Concert day

After lunch the girls and I headed off for the final concert practice at the venue at 2pm (almost an hour from home). I had brought quite a few things to keep Hannah busy through the practice but she was more than happy to just watch it all. And a highlight was when the older girls where done with their first items and came to watch. She made a bee line over to "the witch" from The Wizard of Oz production of last year. She has been talking about seeing "the witch" again for over a week. She was so excited to go and sit and chat to her. They even did some braids in her hair.

So sweet to see the older girls chatting away with her. Almost all of them rocking away on the seats.

The practice was finished at 4 and then we quickly headed to the optometrist for Ruth's eye check. I thought it was a good time to get it done as were were almost in town already. Ruth will sometimes hold a book up close to her face to read - so I just wanted to make sure there were no issues. She is actually better at seeing things far away - so bringing it close will make it harder. It's good to know so we can know we are doing the right thing by saying "keep the book further away".
The girls were thrilled about having Burger King for dinner and then we were back at the hall by 6 for them to start getting ready. It takes a while to get makeup done for all the girls. The excitement that builds is rather special.
Here is Ruth with her Cat group.
So cute.





My two girls. This will be their last concert with this teacher as she is retiring now. They will all miss her (and the lovely convenience of having lessons down the road).

As there were "only mothers" allowed back stage at this time I kept going between Hannah at our seats and back stage - waiting for them to be ready to get a photo or two. Hannah was really good though and thankfully there was another mother with a younger sister also waiting - so that was nice. Hannah had this book with and so she was thrilled about showing it to them.

Rachel with her Cat group.

And one without the masks so that you can see their faces.
I was sent this photo of Ruth.
It's always rather busy on the night - so I am glad I got photos from the dress rehearsal of all their different outfits. The girls had such a lovely day.

And our tradition after a ballet concert is to take a small detour in Amberley to have a look at the two houses that always have a lot of Christmas lights up. It's probably the only time we will be driving home when it's dark.

Something simple - but special memories for the girls.

And for those of you who were wondering - I did eventually have a birthday "cake". We did a quick bit of shopping before getting back to the hall and as a last minute decision I bought some chocolate cheese cake ingredients. I quickly whipped this up on Sunday morning. The girls always like it if everyone has a birthday cake. :-) So although it was not fancy looking it still tasted good and was a lovely treat.