. Before we left, we got pictures with Georges and Flora as well.

We had another long ride home. Marina seemed to enjoy most of the views I pointed out to her, but mostly she played on her phone. The long drive seemed to be the only part of our day she didn’t like.

Wild, Wild Life

We made plans with Mr. Chuck and Miss Judy to visit someplace new, a Wildlife Sanctuary not too far from home. We'd all heard of it, but hadn't been there. We had a bit of a drive on our way there, Marina listened to music on headphones while we drove, so she was pretty content on the ride in.

As we entered the parking lot, we could see some of the animals. There were bears, wolves and tigers checking us out as we drove in. Marina and Miss Judy were already excited.

The first enclosure we saw had two Grizzly bears inside. They wrestled for a while as we watched, then one got into the water tank and relaxed. Next we saw a group of tigers. Most of them were lying in the sun, but one was running around trying to play with the others.

The next area was filled with lions. We saw two lions walking in the distance and several lionesses were sleeping inside. Then we saw wolves. Several of the pack started running around and barking at each other. It was fun to see them playing. The black bear enclosure was bustling with activity. Two babies were wrestling around while most of the adults ate.

Further down were several prides of lions. A volunteer showed Marina how to find the pride's leader. (We all learned it's the lion with the darkest mane!) We saw a new tiger habitat with a fancy pool and waterfall and the tigers who will soon play there. Marina was especially excited by the white one.

By the time we reached the end of the sanctuary, we were all tired and hungry. So, we stopped for a picnic lunch Miss Judy packed. As we headed back to the car, we watched the tigers and Grizzly bears a little longer. As we went back to the car, Marina said, "We should come here more often."

Picnic

Today was my company picnic. Marina always looks forward to it - especially the water fountains she can play in at the park. She had a snack of watermelon before going to play in the water. She took a lot of interest in getting her hair wet this year. She came over to me to show me how wet she was. Eventually, she took a break to have lunch.

Throughout the day, Marina met up with many of the kids she has played with in years past. This year she also met up with the granddaughter of one of my coworkers. The two of them hit it off and hung out for most of the afternoon. Marina even took her food to eat in a sunny spot with her new friend. They seemed to be working on their tans. At the end of the picnic, Marina didn't want to go. She was having too much fun!

Picnic

Today was my company picnic. Marina looks forward to this every year, mostly the water fountains she gets to play in while we are there. When we arrived there were quite a few children already playing and she was timid at first. She was hungry before the food was served, so she was grumpy for a while.

Once lunch was ready, she ate two chicken drumsticks and a lot of fruit salad. After that, she was her usual perky self. She played in the fountains with the children. Some of the younger kids looked to her to lead them. She was quite happy to do so.

She was hungry a bit later and she wanted to try some steak. She tried a few bites and she said she liked it. Then she went back to playing. She found a spot where the water was pooling and she sat and played there for a while. When it was time to go home, she didn’t want to go. It was good to see her have so much fun.

A Day at the Zoo

This was supposed to be the last really hot weekend this summer. Marina and I decided to go to the zoo. When we arrived, she told me she wanted to see fish. So we went to the tropics exhibit where the fish are. She was interested in them, but she spent more time looking at the snakes. Who knew she liked snakes so much? But the tarantula really freaked her out.

We stopped for a snack near the sea lions. We had a nice view of them as they played in the water. It seemed like the four of them were chasing each other. It was fun to watch. The polar bears were in their pools. At the underwater viewing window, one was right in front. But Marina didn’t have much interest.

The zoo had a lot of new babies for us to see. We saw baby giraffes, a seal, mountain goat and a zebra. Marina loved them!

Because of the heat, many of the animals were lethargic, an exception was the brown bears. One of them kept following the other around the exhibit. Every once in a while it would agitate the other.

As usual, Marina took a ride on the carousel. This time she picked the cheetah to ride on - although she was hoping for a leopard!

Just before we left, we saw the lions. Two lionesses and a lion were resting right by the viewing window. Marina was eye to eye with a lioness! (A little disconcerting to a mom, I must say!)

Happy Birthday America!

We planned to see fireworks with our neighbors, but unfortunately, the evening didn't turn out the way we wanted. We had thunderstorms move in this evening and the fireworks were rained out. Still we had a fun evening. We had a picninc dinner in the back of their SUV. The symphony played for a while and we got to hear that. But, ultimately the rain picked up and we went home. We saw a few fireworks from Marina's bedroom but she lost interest after a few minutes. I guess it just wasn't the same.

Face Painting

Marina loves to have her face painted. She attended a carnival this week where she asked to be painted like a "mermaid princess." Unfortunately, she also had swimming lessons, so the face paint didn't last for long.

The good news was, my company picnic was a few days later. I told her there would be a face painter there as well. She was so excited she told the artist that she wanted to be a mermaid princess again. She even showed her the picture from a few days before. The artist took it in stride and created a design Marina loved.