The Play's the Thing

One of my favorite things about our get-togethers with the cousins is the way their imaginations work together. For example, one morning while playing outside, they held a snail wedding (complete with a runaway baby). Danny is definitely the tag-along, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. But the three girls are a package deal, no matter how many months it's been between visits. This year was different, because we spent the whole time together at Grammy & Grampy's. This meant a lot more hours together, which could have been problematic but instead was idyllic.

By the second day here, the girls decided to perform a play. Of course all three were actors. Katy, at nine, was also the playwright and the self-proclaimed "bosser-arounder." Nicki (seven) took care of security, by way of these notes on the door to the casita (where the top-secret rehearsals took place):


I don't really know what Clare did, other than obey her cousins, but whatever it was took literally hours, which was simply fabulous.

After a few days, it was finally time for the big performance of "My Pretty." Katy outdid herself with the script, with gems such as the following conversation between the two newly-minted princesses Melinda (Clare) and Anastasia (Nicki):

Anastasia: Now that we're princesses, we must always behave with perfect manners.

Melinda: Of course! We're not ruffians!

I mean, where else do you get children's theater that uses the word "ruffians?" There was also the creation of the "witchernet," which is where the evil witch looked up all of her potions. Clever, no?


I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to laugh at lines like, "I know. It's a bummer." But we did, and they didn't seem to mind. After all, we were all enjoying ourselves. Particularly since the performance took place during Danny's nap. No, that was not a coincidence. Poor Danny.