The Nutcracker

Emma and I were offered last minute, Row B seats to yesterday's matinee of The Nutcracker. Free. How could we turn that down?

So we hustled into our nice clothes, and drove downtown, reviewing the Nutcracker story she had read a few months ago with my mom. We snapped obligatory pictures next to the Nutcracker statue in the lobby to document our first ballet together. We took our seats, listened to the orchestra warm up, and clapped our hands with anticipation when the house lights went down and the stage lights went up.

It was magical. Emma was mesmerized, and I sat quietly, reflecting on past Nutcrackers ballets I've seen. She asked appropriate questions to sort out the lack of talking to tell the story, she clapped appropriately, and she studied the ladies up on pointe. She guessed which candy was dancing during Clara's time in the Land of Sweets, and waited in line to meet Clara during intermission.

On the drive home, we both had a hard time deciding on our favorite part. But we didn't have any problem at all deciding to get tickets for next year's show!