Denno Family Blog: Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter Date at The Nutcracker!

As a child, my mother took me to see The Nutcracker Ballet every year and I have the fondest memories of going, as does my mother of going when she was a child! This year was the first (of many I hope) that I will get to go with Ellie and then also Olivia as she gets older. We shared in a very special day, which started early in the morning!

Ellie has been looking forward to this day for about a month now, so when it finally came around I wanted to make sure that it was VERY special! We began the day by getting ready. Ellie had her hair washed and then blown dry (which she loves), her nails painted a glittery shade of purple (she calls it her glamicure!), and her outfit on, which she has literally had picked out for weeks (a pink tutu dress with glittery white leggings and glittery, gold shoes)! Then, it was off to lunch with Grandmamma at the Blue Bird Bistro for for the biggest french toast you've ever seen!

With a little bit of time to kill before the performance, we decided to head over to Union Station, which was completely decked out for the holidays! Ellie was in holiday heaven, as they have (as Ellie said), "the biggest Christmas tree ever!!! She was so fun to watch, as she danced to Christmas music down the halls, without a care in the world :)

Then, it was off to The Nutcracker! I wasn't sure how Ellie would do at the performance, as she has never gone to something like this before or anything quite this long! Sometimes 5 minutes can be a lot to ask of a 2 year old to sit still! She was amazing though and was smiling ear to ear almost the entire time! Feet kicking in time to the music and fingers pointed, she couldn't help but dance in her seat as the ballerinas danced across the stage. During the intermission, she turned to me and said, "I wish I could be on stage and be a sugar plum fairy." She just melts my heart with her sweetness and adoring innocence! Her favorite parts, she said were the golden ballerina (the Sugar Plum Princess) and Santa flying across the stage in his blue sleigh (which was really Clara and the Nutcracker prince), but Santa sounds much cooler. Thanks Grandmamma for a wonderful day!