Frozen Pizza Party

Last month we went to a Princess Pizza Party with our friends at a pizzeria. While we were there, they advertised for an Anna and Elsa party. Since our friends are big fans of Frozen, we all decided we wanted to go to this one too.

The pizza party was this evening. Marina was excited to see our friends again. She decided to wear her Elsa coronation dress. She put on her own makeup and I put her hair in a bun. She looked so pretty and she loved playing with the long cape.

We arrived early and waited outside with other families. The weather was nice and Marina enjoyed playing with the kids.Our friends hadn’t arrived when we were seated. But they showed up a few minutes later.

Marina and I ordered the same pizza we got last month. While we were eating, Anna and Elsa stopped by our table. We were happy to see that they were played by two actresses we know. It seemed that they spent a bit more time with us than the other tables and they called Marina by name!

Marina and the girls listened to the princesses sing and she happily sang along. After the performance, we said goodbye to Anna and Elsa. Then we went back to our table to finish our dinner. It was another fun night but it was getting late.

Marina and the Wolf

We had tickets to Peter and the Wolf at the symphony and Marina wanted to dress as a wolf. She wore the wolf hat I bought her last year at the Red Riding Hood opera with a grey dress and black leggings. Then with makeup she added a black nose and whiskers. She looked so cute!

We ran into more traffic than we expected going to the concert hall. But we managed to park in the garage and get through security with time to get drinks before going to our seats. As we went to tour seats, the symphony photographer asked if he could get a photo of ”the wolf.” Marina was happy to oblige. The crowd arrived fairly late, so the show was delayed in starting.

This performance featured a mime troop. Early on we were introduced to Maggie who played the part of Peter. The musicians who played the parts of the animals stood in for them. Even the conductor Christopher Dragon got involved in the action as the grumpy grandfather. It was a fun performance to watch.

As we left, many children admired Marina’s costume. She loved that!

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.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Last year, Marina performed the song “Why are all the D'Ysquiths Dying?” from the musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder in her Broadway Showcase class. I saw it was on a local theater’s schedule this year, so I was sure Marina would want to see it. When I found out her Broadway Showcase teacher was in the cast, I knew we had to see it! Marina wore her Victorian inspired costume for the show.

Marina was very excited to see the show tonight. She was even willing to smile for photos before it started. We arrived early and bought drinks and Marina picked out a snack. We were able to get seats in the center of the second row.

There was a delay for the start of the show due to technical problems. Marina got a bit restless but she kept herself occupied by reading the program from cover to cover. We ended up waiting about fifteen minutes until it began. The show was dark but very funny. Her teacher played a whole group of characters and it was fun to watch him change from one to another. Marina loved the show.

At the end of the performance, we waited to talk to her teacher. He recognized Marina and gave her a big hug. He spent a few minutes talking with us. We met the actors playing Monty and Phoebe. After our conversations with the actors, we went home. We both enjoyed the evening.

A Trip Into the Woods

Into the Woods is one of Marina’s favorite musicals. She was interested in seeing a university production this year. Marina decided she wanted to dress like a wolf. That meant she wore black, grey and white with her wolf hat.

We arrived in Boulder with plenty of time to park and walk to the university theater. We picked up snacks and went to our seats. While we were waiting for the show to start, the fire alarm went off. An usher told us a child had pulled an alarm but we still had to evacuate. A bit later the fire department showed up. While we waited outside we talked to the spotlight operator for a while.

When we were finally allowed back inside, it took a while to get everything ready, so the show started about 20 minutes late. Once it got started, Marina was completely involved. At intermission we were both hungry, but when we went to the concession stand they were out of snacks. That made us a bit grumpy.

Fortunately the second act went faster than the first. When the show was over, we waited in the lobby to meet the performer who played Little Red. After our brief conversation, Marina and I headed for the car. We picked up burgers and fries on the ride home then took it easy for the rest of the night.

Cosi For Kids

We had tickets to see Cosi Fan Tutti. The performance we were seeing was specially created for families.

The theater is about an hour drive from our house. None of us were hungry when it was time to leave, so we bought sandwiches to eat along the way. Fortunately the snow that fell last night was plowed this morning and the streets were clear.

We arrived a bit early for the show so we relaxed in our seats for a while. The performance featured scenes of the opera with narration in between. It was colorful and fun to watch. The third scene was particularly funny.

After the performance was over, we got to meet the performer playing Despina, whose boyfriend we were sitting by. After talking with her, we were ready for the long drive home.

The Art of Dior

We had tickets to see the Christian Dior exhibit at the art museum this evening. Marina and her friend got all dressed up but then ultimately decided to wear the clothes they wore to school.

We decided to leave early to deal with rush hour traffic. It also had started to snow. As we drove the snow got heavier and it took us twice as long to get there as usual. Fortunately we arrived just in time to go into the exhibit.

Both girls loved the fancy dresses in the Dior exhibit. They agreed on some but also had their own favorites. We spent the most time in the last room that had dresses inspired by countries around the world.

After we finished seeing the Dior exhibit, we went into the interactive area. They had activities for print art. Both tried each types. They seemed to enjoy the activities and were happy with their finished products.

Once their artwork was finished, we decided to leave. It was late. Unfortunately, due to the snow, the drive home was worse than the drive there. It took nearly 90 minutes for us to get back the house. Both girls were dozing off the entire time. When we finally arrived at home, we had about eight inches of snow to walk through!