Tale as old as time

A very long time ago, when I was but a newlywed (see...it is a "tale as old as time") husband bought me Beauty and the Beast on dvd for Christmas.  It is a film I love and as a grownup still watch despite it being a cartoon.


Years passed.  Until my birthday coincided with Beauty and the Beast coming to the Grand Opera House...so we collided with it.  It was utterly fabulous.  The whole production was spellbinding, the costumes amazing and in the final scene grown women were subtly wiping tears from their eyes (while the grown men wept openly...perhaps they identified a little too strongly with the Beast).  Three things stood out vividly in my mind from that night.  Firstly, the amazing choreography of "Be our Guest".  Secondly the mob of little girls twirling around the foyer during the interval in yellow flouncy polyester.  Thirdly, but not entirely unrelated to point two, the collective gasp when Belle appeared on the staircase in, to my eyes, a "Big fat gypsy wedding" canary yellow ball gown.


We now have a little princess of our own, so when the GOH programme advertised Beauty and the Beast I booked tickets.

Our seats, in the front row of the circle Grand Circle were perfect.  This was not the first time Bea has been to the Opera House as we did see Peppa Pig there last year, but on this visit, I suspect she found it a little bit more magical.  So there we were for two hours of Disney drama, with Bea modelling Belle's red winter dress, with flashes of gold and glitzy netting.  The production was excellent, the singing delightful (despite the initial feedback problems Belle had which gave me a slightly uneasy "school prize night" feeling) and the costumes suitably OTT.  It was not quite as fabulous as our former experience, I suspect in a time of recession, it had less money flug at it, but it was still a magical experience, particularly for one three year old.


However...at a dreadful rendition of Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse at the Clarion Hotel last year (which no under 5 found dreadful)...at the end of the show, Bea got to shake Minnie Mouse's hand.  This has set up unrealistic expectations.  Add to this my foolishly showing her pictures of Darcey meeting the princesses at Disneyland and a mini monster / princess stalker has been created.  At the end of Disney on ice she wondered why Tinkerbell didn't come to see her, so our experience of the show was peppered with "Can I talk to Belle?"  "Can I touch her?"  "Will she say Hello to me?"  To each enquiry, Bea was told that "no, Belle will be too tired after all her singing and dancing...you can just wave to her from here"


The show ended.  We were asked, "Can I see Belle now?"  She was told "No" and we joined the que to leave.

This is the face of a little girl who has just had her dreams come true.

As we descended into the foyer, we spotted the cast at the bar.  Of course we joined the scrum to meet Belle.

Initially, Bea was happy to just be in the presence of a "Real Princess".  Then she summoned the courage to touch her dress (remind anyone of a woman and Jesus?).  Eventually, with a bit of a thrust from Mummy, Bea met Belle...and guess what....

...in typical Bea fashion, she didn't want to pose for a photo, she wasn't interested in the prince, she just wanted to HUG Belle....and that is exactly what she did.

See....dreams do come true.

Spooky Somethings

Our little house became "the Spooky House of Seath" last night for what Beatrice insisted on called her "Hallowe'en Day Birthday Party"


Pumpkins were on special offer, so we had an abundance of them (well, four).  One Bea and I decorated with her witch's had and a sharpie, two others were carved by husband into...

...obviously Maleficent and the dragon she becomes in Sleeping Beauty (for those of you who do not recognise these characters - not having to watch the film weekly).  The final pumpkin became the pumpkin that time forgot....He was going to become a vomiting pumpkin, but a man can only whittle away at a vegetable for a limited amount of time (Recent research suggests that 2 hours is the limit)*

Having discovered "Disney's Family Fun" website, Bea and I printed out and assembled decorations...painted Jar 'o Lanterns, and printed out spooky games and labels.  The excitement was building and Bea was beside herself with anticipation of her friends arriving.  Arrive they did, bedecked in the most terrifying Hallowe'en outfits  (princess dresses)

We had hot dogs for tea - trying to keep with a theme, I decided "bangers" were seasonal and an array of very spooky additions.  We had "Witch's fingers", "Creepy caterpillar buns" a bowl of "bugs 'n slugs" and one of "Witch's toes".  Indeed there was very little left of the witch to consume.  The drinks consisted of "spider snot" and "bat's blood"  Evie was unconvinced by these and reluctant to have a beverage, but when thirst overwhelmed her, she sampled some "Bat's blood" and declared it to be "quite tasty"....it was quite difficult to keep Josie off the "Spider snot".

Entertaining little girls is apparently quite simply.  You just send them up the stairs and one of them develops a mystery illness, hops into bed and is tended to by the others having mysteriously gained their medical diplomas on the ascent of the stairs.  (Perhaps their graduation took place on the landing...there was certainly a tell tale pile of glass slippers there to suggest some great function had taken place)

But, if you like you can play other games with them.  One involves tying an apple to a piece of string and then encouraging them to head butt it to see how can claim the most feminine bruise.  Age does not stop the apple bumping ritual as you can see.

Yes Phoebe...you may be too small for a princess dress, but not for the games!  

Since Zachary's partner in crime was really ill (and sadly missed, especially by his two furry sidekicks) he was given control of the x box, but he managed to tear himself away long enough to show the girls how the apple bobbing game was really done...

The next "game" involves filling a bucket with water and encouraging the kids to stick their heads into it in a desperate (and often drowningly dangerous bit) to catch apples.

Beth's Mummy had obviously anticipated this game and created a ducking proof hair style.

The next game..."turning your Daddy into a Mummy" made Bea and Josie slightly uneasy, as they didn't want their Daddy to become a Mummy.  I think they envisioned a rather awkward sex change and the loss of a mummy, rather than wrapping your dad up in toilet roll in an Ancient Egyptian style.  Beth had no such qualms and emerged victorious (obviously a pattern that will continue in the future...as her mummy says...she's not competitive...she just WINS!) and Evie's daddy came a close second.  Obviously, despite having better bandaging, the judges took into account the age of the mummifier and didn't let Jonathan win.

(Andrew could remove the head piece and use this long white beard at Christmas)

Then the kids fought over took part in an "unlucky dip"  The bouncy eyeballs were much more popular than the plastic rats and whistles.

Then it was time to ignore all of the "Fireworks Code" and take under fives outside to play with sparklers.  (At this stage the Environmental Health Officer we had employed choose to close her eyes and remain in the house, probably emailing her report to Social Services)  In our defence we did remove the highly flammable princess dresses.

Not in my defence, the other parents then put coats on their children.  Bea was outside with her wellys, tights and t-shirt....but it was ok...the sparkler kept her warm.

When the last sparkler made a plink fizz as it was dunked into the bucket of water we returned to the house to eat apple tart.

Happy Hallowe'en.

* Here is a useful "morning after" tip....if you don't want your vestibule smelling of sour vegetable...put the pumpkins outside.  I know it seems obvious NOW but...