What a fun evening we had!  Blakelynn started it all of with her favorite thing in the world…a bath.  That set in motion an evening of excited anticipation.  She was able to sit at her new vanity while I combed, bunned, and curled her hair.  We put on a dash of mascara, some blush and a little lip gloss–then it was time for her dress.  It’s the most beautiful dress ever, and it was a whopping $15 at Costco.  She looked amazingly beautiful.  Then we headed off to  Grandma’s house.  First to drop off the boys and second, to pick up grandma.  She ended up driving and we headed to Dad’s work to eat.  It was Blake’s choice, and we always feel like royalty when we eat there.  All of the servers and managers stopped to tell her how beautiful she looked.  She had so much fun saying thank you and letting them know she was off to the ballet.    We had an amazing meal (of course) and headed downtown with just enough time to spare.  Then…we hit traffic.  It was awful!  I just knew we would miss the beginning but what could you do?

We finally got to the Auditorium, which amazingly enough has valet parking right across the street–dropped off the car, ran across the street, grabbed our tickets from Will Call (with no ID needed) and headed to the restroom.  i bought snacks while waiting for Gramma Jo and Blake.  We headed UP (and up and up and up) to our seats.  Got in them, got settled and the lights went down.  We just made it!

Blakelynn sat through the party scene just waiting for the Mouse King.  He, of course, comes at the end of Act 1.  So then the first act dancers come out for a bow and then it’s intermission.  This is where it would have been great to have someone waiting outside to take Blake home.  At 5 years old, an hour of ballet attention is amazing!  The entire balcony below us was empty-so we moved down.   The next act was wonderful, I can just picture my Grayson as a Russian dancer (now I just have to talk him into it!!) and when the final dance was done Blakey said, "Finally" in a not so quiet voice! 

She had made it through and she did keep saying, "This is a great show" so I’m happy.  Her grandma had a great time out with us girls–which is good because it was her Christmas present.  We’ll definitely go again next year–it just won’t be her gift!