Stylin' and profilin'

No time to write, but I can share cute photos!

Here's Biscuit just before we went to a Christmas party last week. His hair was still wet, but he was looking sharp anyway.

A winter story

Biscuit and I went to see a play this evening called "Snow Queen." It's based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name.

The story was published in 1845 and is about two kids who are best friends but get separated when the Snow Queen kidnaps the boy. The version Biscuit and I saw was done with an Appalachian twist. The original version's boy and girl were named Kai and Gerda. The Appalachian version's kids were named Cade and Gertie.

After realizing that the Snow Queen has Cade, Gertie goes on a journey to bring him home. She encounters animals, which were done as large puppets. She has to prove her bravery and her love to get Cade back.

The production we saw also feature original music by a local musician, all done in an Appalachian style. And the characters spoke with accents straight out of the old-time Appalachian dialect. They used words like "mayhaps" instead of "perhaps" and said "shore" instead of "sure." I really loved the speech patterns.

My day was a mad dash. Coming back from the funeral trip, I had a lot to catch up on. Plus, today is what I refer to as "Stupid Website Day." I have to put all the stories, photos, headlines, info boxes, etc. from my section onto the paper's website. It's about a 3-hour chore, and after slamming and shoveling my way through my morning, it was all I could do to get done in time to get get Biscuit.

I got to Biscuit's day care, and he was so excited about the play. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and when he found out we weren't going home before we headed back downtown, he was worried.

"But Mom, if we don't go home, I can't change my shirt and look really handsome," Biscuit said.

"First of all," I said, "you're handsome no matter what you're wearing. But we don't have time to go home first, so that's why I put one of your sweaters and your nicer shoes in a bag. We'll change your shirt and shoes when we get there."

We got a good spot in the parking garage, and I helped Biscuit swap out his shirt and shoes.

"Now I'm even handsomer," Biscuit said with a big grin.

We went to will-call and picked up our tickets, and we had an hour until time for the play to start.

"How 'bout some pizza?" I asked Biscuit.

"Ooooo! Pizza!" Biscuit said.

I ordered us a slice each. Biscuit's was about as big as his head.

After we ate, we walked back across the street to the theater.

We people-watched for a while in the lobby, then went to get our seats. The two seats in front of Biscuit were empty, so he had a perfect line of sight.

The action of the play moved a little slower than I thought, but Biscuit stuck with it the whole time. There was one spot where he got a little antsy, but just as he shifted in his seat, some comic relief characters came out and had him laughing.

As we left the theater, I realized that Biscuit was one of only two kids in the audience. The other kid was a little girl, who was probably about 10. But Biscuit seemed to be the attention-grabber for all the older ladies. I bet six or eight of them asked him if he enjoyed the play and what was his favorite part.

I love that Biscuit has enjoyed the two plays he's been to. It's something I didn't have access to growing up because we lived in such a rural place. Plus, I have to take him to these things now before he gets all wrapped up in baseball and car shows with his Dad!

Peter Pan at play

Jeff's Mom gave us all of his Little Golden Books. Remember those?

Well, in the stash, Biscuit found two books about Peter Pan, and he quickly became obsessed. We've had to read those books at least 80 times each!

I have to play Wendy, and Jeff has to alternate between Michael, John, Smee and Captain Hook, depending on which adventure Biscuit as Peter, of course, wants to tackle. Tinkerbell is apparently small enough that we can just pretend she's around.

On one of the shows Biscuit watches, the kids went to a play. Ever since then, Biscuit has been asking if we could go see one. "Cinderella" came and went. "The Ugly Duckling" came and went. I knew "The Wizard of Oz" was coming up, but that one still scares me!

So when I found out that one of the colleges in town was doing a stage production of "Peter Pan," and they had a show on the night of Biscuit's birthday, well of course we had to go.

I told him that he would have to take a nap after his party, and that if he woke up in a good mood, we would go see a play.

He woke up ready to go. We dressed him in a nice sweater. I told him to wear the sweater zipped up halfway because he was wearing a shirt under it that made a matching set.

"But Mom," Biscuit explained, "zippers are made to be zipped."

That was not a battle I felt strongly enough about to fight.

We got to the college and found our way to the theater and then our seats. Poor little Biscuit didn't weigh enough to keep the fold-up seat down. If he slid to the back of his seat to lean against the back, he would start to fold up like a jack knife. Jeff finally propped his leg on the edge of Biscuit's seat to help hold it down.

My biggest concern about the whole thing was that the play might not keep Biscuit's attention. That was not an issue.

The first time Captain Hook appeared, Biscuit slid right up on the edge of his seat. He laughed in all the right spots. When someone was in peril, his eyes got really big.

One funny thing was that when Tinkerbell drank the poison, and Peter encouraged the audience to join him in saying, "I DO believe, I DO, I DO," Biscuit just looked at me like he had no idea what to do. We had explained to him that he couldn't talk out loud during the play, and here was Peter Pan asking him to do the very thing we said not to. And to his credit, he was obeying us perfectly.

I assured him that it was okay to say what Peter was asking him to say because it would help Tinkerbell. So he started saying it and clapping his hands. All the kids around us were doing the same thing. It was actually sort of a moving moment.

The cast was made up of students from the college. The guy who played Peter was quite an acrobat. He scaled towers and rocks and trees and all sorts of set pieces. You could tell that he had worked on his stage choreography. But toward the end of the play, Peter and Captain Hook had it out, and Peter sent Captain Hook overboard. Peter ran back to the front of the stage where he was supposed to hop up onto a wooden crate and give his final big speech. But as he hopped up on the crate, his foot caught the edge of it, and he went tumbling.

All the adults in the audience gasped loudly, but the kids didn't know the difference. They just thought it was part of the act. The guy playing Peter just did a quick somersault and jumped right back up.

As we were leaving, I pulled Biscuit over against the wall to help him put on his jacket before we walked to our car. This young student was sitting on a bench with headphones in his ears.

He pulled the headphones out, looked at Biscuit and said, "Hey lil man, did you like the show?"

"It was called 'Peter Pan,'" Biscuit said. "It was about Peter Pan and Captain Hook, but Peter Pan was the hero."

"Cool," the young guy said. Their short conversation just made me smile.

Biscuit said he'd like to see another play sometime, so I'll keep my eyes open for something good.

Here are some pictures I took that evening:

Biscuit in his zipped-up sweater.

We had to park a block-and-a-half away, so Biscuit got a neck ride.

You can't tell it from this picture, but the rest
of the theater was packed with people.