Nutcracker

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to take the girls to see the Nutcracker. This was Emily's fourth time and Kate's first. Kate was SO excited that she got to go this year. She asked me a million questions during the ballet. I tried to whisper the story to her as it progressed. It was no easy task to keep her hushed though. The girls were very excited when the sugar plum music began since Emily had been learning it on the piano. We went with our friends Judy and Kaitlyn this year. It was lots of fun, but made me a little sad that Emily was sharing all her excitement with her friend and not me this year. I always love the intermission as all the little girls in the great hall come spilling out dancing and twirling! Emily and Kate were no exception. The spun and walked on their tip toes all the rest of the evening. Next year I will be more prepared. I will get there earlier to ensure the girls get booster seats and I will definitely have paper and pen at the go in order to write down all the cute things Kate says. Here are some that I wrote in the dark on my checkbook:-)

After the Ballet (and by the way The Pacific Northwest Ballet is amazing) we all drove to the South Center Mall to have dinner with our friends at the Rain forest Cafe. It was Judy's idea and it was perfect. The girls loved all the jungle themed entertainment and our volcano cake for dessert was the perfect end to a fantastic evening.

Nights like this one remind me how much I love to "do" things with my children. Individually is best but separating the genders does wonders too. I just hope they never figure out that I love the ballet more than they do. I don't want them to think that it's not ALL about them.