Nutcracker

The Nutcracker Ballet has been a holiday tradition for me for as long as I can remember. It started with seeing The Nutcracker every year, and then when I was old enough, I loved being in the ballet. One year in high school, I got to see The Nutcracker in the fabulous Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. When I was on my own, I got the video of The Nutcracker with Gelsey Kirkland so that I could watch it every year, even when I couldn't afford tickets to a live show.

This year the tradition continues with Sparkle and Glitter. I'd taken Sparkle to The Nutcracker a couple of times, but this year was Glitter's first Nutcracker. We went to see the show put on by the dance studio where the girls attend. Afterwards the girls got to meet the professional dancers who were brought in to play the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier.



Glitter was enraptured the entire performance. Once the lights went down, she stared and stared, not saying a word. On the way out of the theatre, she kept trying to dance on her tippy toes. Sparkle was also full of excitement and questions about how the show worked and what was real and what wasn't. At intermission I was finally able to convince her that her constant whispering really bothered everyone around us and during the second act she managed to keep her flow of comments contained to sign language.

RenFest Again

We went to the Renaissance Festival for the third time this year, thanks to the tickets that Sparkle got from the school days poetry contest. We were able to bring along some good friends who had never gone before. Our kids really had an extra special time with their friends.


We shared a funnel cake.


We saw the joust.


The girls joined impromptu games of "Steal the Bacon" and "Duck, Duck, Goose."


We checked out mini wooden catapults and trebuchets that shot marshmallows.


Sparkle got to do the human catapult ride again. This time she managed to do a flip. Tilt your head sideways when viewing the video.


Glitter wanted to try some rides that she had been afraid of last time, including the giant swings.


Our favorite show was new to the festival this year: Clan Tinker. This family act has some great juggling, acrobatics, dancing, music, and humor. Good, clean, fun, with a dollop of danger at the end. Later one we saw one of the cast members walking around the fair on stilts.


The girls were inseparable. Here they are waiting for the grownups to buy lunch, and petting a horse from the Birds of Prey show.



Then at the end of the day, an accident on the only road leading from the fair tied up traffic for over four hours. Although we exited the fair gates around six o'clock, we didn't leave the parking lot until after ten. Luckily Wander hooked us up with some friends who were camping and we enjoyed their hospitality while waiting: good eats, warm fire, rhythmic drumming, great company, and cozy blankets.

bike ride

The family took a half-hour ride around the neighborhood the morning of Thanksgiving. Glitter rode the half-bike behind Wander. Sparkle rode her own bike behind them.


Sparkle had a hard time keeping up with Wander. Sparkle also was jealous of Glitter being pulled by Wander. However, neither kid wanted to be pulled in the buggy.


The day before when Wander was at work, I pulled Sparkle and Glitter in the buggy to the playground across the big road. They enjoyed the long, steep, fast coast down to the playground. I didn't enjoy hauling them back up the hill on the way home. While at the playground the girls gathered nuts.

Apple Chips

I was looking for something for the girls and I could do together today that would be fun and productive at the same time.

Last Sunday I had purchased three five-pound bags of apples. One bag went straight to the fridge for Wander's lunches and other household eating. The other two bags were sitting on the counter waiting to be turned into apple chips.

We self sorted ourselves into the different tasks. Glitter handed the unwashed apples to Sparkle. Then Sparkle washed them and placed them in a big bowl. I set three peelers, the corer, a knife, and a cutting board on the table. When Glitter saw me peeling the apples, she wanted to try too, but it was too difficult for her. Instead she moved to spreading out the apples I had cut. Sparkle fared a little better at peeling than Glitter, but she quickly got discouraged at it too, so she joined her sister in spreading the apple slices.

Then the girls discovered the joy of eating the apple peels and we settled into our final roles. I peeled, cored, and sliced the apples. Sparkle spread the apple slices on the dehydrator trays, and she ate apple peels when waiting for me. Glitter just ate the apple peels. One and a half bags of apples later, all nine trays of the dehydrator were filled and we dumped all the remaining apple peels in the compost bucket for Wander.



In a few hours, or longer, we should have apple chips to snack on. Sparkle has been looking forward to having apple chips so that she can pretend that they are mushrooms.

One morning as I went to check on the girls in the morning, I discovered this crazy getup . . .

Sparkle is wearing her nightgown, a pink dress, another brown dress with the neckline around her waist, underwear, and one of her sister's socks.

Glitter is wearing her nightgown and her sister's skirt.


I wonder if we'll be able to use these as blackmail pictures when the girls are teenagers?