steppin' out saturday: disney on ice edition!

On Mama:  JCP boots // Target leggings & layering tank // H&M turtleneck & cardigan // Mace's (local) pashmina // Kohl's sunnies

On the budgie:  Gifted ladybug turtleneck & jumper // Carter's leggings // JCP sneaks

Linking up with Mandy for Steppin' Out Saturday!

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Yesterday we Stepped Out as a family for a bus trip to see Disney on Ice.  It was kind of a last minute plan, as the tickets essentially fell into our laps for free sometime on Thursday afternoon.  A free kids show, though?  Sign. Us.  Up.

We snapped the tickets up and made the 8:15am boarding call for the bus, despite how apprehensive the prospect of confining Natalie to a bus for two hours before expecting her to sit quietly through a performance schedule to happen exactly during her naptime made us. 

In the end, we had nothing to be nervous about.  Natalie made us so proud all day:  she sat in awe all through both the bus ride and the Disney show.  She was a bit of a nervous wreck when we first boarded the bus, and insisted on holding onto "A-Mommy's hand!" until the trip was well underway.

 

We had an hour or so to roam the Civic Center before the show started, which was just about the perfect amount of time to spend on diaper changes, nacho eating, and seat finding.  We were blown away by how close our free seats ended up being--we were row 6!  We could literally feel the rush of wind as skaters flew by, and see every expression on the characters' faces.

Natalie's eyes got about as wide as dinner plates when the show began, and her wonder translated into super good behavior throughout the whole thing.  It was actually kind of emotional for me to watch her be such a little person--she lit up in wonder when the giant crocodile from Peter Pan emerged, and clapped along to all of the Lion King songs (the only movie featured in the show that she had actually seen).  It was a great parenting moment--witnessing my kid take in a little bit of magic.  Ridiculously commercialized magic, sure, but still.  $12 for a bag of cotton candy?  That seems reasonable.

All of the magic of the day crept up on the kid somewhere around halfway through the second half.  Her heart had just about exploded from seeing "Uncle Scar!  Simba!  Pumbaa!" and she just curled up in a little ball on her seat and fell asleep for the last 20 minutes.  She missed out on Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, but I would have to say that overall she was pretty satisfied with the experience. :)

 

We felt pretty good about ourselves for having survived such a big outing, and have been marveling at our luck in being able to go on such short notice for essentially no cost.  The bus trip was really fun--little kids in princess crowns counting down until the show, an on-road movie, free glow sticks & coloring pages & Disney ring souvenirs for the kids, and enough room for us to spread out across the aisle with all of our random keep-Natalie-happy crap. 

What were you guys up to this weekend?