"We Are In A Play" by Mo Willems

It was absolutely the best, best, bestus piece of theater I have been to in a long, long time.  It was the best piece of children's theater I have ever seen.  It had two four-year-olds who missed a nap and were off schedule engaged on the edge of their seats at a 5 p.m. performance.  And of course it is the thing to do with the preschool and early elementary school set in the D.C. area in December 2013.  Mo Willems again proves that he is an absolute genius, and the defining children's author of this generation.

I am a huge Mo Willems fan.  Heck, I even named my little girl Beatrix, and while I have tried to push the nickname Bea (her brother prefers Ducky), her pseudo-cousins insist her name is Trixie.  Whenever Knuffle Bunny is read, she reverts to Trixie for at least three days.  Mo Willems has a way of writing that appeals to small children as well as grown ups - the kids do not always get the humor, or the random in-jokes (for example, in Goldie Locks and the Three Dinosaurs there are references to asteroids and Three Mile Island).  The stories are entertaining, and don't make me want to stab my eyes out after reading them for the fiftieth time that week.  

The Elephant and Piggie series is about two best friends, worrywart elephant Gerald (male) and happy-go-lucky pig Pigge (female).  The two friends are opposites yet best friends.  They have various adventures and the books and illustrations are very minimalist, yet incredibly emotionally powerful.  My son decided he was more like Gerald, and his friend declared she was more like Piggie - but after a minute or two of thought, he decided he was mostly like Gerald and a little bit like Piggie, and his friend mostly like Piggie and a little bit like Gerald.  

The play itself is absurdist theater at its best.  As Mo Willems explains in the Washington Post, Gerald and Piggie have a series of existential crises until they realize they are, in fact, in a play.  The plot includes several Elephant and Piggie books - We are in a Book,  I Love My New Toy, I am Invited to a Party, Listen to My Trumpet, I am Going, and Should I Share My Ice-cream? The players include Gerald, Piggie, the Squirrelles, Delivery Dog, and the Ice Cream Pigeon.  I was disappointed not to see the armless snake, my favorite of the guest character in the books.

The acting was outstanding.  Though the costuming did not include actual elephant or pig costumes, the costuming and acting managed to convey the fundamental essence of Gerald and Piggie.  The costuming was brilliant - a pink dress, tights, and pink shoes, along with hair sculpted into tiny pigtail buns mimicking a pig's ears for Piggie, and a blue-gray jacket, pants, shirt, and tie with texture mimicking a pachyderm's skin for Gerald.  

Tickets available here - http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=KOTBA

A fancy [wading] pool costume party

Mo Willems has to be a geek.  He's just too awesome to be lame.  We are devotees of all things Elephant and Piggie, so of course for ChaseKBH's third birthday party he wanted a fancy pool costume party.  Not actually having a pool, and not wanting to rent space at a pool for a hurried, stressful party, we decided to follow the book to the letter and set up wading pools.  Best party ever.  Well, since the kids are three, pretty much anything that involves a cupcake is the best party ever, so the bar is set rather low.  Regardless, it was easy, fun, and I haven't been blackballed by the other parents yet for failing to do the requisite party place party.  I think the booze helped.  

We set up a couple of wading pools in the backyard, and a sprinkler.    We gave each kid a  top hat and a couple necklaces of Mardi Gras style beads - both items came cheaply from a party website.    When they needed a break from splashing, they wandered over to the make your own mask table.  I cheated and got a kit off Amazon, but if I was more organized probably would have used leftover craft supplies.  The masks were a huge hit, and keeping the glue and gross outside, then hosing the little devils off before they came inside, was useful.  Did I mention that all children are disgusting by nature?   A good bit of glue was consumed by the attendees.  I gave each child a copy of I Am Invited To A Party in a little canvas tote bag, which was just large enough to slip in their mask and beads.  They wore their top hats out, naturally.  I'm sure some parent somewhere thinks I'm cheap and evil not to do the usual goody bag full of stuff, but again, I'm a lazy mother and  I hate toy clutter.

We did a backyard barbecue for dinner.  there's really no reason to show this picture except there are awesome flames coming off a five foot grill.