Puppets, Birthdays and MORE!

We traveled to Cedar Rapids the first week of April to help my mom celebrate her birthday. We went down on Wednesday night getting in pretty late and really started our visit on Thursday morning. It was so nice because Andrew took the mornings off to hang out with us and then worked in the afternoons. Thursday morning we went to Barnes and Noble for a snack and to read books.


The girls played three games of Candyland with Nana Mary Thursday afternoon. Then, our good friend, Molly (Ella's godmother) came by for a visit to see the girls for a bit. Andrew and I then left with Molly to go out to dinner at a new Cedar Rapids restaurant: Cibo. It was a totally different restaurant than we're used to going in Cedar Rapids. Sort of bigger city style. It was really nice. The food was good and it was a lot of fun to catch up with Molly and Derek (Molly's hubby who met us there).

Friday morning we had craft time at Nana's (which I'll post in a separate craft post: Nana's Treasure Box) while Andrew hung up my mom's new valances and blinds in her guest room. She recently redecorated in there and it looks great. I mean, really, it was probably time to get rid of the black, pink and mint green circa my middle/high school years. Okay, the room itself had been redecorated since then, but my valances and wallpaper border were still in there as well as those colors. Don't worry people, the splatter paint comforter of the time has since been relegated to my trunk as a beach/picnic blanket.

Anyhoo, we had a pretty low-key day on Friday. It was gorgeous so there was a lot of playing outside in the leaf pile and with Nana's wagon. If I am remembering correctly, we colored eggs on Friday afternoon as well. We had a yummy chicken piccatta dinner cooked by Nana. Then there was general relaxing in the evening.




Saturday was our crazy day! We started the day out with a nice homemade breakfast. The girls, Andrew and I ran a few errands which included a stop to the candy store at Lindale Mall. This candy store has been there since I was little. I remember going in there every so often to get those sugar-coated fruit slices...do you know the ones I'm talking about? YUM! Actually, you can see them on the cake my mom made below. It was so fun to see the girls look at all the candy choices and make their decision. My mom slaved away in the kitchen most of the afternoon making her OWN birthday desserts. But look at them! Don't they look great!


In the late afternoon we made our way back to Lindale Mall where there is a puppet theater (if you can believe it!). The Edgar Wibble Puppet Theater just celebrated its two-year anniversary and we thought it might be something fun and different to do with the kids. Fun, maybe. Different, definitely. (Sidenote: Here's a link to a youtube video so you can understand what I'm talking about when I say this was a bit of a weird experience.) The front part of the theater is actually a toy store filled with every kind of puppet imaginable from finger puppets to full marionnettes. We got there a bit early and the girls had fun looking at all the puppets and playing with them, Ella especially loved this. Then we grabbed our seats and settled in for the show. First, we were treated to a short show about some aliens who teach a television chef a lesson about recycling. It was amusing, albeit a little weird. Then came the feature production, a version of Phantom of the Opera. I have to say, Ella and Lily did terrific. The show was OVER an hour and they sat really well for the entire thing and actually seemed engrossed. If I were choosing a show to put on in a puppet theater, I might choose something a little more exciting than this music-less version of the Phantom (come on, it's the music that makes that show so incredibly awesome!). The adults sort of looked at each other not really sure what to think of the whole experience. BUT, the puppets were interesting. These people make them all as well as the sets, write the shows and the little bit of music that goes along with it. So I have to hand it to them, they are doing something they love and making a go at it. Very admirable. And now that I know Ella and Lily can sit through that and be totally into it, I definitely think more children's productions (like the Nutcracker) are in our near future.


(Sorry the photos aren't that great. I had our cheapy camera. That last one is Lily sittingin the front row to watch.)

After the puppet theater we headed over to the Vernon Inn, my favorite restaurant in Cedar Rapids (yummy Greek food!) for my mom's birthday dinner with David's dad, Judge and his friend Carline. It was a great meal and the girls were still really well behaved for the entire meal. We all adjorned to my mom's house for some of her yummy dessert. And really our trip came to an end that night. Bad weather the next morning moved our departure time up a bit. We just packed up and left as soon as we could.

The girls loved visiting Nana and Papi and couldn't get enough of Nana's cat, Lucy. They chased her all around and tried to pet her as much as they could. Lucy tends to sleep for a full two days after we leave to recuperate from all the "playing". Anyway, I think my mom had a nice birthday and we had a fun time in Cedar Rapids! Whew...that was the longest post ever (except maybe the Hawaii post). More to come soon! I promise!