Peter Pan!

The girls and I went to see Peter Pan today at Leander High School. Originally, this was meant to be a special outing for just Miss E and me. But, last minute work plans for J threw Lil' A into the mix. At first I thought we wouldn't go. To begin with, the matinee showing was smack in the middle of her nap time. I know at least some of you have witnessed what demons take over this child if I wake her prematurely...so if I decided to go, it would mean skipping her nap. I went back and forth and didn't commit until about noon. I got some lunch in their bellies, rounded up some snacks and drinks to stash in my purse (at tickets $8 a pop, I wasn't about to spring for concessions!), including a lolli each to have if they got antsy, and we hit the road.
There was quite a line and lots of confusion to even get tickets, but this turned out to be the most trying time of the afternoon. We found some pretty good seats. Everyone else was filling in the middle to have the best view. This very ideally left us some close-ish aisle seats (my first choice, in case we needed a quick exit!). As we settled in, Miss E was getting more and more excited. The band was warming up, she would practically squeal every time she thought the curtain swayed, the lights were dimming...here we go!!!
Oh. My. Goodness. It is the understatement of the year to say that I was impressed. I'll admit, I was surprised at the ticket price. It's a high school play, for goodness sake! No. Thie was a Production. HUGE cast. BIGTIME choreographed dance numbers (I'd put money betting the whole Indian tribe was the dance team-they were GOOD!). AWESOME set. I guess it's been too long since I went to a high school play. Not to give a number, but the last time I went to a high school play...I was IN the play!! :-)
Boy have the times changed. Peter Pan and Wendy and the brothers really FLEW! E's favorite part was the life size crocodile that would slink across the stage after Captain Hock whenever the tick-tock sound played. There was a Tinkerbell shaped light they would bounce around the set and Peter even held her in his hands in the scene where she drank the poison meant for him.
Lil' A thought it was a puppet show. She said more than once that she wanted to go see the puppets! And I totally confused her-at one point the nurse maid was doing a solo dance number between scenes, and A asked who she was. I confused her name with the dog's name...and said, "That's the Nana". Well, she immediately wanted to know where was Pops? Poor girl!
I enjoyed this so much just for myself. I cannot begin to articulate how exciting it was to watch Miss E enjoy this. She never left the edge of her seat. She would bounce up and down to the beat, clap and cheer at the end of each performance, squeal with excitement each time the croc came....she threw her hands to her chest when we thought poor Tinkerbell was sick with poison. I may have watched her just as much as I did the stage. I would choke up and get teary each time I looked at her. I don't know why, really. Maybe because I remember enjoying things like this when I was a kid? I remember going to Casa Manana (sp?), to the Omni for the Nutcracker. I remember those trips as special events that we did with my mom and grandmother, specifically, and now I am the one initiating the outings and building memories with my girls.
I know, it was just a high school play. A far cry from the Omni! But man, it was fun!
Oh, and A did great! She sat in my lap the whole time. Didn't hardly budge. She clapped and cheered whenever we did. And after a small snack at intermission, she promptly passed out for the remainder of the program!! Oh well, still money well spent!
Here is the only picture I got-I think it sums it up well. This is when we were waiting for the play to begin. E is so anxious she can hardly stand it, and A is so overstimulated that E is literally holding her head in place. Enjoy!