Princess Ball

The day after Chuck E Cheese we surprised Nola with tickets to the Princess Ball as our birthday present.  We drove to Omaha and had lunch.  At lunch I gave her a gift- some sparkly shoes and a small notebook and pen- and told her about the ball.  She was pretty excited but also a little confused.  We took her to the mall to get her hair done first.

It was super cute but the wind blew out most of the curls before we even got to the ball! 

Then we took her to JC Penny's and let her pick out a dress.  I was hoping she would pick out the Elena dress but they were all sold out.  She chose an Alice in Wonderland dress (not really a princess, but we just went with it) but refused to take her shirt off underneath of it.  It was a battle.  There were many small battles that day, which was frustrating because in my head this was going to be a magical day full of fun surprises.  But, I just had to keep reminding myself that she's a kid and she had a good time.  After dress shopping we went to the make up counter and she got some blush and lip gloss, then we were on our way to the ball! 

We weren't sure what to expect.  I had ordered the VIP tickets, which included a coronation, but there was some miscommunication and we missed it.  I got my money back, and Nola never knew about the original plan, so in the end it was fine.  It's not like I cried at the princess ball or anything.... Like I said, many battles. 

There was a stage and one or more of the princesses were on it at all times, singing their songs or reading a story.  Nola was so happy to watch Ana and Elsa but after that she wanted to walk around, meet the princesses, and get their autographs in her notebook.

I also bought a necklace that was given to Nola by Princess Tiana.  It was an Elena necklace, it was suppose to match the dress that JC Penny's didn't have.....

Over the next hour we met all of the princesses and filled up her book!  She was most excited to see Princess Elena, Aurora, and Ariel.

 

You guys.  Snow White was legit in character THE WHOLE TIME.  There was a moment when a princess on stage asked the audience a question and she was next to me and a bunch of parents, not a kid in close proximity, and she played it up.  Like, I was kind of embarrassed for her.  She also spent a lot of time dancing with the kids.  It's crazy that people do this for a living.

At one point they asked any kid that had a birthday in October to come up on stage and they sang Happy Birthday Princess.  Nola was pretty nervous about it.  There were a lot of kids on stage.  I don't think they all had October birthdays......

Ana and Elsa had a long line the whole time so we waited until the end to see them.  Nola was pretty excited about them.  I had Turk join in on the fun for this one.

It was a fun day, but with the birthday party the day before it made for a long weekend.  I also think I expected too much.  Nola was tired, I was tired, but the ball was really neat.  Everyone was super nice and I think she felt special!