Nutcracker

Each year one of our Advent activities has been to go to the Nutcracker. For the past 6 years the girls have rotated who gets to go so that it's a special night, just the two of us. This year, I had to be at a conference for school, so I missed out on the Nutcracker when it was in town. However, one of our favorite people lives in the Quad Cities, so we hit up the Adler so we could keep our tradition alive. With a delicious dinner just down from the Adler at Urban Bowl (seriously, so amazing) we enjoyed being able to check out a new theater and have a fun girls night out.

It was exciting to be able to watch the ballet from a different theatre. I love checking out new, beautiful places so to be able to experience the same great performance with a new spin was a fun adventure. 

It was also Aunt Nisa's first Nutcracker. I think she equally loved the performance.

Norah loved  her first Nutcracker performance. I wasn't sure she would make it through the whole show since it was so late, but she did a great job. She was especially excited to be included in a "big girl" activity.

After the performance, Emma dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Good thing she wore her 'especially twirly' dress. 

Since the show went so late and we ditched Mark so he could hang out with Mitch, we spent the night at Aunt Nisa's house. As much as we loved catching up with them, getting lots of love from Dalton was definitely the highlight for the girls! :)