"70 Years of OZ Oh My!" and Blue Monday

I'm going to cheat and do one post for both Blue Monday and our recent visit to the "70 Years of Oz Oh My!" exhibit at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. My "blue" you ask?...Mary Catherine's "Dorothy" costume, of course!

On Saturday night, we informed the kiddos that we were going to do something special for Family Fun Sunday. It involved going "someplace special" where Mary could wear her Halloween costume. In case you missed my Halloween post, you can see pictures of our very own Dorothy and Cowardly Lion here.

Needless to say, Mary Catherine, AKA Dorothy, was very excited about what we were doing as she loves any opportunity to wear her costume. As we got ready to go, I was a bit ashamed of her footwear: (little did I know how those worn out shoes would come into play later on in the afternoon)



The "70 Years of OZ Oh My!" exhibit is celebrating the 70th anniversary of "America's favorite movie" (according to the brochure) with an interactive exhibit for the whole family. In addition to the tons of hands-on exhibits, mazes, slides, photo-ops, etc., there was an incredible display of one woman's collection of decades of Oz memorabilia.

Oz enthusaist and collector, Jane Albright happened to be at Crown Center and touring the exhibit on Sunday. Jane was with her daughter and husband/photographer when she stopped us as we were passing in the atrium (I never would have known that this was the woman behind the collection!). Jane fell absolutely in love with Mary Catherine's toe-worn, beloved ruby slippers and asked if her husband could photograph them for her collection! As if on cue, my four-year old began tapping her heels together like this:


Here are a few other photos taken while touring the exhibit:



Mary Catherine and Benjamin with Jane Albright, Oz enthusiast and collector.


Mary Catherine posing with "Glinda the Good Witch". All this time, I thought her name was Glenda! Notice we are missing the COWARDLY lion! Benjamin would have absolutely nothing to do with Glinda.


Mary & Ben checking out the spooky "I am the Great Oz" display. Notice Mary's expression...he was kind of scary, especially with the green lighting!


Follow the yellow brick road!


Giant banner greeting visitors and guests to Crown Center. To learn more about Crown Center, and the Hallmark Visitor's Center click here.


Just a peak at Jane Albright's incredible Oz collection.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour through the Land of OZ! Perhaps it brought back joyful memories of watching this beloved classic when you where a child. For more Blue Monday posts, please visit our lovely hostess, Sally, over at Smiling Sally.