Artful Friday

Elsa and I started our Friday with a puppet show at the Center for Puppetry Arts -- Paul Bunyan & The Tall Tale Medicine Show. This was our first attempt at a puppet show, and I guess really only our second attempt at anything with a formal audience (thinking of the IMAX movie we tried awhile back). I was expecting the worst, but because we were going with Alison and her two young boys and because the show was obviously tailored for young kids, meaning there would likely be many other youngsters there, I was hoping for the best. Overall, Elsa did pretty well. She was fairly antsy at the start, but once the music and puppetry started going, she seemed to enjoy it. At one point a bunny puppet appeared onstage, though, and I thought we were going to have to leave the theater, as she started saying "bunny" and "want some" and "up, up, up" because she wanted to go get that bunny (and likely take it home with her). I was thankfully able to calm her down after just a bit of (somewhat loud) protest on her part, and we ended up making it through the entire show. After the show, we were able to make our very own Babe the Blue Ox puppet to take home with us. The entire experience was a lot of fun, and both Alison and I agreed that we should try it again sometime.

The museum there is pretty cool as well. They have several of the Jim Henson puppets on display and are to open an entire expanded Jim Henson wing by sometime in 2012, so I'm really looking forward to that. We saw Big Bird (he's huge!), some characters from Fraggle Rock, Rowlf the Dog, the Swedish Chef, Kermit, and Ernie, and several others that I am not as familiar with. The Center's permanent museum is fairly hands-on, and concentrates on the general art of puppetry, the history behind it, and how it is used in various countries and cultures. I thought the neatest part of the exhibit was the replicated puppet storeroom, which was the size of a walk-in closet, and had puppets on every wall, from floor to ceiling -- even a couple in the floor! If you stand there long enough, 11 of the puppets will come alive at various points, demonstrating different elements of puppetry. I was not expecting the movement at first, as I had not yet read ahead in my tour guide, so I was a little startled when the first one started moving!

Later in the afternoon, we tried out some sidewalk chalk outside. It was a hit! I purchased it a week or two back, thinking it might be a good activity for Elsa while she is dealing with the broken leg. I figured it would get her outside to enjoy the beautiful weather, but also allow her to remain fairly immobile. I think I had as much -- if not more -- fun as Elsa, scribbling away on the sidewalk and parking pad.