Visions of sugar plums

Last night we took the three older boys on a special outing. We ate dinner at the Garden Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for dinner and then headed over to the Capitol Theater to see the Nutcracker.

I am so glad we had a table next to the window or else we would have been bothering all of the other patrons because the boys would have been running over to the window anyway to see the lights at Temple Square. We were able to see them turn on and it is an amazing view from up top!

I wasn't sure how the boys would like the ballet but they loved it. They started getting a bit bored around the pas de deux, but luckily that is pretty much the end. My favorite thing about the whole night was sitting next to Luke during the performance. He was so excited and had a ton to say. Here are some of my favorites:

• During the applause that occurred after the little orchestral introductory prelude before the curtains open: "That's it?"

• "When are they going to talk?"

• After the fight scene between the mice and the Nutcracker, kindof out of the blue:

"It's a small nutcracker."

Me: "Hmmm?"

Luke: "How did the prince fit in there?"

• During the scene of the Snow Queen (that I mistakenly told  him was the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy):

"Is it raining sugar?"

Me: "No, it's snow."

Luke: "Oh, I thought it would be sugar since it is the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."

• The huge sigh during the REAL dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

• "It's over?!?"

When we were walking back to the car, Luke also let me in on a little secret. He told me that he had been scared to see the Nutcracker. When I asked him why, he told me he thought it would be wooden puppets dancing around on strings. I am glad the actual performance exceeded his expectations.