Mom was feeling a little Wicked, dressed in all her verdant glory.

On Sunday, Grammy and Poppa took us to go and see the broadway show Wicked! We had been listening to the soundtrack during the week before and we even had a movie night on Saturday and watched the original Wizard of Oz. When the day finally came we were totally buzzing with excitement.
Because it was the three year anniversary of the show in Australia, they selected the best dressed audience members to come backstage and meet the cast and crew to celebrate and enjoy cake. We spent a little time getting into costumes before the show and crossed our fingers.

As the final curtain closed, we were whisked away by one of the stage managers and rushed through a series of dark twisty corridors, lined with an incredible array of wigs, costumes, props and set pieces. Eventually we made it to the stage, right behind the big curtain we had seen just moments ago from the other side. The applause was still fading away and we could hear the chatter of the crowd making their way out of the theatre. The entire cast was still lined up after their final bow and turned to meet us. There were lots of comments on our outfits and they were all really friendly. We stopped and had a chat with Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda, before a press photographer stopped by to get our photo. We hurried back to another room to enjoy cake and meet the rest of the cast. Again, everyone was really friendly and were pretty amused to see the lot of us mirroring their characters.

RJ cowardly? No way! He was as fierce as they get.

LR loved her role as Dorothy, and her little dog too.

LR, Mom and RJ before their big adventure along the Yellow Brick Road.

Even Dad dressed up, scampering about as a flying monkey.

They had mysterious glowing sugar potions... apparently perfect for Cowardly Lions.

We arrived really early, so we spent a little time waiting for the show... Our witch was suprisingly courteous and took her hat off for the full house.

As the final curtain dropped, we were rushed backstage after the show to meet the cast and crew. Glinda was nice enough to pick up RJ for the picture.

A photographer from the newspaper was also there to capture the event!

An enormous chocolate mud cake was prepared to help celebrate the 3 year anniversary of the show in Australia.

One of the cast members has a chat with the kids about the show. They were all really friendly and lots of fun.

Mom wasn't sure where she parked the broom, so the Cowardly Lion, witch and Dorothy had to drive home instead.

Related posts:

1. Jellicles can and Jellicles do
2. August 2011, Photo Wrap-Up
3. At the Perth Royal Show, 2011
4. October 2011, Photo Wrap-Up
5. LR’s Seventh Birthday Party

This year, our Halloween party was the biggest ever. Every kid from both of the Year 1 classes at LR’s school was invited, as well as all the children on our street and a bunch of RJ’s friends. It was absolutely crazy, but we did our best to keep them busy. Activities included the Haunted Garage, a “Yucky” dip, a piñata, a broom race, a treasure hunt, making disembodied hands and the grand finale, a total, all-out assault on Dad with water balloons.

LR, as Supergirl, decided the world needed rescuing.

RJ and Mum put together a great snapping turtle costume.

Follow the link to get to the rest of the pictures and see what went on!!!

Grammy came along too. We needed all the help we could get!

We recruited a couple of the dads to carve pumpkins and watermelons brought by the kids.

A couple of the kids were amazed by our American maibox. Australian letter boxes look nothing like this.

The Yucky Dip involved a huge bowl of slimy, coloured pasta of different shapes. Prizes and bugs were hidden through it and the kids had to do their best to find a prize in the revolting mess.

Mum helps one of the kids search for a prize in the "Yucky Dip".

We do the apple bobbing every year. The kids figured out pretty quickly that grabbing the apples by the steps was the easiest way to win… This year, though, only apples without stems got prizes!

RJ volunteers to be next in the apple bobbing competition.

An apple bobbing champion is born!

In previous years, we’ve made disembodied hands for each of the kids in LR and RJ’s classes. It’s a huge amount of work, but the kids love it. This year we got smarter and had the kids make them!

Everyone had fun making ghoulish popcorn hands with Am!

You have to fill them all the way to the top with popcorn!

The annual treasure hunt is always a big hit, but it’s getting harder and harder to find enough hiding places for the number of kids that show up. For the older kids this year, we hid marbles around the yard, with different prizes available for one or more marbles. The younger kids, searching our neighbour’s yard, had to find tiny pumpkin baskets containing small toys and sometimes a piece of candy.

Mum gives everyone instructions on the treasure hunt. This year they had to find marbles hidden around the front yard. It wasn't easy.

One of LR's class mates hunts for precious, precious marbles.

LR found two! Home field advantage, perhaps? She donated one to someone who wasn't as fortunate.

The younger kids had their search across the road. They had to find little plastic pumpkins and cauldrons.

This year we asked all the kids to bring a broom with them for a broom race. We ran two races and the kids did really well. We may have to rethink this one, having 15 kids running at you with long sticks is not very safe.

RJ gets his broom tuned up for the Broom Race.

Kids rush to prepare for the Broom Race.

Two serious contenders for the prize... provided no one brings kryptonite along.

RUN RUN RUN RUN!

The piñata survived through quite a few attacks before finally relinquishing its hidden treasure.

The piñata was especially popular.

T prepares to deal a mighty blow to poor old Jack.

Can I be next please?!!

SMASH! The lollies have been liberated!

To wrap things up, we had a water bombing event. The kids line up along the side of the road, heavily loaded with water balloons. A very brave, and soon to be thoroughly drenched, Dad makes several sprints past them as they hurl their watery grenades at him.

30 kids. 200 water balloons. 1 victim... at least Dad had his goggles. Dad gets the kids riled up with some serious trash-talk.

Splash! Direct hit!

Totally soaked, except for the bits under the goggles, there were still more balloons to come, as well as a bucket of water.

Finally, after almost everyone has left, we get to go trick or treating. Not everyone on the street has candy, but those who do love to see us and check out the costumes.

Trick or Treat! LR checks out the new neighbours to see if they've got treats... and maybe if they'd like to come trick or treating with us.

This... is... the... BEST THING EVER!!! FREE CANDY AND LOLLIES!!!!

Let's head home and see what we've got.

Related posts:

1. Halloween 2010
2. Halloween 2011, The Horrifying Party
3. Halloween 2010 – The Preparation!
4. Halloween 2011: Trick or Treating!
5. School Camp at Rotto, 2011