It was early this week when I noticed a bright red sign hanging on the gate into the court.
"Please come to "E"'s puppet show. Friday at 4:30."
It was obviously made by the great puppeteer himself, so I marked it down on the calendar. And today was Friday, so at about 4:22 I went outside to be sure I didn't miss the show.
Right away, "E" noticed that Nathan and I were there to watch the show and informed us that we were early. And then he reasoned that we must have come early to be sure that we could choose the best seats for ourselves. We agreed and proceeded to laugh every time anyone else was informed of their earliness!
At 4:30 on the dot, once everyone had arrived, a beaming and excited "E" came running out of his front door, arms in the air, yelling, "Welcome to "E" 's puppet show!" What a great entry. It was so good that we asked him to go back inside so we could see it again. His little sister also wanted to make a special entry, but instead of a loud, energetic show, she quietly opened the door, stepped outside and began twirling like a ballerina. Equally cute but very different. I was sure to give her a big smile to let her know that I enjoyed her entrance too.
Well, the puppet show began right away. I was expecting there to be a story that the puppets would act out. Silly me. Of course it would be stand-up comedy! What else??? We watched three or four different animal puppets telling jokes about falling on their heads or twirling around. (Don't worry, there weren't any bathroom jokes, thanks to "E" 's mom who warned him not to share those during the performance) At this point in the performance, sister decided that she wanted some of the attention too, so she hopped behind the puppet stage and tried to add her puppeteering skills to the show. "E" didn't like this and his head popped above the stage very quickly, asking Mom and Dad to please get sister out of the way. There were very nearly tears on "E" 's part, but with some skilled adults there to distract and keep things moving, we were rolling again in no time.
I don't recall there being any more stand-up comedy after that interruption, though. I do recall flying puppets (if one hit you, you were lucky enough to be volunteered to be in the puppet play yourself!) and adults trying to dodge the flying puppets so they wouldn't have to "volunteer".
We all sat and watched the pandemonium of flying puppets and silly bum dancing for about half an hour when Mom kindly encouraged the kids to take their final bow. This is when the tears came because "E" had planned that this would be a LONG show. We gave him a very rousing round of applause (even a standing ovation) but I'm afraid his sister (who was bowing and looking in awe at everyone clapping) took most of the glory as "E" was busy being sad that it was over so soon.
All in all, that was probably the excitement of my day. It does make life more exciting to have kids living right next door and to have their front yard be your front yard too. I'm sure there will be many puppet shows and bike trick demos to come...though the next puppet show may not be quite as entertaining as this one. Some things are more special if they only happen once. ; )
Right away, "E" noticed that Nathan and I were there to watch the show and informed us that we were early. And then he reasoned that we must have come early to be sure that we could choose the best seats for ourselves. We agreed and proceeded to laugh every time anyone else was informed of their earliness!
At 4:30 on the dot, once everyone had arrived, a beaming and excited "E" came running out of his front door, arms in the air, yelling, "Welcome to "E" 's puppet show!" What a great entry. It was so good that we asked him to go back inside so we could see it again. His little sister also wanted to make a special entry, but instead of a loud, energetic show, she quietly opened the door, stepped outside and began twirling like a ballerina. Equally cute but very different. I was sure to give her a big smile to let her know that I enjoyed her entrance too.
Well, the puppet show began right away. I was expecting there to be a story that the puppets would act out. Silly me. Of course it would be stand-up comedy! What else??? We watched three or four different animal puppets telling jokes about falling on their heads or twirling around. (Don't worry, there weren't any bathroom jokes, thanks to "E" 's mom who warned him not to share those during the performance) At this point in the performance, sister decided that she wanted some of the attention too, so she hopped behind the puppet stage and tried to add her puppeteering skills to the show. "E" didn't like this and his head popped above the stage very quickly, asking Mom and Dad to please get sister out of the way. There were very nearly tears on "E" 's part, but with some skilled adults there to distract and keep things moving, we were rolling again in no time.
I don't recall there being any more stand-up comedy after that interruption, though. I do recall flying puppets (if one hit you, you were lucky enough to be volunteered to be in the puppet play yourself!) and adults trying to dodge the flying puppets so they wouldn't have to "volunteer".
We all sat and watched the pandemonium of flying puppets and silly bum dancing for about half an hour when Mom kindly encouraged the kids to take their final bow. This is when the tears came because "E" had planned that this would be a LONG show. We gave him a very rousing round of applause (even a standing ovation) but I'm afraid his sister (who was bowing and looking in awe at everyone clapping) took most of the glory as "E" was busy being sad that it was over so soon.
All in all, that was probably the excitement of my day. It does make life more exciting to have kids living right next door and to have their front yard be your front yard too. I'm sure there will be many puppet shows and bike trick demos to come...though the next puppet show may not be quite as entertaining as this one. Some things are more special if they only happen once. ; )
1 comment:
Funny!
How old is "E"?
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