Harold and his Purple Crayon

 Today marked not only our first visit to the American Dance Festival, but also our first trip to the Durham Performing Arts Center.  We headed up early and had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom and then attended the matinee show of Harold and the Purple Crayon by the Hubbard Street Dance group from Chicago. 

The venue was beautiful, and Lily couldn't get over all the red carpet and curtains.  We had second row seats, so it was really great to be able to see their facial expressions while they danced.  It really looked like they were into the story.  Lily was a big fan of Harold, and she excitedly whispered to me which part was coming next.  Their favorite part was when the "balloon" came down from the ceiling and "Harold" got into the basket and swung back and forth.

Afterwards there were activities sponsored by Durham Dances in the lobby.  It was supposed to be outside, but since it was crazy hot, they were moved indoors.  We met some of the dancers from the performance.  The girls got their faces painted and spent time creating items from the Scrap Exchange.  We never even made it up the second floor with the band. 

Madeleine shows us her robot while Lily made a toolbox.

I Hear a Symphony

On Saturday we took the girls to their first symphony concert.  In fact, Eric and I think it may have been our first symphony concert as well.   The North Carolina Symphony has an outdoor series each summer called "Summerfest" at the Koka Booth Ampitheater in Cary.  Kids under 12 were free on the lawn. We attended the "Totally 80's" concert where they performed hits from the 80's such as Welcome to the Jungle, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Living on a Prayer, and Time After Time.

We brought a picnic with us, and the girls enjoyed trying out the Instrument Zoo provided by volunteers.  They got to try a violin, a clarinet, a flute, a trombone, a French horn, and a trumpet.  The girls' favorite was the violin, probably because it was the easiest to make a noise.  They did well with the horns as well and really only had trouble with the flute.

 

Ms. Serious.

  

Note the legwarmers for 80's night.