A Pirate's Life For Me

After a late night last night, Marina and I slept in this morning. We had a big breakfast before getting ready to go out today. The Pirate Festival has become an annual tradition for Marina and I. We each created a pirate themed outfit and headed out.

We ran into terrible traffic on the way to the festival, which was frustrating but ultimately we got there and found a place to park. Then we headed into the park.

The layout was different this year, but it’s not a huge events, so it wasn’t too hard to find anything. We met up with a woman dressed up as Ursula, the sea witch and a siren. We took photos with them. Then we found Tinkerbell. It turned out she was Brittany, one of our friends. It was fun to see her. The mermaids this year were different. They were having story time when we walked by, so we decided to come back afterwards.

We were wanted to watch the cardboard boat races but they weren’t on the lake. Finally we saw a sign that said they had been moved to the recreation center across the street. We headed over there where the races were already underway. We managed to find a place to watch the rest of the races. Once they were over, we went over to say hello to Captain Jack Sparrow. We had a few minutes to talk with him before we went back to the festival.

Marina liked looking at the jewelry for sale and we ultimately got to take photos with the mermaids. We also found the Lego pirate. After a few hours we were both hungry. The food truck lines were long, so we decided to get food on the way home.

Wilkommen

Marina and I saw Cabaret two weeks ago. However, a friend of ours was performing in a different production tonight, so we went to see it again. We made arrangements to see it with friends.

Traffic was really bad on the highway today so the drive took longer than expected. We had picked out a restaurant right by the theatre for dinner but it was very crowded when we got there. Once we finally got a table, we placed our order. We were all very hungry when the food arrived. We found out why it was so crowded – the food was excellent.

We didn’t like to have to rush through dinner, but we did make it to the theatre with time to spare. We had time to get drinks and settle into our seats before the show started. 

Marina enjoyed watching Cabaret again. Our friend was playing the Emcee. Since we’d seen the show recently, Marina knew where the surprises were and she anticipated them. Despite the heavy material in the show, Marina enjoyed seeing it again.

After the show we waited to see our friend. He was surprised to see us – apparently he can’t see the audience from the stage. We spent a little while talking with him before heading home. It was late before we finally made it back to our house.

Star Wars and Soccer

Marina and I have been interested in attending a Colorado Rapids game for a while. Tonight was Star Wars Night. So, even though it was a school night, we decided to go. Marina wore her Rey costume and I had a Star Wars inspired dress.

When we arrived we found a parking place easily but then learned we had to walk around the whole stadium to pick up our tickets. Once inside we picked up our Star Wars blankets and went looking for our seats, which were on the side of the stadium where we parked. The temperatures were staring to drop and a strong wind was blowing.

As we walked we came across a group of cosplayers, so we took photos with them. When we arrived at our section, we found another group of cosplayers, including Kylo Ren. Marina always loves to exchange banter with him!

We bought drinks and found our seats. Shortly after we sat down, we saw another group of cosplayers nearby, so we went to take pictures with them. One of them was a Harley Quinn inspired Jedi which Marina loved!
We verified that we had seen all the cosplayers so we settled back into our seats. Just as the game began it started to rain. Fortunately there were empty seats in a cove section near us, so we moved there for the rest of the game. Marina used her new Star Wars blanket to stay warm.

Despite not ever having seen an MLS game before, Marina and I really enjoyed it. The first half was scoreless, but with only ten minutes left in the game, the Rapids scored the first goal. It wasn’t long afterwards that the LA Galaxy came back and score to tie the game. As time was winding down, the Rapids got a penalty shot. There was a lot of build up to the kick and it went into the goal. It was very exciting. In the end, the Rapids won 2 to 1.

Fortunately, the park isn’t too far from home. So it didn’t take long to get there. Marina went right to bed since she has school tomorrow.

Dinner With Super Heroes

Our favorite pizzeria took a few months this summer off of their character dinners. They recently started up again. Tonight was Super Hero Night. We decided to attend the early seating because Captain America and Wonder Woman were appearing then.

I picked Marina up from school and we went home and quickly changed our clothes. Marina put on her Wonder Woman costume and I wore the dress part of my Bat Girl costume. Then we quickly headed out.
We arrived a bit after the event started. We were seated on the patio and we were happy to see our favorite server.

Shortly after we ordered, Captain America and Wonder Woman stopped by our table. We recognized Captain America as an actor we we’ve met at many of the super hero nights. He called us “Friends” all night.

Marina and I were happy when our pizza arrived. We were both pretty hungry. After we ate it was time for super hero training. Marina was happy to join in. Once the training was over, we said goodbye to our friends and headed home.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

We were looking forward to seeing The Hunchback of Notre Dame with some of our friends. We met them at their house and made the drive together.

We settled in at our table and looked for some of our friends who were in the show. We managed to touch base with most of them. We didn’t know the two servers who were assigned to us.

We were all interested in the show. Our friends were not familiar with it at all. Marina remembered the animated film. The script was very dark. The music was gorgeous – featuring an extra choir. A lot of our friends were in it, which made it fun.

At intermission we all had dessert and we agreed we liked the show. When it was over, we had a whole group of our actor friends come to our table – they know we love to take photos. And we had older ones to give to them all as well.

After our pictures were done, we got back in the car and headed home. On the way we ran into a big rainstorm which slowed us up a bit. Fortunately when Marina and I finally arrived at home, it had let up so we didn’t get too wet.

Cabaret

This evening, we had tickets to see Cabaret. Since Marina enjoyed Chicago so much last month, I decided to take her to Cabaret which is written by the same composer and lyricist. On the way to the show, we talked about the historical setting of pre-World War II Germany and how that was significant to the story.

We arrived early but when we were finally allowed into the theater, we were amazed by how it looked.   The whole area had been transformed into a nightclub. It looked amazing! Once the show started, Marina was very interested. When one character removed his jacked to reveal a swastika armband, Marina gasped. Clearly she knew what that was.

The show had raunchy moments and very suggestive dancing, but Marina didn’t seem to get too embarrassed. She followed the story pretty well and we had an interesting discussion afterwards.

A friend of ours played Fraulein Schneider in the show, so we waited to see her afterwards. We also gave her a book of photos we’ve taken after other performances we’ve seen her in. It was fun to catch up with her. We also met the performers who played the Emcee and Sally.

We had a bit of rain on the way home, but luckily we didn’t get too wet.

Harry Potter Escape

Marina’s interest in Harry Potter has been growing all year. And since we both enjoy escape rooms, I signed us up to try a Harry Potter Escape Room today. Marina decided to wear her Hufflepuff uniform.

It was located at a nearby high school not far from our house. We arrived early and signed in. A little while later, the other participants in the game showed up. We all talked about our interest in Harry Potter and other escape rooms we’ve tried. Since we were all there, we got started early.

The room was made to look like a parlor. It was filled with books, potion bottles and cabinets with locks. When we got started we all spent time looking around the room and figuring out what was there. Marina found the first clue. It was Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Throughout we found clues in books, suitcases, posters and even a vial of troll snot. We ran into a snag where one of our clues wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

We came very close to finding the hidden crystals. We were working on a lock and triggering a lever in a picture frame when time ran out. It was frustrating to come so close but not quite escape. Despite that, we had fun trying to figure it out.