Movies, plays and live theater--oh my!

   We’ve learned a lot since we moved up to Seattle. Just to name a few of the things from this week:

     1)    Driving from our apartment to the Costco in SODO takes almost 45 minutes (it should only take 20 but I5 traffic is a nightmare...guess we'll try the Shoreline one next time). 

     2)    It is always going to feel like we are living in the location of the next Tour de France because of all the bike traffic on the Burke Gilman
AND…

    3)    We picked the perfect place to live in the summer: across the street from Magnuson Park. Who knew there were so many events to go to and be a part of over there? Since we moved here, we have gone to over 4 events in the park. This week: Outdoor movies, Shakespeare in the Park and a chance encounter with a color run.

I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the new trend in 5K races of signing up to get yourself pelted with colored chalk once every one kilometer for 5 kilometers but it's all the rage. And, yesterday morning I decided to head out for a run in the park and I was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a color run going on. I started my run at a different location than the starting line and before the official start of the race. I was happily running along when I approached the first color station before any racers did. The volunteers at the  station were so excited to start throwing chalk that I literally had to dart off the road and escape the fistfuls of green powder as I weaved my way through the park. I escaped, but the racers weren't so lucky (then again, they did sign up for this).

 The movie we got to attend this week: The Lion King.  Yes, a little childish perhaps but it’s kind of a classic kids flick that I happen to have nearly memorized.

 

We grabbed our blankets, pillows and a thermos of tea and set out for a night on the lawn. Awesome! Next week: Back to the Future. Anyone want to join?

 

 Then Sunday rolled around and we were able to take in a matinee showing of “Taming the Shrew” in the park. It was literally 90 degrees and not much of a breeze, so it was hot but so funny that it distracted us!

 

The live theater is put on by an organization called Green Stage which has been running for 24 years and provides completely free theater in the park among about a dozen or so western Washington parks!

The talent among these performers was amazing! And, coincidentally enough, the lead actor was none other than a fellow logger graduate who Tom and I loved to go and see during the “Ubiquitous They” performances—the live improvisational comedy show in the basement of the student union building at UPS (he's pictured above, lugging Kate over his shoulders).

And, sandwiched between Thursday and Sunday we of course took in RENT at the 5^th Avenue Theater. I kept trying to get Tom to take a good picture before we headed out, but he kept pulling the silly card on me….boys….

So if you can't beat em....

...Join em!

Once our photo shoot ended in laughs, we stopped at the Ship Canal Grill for dinner. We dined there in the past and had great food, so thanks to our Restaurant.com gift certificate, we dined there again. Once again, it was delicious (and, because it wouldn’t be a complete Tom and Deanna blog post without food photos, here was our meal selection):

 

We then headed downtown and found some parking in the dark lower levels of the city (I half expected to see a dilapidated store front like we saw on our underground tour)

And surfaced to the theater for an event we have anticipated since last Christmas! 

 

Ironically, the moment I captured the sign reminds me how I’m also interested in going to see Elf this winter. Anyone in?

We had amazing seats, just 6 rows from the front, so we had great views of the action. 

 

Now, I won’t go into our critique of the show much more than to say the music was beautiful, the blocking was well done and the stage set was really cool – the casting and some of the talent however, not so much, but we were still so happy to have been able to attend. 

We are starting to like living in Seattle but more often than not we talk about “back home” as if we have moved a great distance because sometimes Seattle is just weird :)