"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.

Comments

  1. Absolutely and utterly adorable. I do believe your version of Dorothy is the cutest I've ever seen!

    Happy Blue Monday...

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  2. Oh this was a great post ! The little worn out shoes are adorable ! My oldest g.daughter had to have a pair of those too.

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  3. Very creative post. I can't imagine your DD's mounting excitement as you put the evening together. That is great. Blessings to you.

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  4. What a sweet, sweet post. Happy Blue Monday and have a lovely week.

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  5. I love love it! The Wizard of Oz is my fave movie of all time and I would so love to go to this exhibit. Your pics are just darling! Cindy

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  6. This must have been such a fun family night! Happy Blue Monday.

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  7. this sweet & pretty post.. Happy Blue Monday..

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  8. Seeing this was a wonderful way to start a Monday!

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  9. Hi Valerie! How wonderful this Blue Monday post is. Those are some well loved shoes for sure! Love it!!

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  10. How wonderful for Blue Monday! I smiled while reading and seeing the photos of your whole post! Enjoy, happy BM!

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  12. Great post!!!! Happy Blue Monday!

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  13. We are big Oz fans in this house too. These pictures are just precious. Happy blue Monday

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  14. Perfect for Blue Monday! Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  15. What an adorable Dorothy. I loved this blue post. Last Halloween, one of my grands was Dorothy and we met many Dorothy's at the Fall Festival that night!! :O)

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  16. Sounds as if You had a great time! Wouldn´t mind going there myself if it was possible :-) Can imagine Your doughter was very proud when her ruby shoes was photgrafed :-)
    Christer.

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  17. Oh how wonderful and what a special experience!! Love the toe-worn ruby slippers....they obviously have been through a lot of magical fun!! :)
    Thanks for the sweet comment!

    ps Ooops, I didn't know I was still signed into my boutique blog....could you please erase my earlier comment?! Usually there is a little trash can to erase it, but I don't see one? Thanks! :)

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  18. What a magical post! Happy Blue Monday!
    Sweetie

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  19. how FUN! Museums and the like are the field trips I just love taking with the kids....it brings a whole other dimension to their learning.

    Your kind words today meant so much Valerie...thank you.

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  20. What a great exhhibit! I bet your kids were in heaven!

    Yep, it's Glinda the Good Witch. I was Glinda for Halloween two years ago at work. Try being a nurse and doing all of your duties in that pink gown! It wasn't easy...but it was fun!

    Happy Blue Monday!

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  21. Very fun post for Blue Monday. Who doesn't love sweet and innocent Dorothy?!

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  22. Great post, Valerie! And a great place to take the kiddies! Thanks for visiting me at Ruby Tuesday! :)

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  23. Valerie, Mary Catherine and Benjamin are absolutely precious, and so cute in their costumes! It reminded me when my youngest daughter was 'Dorothy' one Halloween. I glittered her shoes myself. We had glitter ALL OVER the place!! lol!!

    Thanks for visiting my blog today, and leaving a sweet comment about your own treasured quilts.

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  24. Great post! I thought it was Glenda. . . live and learn!

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  25. AS always your children are adorable! Where is your page?

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  26. Shannon, would you believe that I deleted it by accident?!!! I about had a heart attack!

    I have the background paper and header created and saved as jpg files and uploaded to photobucket, so I can get them back, but now I need to find the directions as to how to edit the HTML parameters! AAAARGH!

    See, sometimes I should just leave well enough alone!
    Val

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  27. I really enjoyed your post. How fun is that, that they wanted a picture of the shoe's! I love the wizard of Oz, it's always been a favorite of mine since I was small. Thank you for visiting my blog. Mary from Boogieboard Cottage:O)

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  28. Wow!! What a fun place to visit. I would have enjoyed seeing that. So would have my daughter. She played Auntie Em in a production of the Wizard of Oz when she was a teen. Thanks for visiting my Blue Monday. My dad is from Kansas. He grew up in Lindsborg.

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  29. what a cute post*!!! Mary Catherine (AKA DOROTHY) looked adorable in her little red shows*!
    Thank you for coming by and for the sweet comment. Nice to meet you, and I look forward to getting to know you better*! _Ashley*

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  30. Hello Valerie, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment. Your post is adorable, I love those Barbie dresses on your previous post. You asked about my farmhouse on my first post March 21 2008, I have before and after pics of the house, pics of land and graveyard and history of our farm. Through my blog there are lots of pics inside and out of my home. Great ones are Dec. 15, Nov. 19, Oct. 25 has some of land and July 8 has a cute tea party on my porch. I think you would enjoy the whole blog if you have time to go back to older post.
    Bless you, Shirl
    Shirls Rose Cottage

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  31. Great visit to OZ! You do have two miracles there. Lovely kids.

    CQ4Newbies is a yahoo group aka Crazy Quilting for Newbies(those who don't know how yet)

    RR--round robin--in which you exchange blocks (or whatever) and each person stitches on the block.

    Thanks for coming by, Ruby

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  32. How very cool! When I was small, The Wizard of Oz film (hosted by Danny Kaye) was on television right before Christmas -- because it was special and awe-inspiring -- rather than in October (because the harpies are scary?) like it is now. I loved cuddling up in my daddy's lap and screaming at those harpies and the Wicked Witch :o)

    Victoria

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  33. It looks like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  34. Oh my goodness! I love this post ♥ To take a child to an exhibit like that would just be the ultimate dream. Your children are both adorable! The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorite movies growing up. The scarecrow was my favorite character. Thank you so much for sharing. Blessings to you and your family.

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  35. It looks like your children had a great time making memories--especially your dd. How cool that her worn out shoes got her the right attention☺

    Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog. Hope you'll come again☺

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  36. Now you know with a blog titled "thoughtsfromovertherainbow" I'd find you!

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  37. Hi Valerie,
    We are about 90 miles from Prairie du Chien and about 1 hour from La Crosse, wi. I think Pepin is about 70 miles from us. I hope you get there some day, it's a magical little town. Love your visits. Cindy

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  38. I missed "Blue Monday" ...as usual.
    I never get my act together ..until it is too late.
    Your little girl is never going to forget this whole thing and you have wonderful documentation of all that happened. The heel clicking was just adorable. Holding her little skirt up like that!
    Now..on to Wednesday!! Have a wonderful day!! What cute children you have! She is SO GIRL!! :0
    Mona

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  39. Valerie...you know..I think little girls with the name of Mary...are usually just very feminine... :) I think your Mary and my Mary are just plain natural born girly girls. I am so pleased you are enjoying the post about the home. Also...Emilie's books are exquisite. I think she is an inspiration in many ways. I know my Mary loves her..and the women who come to the home for their bible classes enjoy their times there so much. Mary always serves them in style too...so the tea's are special. :)

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  40. I'm very late w/ my Blue Monday visits this week. What a great Family Fun Day!

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  41. What cute photographs! You are making wonderful memories for your children! What a good Mommy you are! I love your daughter's shoes...it shows how much she love Dorothy!

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  42. I just noticed the worn toes on the shoes...poor girl wants to go to Kansas!! lol

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  43. Oh how fun!!! Wonderful post and love love all the pictures! They are just too cute!!! Hugs and Blessings,

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  44. I love family adventures like that. Your little petite in her RUBY RED SLIPPERS...PRICELESS. What a wonderful exhibit. We recently visited the American History Museum and saw the REAL Ruby Slippers...very exciting. Shawn

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Your kind words are appreciated! As Mother Teresa said, "Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."

Valerie

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