Girls day out to the Nutcracker

Emily and I have a tradition of going to the Nutcracker ballet every Christmas season. We started when she was three believe it or not. The first two years Chase went with us but it quickly became a girls tradition once he started to be indoctrinated by the macho males in the family. So this was our fifth year. I decided to splurge and we went to see the professionals this year. No more local shows or semi-pro companies. We drove all the way up to Seattle to the fancy theatre in our fancy Christmas outfits to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet preform! I was happy with the decision to go all out the moment we arrived. Emily got her picture taken with the Nutcracker (the picture isn't available yet...I'll post it when we get it). They had refreshments, the party children from the first act passing out the programs, costumes on display, props to pose with and a mini stage for budding ballerinas to preform. We even got to hear a live orchestra this year!!! Emily was really impressed with the orchestra pit. They had a HARP! Our seats were wonderful, made even more perfect by the booster seats they provided for young children. What made the greatest difference was not in the dancing (smaller companies usually hire their principles from pro companies anyway), it was the choreography (I couldn't help but watch their feet half the time), costumes, live music and HOLY COW the stage props and backdrops etc...were out of this world. What a fantastic outing. And what more perfect ending to the evening could I ask for than to watch Emily dance and twirl her way all the way to Coldstone from the parking lot for dessert!