The Nutcracker

So the day was finally here; the Nutcracker. We woke up and had our traditional cinnamon roll birthday breakfast. Mamie, Pops, and Robert were here and we played in the morning. I made the Sugar Plum Fairy cake. The girls have seen the doll cakes in the grocery store and that is what they said they wanted this year. So, I improvised and tried to make our own. I used a bundt pan and our Princess Aurora doll. I had to bend her and be creative with left over cupcakes from school, but here she is. The girls were thrilled.

This was the first year the girls seemed to understand about presents, and boy were they excited. It was almost a shame that they were so focused on the gift part. I miss the oblivious toddler days.

Opening gifts from Mamie and Pops

A fish tank!!!

Money to buy their own fish. I will post pictures of our new fish and the set-up tank in a new post. Thanks Mamie, Pops, and Robert!

Carly and Joiner are constantly playing with my camera,so they got kids cameras for their birthday. You can tell it is just what Joiner wanted!

Carly and her camera

I love this picture. I don't know if it is totally clear, but I am taking a picture of Carly, Joiner, and Mamie in the background taking a picture of me. So funny.

Before lunch, Gigi and Grumpa came. They brought Sugar plum fairy, and Mouse King nutcrackers. Of course, we had to take them to the show.

They also brought a piano...

And a guitar! Now we have a full band to play dance party!

Part of the special day was a new dress. We went to ETC consignment and they got to pick out any dress they wanted. They both chose really beautiful dresses. I think we wore them all week. Joiner had even torn the hem out of hers, but thankfully Mamie did a great job repairing it!

We are on our way to the show. We chose to go to a matinee performance even though we are still dedicated nappers. We were scared the 7pm performance would be just too late. They did really well. Joiner was VERY tired by bedtime, but Carly was on a birthday high!

The crew minus Caga, Miriam, and Grumpa (taking the picture)

Checking out the orchestra pit. The UNCSA kids were amazing musicians.

Joiner taking some shots before the show started. So excited!

Carly and Pops before the show

The show was amazing. We also had wonderful seats. We were in the fourth row, basically in the middle. Thanks to school, the girls new each scene and would bob on whatever lap they were sitting in excitment when things would happen. The two hours flew by with the girls loudly whispering how much they were enjoying it! I don't think any of us stopped smiling...

Until I asked them to pose with the Nutcracker. You would think I had asked Joiner to give me all her birthday presents. Did I mention that we skipped our nap for the first time?

Taking pictures of the signs outside with Gigi

Grumpa with the Sugar Plum Fairy

It was a great day. I don't know if anyone has seen the movie Center Stage, but it is a favorite of mine. It is about the American Ballet Company and how a top male dancer is shaking everything up. So, this year the UNCSA Nutcracker was new and improved thanks to a new dean of dance. Well, this dean is the dancer who played the top male dancer in Center Stage, Cooper. His real name in Ethan Steifal and I had just realized that it was the same person when a man passed me on the way to our car. Well, it was him!!! I almost called out to him to sign my program, but I chickened out. Still, it was really cool.

After the show, we went to dinner and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream. My camera was dying so I have very few pictures of cake and no pictures of dinner. It was so much fun and the girls are still talking about how much fun they had. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family who shared this special day with us!