LIVE with the Characters

I've  We've been looking forward to this weekend for a while now.  I'd been hearing about this event for months and I couldn't wait to take Barrett.  I've been begging Patrick to take us to Disney World, so far he's not giving in so this was the next best thing.   A local non-profit, Just Keep Smiling, put on a fun, family oriented, affordable event right in our community.  It was called LIVE with the Characters and it was adorable.  Our favorite characters were there including Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto. Plus Dora and Diego, Jake and Captain Hook, Doc McStuffins, the Princesses and Princes, the Chipmunks, some minions, Cookie Monster, Elmo, some superheros and Anna, Elsa and Olaf.  It was a star studded event.  I wasn't sure how Barrett was going to like it.  I was afraid he would be scared.  He loved it.

This was before the show started. The Clubhouse gang.   Patrick took these of Barrett's face during the show. He wasn't sure what to think.  We sat with some of our playdate friends and it was so much fun to see how the boys reacted.  We also sat with Lorie, Joseph and Elise.  Elise was not impressed with anyone other than Elsa.  She loved Elsa, she also informed us that "Princesses don't dance." The show was so cute and had some interactive songs and I loved seeing all the kids and families have such a great time.  The kids sang there little hearts out.  After the show they had pictures and autographs with all the characters.

I loved the Chipmunks.  Probably because I knew who was in the costumes, which made it even more hilarious.  They did a fun routine and were so much fun to watch.

Meeting Mickey and Minnie. (Which it turns out I knew them too but didn't know who they were at the time) 

I didn't want to be in the picture with Mickey and Minnie but Barrett wasn't real crazy about letting a giant mouse hold him.  I took him up to see if he would just stand with them but he was more interested in the balloons. 

The best picture we got with the Mice.  They had a professional taking pictures too so I'm hoping it's good. 

 Now's i'll let you in on a little bit of my crazy...you all know I'm super emotional, especially when it has to do with Barrett and my little family.  When the show finally started and Mickey and Minnie came out on the stage.  I just had these huge tears in my eyes.  Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money.  My family never took a trip to Disney World (we've all been at one point or another except for my older brother and dad but er never went together).  The only time we went to Disney on Ice was when I won a trip.  We just didn't do a lot of those kinds of things. So to have this fun event right in our community that families didn't have to take out a loan to afford made me so happy.  Looking around and seeing all these families enjoy the morning together just overwhelmed me.  Seeing the look on little Elise's face with Elsa came out to sing "Let it Go" almost made my heart explode.  I was literally fighting back tears.  (Yes, I am a lunatic) But I think the thing that really got me was knowing so many of the people that volunteered to be a part of the event.  I knew so many people in those costumes that could have been anywhere else on a Friday night (rehearsal) and Saturday morning but they chose to be there and so many of them commented on how much they enjoyed getting to be a part of the show.  They all worked so hard and it really showed.  We had so much fun.  Even Patrick enjoyed it.  We're already looking forward to next year's show.