The Nutcracker and Flat Stanley

A great way for us to get into the Christmas spirit this year was to go see The English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker!  The girls have a picture book about the story and had seen a part of a Nutcracker cartoon on television once, so they were vaguely familiar with the story.  They both love watching live shows, enjoy ballet, and were interested in the story so I was very excited to take them.  The recommended age for the show was 5 but the woman explained to me that it was only because younger children may get bored or be unable to stay quiet during the show.  Since Tessa loves ballet, I hoped that she would be fine.  We even encouraged her to behave like a big girl by pointing out that usually four year olds weren't allowed to see the show, but we felt that she could behave like a five year old.  She thought it was a big deal to "behave like a big girl."

This was the first of over 50 Christmas trees in London that the girls counted from the bus.

Helping Flat Stanley make a call!

Tessa had to try the phone herself!

Drinking horchata, a sweet Mexican ricemilk drink that they remembered fondly from NM

We bought the tickets though the military base, as we were able to get a discount.  As we took the tour bus, we hoped that Sophia wouldn't get bus sick like the last time we took a tour bus! It actually snowed like crazy while we were on the bus and felt as if we might be stranded in London. Of course, the snow melted before we even arrived, so no worries of getting stranded. I had researched restaurants in the area around the London Coliseum and found a wonderful place for us to eat lunch. It is called Wahaca (same sound, different spelling of Oaxaca, a city in Mexico). They serve fabulous Mexican market food and it was oh so yummy! Of course, the girls wanted sushi but I decided it was Mummy and Daddy's turn to choose and we all enjoyed my selection. If it were a little closer, we would be regulars.

We had to take F.S.'s picture with George Washington!

The fountain in Trafalgar Square

Chuckolate, F.S., and double decker buses!

The girls thought it was great fun to feed F.S. to the lion!

After lunch we just had a few minutes to wander around before it was time to get to the London Coliseum. Luckily, we were right next to Trafalagar Square so we were able to take a few touristy photos of Flat Stanley (see previous post for an explanation) in London. 

Us in front of the London Coliseum

The London Coliseum

The curtain on the stage and the ceiling above our seats

Getting out our new (cardboard) binoculars

They weren't clear, but they did make things close-up.

F.S. with the balconies and the curtain

The ceiling

The balconies

The orchestra (sorry, my camera did not work very well in there!)

Tessa enjoying a bite of mango sorbet

Sophia takes a bite.

At the Coliseum, we found our seats and enjoyed checking out the decor.  We weren't allowed to take any photos during the show, but it was really impressive.  The costumes were lovely, the dancing was superb, and the girls were spellbound.  The Rat King looked a bit more ferocious than I previously recall, and Tessa was noticably frightened of him.  Constant reminders that the rats were all regular people in costumes helped a bit, but she definitely preferred the scenes without them.  At intermission, the girls and I wandered around, hoping to get a drink.  Instead, we found mango sorbet!  The second half of the show had longer dances and the girls started to get a little wiggly in their seats, but managed to stay entertained until the end.  Overall, it was a fabulous experience that I hope they will remember and I am sure we will repeat.