Dutch Apple Dinner Theater Trip

On Thursday, Jewell and the rest of the 1st grade at her school went to Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I accompanied them on the trip, and we had a buffet lunch and saw a musical adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. It was a wonderful field trip and everyone had lots of fun.

My girl, Jewell, did absolutely AMAZING! I packed a backup lunch, in case she wouldn't eat any of the buffet offerings, and I packed the iPod and a bunch of fidget toys. As we were walking out the door, Jewell added four of her favorite beanie babies to the mix.

The bus ride was about an hour each way. Jewell only gets to ride the bus on field trips, since we walk to school. She was excited about the ride and spent a lot of time looking out the window on the way there. She did share her beanies with the three boys in the seat next to ours and the girl in front.

At the theater she chose chicken nuggets from the buffet. She ended up eating two of them! It was a good thing I had her backup lunch because she ate some of that too (and the Smarties I brought)!

During the show she was completely enthralled with the performance. There was no eloping. She did come sit on my lap and the Special Educator's lap a few times, but for the most part she was in her seat happily flapping away. She clapped, cheered, and even laughed at appropriate times.

The magic truly happened after the show during the Q&A session. Some of the cast members came into the audience to assist with getting questions from the kids. The blue fairy, Minerva, (played by Lisa Coday) was in our row getting a question from a girl sitting behind us. Jewell told me "hug", but I didn't immediately get what she was asking. She wanted a hug from "Minerva" and the wonderful woman happily obliged! She also indulged Jewell's curiosity and allowed her to inspect the costume! Then Jewell looked her in the eye and said, "I love you." Yup, she totally made this proud momma tear up, which earned me a hug from "Minerva" too!

Picture taken by Jewell's Special Educator and is Jewell and "Minerva", played by Lisa Coday at Dutch Apple Dinner Theater's performance of Sleeping Beauty.