Polka Palace in Cheyenne - 8/28/07

I love The Backyardigans. There must be something kind of 'off' in my little brain that this show makes me really happy. I can watch the same episodes repeatedly and not mind and last night I actually searched the internet for lyrics to our favorite episode. Favorite episode is the Polka Palace Party, by the way, and the song in question is Feeding Time.

I discovered, thanks to google, that Dave and I are merely two of thousands who love these little characters. For those of you who don’t know, they are 5 friends (a moose, a ladybug, a kangaroo-type, a penguin and an I-have-no-idea-what) who play in their backyard and have these great adventures in their imaginations. I found a blog post about how the songs get stuck in the blogger’s head and it had almost 300 comments. So, see? We aren’t the only ones.

Okay, okay, you’re probably on the edge of your seat wondering what the polka episode is about. Tyrone the moose and his pal, Sherman (the worm) have to get to the Polka Palace in Cheyenne by sundown so that Sherman can get to the surprise birthday party for his brother, Herman. Tyrone plays the tuba and loves polka music. He and Sherman set out and along the way meet and pick up the other friends who all play different music and what do you know they all love polka music. Their adventure heading out west leads to the heartbreaking development of their raft going over a waterfall with all their instruments (no worries – the buddies jumped to shore a second before the sad development). But also no worries – magically their instruments were waiting for them at the Polka Palace when they got there.

And you’re also no doubt wondering what the song is about. Pablo, the penguin, happens upon the other characters when he’s chasing a trio of runaway horses. They help him wrangle them (thanks to a toot from Tyrone’s tuba) so he can feed them, hence the song. I’ve turned it into quite a production for Kyle and Grant during mealtimes. I’m trying not to be bothered by the looks they give me as I’m yeehawing and clapping like I’m at a hoedown.

Who knew I could write four paragraphs about these little buddies? It’s going to be a sad day when the boys tire of The Backyardigans; Dave and I will then have to sneak the episodes after they go to bed. We are a wild and crazy couple if ever there was one.