Muppet Mania

The first Thurs in July had a sudden change of plans, which delayed our venture to Free Night @ EMP...We did, however, want to make it up there before end o' Jim Henson's World o' Muppets exhibit-So away we went even if we didn't leave until 5P when should've been arriving there-oops! We pulled up to cool bldg & saw a crazy line of people mostly adults. My sister guessed right away that it was for free entrance, but I was really hoping it was for a concert or something in particular so we could cruise right through the door...Well, right as we made our way to the end of the said line, a worker thought she was doing us a favor by telling us already filled to capacity & prob wouldn't make it into muppet part @ all?! well, we didn't drive up that far for nothing & late enough that it would've been hard to come up with alternative to accom. kids (who, btw, didn't really have a clue who muppets were, but humored us until they saw crowd:)) So we kept the faith & followed the masses headed around side of bldg.Again the same lady came out & said we should try again another time 'cuz not likely to happen tonight. Again we persisted & it paid off! I met guy named Bobby @ door & told him my sister from Vegas was leaving in am (totally honest 'cuz she's headed to cabin & really won't be back until muppet exhibit is over). He gave us 2for1 vouchers & even some free ones 'cuz he felt sorry for us but couldn't leave his post to usher us further. So we cont. & waited patiently (as patiently as nearly 7, 4 1/2 & 2 11/12 kids can after being in car) @ stairs. All of a sudden, the staff told us 10 more could come forward & that was it! We, of course, plowed ahead but ended up being #11-15-ugh! I told 'em same story 'bout Rachel & girl from NYC was beside us. She gave up but we hung tight & convinced the official dude that we needed to keep going-It was then I remembered that I hadn't paid for parking after driving around forever deciding if we wanted to spend extra for ease with kids. Rachel thought I would be locked out & she'd get to deal with all kids, but I thought it- was worth risk vs. being stranded after car towed:( So I ran out & propped open another door. We thought only $4 but machine wanted to charge me $10, which I only realized after I'd already invested $2. Befriended parking attendant & explained my plight as well as rush to return. She said it was under control & couldn't even accept rest o' money, so that was another lucky deal! Back up the endless stairs, through psychedelic hall & wound around black roped area until we reached stairs back down to exhibit. Whew! Quite a workout when hoisting 20 lb. babies & grabbing for other little hands en route who were curious in new environs.












You'll have to take our word for it 'cuz no photog allowed in majority of areas.Guess we cheated for quick pic @ this furry orange wall-Did have permission to capture MudGarden Experience & kids liked it so much we tried a couple diff performances:



























Did you know the song I always thought was called "Phe-nom-e-non" is really "Mahna Mahna" after a character? See, I learned something new & our kids really saw all for first time-s'pose we have deprived 'em of classic entertainment & completely forgot my plan to have 'em study up with movie on way! Actually smaller exhibit than I anticipated or remembered the one in the '80's as school fieldtrip to PacSci Ctr...Surprisingly, Miss Piggy was MIA & I confused Rolf with Fozzy:)
Of course, we wanted to make it worthwhile once we made it inside, so kept going through Sci Fiction Museum although not my fav genre. The boys found plenty amongst Star Wars, TMNT & ET to keep their interest. Checked out MJ's sequined jacket & glove from first performance featuring moonwalk & quick peek in actual music side o' things but will have to return for more if free again! You can bet I held on to vouchers:) Had to get some energy out before flying south-