Ian speaks out

We went to a production of Pirates of Penzance a couple of days ago with the kids. There is a local high school summer drama program that puts on a show every year for free! They have a food drive and they have a free will donation that sponsors the whole program. Anyway, we'd thought we'd check it out and see how the kids would like a live stage show.

When we arrived at the high school, I was impressed with the theater. It was built around the 1920s and had been restored since then. It was on top of a hill overlooking beautiful grassy knoll, trees and the city of Winston-Salem in the background. It was the kind of building and school out of that movie Ten Things I Hate About You. Scott and I had always wondered where those type of schools existed - now we know.

We get into the theater and Ian starts worrying, 'I scared. I scared. I scared.' We console him and distracted him with a lollipop. This got us through to the start of the show and then he was mesmerized. Payton was enthralled as well. The got a little fidgety on some of the numbers, but they made it all the way through the first act.

By the time we left, it was past the kids bedtimes. Scott was hoping Ian would fall asleep before we got home. (He hasn't been going to bed very well lately.) Ian was starting to phase out, you know the glassy-eyed look when Daddy decides to drive around a bit. Ian realizes something is up and yells out, 'That way home!' as we pass the road we usually turn down. Then he wakes up a bit and is all worried about what's going on. Daddy realizes the little extra ride will probably last a little bit longer than he had hoped and turns the car around. At which point, we hear cheers from the back seats.