HAKUNA MATATA!!!!!

Where do I begin??? I guess I'll begin with the beginning! LOL Mom and I left her house around 5 till 7 so we could get to the Shopko parking lot in Keokuk before 7:30 and get a good seat (before all the old bags picked out the prime seats...LOL) We got on and Aunt Judy/Gabby soon followed. The bus soon filled up and we were on our way promptly at 8:00!! Next stop was HANNIBAL of all places to pick up 2 people. Hannibal. For pete's sakes I could have met the bus here!!! Oh well. The tour guide (Pam Kelly from First Community Bank) kept us entertained most of the trip down. Donuts & juice, word games, candy, prizes so it wasn't dull. Gabby and I got a prize.
We arrived at the Fox Theater right around noon. First thing we got to do was go in! lol Sounds obvious, but that is not what Johnny off the street with a ticket gets to do. The doors do not open for the shows until thirty minutes prior to the show time!!!! WEEEE were a bus group with tickets to the luncheon buffet on the mezzanine level - - which meant we pretty much had the entire mezz. level to ourselves! And it also meant that our tickets are not "ripped" because no one tore off the stubs!!!!! Lunch consisted of an Italian spread!! Salad, rolls, some kind of baked pollock w/ tomatoes and red peppers, chicken parmesan, alfredo pasta w/ red peppers & mushrooms, chocolate-chocolate cheese cake, dutch apple pie dessert and VERY HUGE and CHOCOLATEY cookies. My goodness - if a person didn't leave full they had a serious problem (or maybe just obeyed the weight watchers rule of portion control and NOT getting over full!! lol) On to the "opening of the house" - - - which meant we were able to go in and find our seats. We were fortunate to be on THE VERY FIRST ROW of CENTER STAGE of the mezzanine level. It was nice to have Pam the tour guide sit at our table, otherwise, we wouldn't have been on row one!!!! Here is a picture of the ceiling of the center of the theater. It was so pretty. I, ummmm, "lost my camera privilages" after that! The "HON-YOCK" man nailed me - when I got up to take a picture of Aunt Judy, Gabby and Mom and he STOPPED ME in mid shoot. I quizzed him by saying, "not even of my family" "no maam" he said.......it's prohibited and blah blah blah. Ohhh but I could take as many as I certainly wanted AFTER the show. For pete's sakes - I didn't know that my family was prohibited against pictures BEFORE a show!! lol
Regardless.....I was disappointed - fully knowing that picture taking was against the rules. I thought since I was in the first row (no distraction) I could get some snuck in - when I take pictures w/ my digital camera in the dark, I have to turn the flash OFF in order to get a clear picture - so I would have had it made. HOWEVER....I felt nervous after getting caught so I didn't try it - not until the end. I could have taken pictures left and right - if I'd known how to make my "screen" on my camera dark the whole time. I know there's a way but it's unknown to me how to do it.
The show started with Rafika (to the left here) and within the first 40 seconds, I had tears well up in my eyes and they ran down my cheek. I guess being totally elated took over - I didn't expect my eyes to do that. (must have been something in the air lol) I was so amazed at their costumes......the colors, the extraordinary and unique styles they had. I know one thing - I could NEVER have enough grace and coordination to do what they did. Take the giraffe's for instance. If you look at the picture (borrowed from the world wide web of course), the men are up on extremely tall "stilts" if you will....on their legs (for the animal back legs) AND their hands are also on some (for the front legs) and then the giraffe neck/head is like a humungous hat.......how in the world can they walk with all that???

This is when Scar and Mufasa are tangling......mean ol' Scar!!!


These are obviously the zebras from the land of Pride Rock

The show followed the movie to a tee. I knew exactly what was coming next and pretty much word for word!! Of course I have seen the movie COUNTLESS times and can recite it!!! LOL I know, that's silly. But keep in mind, my Nala baby that I had put to sleep was named after Nala in the Lion King!!!! She was born in 1995 - the movie came out in 1994!!!!! I'm not sure exactly how long the show took - it didn't seem like it took long at all but I'm sure it was longer than I thought. We did have one 15 minute intermission. I hated to see it end and at the very end - the standing O....I snuck in this picture - THIS ONE is my very own. The others that I have posted are borrowed from the net [and I think I already mentioned that] Cool huh? Just think of all the great pics of my own I could have gotten!!!





Mom and I took each others pictures at the playbill outside the theater after the show was over. Aunt Judy and Gabby kept walking to the bus so they didn't get their picture taken. I thought they were going to stop with us but it was too late before I realized it, that they had ventured on. (Sorry Gab)

On our way out, we passed SLU (St. Louis University) I'm not so sure that I have ever really noticed it in the past. Anyhow, this is a picture taken from the bus. (Can you tell it's from inside the bus? Not bad, huh?)After a short ride, we were stopping in St. Charles to eat super at the Cracker Barrell. The mere thought of food didn't seem too appealing to me but I certainly ate well I must say. GOOD GRIEF!!!!!! We did a little shopping in the general store and I came home with a few things I probably didn't need but as mom told me all day...I was on vacation! LOL We arrived in Keokuk right on time! Scheduled to be back at 9:45 and we were crossing the Des Moines river bridge at 9:45. It was a great trip - and I would recommend anyone to see the Lion King on broadway if ever given the chance!!!!!! I am soooo glad that I got to go!!!!! Maybe someday I'll get to go again!

SO....how are all the little critters we have crawling about??? Let's just put it this way: they have emerged from the garage and show little fear of Rudy. Actually, Rudy just lays there watching them. He doesn't seem to chase them until they are "out of range" of a quick return or if they start hissing and carrying on. In these 2 photos, he wanted to play with Mittens......Mittens, however was not in the mood! lol

That's it.......kinda rushed thru, huh? I think I missed something, but for the life of me, I can't think of what it is....if I missed something good, I know mom will post it in the comments section!!

Good night.