The Dayton Houghs: Our trip to Wonderland

It all started about a month ago whe nwe received an e-mail from the alumni office at Grove City College. It was advertising a children's theater production complete with a breakfast with some of the characters from "Alice in Wonderland." After discussing it, Brian and I thought that it would be a great thing to take Gianna and Hannah to. We talked about how they are always dragged from one sporting event after another of their older siblings, and how it would be so much fun to treat just the two of them. It was also a treat for us to be able to spend time with just the two of them. With so many brothers and sisters, it doesn't happen very often. After dinner we decide to make a big announcement telling them about this special treat for just the two of them. I must be honest, I was expecting giggles and shrieks of laughter and excitement. I was totally expecting "parent of the year" type adoration from the two little girls. Well....there were shrieks, but not of excitement. Gianna actually started to cry!! "Why can't our whole family go!? Why isn't Sissy coming!? Do we have to go?!" OK...not exactly what I was hoping for. I think that the other kids felt bad for us because they all started to chime in about how much fun it would be and how neat it would be for the two of them. It was really kind of sad and pathetic. Thankfully as time went on they started to get more and more excited and by showtime, they couldn't wait for our special day!

Our tickets

We farmed the other kids out to various family members and set out for our day of fun! The girls got all dressed up in their pretty pink dresses and we were off. After an hour and 20 minutes of "How much longer until we get there? Are we almost there?...etc" we arrived on campus. We walked into the Pew Fine Arts Center and found our tickets. We were escorted into the room where a dleicious breakfast waswaiting for us. The girls loved the heart-shaped frenchtoast and yummy bacon. The fresh strawberries were quite yummy as well.

Enjoying the yummy breakfast!

There were pictures of Alice and the various characters along with crayons for the kids to color while we were waiting. Hannah set to work coloring a picture for none-other than Alice herself. During the course of breakfast the characters started to wander around the dining room visiting the kids anxiously awaiting their arrival.

We met the White Rabbit, who was mistaken for the Easter Bunny....

The Mad Hatter...or as Hannah kept calling him the Man Hatter...

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum....

The Cheshire cat....

Some of the cards.....

The March Hare and Doormouse....

The Queen and King of Hearts.

The Knave of Hearts.

And of course....ALICE!!!!!

Hannah was thrilled to meet them all and as usual chatted away with them. Gianna...well not so much. She swears that she was NOT being shy, she was just eating and drinking! She was basically terrified. She would not make eye contact and looked like she might just melt into a puddle if they got too close.

Mommy and Gia (note the look of terror on her face!)

Hannah and Daddy

The play was very well done and the girls really enjoyed it. I liked the play, but I really enjoyed spending some time with them. Having Hannah and Gianna all to ourselves was the best part of the day for Brian and I!