A Puppet Show and A Festival

Last weekend, we took Dylan to see his first puppet show. He has a Steeler puppet, and when I "talk" to him with it, he cracks up. I've been looking for a puppet show to take him to for a few months. The price had to be reasonable, because I wasn't sure if he would be able to sit still for a 45 minute performance, or if we would be rushing for the door halfway through. Last weekend was The Pittsburgh International Children's Festival in Oakland. They were having a puppet show, and the price was right, so I got us tickets. The performance was two stories, The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon. I knew I had read both of them, but didn't really remember them.

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled. The puppets were moved by puppeteers in black costumes, right on the stage, (distracting!), and the puppets didn't talk, (or move their mouths I guess I should say). Also, I know Goodnight Moon is an award winner, but WHY? It's kind of a boring story, isn't it? Goodnight this, goodnight that. Jim said he kept waiting for the story to begin! I was picturing Dylan laughing hysterically until he got the hiccups, like he does with the Steeler puppet, but there was no humor in this show. Oddly enough, though, he sat still and it kept his interest the whole time - go figure!

After the show, we walked over to the festival and got lunch. Then, he rode the merry-go-round...

On the merry-go-round, the people behind us were talking about getting ice cream. Dylan heard the words "ice cream", and it was all over after that. His new thing is to repeat what he wants over and over and over until your head explodes. "Ice cream! I want ice cream! I want ice cream! Ice cream! I want ice cream! We get ice cream! Ice cream! Where the ice cream? We get ice cream! I want ice cream!" Now you know why I haven't given him chocolate yet! After we got some ice cream (suckers), he made a few crafts, then relaxed in the grass and made a few friends...



I was standing in the ridiculously long line for a balloon animal, and looked over to see Dylan and this kid throwing grass at Jim! I think his mom was mortified, but I thought it was hilarious! After standing in line for 15 minutes without moving, I gave up on getting a balloon animal for Dylan, and we went to put our feet in the fountain. We somehow got all that accomplished, and made it to the car before the rain started, so the day was a success.