I mis-scheduled both the symphony and the ballet in my calendar. On Friday we realized the symphony was scheduled for Saturday morning, and we also had tickets to the ballet Saturday night. When I looked at my receipt, I realized that the ballet tickets actually were for last Friday night. I have no idea what happened when I put these things in my calendar–was I on drugs???? Anyway, everything worked out and we ended up going to everything in one day.
Abe and I woke up early to get work done before the day started. I wrote my Relief Society lesson while he worked like crazy on more work stuff. Then I got the kids ready while Abe rushed to the church to do our cleaning assignment. After he got home, we got everyone in the car and drove to Salt Lake. Tom met us there and walked Ammon around Temple Square and City Creek in his stroller while the girls, Abe and I attended the symphony.
This performance was part of their family series, so it was pretty kid friendly. They had some endearing mimes who helped entertain everyone in between pieces, and the pieces they picked were great. The concert was Mozart themed, so everything they played was composed by Mozart.
We have learned that Mary is too young for experiences like this. Well, actually, Lydia could handle sitting through the ballet at age three, but at four and a half, Mary simply can not handle formal performances. Luckily, we were in the almost empty balcony so she could run around without annoying anyone.
Then I dashed into Deseret Book to get a birthday present for a party the girls were about to attend and we enjoyed the beautiful weather and fountains at City Creek.
I also went to the Gap and used my 60% off discount to get Ammon and Lydia’s summer clothes. By the time I was done, we were starving, so we drove through CrownBurger before driving down to Orem and dropping the girls off at Nickel City for a birthday party. It was their first time in an arcade.
One of the parents told us that when it came time for laser tag, the girls just stood there with their lasers. When asked why they weren’t playing, the girls said that their parents had told them never to shoot a gun, and they didn’t want to disobey. The adults then explained that they were holding lasers, not guns! The girls then went ahead and had a great time.
I was so proud and touched by this story, though. I have been seriously, seriously struggling with their behavior issues, and knowing that they were so sweet and obedient when we weren’t around warmed my heart.
After laser tag, the girls played outside with the neighbors while Abe and I lay around on the couch feeling tired. Then it was time to pack up for the ballet, so everyone, including my mom (but except Ammon), headed to the Covey Center to watch Snow White.
If we thought Mary was off-the-walls hyper at Beauty and the Beast and the symphony (which she totally was), that wasn’t anything compared to the ballet. I promise she was doing her own interpretive dance the entire ballet long–complete with runs, jumps, and kicks. Again, we were lucky and were sitting in an empty part of the theater, but wow. I will probably wait ten years before trying to take her to another performance. Right now I have tickets to the next symphony in the family series and a folk dance performance, and I will just give those away to one of Lydia’s friends. Mary just can’t handle it.
On that happy note, I will now review my lesson which I teach soon.