January means the Nutcracker at the Crossley house. Both Anna and Kate had several roles this year. Anna was a boy in the Act I party scene and Kate was one of the mice in the dream and battle sequence at the end of Act I. Anna danced as Snow in the transition from Act I to Act II, as part of Tea in the land of sweets section of Act II, and as part of the Waltz of the Flowers near the end of Act II. Kate was one of Mother Ginger's bonbons in Act II. Jack helped out, as he often does, as an usher for several shows. February was mostly grey, but had a few strange warm spells. For Spring Break in March, we visited Granny and Grandpa, and Aunt Amy, in North Carolina. At the end of March, Mom did a lot of work to put together a "doll apartment complex" for Anna and Kate. The 18-inch dolls (American Girl size) live downstairs and Barbie-size dolls live upstairs.
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| Anna in "Tea" from Nutcracker |
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| Kate as one of Mother Ginger's bonbons |
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| Too many sweets for the bonbons |
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| Hop to it! It's time to go. |
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| Anna in Waltz of the Flowers from Nutcracker |
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| More of the Waltz |
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| Anna in Tea costume for the finale |
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| The party scene with Drosselmeyer. Anna is the tall "boy" to the left of the Turkish warrior doll. |
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| Anna after the show |
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| Kate after the show |
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| Anna also danced in the "snow" scene; after the second day show |
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| Jack helps out as an usher at the Nutcracker performances |
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| Anna at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC |
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| A photo of Anna and Jack taking photos of the lemur exhibit |
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| Kate and Dad with a pretty good selfie |
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| Jack got a picture of Dad with Granny and Grandpa catching up to the rest of the group |
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| The new doll apartment complex |
