Heathers

I had plans to see the musical Heathers with Angie last weekend. Due to the content, I wasn’t sure it Marina would like it. We were supposed to go last weekend, but the weather was bad last weekend when we were supposed to go so I rescheduled for today and bought an extra ticket so Marina could come. At first she didn’t seem very excited about it but then she found the songs “Candy Store” and “Dead Girl Walking” on YouTube and really liked them. So she was looking forward to it today.

This theatre was a long drive from home, so right after church we had a quick lunch with Angie and then got on the road. Marina listened to music for most for the trip. It took us just under two hours to get to the theater. We were all pretty happy to be moving around when were got out of the car.

The theater is technically a dinner theater although a meal is not included with the ticket price. Since we ate before we left, we decided to have dessert. Marina ordered an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce.

Once the show began Marina was completely engrossed. Some of it was on the raunchy side, but she was laughing through it all. At intermission she said she wished she had worn her plaid skirt so she would look like the Heathers in the show.

After the show was over, Marina wanted to meet the actors. She spent quite a while talking to the actresses who played the Heathers. We took a photo with them and the actor who played JD. She obviously had a good time.

Return to the West Side

One of Marina’s favorite shows is West Side Story. The performance was at a dinner theater we've never been to and it was pretty far from home.

Marina listened to music on her phone for most of the ride. We arrived in Fort Collins a bit early so we checked in a waited in the lobby. Fortunately they opened a bit early.

Our server was playing Riff. Our salads were already on the table when we sat down and our meals came out very quickly. Marina ordered the honey fried chicken which she liked but also was happy eating the mashed potatoes and cauliflower on her plate. We were done with dinner early, so we had a long wait before the show started.

Once the music started, Marina paid close attention. We were both impressed by Riff and the actress playing Anita. “America” was her favorite song in the show.

During the announcements before the show they wished a woman named Marina a happy birthday. We were both amazed by that. So at intermission we made our way to her table to speak with her. She was a very nice lady and was thrilled we had come over to speak with her. When we went back to our table Marina’s pumpkin cheesecake was there. She shared some with me.

The end of the show was intense. It seemed everyone was crying, including Marina. When we got to the lobby we saw the cast lined up. We got a photo with Riff and Anita, the Jets and Maria. Marina spent a few minutes talking with her. She even got a bit teary as we talked about the end of the show.

We went to the car for the long drive home. We were both tired after a long day. Marina dozed off a bit in the car but didn’t actually fall asleep. When we finally arrived at home she went right to bed.

Another Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo has been a Halloween tradition for us since Marina was a baby. Today was the only day we could go this year, so despite the fact that we were at the zoo last night, we came back again this morning. When we arrived parking was already crazy. I found a spot but it was pretty far away from the zoo so we had a long walk before we got there.

The set up was different this year and the trick or treat stations were smaller and easier to miss. We didn’t see any character meet and greets this year either. When we reached our favorite restaurant Marina was ready to eat lunch. After I ordered we were lucky to find a table in the shade to sit at. We both enjoyed our lunch.

We looked at more animals after lunch. We walked along some of the bird paths we usually don’t follow and went through the Asian animals. All the elephant were outside and the tapir was running around it’s enclosure and making noises. Inside we saw five otters playing and chattering at each other. Marina was thrilled that the fisher cat was inside a log in its exhibit.

We went through the rest of the zoo and stopped at all the treat stations. On our way out we saw two lionesses in Predator Ridge, so we stopped to look at them for a while before making the long journey back to the car.

Enchanted Hollows

This year the Zoo has a new nighttime event for Halloween. Marina and I were interested in checking it out. She wore her Sayori costume, We arrived early and found that it wasn’t crowded at all.

The zoo was decorated with pumpkins, sculptures and some of the scary animals from zoo lights. We saw a few lions in their enclosure. We moved on to look at the hyenas when we heard an animal roaring. We went back to the lions and saw one standing on a log roaring. It was fun to see.
As we moved through the zoo, we stopped to speak with a volunteer who told us that many of the zoo animals are “crepuscular” meaning they are most active at dawn and twilight. We walked by the flamingos and saw them all sleeping very close to the fence. We’d never seen them that close before.


In Asian exhibit we went inside and saw three otters playing. After we finished watching them, Marina turned around and we saw one of the elusive fisher cats looking at us. It quickly turned around and hid again. One of the tigers was also very active and roaring, so we watched it for a while.

Marina wanted to go into the tropical exhibit. She was particularly interested in the snakes tonight. Once we made the walk through the entire zoo we were ready to go home.

Glowing Gardens

Marina and I have attended Glow at the Gardens every year since it started. She wanted to wear her costume Sayori from Doki Doki Literature Club today, so this afternoon we put a temporary maroon dye in her hair. She was very excited about that!

This year we were fortunate to have great weather. We had to wait in line to get into the botanic gardens, but it moved fairly quickly.

Once inside, we bought chai lattes to drink as we walked around. I was surprised at how much light there was at the start. We could see all the pumpkin carvings, but they weren’t glowing. It wasn’t until we were about halfway through that it was dark enough to really see the jack o’lanterns. So we decided to go through again to see everything in the dark.

As we were leaving, we saw performers wearing light up costumes which we watched for a while. After that we were ready to go home.

Mindbender Mansion

Marina is on Fall Break this week. We made plans to go to the nature and science museum today. However, she asked if she could hang out with her boyfriend instead. I suggested that he join us at the museum. Marina loved that idea!

We picked her boyfriend up at his house shortly after lunch. Then we headed to the museum. We found a parking space up front right away. Once inside, we went to the third floor to see the temporary exhibit Mindbender Mansion. It was a series of puzzles arranged in “rooms.” They were pretty tough and the three of us worked together to solve as many as we could.

Once we went through most of the rooms, we moved on to the dinosaur exhibit. He hasn’t been to the museum for a long time, so he took his time looking at everything. Marina was very patient with him as he read the signs.

Next, Marina wanted to go through the space exhibit. There weren’t many people there, so they were able do whatever they wanted to. They played a game about the birth and death of stars, docked Space Shuttle models, looked through telescopes and experimented with the heat sensing equipment.

Before we left, we looked at the mineral hall. He seemed to enjoy looking at all the displays. Of course, Marina liked all the jewels and gold. After we looked at the minerals the Museum was getting ready to close. It was time to go home.

The Sleeping Beauty

Marina and I have seen The Sleeping Beauty ballet several times before. But since we love it so much, we wanted to go to the performance this season. Since Angie loves the ballet, we invited her to join us.

We all met downtown in front of the theater. We bought drinks and went to our seats. Marina and Angie had fun talking before the show.

The show was beautiful as we expected. The people sitting next to Marina were bothering her in Act One so she sat on the other side of Angie for the rest of the show. That helped her enjoy the show more. Act Three was her favorite since it contained Puss in Boots.

After the show the performing arts complex was packed again. Marina was impatient waiting for the elevator for the parking garage so she was actually willing to take the stairs. She was tired and wanted to get home to play with the cats.