Nutcracker

We had a little Christmas miracle this year. My good friend Angie called one Friday and said she'd received free tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet in Louisville and WE were invited!! SO exciting! I wasn't sure if Maura could sit through an entire ballet, but we figured that the tickets were free, so we'd go find out! Maura and I met Angie and Sarah one very snowy Saturday morning and we headed to Louisville for a very fun girls day out!
Maura and her BFF Sarah. Both girls were excited about seeing the Nutcracker and we explained that it was a ballet, but I'm sure they still didn't know what to expect. They were very impressed by the display of Nutcrackers at the gift shop and each ended up with a Nutcracker ornament.

Inside the theater just before the usher came and informed us that we couldn't take photos. Ooops! The girls made themselves comfortable and waited for the show to start. It was total awe from the beginning of the production. They LOVED it. It was a wonderful rendition of the ballet, however they inexplicably changed the main character's name from Clara to Marie! The girls really did great and paid really close attention. I think both girls' favorite part was the Russian dance. My favorite part was when they made it snow in the audience during the Snow portion of the dance. So cool. Maura did wonderfully until the very last dance, which was also a very long dance. She leaned over and said, "When is this going to be over???" All in all, it was a fantastic experience for the girls and a lot of fun for us big girls. Thanks for inviting us, Angie! It was a memory never to be forgotten!

These are from earlier in the day, playing out in the snow. It's been a very snowy winter so far!