Saturday, July 9

We were up at 6:30 this morning, but I skipped my exercises so we could get ready for a visit from Daughter, and four great-granddaughters. Before they arrived, Mother and I prepared fruits, veggies, deli meat, and cheese for the kids to skewer on stick for a luau lunch.

The group arrived around 12:30 p.m. The kids had a great time making the "shish kabobs," which they eagerly ate for lunch, along with plastic cups of Hawaiian punch. Each girl wore inexpensive leis, and used straws decorated with paper pineapples for their drinks.

After lunch, Hubbie drove us to the old movie theater downtown, to see "Mr. Popper's Penguins," starring Jim Carrey and Angela Lansbury. I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey, but this is a pretty cute movie, and we all enjoyed it.

I called Hubbie as soon as the movie was over, and he arrived to pick us up about ten minutes later. The reason I didn't drive us to the theater myself is that we were a little late getting started, and I knew that parking spaces would be at a premium, so that we'd have to walk a few blocks to the theater.

Back home, Mother had started a supper of a choice of hamburgers/turkey burgers, or hot dogs, with sauteed potatoes from the leftover boiled new potatoes. This was a meal that suited the girls, too, so they ate heartily.

At 6:30, we all (except Hubbie), went to a local middle school auditorium to see the community theater production of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." The girls had dressed in pretty sundresses or tops and skirts for the play. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a picture of them before we left home.

At the theater, I parked at the side of the building, where there are handicapped spaces, and a ramp for wheelchairs.

Unfortunately, the usual entrance to the auditorium was locked (according to a couple who'd walked around to the front of the building). Another lady informed us that we'd need to go all the way around the back of the auditorium and then to a side entrance.

Daughter wrestled Mother's wheelchair out of the van, and then she took over the duty of pushing the chair around the building...no small order, since the pavement was up and downhill and full of potholes.

But at last, we arrived at the appropriate door. Inside, the girls sat in the very front row of theater, but Mother and I opted to go a farther to the back. This necessitated Daughter pushing the wheelchair up the aisle to the top, where we parked the wheelchair, and Mother walked back down a few rows to an aisle seat she found comfortable.

We'd had the presence of mind to bring along cushions to sit on, since the seats in the auditorium are wooden (fine for kids, not so fine for adults).

The girls were mesmerized by the play, the cast members of which were all very young...from kindergarten age to no older than junior high. The costumes and set were very colorful, and the director of the play had taken liberties with the Grimm's fairytale by adding modern dances to the ballroom waltzes.

Scene changes took a long time, but without those lags, the play would have been no longer than thirty minutes. As it was, it ran less than an hour. Afterward, the cast members came down off the stage and chose kids to dance with. All four of our girls were chosen.

In leaving the theater, we were able to go out the door on the side of the auditorium where the van was parked...thank goodness...I dreaded having to go all the way back around the building.

At home, we enjoyed bowls of ice cream, with a choice of toppings...blackberries, bananas, and chocolate/strawberry/caramel syrup. Mother went home afterward, and the girls played for a little while. Then it was time for bed.

Hubbie inflated the air mattress and put it on the living room floor for the girls, while I gathered sheets, pillows, and blankets. Daughter slept in the spare bedroom.
The girls went to sleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. They'd had a big day of travel and activities.

Hubbie and I were ready to hit the sack, too.