Nutcracker Crumbs

striking a pose

watch out!

 

 

 

 

our view of the stage, we were sitting at the very top balcony a lil bit to the right

my little "boy" at her first ballet

Saturday December 18, 2011.

Mina and Mommy day. 

It all started with an invitation to go and listen to Xmas music at the Capitol. Our bestie Jen plays the cello in the Madison Community Orchestra, and they were playing a concert in the Capitol Rotunda.  BUT....
prior to attending, we decided to leave the boys at home and have a girl's day! (although my little princess decided that she was to dress as a boy today and have a boy name. She went by the name of Geo.)
So at 11:30, we set off for Ian's Pizza for a slice of cheese and a slice of Chicken Alfredo pizza.  (This is literally the best pizza in town.  The variety of combos are amazing!)  After pizza we went next door to Clary's Popcorn, which is my FAVORITE place for popcorn. I always get the warm cheese and caramel mixed bag. Well, while standing in line waiting, i turn back to apologize, to the two ladies behind us, for taking so long, and here is where it gets interesting.....
The older woman says to me, "hey do you happen to want 2 free tickets to the Nutcracker at 2 p.m. today?" i kind of hesitated because i was already pressing my luck with leaving the boys at home for 3 hours, now it would be extended to 5....could we manage it?  So i took them from her, if we couldn't use them, i'd pass them on to someone who would.  I thanked her on our way out and said we would maybe see them in a bit, the seats were next to theirs.  
So we hustled on over to the Capitol, took a look at the giant Xmas tree in the center, and proceeded up several flights of stairs. We found our friends Noah and Ima, and then Bodie and Tate, and Brynne also showed up to enjoy the music. (They all were actually looking forward to seeing one another and playing with Bodie's dad Rob.)
After about an hour, i convinced Mina that we should get going if she wanted to see some ballet. So we hustled out of the Capitol and down the street to the Overture Center.  
After the facilities were used and a bottle of water purchased, we headed up, way up, to our seats and sat next to the extremely generous grandma Amy and her granddaughter Jada. 
The Nutcracker is Mina's first visit to an event like this, her first professional ballet experience. She watched with open mouth and awe, and as the ballet proceeded, she began to ask questions and requested to be in the ballet. Toward the end of the 1st half, she was getting a little restless, but still quite intrigued. By the end of the 2nd half, she really wanted to go and meet the Nutcracker and the rest of the ballerinas. We thanked our gracious benefactors profusely and followed the line out of the theater.
Unfortunately, none of the ballerinas came out to meet and greet, so we left, having had a wonderful mommy & Mina day, and a swell ballet experience. 
I sure hope this started a tradition of ballet/play/musical seeing for the future!