A night of royalty

There comes an age that little girls stop believing in fairy tales and leave the days of dressing up like princesses behind.  While I know that the princess days in our house are numbered (sigh, kindergarten is coming and there is nothing I can do to delay it), they aren't over just yet.  

the two princesses in my life, taking a moment away from royal duties to pose with my prince charming

Friday night I got to take my princesses ~ along with their buddy Abbey ~ to see a high school theatre production of Aladdin.  

**And just in case you are wondering, my youngest prince and his buddy Elijah stayed home with Daddy for the evening and had fun riding tricycles, using their imaginations at the train table, and playing the Wii.**

When we got there, we met up with even more princess friends, still caught up in the magic of dressing up for an evening.

For my three that attended (Superhero Larry Boy made an appearance in his cape) this was their first theatre experience.  They soaked it all in, down to admiring the themed decorations.

After the pre-show they could hardly contain their excitement as they waited for the lights to dim and the curtain to rise.

when we first sat down I did give a reminder of proper theatre etiquette.  I'm sure that folks around us were not thrilled to see six kids sitting side by side, but when the show was over we received many compliments on well they behaved.  

It was a delightful performance.  Ky loved it so much that she jumped to her feet and started clapping when it was over.  But the best was yet to come.  Thanks to the kindness of a sweet grandmotherly age woman behind us who overheard my discussion with the kids about why we wouldn't be going backstage after the show (you had to buy a light-up wand for $5 each as an 'admission ticket' for one person ~ I had four kids with me and $6 in cash) she smiled and disappeared for a minute.  When she returned she wands for each of them.  She passed them out along with compliments on how well behaved the kids were and how adorable they all were dressed up for the show ~ she said it would be a shame for them to not see the princesses in their attire.  (for the record, I asked her to write down her address so I could mail her a check when I got home, she smiled and politely refused).  

Oh the magic of seeing a princess up close for the very first time.

We also got to see the stars of the show.

And being dressed just like one of the princesses?  I think that was the highlight of the evening ~ if not the entire weekend.

  

I have to confess, leading up to the evening I was sorta not excited about the girls wearing dress up clothes to the show.  But man am I glad that they did.  May we all find the song in our hearts and reconnect with our inner princess...