CHAPTER THIRTY .. TIME FOR SOME FUN!!!!

Thursday, August 6 .. We have been working so hard turning our house into a home that we decided to take last night off and join some of our friends from the Bread Company Bunch and have some fun!!!  We met up with Rich n Pat, Carl N Sylvia and Bill n Shirley at "Rizzo's" for a delicious Supper .. and then we were off to the Botanical Gardens to take in this year's Chinese Lantern Festival!! They had been forecasting rain for these last few days of the week and we had rain about 4:30 yesterday morning but it stopped after a couple of hours and we were in hopes of no rain for our visit to the festival .. and the rain did hold off until after we left the restaurant .. but then it started!!! 

The view from the car window as we're approaching the Gardens ..

Tickets are paid for .. we're not letting a little rain stop us .. at this point it wasn't coming down tooooo hard ..

This display of dancing Elephants  is made of china cups and saucers!!! 

We got here about 6:30 and it wasn't dark yet .. I'm sure these displays will be much prettier when they're all lit up!! 

We're headed for the outdoor Ampitheater to watch the Chinese Acrobats performance .. and the rain is coming down harder and harder  .. OH MY!!!

We got under the roof over the Ampitheater's stage to get out of the rain .. Ken, Sylvia and Bill found themselves a seat .. LOL!! 

How about joining us in the rain .. just click on the link below .. 

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!!! 

 

The performance was supposed to start at 7:00 .. the rain just kept coming down and we were all going to have to leave the stage when the acrobats came out to perform and stand out in the rain to watch the show when it started!!!   Finally about 20 after 7 an announcer came over the speaker system and told us that the performance was being moved to an indoor auditorium and would start at 8:00 .. we weren't looking forward to the trek through the park to the auditorium but it was great to know we would NOT have to stand in the rain to watch it!!! 

We got to see some of the beautiful sights along the way ..

Finally we made it to the auditorium .. how nice it was to get inside where it was DRY!!!!! 

The first to perform were these young ladies balancing their plates on the sticks as they "danced" ..  

Click on the link below to see their performance .. 

 

WHOOPS .. DON'T DROP THEM!!!

I taped all the performances .. click on each link to watch them perform ..

OH MY!!!!

CONTORTIONISTS!!!!

HMMMMMMM!!!

MORE HMMMMMM!!!

I messed up on these guys and didn't get the whole performance taped .. but I got a great pic of the end of it .. WOW!!!

 

HOW DO THEY DO THAT?????

LOVELY GIRLS WITH LOVELY LIGHTS!!

GRAND FINALE!!!

What a great performance these young people put on  .. of course they received a standing ovation .. a much deserved standing ovation!!!  

And now back outside .. the rain has slowed down a lot .. and we bagan once again with the Dancing Elephants for it is right outside the Auditorium ..

The Dragon can be found in this part of the display ..

The Lotus Girl ..

The Dragon King I presume ..

I missed getting a picture of the sign for this one ..

Many of these displays were animated .. with this one music was playing and you could hear the horses galloping and whinnying and smoke would rise representing dust coming up from the "trail" they were pounding along.  I wanted to take a video but was afraid my battery would soon go dead for I had taken so many videos of the acrobats and .. alack and alas .. I had brought my spare battery and chip along but had left them in the car .. Duhhhhhh!!!! 

These flowers are so much more beautiful than they look here .. my pictures don's do them justice!!!

The Butterflies wings were flapping up and down !!!

A field of giant Pufferbellies!!! 

Pufferbellies and Pandas!!!

The Birds wings were going up and down ..

The Fairies ..

A walk under giant beautiful lanterns ..

2015 is the "Year of the Sheep" .. this one represents that ..

There were more displays left to see but Ken and I were both having problems with our aching feet and limbs .. and as he held the umbrella to keep it over both our heads his left shirt sleeve was pretty much out in the rain and had gotten very wet .. he was quite uncomfortable .. so we were party poopers and gave it up and headed for the parking lot .. which seemed about a hundred miles away .. at least!!!! 

At last we made it back to the front gate .. and out the gateway!!! 

Our last view from the parking lot .. this giant Chicken was belching fire .. smoke actually .. and the area of the parking lot was filled with smoke .. quite an ending to our adventure!!!!  

When we left the Botanical Gardens the rain was coming down but not toooooo hard .. by the time we got a couple miles away it was pouring down and Ken was having a hard time seeing to drive .. with all the lights along the highway .. and the cars around us .. and the rain!!  Wanta' see how bad it was????  Click on the link below .. 

I'M GLAD I'M NOT DRIVING!!! 

That was as we were leaving the city .. after we left the city the rain started slowing down until it was just a drizzle .. and then along about the town of Arnold .. the highway was completely DRY .. 

 

You know what I'm going to say .. YEP .. click on the link below .. LOL!!!  

ARNOLD AND THE HIGHWAY IS DRY!!! 

I'm happy to say the road continued to stay dry .. we got back to Sawyer's Ridge and it was dry as could be!!!  Hard to believe they were getting all that rain in the city and not a bit outside the city!!!    We had a great time in spite of the rain .. but we sure were glad to get home and get out of those wet clothes and shoes and socks and into the shower .. and that hot cup of Coffee afterwards was heavenly!!!! 

If you'd like to see more about the Chinese Lantern Festival click on the link below .. 

CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL 2015

ENJOY!!!