Beauty and the Beast

Here's a photo of Madison today, "helping" Daddy out as he moves stuff downstairs. Heading back up the basement steps, you can see Madison peeking through the cat door! She's been helpful all day, actually - and in quite a good mood. I suspect it has to do with last night's adventures:

Just in case you're wondering, we did in fact make it to "Beauty and the Beast" last night. Yesterday's entry shows Madison in her Belle dress that we originally intended for her to wear last night. But the weather was actually dipping down to the coldest level of the winter thus far, and we wanted to be safe.

That's why we gave ourselves three hours to get to the Fox Theater. It turns out we needed it. The good news is that Madison slept through the whole adventure. The bad news is that it was one crazy ride! Apparently, Atlanta got a whole lot more snow than we did here in Hall County. For one, many of the streets were glazed with ice, which made for interesting driving. Peachtree Street was actually closed off for some reason, so we were stuck going nowhere for quite some time. Daddy resorted to turning off on a side street, which almost became our undoing!

These backstreets were solid ice, a few inches thick. Driving at even five miles per hour, Daddy could feel the car starting to fishtail. It was rather tense. We made it to a parking garage, but even there we faced challenges. The very sidewalks were white with thick, solid ice. So many people braved the elements and chose to dress up for the evening's entertainment. I feel sorry for all the women who showed up in high heels. That was crazy!

We slowly moved along the sheets of solid ice. Daddy was carrying Madison and praying at the same time. Yet, we made it to the theater, and made it just before the curtain rose on the show. In fact, Mommy had time to go to the bathroom with Madison as Daddy got some snacks for her as well! We got into the theater, sat at the front of the balcony - and the show began:

It was very nice! Madison was so focused on this one too. She loves Belle so much that she calls herself Belle when she dresses up as a princess. She twirls and each time we told her that we were going to see Belle for the big show, she'd say: "Two Belles." Oh, that's right. You're Belle too.

The family in front of us took this photo of the three of us at the show, as we took a picture of them too. It was a very nice evening, and despite the dramatic temperatures outside, it was actually quite warm indoors. I suppose the large crowd helped there. We were completely surprised at the turnout for the night: a lot of people risked life and limb to get here!

This was Madison's first experience at the Fox Theater. She walked in and looked up at the ceiling - and the night sky with stars above. She said, "Night time!" It was a much more pleasant night time than the real one outside. Still, it is a thing of beauty outside. The untouched snow especially. It is glazed with a thick, shining sheet of ice. It has a glimmer to it which is quite beautiful, actually. The moon illuminated snowy landscapes for us as we made our way home this evening. Fortunately, the drive was rather easy. The biggest challenge we had was avoiding backstreets to get to the interstate. But once we got to the interstate, it became easy to get home. Madison was obviously fast asleep rather quickly once we got to the car. It was an eventful night for sure!