Finally, the Diego show ...
Or ... How Baby Jaguar Got His Growl Back.
Sunday finally arrived. It was time to go see Diego (otherwise known as Dora the Explorer's cousin), the lovable animal rescuer of Nick Jr. fame.
We packed up the kids and headed to Fort Lauderdale, where we immediately encountered a traffic jam at the parking lot not seen by me since I saw the Dave Matthews Band in West Palm. Jeez, that many parents fell for this? Of course, my husband said. Kids entertainment is scarce around here.
My sons and I were suffering from a cold, but I wasn't about to let a few sniffles and coughs stop us from this. Besides, I'm supposed to just let $130 go to waste?
I must say, the show delivered -- at least for Evan. I don't know that Elias is too young, since there were other kids younger than him clearly enjoying themselves. But it could be a combination of the fact that he wasn't feeling great and he hates loud noises. So hundreds of kids screaming for Diego and growling at the top of their lungs was not a good thing.
My husband and I took turns holding Eli, with Jeff ending up taking Eli on countless elevator rides during the second half. Meanwhile, Evan was completely enraptured with the songs,the dancing and even the plot. Personally, I was too distracted by watching Evan and consoling Elias half the time to pay attention to the plot, but it was something about Baby Jaguar losing his growl to some evil monkeys and finally getting it back.
Along the way, there was a cameo appearance by Dora, the Rescue Pack (some guy who with really good dance moves lugging a gigantic backpack twice his size on his shoulder) and Diego's sister Alicia. And there were great, catchy songs about being special and some sort of animal carnival. And lots of merengue dancing, which I appreciated.
One of our Diego show companions, Sasha, who turns two in a couple months, also LOVED the dancing. So much she looked like she had just consumed a liter of Mountain Dew, she was dancing so energetically.
All in all a good show, with the exception of the fact that it took us literally 40 minutes to walk out of the theater and actually exit the parking lot in our car. Note to Nick Jr: let's have more of these tours and shows, and maybe lower the price a little!
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