Stage Star

So every time I think Ella can't possibly surprise me any more....she does.

We went to Youngstown for the long weekend; and our long list of Fall activiites included a Costume Party in the very beautiful Mill Creek Park.

Ella, dressed in her Snow White costume; and Kate, dressed in her Happy the Derf costume, patiently, patiently, patiently waited in a very long line for their turn to walk onto the very big, lit stage to show off their costumes.

With no prodding at all, Ella walked across the stage and right up to the four judges. She looked them in the eyes. She smiled. She took the red apple my mom had given her as a prop. She pretended to bite it. And she fell to the ground; reenacting the "Poison Apple" scene that she and Kate have acted out a hundred times before.

The audience and judges bursted out in laughter and applause. Of course, Ella was the only child to have a routine to go along with her costume.

Happy the Derf was wandering around the stage, finger in her mouth, smiling and looking back and forth at the judges, to the audience, to her sissy, and to me. She ran over to awake Snow White with a kiss....but didn't follow all the way through. So my mom had to bend down and kiss Ella in order to awake the princess.

These were easily among my favorite all time moments of my life.

I don't have video of the whole experience, because I had no idea to expect such a performance! But the images will live, very clearly, in my memory, for the rest of my life.