Mrs. Claus Play

We love the Chicago Kids Company.  If you live in the Chicagoland area, I can't recommend this children's theater company highly enough. We've seen two other shows at the Beverly Arts Center besides this one (The Tortoise and the Hare, and the Three Little Pigs), and they've been very professionally done. And you can't beat the $10 ticket price.

My mom went with us on the 8th of this month to see the holiday performance of Mrs. Clause. It was really delightful. And we even had front row seats, something I hadn't expected at all! I love, love, love the theater, and so far the kids seem to love it too, so I think it will be a big part of our lives in the years to come. When they get a little bit older, I can't wait to take them to see a Shakespeare play at the Shakespeare Theater downtown at Navy Pier. Now, those tickets cost quite a bit more, so I want to make sure the kids are really ready for and want to see those plays.

After the play, the kids posed for pictures - Jared with one of the "villains" of the play, and Alexa with Mrs. Clause.  What are some of your favorite memories of theater with your kids?

Beverly Arts Center - The Three Little Pigs

Yesterday morning we headed to Chicago to watch a production of the Three Little Pigs put on by Chicago Kids Company at the Beverly Arts Center.   Alexa, my mom and I had been here once before to see the Tortoise and the Hare, but this was Jared's first time.

The day started out rainy and mucky, and Steve had been on a business trip the night before, so I needed something different for me and the kids to do. We had been by my mom's most of the day before, helping clean and pack, since they'll be moving this Friday.

I had it all planned out, exactly how long it would take to drive there, park, find a bathroom, and take our seats. But, of course, something always gets in the way of my carefully planned out timeline. You'd think I'd learn to plan in time for the unplanned!

The Center has a parking lot attached to the property, and I had counted on parking there. When we pulled up, I noticed a huge tent covering the lot. Well, ok. Something different. But I'd seen other cars parked there, so I thought it'd be ok. Then, just as I had let Jared out of the car, a workman came over and told us we couldn't park there.  And then Jared fell face first in a mud puddle. Definitely not planned. Still after changing his pants, huffing it to the building and into the bathroom, we managed to get into our seats (front row and center!) with about a minute to spare.

It was a really, really cute production, and very interactive with the audience. Since we were in the front row, it was even more interactive for us, with the characters coming down to shake our hands and asking questions. Both kids especially loved the Big Bad Wolf. Alexa talked throughout the program; she had so many comments and questions. When the play ended, she said, very loudly," I want to come back and watch another play again really soon."

I rushed us into the bathroom again, trying to beat the lines, but when we came out the actors had left the greeting area out front. I felt so bad; I didn't realize how much they'd wanted to shake hands with the Big Bad Wolf. They soon forgave me, though.

There are two plays left in the season - Cinderella and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Hopefully we'll make it to them, too.

Trick Dogs, Barefoot Hawaiians, and The Mean African King

We've gone to quite a few library programs in the past two months, so I'm going to lump them all together in one post.

One of our favorites was a dog show at the LaGrange Public Library, where we also met my friend and her son. The dogs jumped through hoops, zipped and unzipped jackets, climbed ladders and did dozens of other tricks. Then, the kids were invited to pet the dogs after the show.

Even with all that excitement, I think my kids had the most fun pushing their little friend around in his stroller after the show.

Alexa danced on stage with other girls in the audience when we saw the Barefoot Hawaiians at the Oak Park Library. Jared was a little too nervous to get on stage with the other boys. Both kids really loved watching and listening to dances from French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Fiji. Plus, it made looking at those places on the map much more memorable.

We've also visited the Oak Park library in the past month for an arts project where they created a winter collage, and we've seen a theater/music performance on Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday. A two person acting team put on several short skits based on legends from different parts of the world, performed a dragon dance from China, and other dances from around the globe.

There are so many awesome free library programs in our area. We can usually go to at least three a month if we want to. It's an incredible way to show kids things they may have never been introduced to before, a chance to be with other kids, and also to see what new things might spark their interest.

It's also just a great chance for pretend play, checking out new books and even watching some fish. And best of all, kids can choose whether or not to participate and what they want to dig into even deeper.

Christmas Play

Jared and Alexa are going through a huge dress-up phase right now. They love to put together different "costumes." Pirates, ghosts, princesses, knights, and lately shepherds and angels. In the weeks before the Christmas play, they asked many times to put their costumes on and run around the house. Also, since Alexa loves singing so much and they would be singing two songs, they were pretty excited about the play this year.

They were in the Christmas play last year, and actually one of the songs this year was the same as last year, but this year we really noticed a difference in how excited they were to go on stage. Last year, Jared refused to practice on the stage, and then, during the actual performance, right after all the other kids had walked on the stage, he popped out of Steve's lap and joined the rest of the group.

This year my mom, Steve's parents, and my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came to watch the performance. We had fun taking group shots of the kids before they went on stage.

After the show, we went to eat with the family. All in all, it was a pretty good evening, although both kids became very cranky towards the end. I've included my favorite pictures of the evening below. Aren't the kids adorable?

December 2008

December 2008

Books we loved – Getting to Know the World’s Greatest artists series, Magic School Bus series,

Lets Read and Find Out Science series

Baking Cookies and having flour fight

Playing in the Snow – Daddy pulling them in the sled during a heavy snowstorm for about a half mile pulling them along the River Walk, and around the yard

Making a Snowman

Brookfield Zoo – Hamil Family Play Zoo, Tropic World, and Swamp House – We passed by the outside of the house and Alexa said “the alligator is there,” and we hadn’t been inside that house in almost a year.

Doing some Science experiments

DVD series we loved – Bill Nye the Science Guy and The Magic School Bus

Christmas Books we Liked – Christmas in the Attic, Frosty the Snowman, The Christmas Pageant

Christmas Movies they Adored – It’s a Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Charlie Brown Christmas, Muppet Christmas Special

Wonderworks – playing with the Brio trains, playing dress up with the costumes

Puzzles – Jared continued his puzzle obsession

Favorite Christmas CDs – Glen Miller Orchestra, The Gift, Charlie Brown Christmas

DuPage Children’s Museum – light pegs, floating paper ships in the water, listening to the quartet play Christmas carols

Caroling at the retirement home

Watching their cousin Sabrina’s play

Picking out the Christmas tree and helping to decorate it

Singing in the Children’s Christmas Play – Alexa was an angel and Jared a Shepherd

Chicago Children’s Museum – playing with nuts, bolts and screws, dressing up a pretend Frosty, hammering pegs, climbing the rope ladder and bridge, climbing in the ambulance, painting on a glass window pane, drawing with chalk