The Muny

Once again, our dance school went to the Mumy, this time to see Beauty and the Beast. And, once again, it was a gorgeous night. What a fun time!



Except, you know how I always seem to attract Scent Enthusiasts? So, guess who sat one row up, 2 seats over on the upwind side! I couldn't believe it when he sat down; the kids burst out laughing. (If you're not part of our dance school and therefor in on the joke, picture being awash in Abercrombie.) At least it's an open air theatre.

Wedding Photos

Alternate title: How We Spent Our Anniversary.





Ushers in action:




The shiny bits in the photos are bubbles:


And, of course, during the reception dancing, the Hokey Pokey:

Things Done List

The things-to-do list is formidable, so I'm going to contemplate the things-done list from yesterday.

Made a pair of capri pants with cheap twill from Hancock Fabrics. These still need a buttonhole and button.

Spread 50 percent of the bark mulch.

Planted 2 dozen vincas and watered them in. Also, got hose and sprayer hooked up on side of house (I passionately hate messing with hoses, so this is significant).

Mowed front yard.

Ran numerous errands: purchased flower for front of AnnaBeth's dress; car snacks for weekend road trip; picked up tickets for the Muny next week; organized yarn for project to do in the car (since the crochet collars are, thankfully, done -- no clue if y'all are getting dresses or what's up with any of that, but my part of that entire venture is DONE! and it's all in the hands of the dressmaker, et al).

Oohed and aahed over the neighbor's triplets when they went out for a walk. In an unusual moment of self-restraint, refrained from commenting that the way they tended to want to all pile together reminded me of rats, sensing that the proud parents might be ... dismayed by that remark.

Fed people several times, Also fed rats and cats.

Laundry. Rick got home late Wednesday night and dumped out his suitcase, so all clothing-type laundry got done yesterday so he could pack everything right back up again. By the way, this is our current lifestyle -- constant travel punctuated here and there by a day home to do laundry.

A Sad Day

AnnaBeth's rat, Bethany, died today. She was 2.5 years old.

Shown here on AnnaBeth's lap last week:

Shakespeare Family Festival Finale

Words that sum up Day 2: hot and humid.

Sunday had a couple of additional entertainments. I hadn't seen this lady doing the calligraphy on Saturday. She writes on the paper with water, then drops ink on the water. It's really, really cool looking. And, of course, she makes it look so easy that any of us could do it, but you know it would be a mess.



A group taught English Country Dancing. AnnaBeth and I participated in the first dance, but then took a break during the line dance. I got just the last bit on film when I realized what a cool dance it was.



Then the Morris Dancers came out.



Again, just the end on film. Wouldn't this liven up a feis? I can think of some of the guys at dance (or, ahem, former students -- you know who I mean) who'd like to give this a try.



The play went much more smoothly on Sunday night. The sound problems were (mostly) ironed out, some of the kids who were a bit tentative on their lines did much better



and they added a spotlight so we could see the ending better. Too bad my photography remained fuzzy. This is Sebastian and Viola reunited. Note that Sebastian is several inches taller than Viola, has short, dark, curly hair (in contrast to her straight light brown), and speaks with a distinct accent. But, you know, other than that, "one face, one voice". Sorta.


As a bonus, I won tickets to the Magic House, the Botanical Garden, the Transportation Museum, and a Cardinals game. So that was pretty cool.

Okay, so we're attempting to re-hydrate, plus recover from over-consumption of funnel cakes. Also, all of the costumes are in the back of my car, in need of deliverance to Dayspring. Glad it's over, but sort of sad, too. The kids are already looking forward to next year's Shakespeare camp (Comedy of Errors) and the next Dayspring workshop.

Shakespeare Family Festival, Day 1

The festival kicked off with Sir Carl Kent telling stories while dressed in armor (in 95F heat -- sheesh!). Here he has a boy from the audience playing the part of a dragon:



There were various other things going on -- spinning demo, face painting, playground and spray-ground activity, people wandering around dressed as various Shakespearean characters whilst carrying trading cards with their pictures. Also, drawings and raffles for various stuff.

Then the clowns came out:


Except during their performance it became very dark, and a mighty wind came up. It was fairly ominous, and looked like we were in for a monsoon.


But it all blew over with a few drops of rain, and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees, which was wonderful. And the show went on.

A juggler, whose name I forget. He's really good. He's from the area. I was sitting next to his former math teacher, who told me that he used to say he didn't need to learn algebra because he was going to be a juggler. And she would say, no, you can't earn a living as a juggler, so learn the math. And here he is, traveling around the world as a juggler now. I assume he learned enough math to keep track of expenses.


The Tower Grove Singers:


A fencing demonstration by Bruce Sikes' group (he gives lessons in the area). They had a couple of kids come up and try fencing with foils, so if you want a chance to give it a quick try, come out to the festival today.


Another clown show, this time sans weather special effects.

Sir Carl then told the story of Sir Gawain and the Loathely Lady.


After which he was dubbed a knight of Creve Coeur by the mayor of Crreve Coeur.


Then the play started!


Viola and Sebastian on the "boat" (the chorus is forming a ship's prow) during the storm. The captain is behind the clowns. Orsino and Olivia are on the stage behind everyone, which I assume represents them hanging out in Illyria.


Viola discussing her options with the captain, deciding to dress up as a boy.


Viola meets veiled Olivia while Maria attends


and Olivia removes her veil.


Thalia and AnnaBeth only had one scene in which they interacted


Feste taunts Malvolio while the latter languishes in his prison.


By this time the sun had set, and it was getting too dark to take pictures.

There were some glitches with the sound, but otherwise a fun performance and a fun afternoon.

Status Report

Jester pants done last night. I used New Look 6398, whacking them off at the knees. Fabric is uber-cheap polyester knit from Hancock.



Pants with top. After I took this shot I made triangular jags along the bottom of the top. No extra pic on that, but they're 60 degree angles, in case you wondered.


Action shot during rehearsal. I was standing in the shade, and thus far away. It was about 95F (35C) with a decent amount of humidity.

One of the other moms asked where we'd found them, and said, "Hancock Fabric ... they arose out of the fabric yesterday," waving my hands appropriately to show pants magically arising. Later I was commenting that AnnaBeth's entire life revolves around over-acting and being dramatic, and that same mom said, "So, she gets that from you, right?" Hmmmm.....

Here's Thalia's scene with Orsino towards the end. Thalia's on the left.


We came home, AnnaBeth and I went to the pool for about 30 minutes, and now everyone's just sort of sitting around staring into space.

TOMORROW'S THE DAY!