Our Tiny Angel had her Nutcracker debut over the weekend!

Olivia’s ballet studio puts on an elaborate production of The Nutcracker every year in November. Each age group that takes classes has a role so the entire studio can be involved, with the youngest being the Ballet I 5-6 year olds playing the Tiny Angels.

There are 4 performances, and the classes split them, so Liv performed for the Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances. For their scene, they had “angel pilots” (dads in all black so they wouldn’t be obvious behind a scrim curtain) lift up each angel a few times for them to “fly”, and then they all proceeded off the stage with little arabesques. It is the most precious three minutes of the show!

GrandBetty and Pa Wayne came to visit us on Saturday and we had dinner with them before the show. They are so precious to us, and we were so glad to see them after a long stretch! Henry stayed home with a babysitter so he could have fun and still get to bed at a relatively decent time 😉

After dinner, we headed to the theatre for the Saturday night performance. Bud and Gran met us there, and she sat with us for the first half of the show until she had to finish getting ready at intermission. Then it was time to fly! She did such a great job and had so much fun!

After a late night, we went to church Sunday morning, and then had lunch and headed back to the theatre for the Sunday matinee. This time, Daddy stayed home with Henry and Grammy, Pop Pop, and Uncle Morgen came, plus some of our besties. She did a great job with the performance, but by the end was a little toast as far as being tired (late night, no nap), so we didn’t get a great pic with Grammy and Pop Pop.

Overall, she said it was so much fun! Her favorite part was the Snow Queen scene and when the snowflakes make it snow (which I agree, that’s my fave part, too!). We also had an amazing Sugar Plum Fairy this year and she did an amazing job.

There were a few times through this that I wondered if I was being too over the top in making everyone go because her part was just one short scene. But, I realized that even though it’s pretty short, it’s a pretty big accomplishment for a five year old to perform independently in front of hundreds of people with big lights and loud music, and enjoy it. She never hesitated, never seemed nervous, and was so excited for her part, and to watch all the “big girls” in the rest of the show (except the battle of the Rat King. She was not here for that 😂). Now back to regular classes to get ready for the spring recital, and a winter season of basketball!