Date With the Twins, Minus One

I had a great plan to spend a special day yesterday with twin granddaughters Tori and Brianna, but an early morning bout of "the throwing up kind of sick"  eliminated Brianna from the festivities.  After a bit of debate, it was decided that Germall (that's me) and Tori would go on with the show.  I had never spent time with one of the twins alone, so it really was a special sort of day.

Tori, though, was quite excited to go and wanted to dress up for the occasion.  Here she is, ready at home, waiting for Germall to pick her up:

And here she is in the car on the way to the show.  She had lots of things to tell us about that had happened since the last time we had seen her and since she didn't have to compete with her twin for the chance to speak.

We headed to the Bucknell University Performing Arts Center to see the Light Wire Theatre's production of "Ugly Duckling and Tortoise and the Hare."

Just replace the sunshine and blooms with gray skies and snow.

Waiting for the show to start, we observed that it was a fully packed house.  Many families were taking advantage of the chance to see a quality show at a great price (free).

Excited for the show to start

As seen on "America's Got Talent," this unique family-friendly show combined age-old children's stories with cutting edge technology, moving sculpture, music, and dance.  This performance used electroluminescent puppetry on a black stage to capture the audience's attention and bring children's tales to life.

Hans Christian Andersen's classic "The Ugly Duckling" has helped generations of children understand one of humanity's universal struggles.  This rendition of the story offered hope to us all, as we rooted for the ugly duckling who exemplified resilience and heroism along its way to becoming a beautiful swan.

The other story, Aesop's fable, "The Tortoise and the Hare," is now more than 2500 years old.  This modern production continued to drive home the time-tested adage that "slow and steady wins the race."

With the dazzling visuals, poignant choreography and creative use of music genres ranging from classical to jazz to pop, we both enjoyed the renditions of those two classic tales.

Following the show, the husband/lover/driver picked us up and took us on a brief drive through the heart of Lewisburg.  Lewisburg was celebrating its 10th Annual Ice Festival, and we wanted Tori to get a look at the neat variety of items sculpted from ice and displayed throughout the town.  She was quite excited to find a pony created in ice in front of the Lewisburg Inn.

Art from the 2012 Ice Festival

Our last stop was at the Kids' Land at our church for a bit of play and a snack.  There is a special area there, "The Cube," designated for children of ages two through eleven.   An immense jungle themed play place, it is completely enclosed in its own room with a glass wall beyond which parents can watch, relax, and have a cup of coffee from the next door coffee house while their children safely play.   

Tori quickly found some friends to play with, and we relaxed for a good half hour or more while she enjoyed herself in there.

All that playing finally required a snack and drink.  Tori found a high chair she wanted to lounge in for a while.  I think she just looks like the cutest little diva here:

Potato chips and chocolate milk.  It doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Well Miss Tori, I had a great time, and I hope you did too.  Let's get your sister well again and we'll go on some more adventures, OK?