7th Heaven for a 3-yr-old

Last week Drew and I witnessed first-hand what "little girl bliss" looks like in the form of Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes. We took Makenna on a special Daddy/Mommy/Daughter date to see it at the Verizon Center downtown. After spilling the good news at dinner a few nights before, she informed us, "Well, I'm going to wear my Snow White dress because Snow White is my favorite princess and I like her the best. Okay?" Well what kind of princess-doting parents would we be if we didn't acquiesce right then and there?

So it's the night of. I drop Addison off at a friend's house and Makenna and I are off to meet Daddy at work downtown. The entire way there she keeps telling me in what order the princesses will perform. "First Minnie and Mickey, then Ariel, then Snow White, then Sleeping Beauty, then Jasmine." At this point, she doesn't quite know what's in store, other than princesses will be involved and something called ice skating. She's stoked, though, because we are.

We find a parking garage, get out and take the elevator up to ground level. On the elevator, a nice-looking business woman takes one look at Makenna and states, "It must be Disney on Ice tonight." "Right you are," I say. "Well you make a lovely princess," she says fondly to Makenna.

We make our way out onto the street. We're a few blocks away, but our little girl is clearly the only one in princess garb on the bustling streets of D.C. A quick shadow of a doubt crosses my mind, "Uh-oh. What if she's the only kid dressed up?" I shoo the thought away as quick as it came. We're getting really close now, entering Chinatown. We can see the Verizon Center in front of us. Still no little girls dressed up to the nines in princess attire. I look at Drew. He's oblivious. Only a mother would worry about something so silly as having their child the only one dressed-up at such a function. Reminded me of when I was in 5th grade and I dressed up as the "Ultimate Nerd" (sign on my back and everything) on Halloween for school. After getting to the bus stop and seeing I was the ONLY one dressed up, then realizing I wouldn't have enough time to run home and change, I suffer through the whole humiliating day in silence. I didn't even need to dress up like a nerd, it was written all over my face.

Anyway, it's not until we're directly in front of the Verizon Center and we're approaching the line to get in, that we see a whole slew of little princesses: Cinderella, Tiana, Aurora, Tinkerbell, Belle, the works. RELIEF!!! From there, it was a blur of getting to our seats, bypassing the $15 snowcones in character cups, holding my little girl's hand in pure excitement as the lights went down and her beloved Minnie glided out onto the ice. She would not take her little eyes off the ice the ENTIRE time. She wouldn't go to the bathroom, she wouldn't get up and stretch during intermission, she was totally and utterly drawn in to the enchanting world of princesses for the full two hours!

Too bad the pictures are a little fuzzy. I was using my telephoto lens, but we were pretty far up (date night on a budget).


All the princesses out on the ice at once? I'll be the first to admit, even I was in heaven.






And the act that stole the show? At least for my girl...


And the act that stole the show for me? Check out those abs. Oh man.


7th heaven, I tell you. 7th heaven.