girls afternoon out

madelyn and i got dressed up for a 'girls' afternoon'.  the plan was lunch, shopping and then a surprise for madelyn - the ballet!  they were putting on a "director's choice" show for about half the price of normal tickets and i had a buy one, get one coupon which made for a very affordable outing.

i didn't get a picture of us together from our last 'special' day so i made sure to get one before we left today.  mason really wanted to be in the picture too and then maddux came running up the stairs because he is not one to miss out on a picture opportunity.

madelyn chose mcdonalds for lunch.  it wasn't my first choice, but we had a nice time.  madelyn also suggested that we get ice cream since it was "just us". i usually don't have to be asked twice about desert.  i try to limit it for the kids though but we were out to have fun today.  she had a peppermint mcflurry and i had an iced coffee (mommy was feeling a little tired).

next we went over to target because all of madelyn's pants (except a few pairs of jeans we bought right before school started) end about 4 inches above her ankles and it has been getting colder.  she doesn't see the need for long pants but i am just waiting for a note about dressing her warmer (believe me, i try).  we picked up a few items of clothing and they were all pink!  when i pointed that out, she put back a pink pair of pants for a more neutral gray.  it has taken a lot of work to get her to appreciate the value of neutrals and solids in a wardrobe (i.e.  you can wear lots of necklaces if your shirt is plain).

and now off to the ballet!  we were fairly early because i am obsessive about being late for things and i wasn't totally sure where it was.  surprisingly, the location was not shown on the tickets so i had to call the ballet company to find out where to go.  we made it to the historic theater and madelyn was very excited.  she kept saying that it looked like belle's castle (from beauty and the beast).  it really was lovely and not too large. 

we were in the seventh row, center and had a great view of the dancers.  the company is high school and under and they were excellent!  we were sitting next to one of the performer's mom who was telling another lady about all of the sacrifices it has taken for her daughter to be with the company and how extensively they practice. let's just say, you have to really want it. 

it was a "director's choice" performance so there were lots of costume changes which both helped and hurt keeping madelyn's attention - the breaks between pieces were fairly lengthy at times but there was something new to see when they came back.  there were nine pieces and i vastly underestimated how long the show would be.  i assumed that it would be a shorter performance because of the price and the nature of the 'sampling' format.  nope.  it was almost 2-1/2 hours!  madelyn did a great job and seemed to really enjoy it.  there was a good variety of styles including one with all boys in sleeping bags that was comedic.

madelyn told me that she had a great time and would have come with me even if she didn't want to so that i wouldn't be lonely.  i think we will be checking out more arts in the future.  love.