Day 4 Video

Finally I am able to upload Emily's review of More Fun Than a Wii....

Day 4

Sunday was Day 4, our last day at OOTB and the only day that the whole family went. We had a full day ahead, Pirates in the morning, a trip to Amococo and then More fun than a Wii for Emily and me.

We had separate seats for for Pirates, so James and Jonathan sat in the front row centre (early ticket purchase again) and Emily and I sat about 5 rows back from them. So we all had great seats! The show was awesome!! Action packed, amazing acrobats, kept us interested from beginning to end. James did have to hold Jonathan's hand though, because all the action was happening, literally, right in front of their faces so he was a little scared. And I was actually quite glad it was James in the front row and not me, because the action WAS really close. There were also some quite loud noises which started some kids in the audience crying, but the kids loved it. There were flips and high flying swings and spinning from ribbons and juggling, you name it, it was there. the performers were all so young and so amazing. I'll let the kids give you their review.



Next up was another visit to Amococo. James and Emily had not been in before so were quite interested to see it. Pirates had obviously left quite the impression, because inside Amococo, we were doing some of the tricks we learnt from the show (see pics below).

After Amococo we sent James and Jonathan home on the bus since Jonathan was a little bit tired and had seen all he wanted to see in his 2 1/2 days at OOTB. Emily and I then went to see More fun than a Wii. What a great show! We definitely saved the best until last. The guys were funny, for both the kids and the adults. They had audience participation, costume changes, gross food, rude words, just hilarious. Emily loved it, and so did I!! I'll add Emily's video review as soon as I can sort out the issues I am having uploading it...

Day 3

Day 3! Although Day 1 for Emily who is a bit more hesitant about jumping into things than Jonathan is, so things started a little slower for us today. We had about an hour to spare today so we had a leisurely walk around and it was pretty cold so we sat in the sun for a bit although, of course just like her brother, she just wanted to get to the show.

We had row A seats, which I thought would mean we would be about 4 rows back since they usually have AA, BB, etc, but we were actually front centre. Apparently we truly were among the first to buy tickets (which is how we came to be doing this blog, in case you were wondering...).

The picture of Emily below in front of the set is not great, because I couldn't get the settings on the camera right to capture the darkness and light of her face, but you get the idea, and I was resting my feet on the wall of the stage during the performance, that's how close we were!


We have read a few Pamela Allen books, but I didn't think we had read any of the books on the list for this performance, but it turns out I was wrong. We had borrowed Belinda the Cow from the Library and Emily's daycare leader had read her the 2 Mr McGee books, the other 3 were new to us.

It was great, they sang lots and played guitars and ukelele's. Again, like Grug, really simple performance, 3 performers, no technology. It was very clever with the way they change their clothing items in line with the story. In one part they used their aprons tied different ways to portray different people in the King's castle. Emily was entranced from start to finish, she had a big smile on her face at times, moved her shoulders to the music and looked concerned in the right places. It's so riveting as a parent to see how they go from an observer to being involved in stories/performances/movies. Another great performance at OOTB!

Now Emily was ready to experience the rest OOTB had to offer. Although we did take a little trip to Southbank for some chips and a play in the stands at the Piazza first. We'd been through the Tunnel earlier and Emily was too shy to put the earphones on, so we headed there first. On our way to the Giants, we walked through the first part of the Tunnel with lasers on the wall. Fireworks, colours and the OOTB logo, so we had to take a picture! She loved it! I think she is the right age to use her listening skills and the kids were talking about catching buses to the city. They were also talking about the food they like. KFC came up! We stayed there and listened for much longer than we did with Jonathan and she was an avid listener to their thoughts.

I thought the end of that was going to mean home time for us, but as we were walking out they had

the dancers Jonathan loved on the World Stage. We stopped to watch, but they were just finishing. We did sat down though, and the MC started taking the kids through Egyptian dancing to Walk Like An Egyptian. Then while waiting for the next act, they sent balloons through the crowd with the instruction to keep the balloon off the ground. The kids that were dancing up the front were running through the crowd trying to keep the balloon up. A great time filler for the kids.

Next up were some Flamenco dancers, which we had seen earlier and Emily had shown no interest in. This time though, she saw the dresses and loved it. We have plans to use one of my long skirts and belt it around her chest so she can twirl the skirt like the dancers. But we didn't quite get a chance to do that just yet as she fell asleep on the way home!!

Another fun day at OOTB. Tomorrow the whole family is going to Pirates in the morning, a trip to Amococo and then Emily and I are seeing More Fun Than a Wii while James and Jonathan entertain themselves as only boys can.

The last word today is from Emily and her answers to my questions about Mr McGee and the Biting Flea...

Day 2

Day 2 for us started much the same as yesterday, although this time Jonathan knew what he was hearing when we came out of the stairwell. He ran straight to the World Stage to see what was happening. Singers today which weren't as exciting as the dancers (for a 3 year old) so we went for a walk outside to see if we could go through the Zoom tent before Instant Orchestra. There were lots of people, so we decided to give that a miss. We then went to wait for our workshop via the coffee shop. Great coffee by the way...


Instant Orchestra started off well, we ate some apple while we waited for everyone to get seated and then we sang a song about Pirates that had actions. This was a huge hit with Jonathan! Anytime he can jump around and make lots of noise is a good day. Then the Angklung's came out. There were lots and lots of all different sizes. We received instruction on how to use our instruments and we began to play. He liked it for about 5 minutes and then he started to get bored and then the asking to go home began. Apparently there is only so much shaking of a bamboo instrument that one little boy can do before he looks for something more interesting. I think we were there for about 40 mins, so we didn't leave much before the end, but we did leave before the end, so unfortunately it wasn't the hit I had hoped. Straight afterwards he asked when he could go see Grug again so I think that says it all about what his favourite ticketed event has been thus far. Really, I should have looked at the photo (left) and I probably could have guessed that he wasn't going to see it through to the end. The Angklung is no drum, nor does it make lots of different sounds, so maybe he's a tougher audience than I thought.

Today ended up being more about what was happening outside the box, aka the free activities. We saw the Zoom tent next to Amococo yesterday, so went back there to see if we could paint something. And we did, although not for very long. Jonathan is no budding Picasso, although he did love all the textures on the pictures of the animals, as you can see from the picture below where he is touching the feathers. Although some of the photos had no heads or textures attached which was no doubt due to all the little hands that had been through, but he loved what he could touch and we talked about the animals and what they felt like which was nice.

The big hit for day 2 was still in the Zoom tent with an offer of pens to draw on the paper stuck to the wall. He may be no Picasso, but he could be an architect (no pressure Jonny, you can be whatever you like). Jonathan then commenced drawing a big blue scribble, which apparently was Amococo (see picture below with big blue scribble in the bottom right corner).

He was explaining how he was drawing all the different ways you could go which actually made sense as I was watching him draw it. Then he went and got a black pen and drew the scribbles in the left of the picture going up into the orange drawing (which was already there). When asked what he was drawing now, he explained he was drawing us some steps so we could get to Amococo. Then of course he asked if we could go to Amococo again, and he was most disappointed that I said we would have to wait until Sunday when the whole family can enjoy it. We then were overrun by a school group, so left them to add their touches to the drawing.

I have added in a picture of the snail person, because Jonathan is quite enthralled by it. We saw it yesterday as well and I'm sure he will love it when I show him the blog and the snail man is there. There's so much to see outside, there were some performers near the line for Amococo (much bigger line today, so word is getting around about how good it is obviously!).
One of the street performers we really enjoyed were the Party Hat People. Not sure if this is what they are really called, but they walk around in a line wearing party hats and then they stop and do a dance. Reminded me a bit of of the video clip for Fat Boy Slim's song Praise You.

Unfortunately I could not get Jonathan to do his video today. I had a couple of attempts but he was uninterested, so my video today will actually be from yesterday. Since he loves Amococo so much, I'll post the video I took inside Amococo. I did tell him to run around, which you are not supposed to do inside, so kids, don't try this at Amococo!

Tomorrow is Emily's first day and she is excited to finally get her turn. Mr McGee and the Biting Flea here we come...

Day 1

Wow, what a day! Today we finally started our OOTB experience. We caught the bus to the Cultural Centre and when we came out of the stairwell, we could hear lots of noise. Music, bass, people cheering. Jonathan got very excited and started running towards the loudest cheers. It was the World Stage outside QPAC and a dance group doing some awesome dance moves. Jonathan especially loved the backflips one of the dancers was doing. It was evident immediately that OOTB is a feast for the senses. Colours and sounds are everywhere. A great way to keep young kids entertained!!

It seemed there were things happening everywhere we turned. Across the other side of the stairwell there were young acrobats and performers doing all sorts of tricks. Jonathan was intrigued and very excited by this stage with all the activity going on.

However, he knew why we were there and he then started asking to go see Grug. "Can we go see Grug now?" So being the dutiful mother (?!) we set off in search of Grug. Through the foyer to the tunnel and here were more activities!! We knew the general direction we needed to head (and I must say the signage is great and there are people everywhere to help if need be) so we turned right and walked through The Tunnel Project - Giants Among Us.

Jonathan liked the big projections of the kids on the wall and we saw the headphones with LISTEN written near them. So we stopped for a bit, ate some Tiny Teddies and listened to some gems of wisdom from young kids just like him. Things like about how God made the big buildings and the like.

Though it wasn't long before I was reminded of Grug and off we went. We could tell from when we sat down it was going to be a treat! The performers were there talking with the kids and it created a lot of excitement amongst the young crowd. The show was amazing. We had no prior exposure to Grug and while I was tempted to buy the book beforehand I made a conscious decision not to. And as it turns out it wasn't necessary to have any prior knowledge. The story was interesting, funny and kept my very active 3 year old entertained the whole time. They even got all the kids up to do the Grug dance. Probably what struck me the most was the lack of technology in the performance. And I mean that in a good way. The set was simple and there was no sophisticated technology, but the show still rocked! And the kids loved it!! Straight afterwards, Jonathan asked when he could see it again. If that isn't a recommendation, I don't know what is!

Our next stop was Amococo. We had seen and heard quite a bit about this blow up archictecturally fandangled attraction and it wouldn't disappoint. The lines were long to buy tickets, so my advice would be to time your Amococo experience at a food break and feed the kids while waiting in the line. Then everyone will be ready when you finally get in. Shoes off, into a little room where we had some instruction on what to do once we entered and the flap opened and in we went.

And this is what we saw....

It's really hard to describe it, it's better to be seen and experienced. It's like a big blow up maze that feels a bit like you are inside a kaleidescope. You get a bit lost, you look around in amazement and we sat and slid and enjoyed the experience. We are going back to Amococo with the whole family on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see what the other half of the Rogers have to say about it.

Lastly, I am going to try and get comment from the kids each day to post on the blog. Today we have Jonathan talking about Grug. It was a bit like pulling teeth, and interesting to see his take on things. A burst soccer ball becomes a flat tyre. Packages for Grug turn into Christmas. And I try to decipher it for the video. Tomorrow we are off to Instant Orchestra and Jonathan believes he is going to play the drums in future so we are hoping he can get to bash something and make lots of noise!! Enjoy the video...

First Blog Ever....

The Out of the Box website says it's only 9 sleeps until the festival begins and so I figured I would do my first OOTB post. We are getting excited in the Rogers household. I see the sign on the side of QPAC on my way home from work in the bus in the afternoons and today they had a segment on the OOTB festival on The Great South East TV show. It showed bits of the interactive workshops and showed lots of kids looking like they are having heaps of fun and soon that will be us.

I called the kids in to watch so they could get excited and Jonathan was most excited that he saw his "friend" Rose on the TV. We recently did an induction for the blogging project and Rose Myers, Artistic Director for the OOTB Festival found herself a little fan in my son. She took him for a walk outside to see some of the school kids taking part in the project and then he didn't want her to leave without him. So he was most excited to see her on the TV. His little brush with fame!!

This is going to be our first OOTB! Jonathan is looking forward to seeing Pirates and Emily is excited about Mr McGee and the Biting Flea. She wants to know if he is going to take all his clothes off like in the book. We are also seeing More Fun than a Wii, Grug and Jonathan is going to the Instant Orchestra Workshop. Amococo looks like somewhere we will enjoy spending some time and all the other free activities look to ensure our visits to Brisbane's cultural precinct will be filled with fun and wonder.

I'd love to hear what other people are seeing and any suggestions you might have if you have been to OOTB in previous years...