Third Annual Nutcracker Outing

Last night Esther and I went to The Nutcracker - our third year doing so. I had asked Esther where she wanted to go to eat and she told me that she wanted to go somewhere posh. This was one of her recent spelling words!

So we went to Trevi's, a restaurant at the Las Colinas Omni Hotel. Arriving at 5pm, the place was deserted. Sometimes that's a bad sign. But for us, it was quite enjoyable! The staff was extremely attentive and prompt. And they didn't blink an eye when I asked if we could share each course (that's what I love about "posh" restaurants). 

Our salad was a layer of green, yellow, and red tomatoes with creamy fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and basalmic reduction. Dinner was fabulous - creamy herbed polenta with a light lemon sauce, asparagus spears, salmon cooked to perfection, and warmed arugula. Esther didn't care for the asparagus or arugula but she devoured her polenta and salmon.

The dessert was a small sampling of gelato - again, Esther's choice. We had mentioned that we were on our way to The Nutcracker so the waitress asked the chef to draw a nutcracker on the plate with chocolate. It was such a delightful surprise - one which I had a hard time keeping Esther from licking it off with her tongue! I did catch her once at it!

Then off to the Irving Arts Center for the performance. We opted to go to a local performance this year instead of at the Opera House in Dallas. I figured that for slightly cheaper, we could sit much closer to the stage (second row) and Esther could be more involved. This production is done yearly by a conglomeration of dance studios with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier being performed by local professionals. It wasn't as professional, but it was well done and Esther enjoyed every moment of it.

It was hard to keep her quiet through the show as she was constantly telling me which dresses she liked the best, which part she'd like to dance, asking what instrument was currently playing, recognizing dance steps, etc. But at least all the chatter was about the show.

We got home quite late, but Esther was so happy. She was especially happy that we'd purchased a small nutcracker at the show for Nathan. She put it by his bed where he would see it when he woke up and couldn't wait to see his face in the morning.

My favorite moment: walking into the restaurant hand in hand while she skipped with glee!

The boys made pizza, watched Cars, played catch with a football, and tackled each other. Here is a cute picture of Nathan right before we left the house. His favorite dress up outfit - cowboy superhero knight.