I'm looking forward to reading the story with the Bug, and taking her to her first ballet. We are really good about museum trips, but haven't really done much kid-friendly stuff with theater, music, etc. I think that the patience and appreciation for that kind of thing is learned, and best to start early. Once she's old enough to understand the story, I think she'll have a good time. Who knows; maybe she'll end up taking dance and getting to be one of the little sprouts in a local production or something.

The Nutcracker is just such a cool, weird story. Big Christmas party. Weird uncle shows up with wondrous gifts. Wondrous gifts come to life and transport children to a magical land. Children wake up on Christmas morning. Simple. And I've always loved the music. I can't remember now, but we did see a performance with live music, and really great sets, and so forth. It was probably in Phoenix; the Phoenix Ballet. That was the most professional production we've ever seen, but Indiana University used to put on a very good show too. The Moscow Ballet, however, is supposed to be the best. We have a friend who can't bear seeing anything else now. So this is one more great thing about living so close to Chicago. Though I'm just not ready for the holidays.