Comic Con

For her birthday, I bought Marina tickets to Comic Con and she has been looking forward to it ever since. We arranged to go with Joe and Justine. We decided to go as DC Comic characters. Marina was Catwoman, Justine dressed as Poison Ivy and I wore a Batgirl costume. We all met at the light rail station this morning.

Our stop was near the beginning of the line, so we were able to sit together. By the time the train reached the convention center, it was packed.

We’d hoped to avoid long lines by arriving a bit after the event opened. That didn’t work out as we hoped. We ended up in a huge line waiting to get in. It took nearly two hours and we were pretty tired when we finally entered the convention center.

Marina and Justine went to the exhibition hall while Joe and I sat in on a panel. Then we all met up for lunch. Marina and I checked out more of the exhibit hall for a while and we found a friend of mine form high school. He was with Colorado Movie cars, so he arranged for Marina to be photographed with a jeep from Jurassic Park and me with the Batmobile. Then she met up with one of her school friends and her parents.

Marina and her friend went to a panel on kids and creativity while her parents and I walked through the Exhibit Hall. After that, Marina and I checked out more of the vendors and then went to a panel on Disney TV shows. She was pretty bored through it.

 

 

Joe and Justine left earlier than we did, so Marina and I headed to the light rail. On the way home we picked up dinner. We were both pretty tired by then.

Meeting Mermaids

This evening, Marina and I had tickets to a Mermaid Meet and Greet. We arrived a bit early. Ariel and her friend Cassandra were already there. Both of them recognized Marina immediately and greeted her with hugs.

When the event got started, the mermaids handed out mermaid tails for all the girls. Marina ended up with a blue one which was a bit snug. I could tell she wished she had brought her own tail with her!

The mermaids told stories and sang a bit. Then the girls took turns having their pictures taken with them. It was a fun night!

Wonder Woman

Marina has been excited to see the new movie Wonder Woman. We went to our favorite movie theater restaurant. We arrived early and ordered our favorite platter. It arrived quickly and we were nearly finished eating when the movie started.

Marina chatted with me throughout the film. Once it was over we were both blown away by it.

Unicorn Festival

For months we have been looking forward to the first annual Unicorn Festival. Marina chose to dress as Tinkerbell. She also brought her mermaid fin and Jasmine costume along.

I wanted to get an early start, but we were a bit later than I’d hoped. We arrived and crowds had already started to gather. It took us a while to get inside.

Our first stop was at the Mermaid Lagoon. Marina really wanted to swim with the mermaids. However, they weren’t quite ready to start, so we made plans to come back. Next we just decided to check out the festival. We ran into Prince Charming and Giselle. Marina posed for pictures with both. We found the Princess Palace and Snow White was there. So we took pictures with her as well. Marina then tried out the castle maze which led to a slide.

We went back to the Mermaid Lagoon and found they still weren’t ready yet. We took a photo of Marina with a mermaid and then went to watch a magic show. Marina volunteered to help out with one of the tricks. We also found a fairy king and queen who we had photos taken with.

We wanted to meet Moana, but the line was really long and Marina didn’t want to wait. So we hung out at the bubble tower for a while and had a snack. By then Belle was available, so we got photos with her. Marina changed into her Jasmine costume and we got to the Princess Palace early to see Jasmine. We were very close to the front of the line so we got a chance to meet her quickly.

From there we went to the Mermaid Lagoon and settled in for the wait to swim with the mermaids. It took a very long time, but Marina felt it was worth it. When it was finally her turn, she put on her mermaid tail but it was difficult for her to put the fin on, so she didn’t. She did seem to enjoy her time in the water despite the freezing temperature.

Once she was done swimming we found the festival wasn’t as crowded anymore. We had pictures with Cinderella and Marina petted a unicorn, then she rode one. She even took a turn in the “Crystal Balls” activity. We also got a photo with Ariel. We were about to leave when we saw Captain Jack Sparrow. Of course she wanted to talk to him!

We’d spent the whole day at the festival and we were ready to go home.

Princess Manicure

Today we had tickets for a Princess Manicure Event. Marina decided that she didn’t want to dress up. Instead she chose to wear a Belle t-shirt that said, “Beauty never goes out of style” and a sparkly white skirt. She looked really cute.

When we arrived we saw the other girls were quite a bit younger than Marina. She was very kind to them, but clearly she felt a bit out of place.

The girls all sat at tables and colored pictures while they waited for the Princesses. A short time later, Belle and Cinderella entered. Belle sat right next to Marina. Marina chose a bright yellow nail polish and Belle painted her nails.

After all the girls got their nails done, they gathered on the floor for story time. Marina sat in a chair nearby instead. After the stories, the girls lined up for pictures. Marina, as usual, waited until the end. She had a good time, but we agreed we will probably stop attending these events, apparently she had outgrown them!

The Taming of the Shrew

We saw The Tempest at the Shakespeare Festival two years ago and Marina enjoyed it. This year The Taming of the Shrew was on the schedule. We decided to see it. We invited Michelle to come with us.

The drive was a long one, but we made really good time on the trip. It sprinkled a little bit, but it wasn’t too bad. We arrived with plenty of time to find our seats, buy drinks and settle in. Before the show began some of the actors were lingering onstage which gave us something to watch.

The show was fast paced and it took a little while to get used to the language, but we all enjoyed it. Marina said she understood most of what was going on. Her favorite parts were the humorous ones. And fortunately the weather was clear.

The Oddest Sea

One of our summer traditions is going on a theatre hike. We’ve gone for the past five years. This year’s play, The Oddest Sea: Greek Gods and Giggles, was based on Greek Mythology. Since Marina studied Ancient Greece this year, it seemed like the perfect time to see it.

On our way to the starting point we ran into two of the actors from the show. One recognized us right away. We spent a few minutes talking with them before we went to check in.

Our trail guide was also the playwright. We’d met her before, most recently at the Bitsy Stage performance of The Silent Princess. She remembered us and talked with us while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

The hike was the same as years before, Marina walked at the front of the group, talking with guide nearly the whole time. Two other young girls who knew her were up there as well, so they all enjoyed themselves together.

The play was fun. During the first scene one of the actresses pretended to eat Marina. Of course, she loved that! Even though The Odyssey is a serious and dark story, this play was funny. At the end, Marina was happy to pose for a picture with the cast.

Fortunately, the day was somewhat overcast so it didn’t get as hot as in years past. But we were pretty tired by the end. On the way home, Marina ate a lot of trail mix, so she wasn’t really hungry for lunch by the time we got home.