Music and Dance

Here are some pictures I took of Dylan with his little Santa hat on. It was hard to get a get a good picture. I still have to get a picture of all three kids to send with Christmas cards, maybe later today it will work out.

Yesterday, my Dad and I took Gina to see "A Scottish Christmas" at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. My Dad was very interested in taking her to the show, though originally I had hoped my Mom would go with them as well. It turned out she already had a committment to take John out to dinner for his 60th birthday so I used the extra ticket (with Dylan in tow of course).

I had planned to pick Gina up from Whistlestop by 5pm but after running a few errands, I didn't end up picking her up until 5:30pm. We were supposed to meet Boppa in front of the theater at 5:45pm but I lamely decided to take surface streets to Redwood City (El Camino to Middlefield) instead of 280. So we were later than I had planned though parking wasn't too bad since there is a big parking garage nearby (we also got a taste of Beard Papa cream puffs which just opened, YUM). We still had time to go get a quick dinner across the street and get to the theater by 7pm. Dylan slept all through dinner and Gina had fun coloring in her Princess coloring book that she brought.

The Fox theater is very nice inside, with lots of Art Deco architecture. I held Dylan in my lap with the sling and he was quite comfortable sleeping the whole time. The music was definitely Scottish, with bagpipes, drums, pipes, fiddles and a harp. We initially sat in the middle and it was a little difficult for Gina to see the stage clearly. She also asked me a lot of questions, though very quietly (such as, Mama, why is that man wearing a skirt).

Towards the end of the first part, Gina insisted that she had to go to the bathroom, so at the end of a number I took her out. Of course, once we got to the bathroom, she said she didn't have to go. But once we went back in, we found seats in the aisle a little further back with no one else around (the theater was only a third or so full, lucky for us). Gina enjoyed sitting back there since she could easily see what was going on the stage. Her favorite parts were when two dancers came out. They did Scottish dancing as well as a tap number. They were fun to watch. Towards the end of the show, Gina was getting antsy, but since we were towards the back, her squirming didn't bother me (or hopefully any one else).

One of my favorite parts was when the drummer came out for a demonstration. He is a member of the Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corp (they perform at official events such as inaugurations, state funerals, etc). He was really amazing.

Today was Gina's turn to perform. Her Music School had a recital with all the preschool classes. Her class wore snowflake costumes. When I dropped her off in the room, she did not seem at all eager about the performance and it took some coaxing to get her to put on her costume. But once it was on, she seemed better and I was able to leave her there with the other kids and teachers. Vic, Andrew, Dylan and I found seats in the church and waited for a while for the show to begin.

I was able to amuse Andrew for a while with my camera but by the time the show began, he was totally uninterested in sitting still and listening. He was climbing all over the pew and eventually I had to take to the back of the church. I was still able to see everything but I was also watching Andrew who was trying to get into trouble.

Just before Gina's group was going to perform, I dropped my camera and then it wouldn't work. So much for taking a picture during the performance. I could see her clearly in the back row of kids and I could see that she was singing and doing all the movements for the songs. She definitely did a good job.

Once home, my camera started working again so I was able to get a picture of Gina in her snowflake costume.