E's Nutcracker

Like we have done every year for the past ten or so years, we went to the Nutcracker. Every year, Damien's Mom (E) narrates a children's production of the great holiday classic and we look forward to it so much. We love it for the music, the dances, and of course to see E on stage- but we also love it because the production has been condensed to just one hour. We met my good friend Eileen and her daughter Mia for dinner beforehand and for the second year in a row they joined us for the show! Apparently Mia talks about it year round.

My kids did great and it was especially fun to see how Matthew reacted to the show. This is really his first year of being cognitively aware of what is going on and he couldn't believe that E was on stage. He did start to cry when all the mice were running around on stage with swords because he thought they were going to hurt his E. Damien brought him outside for a minute and then he came back in and enjoyed the show (until he fell asleep about fifteen minutes before the show was over). The performance was beautiful and they even made some great changes to the show. It was great to get together with the family and to be able to get togethere afterwards for dessert with Ali, Heavenly, E, Papa, Teresa and her kids. We really had a nice time and we are already looking forward to next year!!!