Pulling Their Strings

Our summer is flying by at breakneck speed (in perfect contrast to last summer, which was nearly unending as I recall) so it was time to cash in on a Living Social deal I bought in May, when I thought I'd be searching for ways to entertain the small people in my life. It turns out there's a marionette theater in Columbia, and after a puppet show in KC last winter that they loved, I figured it maybe they'd like this, too.

We had just a little time to clown around before the show started. It's amazing what fun can be had with an iPhone.

We saw Pinocchio and it was really cute. We all enjoyed the show but then the coolest part happened after it ended - the puppeteers invited everyone backstage to see their workshop, get an up-close explanation of how the marionettes work (including how they made Pinocchio's nose grow and shrink), and then every kid got a chance to use one of the theater's marionettes. Very fun! 

they were showing us how the strings worked and how they manipulated everything
from the catwalks above the stage - you can see the legs of the other puppeteer at the top of the picture.

greeting the donkeys from the isle of fun

Pinocchio (as a real boy) and Natalie waving frantically to him as we passed.

Natalie got to play with a lamb.

Wyatt had a crocodile - turns out these dudes are pretty heavy!

And because I'd hate to make our day too extraordinary, I subjected the kids to lunch at a chain restaurant (though not one we have locally and they did actually participate in picking it) before I dragged them through an inappropriate number of non-Sumter retail establishments.

It turns out these little turkeys are pretty great company!