What A Wonderful, Wonderful, Day It Was

If you have a little Oz fan (or a big one like me) in your family, she will need to get to Crown Center in Kansas City to see the 75th anniversary celebration display.  And on different weekends, you can meet some of the characters.

We were lucky to be there on Glenda's day to visit.

Her costume was perfect in every detail!  I really wanted this necklace she had on.

While standing in the (very short) line to meet the Good Witch, Sugarwings confessed that she was getting nervous and didn't know what to say to her.

But it didn't take her long to get over her nerves. She was thrilled to meet the gracious witch who took plenty of time to greet and visit with each kid.

Down the hall, was the Oz playground.  Every single inch of the space was hand painted. 

Starting with Auntie Em's old house, all at a crazy tilted angle from the twister.

Complete with the Wicked Witch's feet sticking out from underneath.

If you press the red button and look through the window, you can watch Miss Gulch fly through the storm on her bike.  Throughout the exhibit, there were lots of interactive things like that for the kids. 

We were some of the biggest kids there.  I wore my striped socks and witch hat, but didn't go all out witchy.  I still made a friend who believed I was the real thing, though. A little boy followed me around throwing pretend buckets of water at me, so that I'd do a lot of melting.  And  more than one itty bitty girl thought that Sugarwings was really Dorothy.

I was impressed with Wizard's giant head, and all the details of the Emerald City, from the green lighting to the floor painted with emeralds.

And behind the curtain, the mechanics of making the giant head come alive, with buttons, levers, and pumps for the kids to control.

I've been to Crown Center for a kid event one other time and this same room was all hand painted every bit as cool and done up as a fairy tale land.  

It's been too long since I revisited, I need to become a regular there with my girls, this place is so cute. We want to go back on the weekend that Dorothy is there to greet everyone, and I hope that Dewdrop gets to come along then.

We missed her this trip, I know she'd love it as much as we did.

And did I mention it was all free?  This is set up in a downtown mall, owned by Hallmark (headquartered in KC) and there are lots of other attractions there for kids, plus shopping, movies, and food.

We ate at the Crayola Cafe, and surprisingly, had a very good meal. I was especially glad to see the heathy eating tips aimed at kids on the menu.  And a side of "apple fries" which was an apple cut up like french fries and flavored with cinnamon, crispy and fresh, not fried at all.

There was also a lot of activities (free) in the Crayola gift shop.

As well as art supplies to buy.  We got a couple little things, and also bought this Dorothy dress and ruby slippers at a shop there, but if you don't want to spend money, they even provide a place for you to eat a bagged lunch you can bring for yourself. 

We were glad to see that there were dresses to buy, because we'd had a Dorothy emergency that morning.  Sugarwings has had a progression of Dorothy dresses from infant size to 5, and we realized that she'd outgrown her latest one.  I looked everywhere downtown Lawrence to get one for the day, with no luck. She had to wear a Toto tee shirt and a gingham apron.

But being the sunny child she is, she was fine with it.

My husband said she looked like a laundress.

The dress was a big improvement and she was thrilled to get it. But she is pretty much thrilled with anything and everything.

Which is why every day is an adventure with her, no matter where we are heading.