Caroline auditioned and got a small part in her school's version of Elf the Musical. I was so happy for her! She took theater all three years in middle school, but COVID protocols and a newly-formed theater program both prevented her from ever being on stage. Boo. So I was thrilled that she wanted to try it out this year.
When Grandma and Grandpa Sweat heard about it, they decided to come out and watch her. Even though she only had one line. :) That was so sweet of them. And we were thrilled to have them visit at this time of year!
They've never been to NC in December.
It was fun to share some holiday spirit with them.
The play!
She was Santa's helper and in the ensemble.
They performed two nights.
And the main characters were different on each night.
Caroline's parts mostly stayed the same.
But she did get to fill in for a girl who dropped outlast minute.
So she had THREE whole lines one night.
Delivering one of her three lines.
She's in the beanie and gray scarf to the right
of Buddy the Elf.
She had some church support from Rose and Glenda.
Here she is being Santa's helper.
She had a good experience and did a great job on stage. But she didn't love it. And it takes a BIG time commitment, even when you have a very small part. So I don't know that she'll audition again. I'm glad she did it. And now she knows what it's like.
One evening, Grandma and Grandpa and I went to the
Kernersville botanical gardens to see their Christmas
light display.
It was so pretty!
It was made out of all recycled materials.
So when you looked close, they were kind of weird.
But the overall vibe was so pretty and festive.
It was a great Christmas activity.
We also went to the Thomasville Christmas parade.
We didn't stay the whole time,
but it was fun to get a little taste of small-town Christmas cheer.
And it wasn't too cold that day, either.
We went to both performances of Elf.
Cast pics.
Caroline's adoring fans.
Super proud of our girl and all
the effort she put in to the production.
Piper came to watch, too.
Happy to have good friends!
Andrew took the day off work one day and
we headed up to Durham and Hillsborough.
Stopped by Duke's campus.
They were having a funeral in the cathedral,
so we couldn't go in. But we loved the gorgeous buildings.
Exciting to think Jonas might be a student there next year!
Downtown Hillsborough has the cutest shops
and restaurants. And they were having a
gingerbread stroll, where many of the businesses
had gingerbread creations in the windows.
The theme for this year was storybooks.
It was so fun. We loved it.
The Giving Tree
The Hobbit
Very Hungry Caterpillar
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A Christmas Story
Lord of the Rings
Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe
The Rainbow Fish
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Three Little Pigs
This store was SO Caroline and I was wishing
she was with us instead of working hard at school.
Peanuts
Caps for Sale
A fun Christmas tree in one of the stores
Cinderella
We loved having family in town in December! We might have to find other times of year that they haven't visited so they can see all the fun and beauty that NC has to offer. ;)
