A "Wicked" Awesome Day

Remember this little girl?

Who sang "Wizard and I" when she was 8 (I'd post a link to that adorable video but it seems I had a mommy fail that weekend and don't have it recorded). She's been in love with the music from Wicked ever since.  Add in a special connection to anything Wizard of Oz (thanks Mr. Wills) and you've got one kid who should've seen Wicked numerous times by now, but nope.  Not until yesterday.

As an early birthday present, I bought 2 tickets to Wicked in Richmond last November. I've been anxiously awaiting the show since then. Erin had no clue, until we drove by the theater (in some crazy, insane traffic), what was going on. I'd explained a few weeks ago that we were going to do something special for her birthday on the 26th. I would need to pull her from her soccer game early and we would be spending the day together. She was convinced we were going to King's Dominion.

After soccer I explained to her that she needed to find her favorite summer dress and get all pretty. She was allowed to wear her makeup and should at least brush her hair. While she did that, I prettied up too, sneakily grabbed her Oz bracelet and knit Elpheba from Noni. We packed a little lunch and hopped into the car. We sang random show tunes all the way to Richmond.

Once inside she was in awe. We had cheap(er) seats in the balcony but were pretty center and Erin had a great view. I don't think she blinked the whole time. Jaw wide open. The majesty and awesomeness of it all was amazing. The music astounding live. The costumes fantastic (even from so far away). Both Glinda and Elpheba sent chills down our spines. I did have to remind Erin at the beginning of the show that this was not a sing-a-long though and she would have to keep quiet.

The audience was electric and I think that only added to the energy of the show. There were laughs and applause at places clearly not expected. Whistles and shouts of amazement. All deserved.

I caved and bought the girl an overly expensive t-shirt as a way to remember the day. I doubt she'll need it to remember it though. After the show we slowly made our way down from the balcony and outside. Traffic was nuts and I convinced Miss Erin to wander down the street to the stage door. A few minutes later an actor (Oz) emerged and graciously greeted fans with pictures and a pen for autographs.  Erin, feeling hungry was ready to go, but traffic was still nuts so I convinced her to chill. We waited about 10 more minutes and one last woman emerged from the stage door and walked to the small group waiting with a little wave. Not until I noticed the green in her hairline did I realize it was the amazingly talented woman who played Elpheba. Our waiting paid off. She chatted with fans, posed for pictures, admired a very special knit Elpheba doll and made for one fantastic birthday memory -- for mommy and daughter.

Erin and Elphy in her seat

When She Met the Wizard

All smiles with Elpheba

The Panda Family

The Panda family.  That's what Jeff calls it.  He got his first stuffed panda when he was 2 (almost 3) at the Memphis Zoo.  We had traveled to Memphis with Noni for work.  While she was at a meeting I took the kids to the Memphis Zoo.  It was a rainy dreary day in late March.  We were just about the only people there.  We spent a long time watching their pandas and the polar bear (Erin brought home Cranberry the stuffed Polar Bear).  Visiting that zoo is one of my favorite memories from when the kids were younger.  Having the place to ourselves allowed us to spend as much time sitting in front of an exhibit as we wanted.    

Jeff at 2 riding home from Memphis with Panda.  Also that's blankie in his lap.  It is not nearly that color yellow any more.  

Over the years Jeff has added to the "panda family".  A couple of Beanie Babies, a large panda from King's Dominion, a panda Webkinz and a panda beanie ball.  All of them sleep with Jeff every night (along with around 15 other stuffed friends).  He very carefully arranges them in bed and tucks them in.  Momma panda is the original panda.  This week at the National Zoo we spent more time watching the pandas.  We arrived nice and early, and the daddy panda was right up front eating some bamboo and then wandered the enclosure. We spent a long time taking pictures and watching Mr. Panda enjoy his morning snack.

Since it was spring break I explained to the kids that they could each pick one stuffed animal from the gift shop.  Jeff immediately ran to the pandas.  He handled them all, picking out the softest and snuggliest one.  At a reasonable price, it wasn't too hard for him to convince me.  He then kicked in to overdrive and grabbed a big eyed baby panda fussing that baby couldn't be left alone, separated from mommy.  Yeah I'm a sucker.  He got both.

When we got home and I was removing the tags I noticed that the tag of his new panda looked familiar.  The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this is exactly the SAME panda I bought Jeff almost 6 years ago in Memphis.  When we returned to C'ville he ran upstairs to get the rest of the family to introduce the new members.  Yep...this is virtually the exact same bear.  Same size, same weight.  Cleaner and fluffier but same one.

So we've added an auntie and cousin to the panda family.  I'm not sure how many more will fit in bed with the big boy.  But glad he still gets so much excitement from lovable, squishable stuffed animals.