night on the town

Last week we took a major risk and took the girls to see the National Acrobats of the People's Republic of China at the Collins Center at the University of Maine.  The show started an hour plus after their bedtime and the tickets were pricey for a family of four.  We kept our fingers crossed knowing the event could be incredible or regrettable. 

Also by some miracle Maya took an hour long nap at 4:30, putting a much needed deposit in the sleep bank.

The were so excited that we all dressed up (Ella said she was like Fancy Nancy making her boring parents fancy) and I had to inform her that we had, in fact, been fancy from time to time before she came along.



 In true Maine fashion, the majority of people wore jeans.  I have yet to attend a wedding in Maine where there wasn't at least one guest in jeans.

Sandi and I were talking on the way there about where our seats were.  I told her we were on the floor instead of the balcony. 

"We are going to have to sit on the floor?"  Ella asked.  "How will we see?"

The girls giggled and tee-heeed the whole way there and Sandi looked at me and said, "This is worth it already."

If I had been four or six I think I would have been yelling, "Do it again!"

The front of the Collins center consists of massive glass panels that are lite from within at night.  Every twenty seconds or so the light changes by a degree, shifting from deep purple to lavender to blue through the whole rainbow spectrum.  It is stunning and the girls were enthralled.

When Ella saw our red velvet seats I think she realized why we were so excited to bring her to this big deal show.  Apart from asking 100 times when the show was going to start and what each and every bit of it would consist of, she was contentedly excited. 

The show was entirely captivating, beautiful, creative, artistic and, at times, unbelievable.  It was very reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil.  The costumes, the props, the acrobats....we saw a woman balance another woman on her head by her head.  Seriously.  One woman standing with a woman doing a headstand on her head.  I didn't even know that was physically possible. 

Sandi and I kept exclaiming, "No way!"

 The girls were appropriately wowed by the show. No one cried or complained and instead we heard, "this is amazing!" and "thank you!" and "can we go again?"  It was like FINALLY we were able to do something with our girls where we didn't have to feel like we had ticking time bombs on our hands. This was how I wanted to feel in Disney last year with them and didn't.  I guess it is their age and their broadening horizon outside the narrow scope of themselves.

 

Yes, Sandi and I high-fived each other on the way home as our tired, happy children slept in the backseat.