A Theatre Outing

We decided to take a bit of a risk and a splurge today and took Clara to her first live performance, the Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre production of the Shoemaker and the Elves. At 18 months we weren't quite sure she was ready for an hour-long performance in a dark theatre (we asked the usher for an escape plan), but she did great! Enraptured. Our favorite moment was when one of the elves used a tape measure and hammer. Clara exclaimed "Ma! Hammer!" and then continued to say "Ma!" (her word for Amy) for every tool used after that. She loved the shoes and when the elves ate cake. She was certain that there were cupcakes in their brown paper bag (it ended up being pastrami). She clapped at the end and stayed to see how the puppets worked and to touch them up close. Our excursion ended with a joyful walk to the car talking about "puppies" (puppets) all the way, with a stop off at a Benson Bubbler (another thing we love about our city). We read in a magazine recently some excellent advice, to spend your money on making memories rather than on things. What an excellent example we had of that wisdom this afternoon.