Of course, new clothes means we have to have a photo shoot!

I’ve been reading a lot about photography and I really see how a reflector or some kind of fill flash would have helped in the late evening light. Somehow, though, I doubt Jessica will care one way or the other ^_^

When we get together next, Jessica is going to write a thank-you letter to the donor who made our awesome shopping trip possible and to BBBS for being all-around awesome!

Jessica and I have been matched through Big Brothers Big Sisters for three years today.

We celebrated yesterday by stuffing our faces at CiCi’s Pizza.

NOM NOM NOM.

Then we invaded our friends’ house, where Jessica and Keegan and Kadence played hide-and-go-seek and tag with various twists. Mainly, this involved running around the house as fast as possible, with the roles of chaser and chasee being exchanged at random. The only rule is, if you “die” (that is, wipe out on the kitchen floor), everyone points and laughs! Then you are “healed” with magic, and it’s back into the fray! Weapons included: a plastic pistol, an empty Dr Pepper liter bottle, a vacuum hose, a pair of shoes, a ball, socks, and a stuffed Hulk toy.

There were capes involved.

The evening ended with a quiet round of “Go Fish”. Kadence is a master of the game, and won all our cards. Twice.

It was much less-planned than our previous match anniversaries have been, but Jessica loved it. Here’s to many more years like the three we’ve already shared!

Big Brothers Big Sisters is pretty awesome about getting us free or discounted tickets to kid-friendly events, and Jessica and I have been making an effort to see as many plays as possible. When BBBS sent out an email that they had tickets to Harold and the Purple Crayon, my inner three-year-old went “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” and I promptly reserved our tickets.

My inner three-year-old was not disappointed.

Actually, I wouldn’t take a very small child to see this; the actress (yes, actress) playing Harold and the one playing Harold’s girl friend wore baby-face masks that were downright creepy, and a scary Martian and evil witch add some scary moments. Otherwise, it was very entertaining; there was no dialogue, except for the unseen narrator, so the actors had to express everything through movement. The minimal set design echoes the simplicity of the books, and the projected animations and props were mostly adorable. As an adult, I really appreciated the artistry that the five-person cast brought to the production, which lasted about an hour, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

Obviously, we couldn’t take photos once the production began, but I did take some prior to the play:

Jessica and I went bowling the other day.

And despite having the gutter railings up, and earning the screen above, neither of us cracked 100 either game. Oh well…. better luck next time!

These photos and more on Flickr.

Some of our favorite acts

… tigers! On high wires! Jumping through burning hoops! Being tiger-y!!

… the rainbow-colored ponies delighted Jessica; they ended their show by making a sort of Maypole tent of gauzy rainbow fabric.

… we both loved the routines the dancers did suspended on giant swaths of sheer fabric.

Grade: A

The circus is always a great show, but this year the prices were astronomical, and we weren’t able to ride the elephants like we all did last year. We wondered if, because we went on a McDonald’s night, they increased prices of the extras to make up for the lowered ticket prices; it prevented us from doing activities during the intermission that the kids would’ve really liked to do, like touch the boa constrictor, bounce in the inflatable castle, and ride the elephants. We’re all excited to see what next year’s circus will bring!

I picked Jessica up at our regular time, and after a quick Taco Bell dinner, we had time to play in a park before it was a) dark, and b) time to go find our seats. I hadn’t told Jessica where we were going, only that it was a surprise, so she kept her eyes shut from the park to the top of the parking garage (we always park on the top floor, to get a good view). Once inside, we had pretty good seats, close to the stage, and almost exactly in the center of the row. There were kids of all ages, so it was pretty noisy, until the lights dimmed and the curtain went up.

The story

Milo, a lazy boy who never wants to do anything, is transported to the Kingdom of Wisdom by a magical tollbooth, where he has many adventures. He meets a dog named Tock, and together they try to free the Princesses Rhyme and Reason from the Castle in the Air, where they were banished by their brothers, the kings of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis. Since the princesses were banished, chaos has reigned, instead of the kings. With the help of a dictionary and a pencil, Milo and Tock battle demons of procrastination, insincerity, and insensibility as they ascend the thousands of step to the Castle. Can Milo and Tock rescue the princesses and restore Rhyme and Reason to the Kingdom of Wisdom? Will Milo still be lazy after all he has learned?

Our impressions

The cast was only seven people, so each played many roles. What impressed me the most was the costume design, from the billowing cloaks worn by the “demons” to the elegant princesses’ dresses, you could tell they had an excellent costumer with plenty of funds. The performances were great, with each actor slipping seamlessly from role to role. The music was catchy, the effects (especially the tollbooth) well-done, and the story enjoyable; the lessons presented were as applicable to adults as to kids.I wouldn’t recommend it for kids who are scared of thunder, though; the lighting and sound effects scared a little guy in the row in front of us. To his credit, though, he got through it; he was awfully cute.

The verdict

Jessica was not as enthusiastic about it as she had been at Disney’s Aladdin, which we saw several months ago, but she still enjoyed it greatly. I, myself, would recommend it to just about everyone.

A little bit about our match

Jessica and I were matched when she was eight years old, based primarily on a shared love of art and drawing, painting, and other artsy things. We meet once per week, generally on Mondays for about three hours, and either cook dinner or eat out, and then have some sort of activity for the remainder of the evening. Sometimes we vary it up, especially if we go somewhere that is closed on Mondays, but generally we stick to Mondays since we’re both involved in other things during the week.

Jessica will be my flower girl in October, and has already helped me with lots of wedding-related tasks. We will be shopping for her dress sometime this summer!

So what sort of things do we do?

In warm weather, we do a lot of outdoor activities. My apartment complex has a pool, and summer Mondays are generally spent pretending we are mermaids and convincing Jessica she can swim in water deeper than four feet. When we aren’t swimming, we love to draw, paint, color, walk around the mall, dress up and do our hair and makeup, take pictures, scrapbook, play in parks, and watch movies, among other things. We try to see plays as often as possible (luckily BBBS works pretty tirelessly to get us free event tickets). We usually manage to have a good time without spending a lot of money, although sometimes we have a good splurge on something or another.

And we aren’t on our own, of course. BBBS puts on “Match Activities” every few months. Our favorite so far was a Halloween bonfire, complete with hayrides, bobbing for apples, and hot dogs and s’mores, closely followed by Glow Bowling. We don’t participate in every activity, but they are always very enjoyable.

Sound like fun?

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides an opportunity for a child aged 6-14 to receive one-on-one mentoring from a caring adult. Often, these children come from single-parent, multiple-sibling families, or families where the parent(s) work multiple jobs, and their parents feel that the children would benefit from time spent with a role-model and close friend.

If you are willing to commit just a few hours per week for one year, or want to learn more about the other types of mentoring programs available through BBBS, please feel free to leave me a comment here, or visit http://www.bigbro.com/ to find out more about volunteering. You’ll make a difference not only your Little’s life, but also your own.