Butterfly Ball

(Our butterfly celebration, part 3 of 3)

As we were finishing our unit study on butterflies I heard that there was going to be a Butterfly Charity Ball to raise money for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Butterflies AND cystic fibrosis? How could I say no? As I've written before, Gracie is a carrier (as are Joel and/or I) for cystic fibrosis. Our former, (yep, former after this blunder) family doctor's office actually told us that Gracie HAD cystic fibrosis right after she was born. We had to wait a month before we went to Children's Hospital to do the testing and find out she was only a carrier.

So hearing that the money was going to CF research and that it would be a fun night just for girls and mommas around the theme of butterflies, I knew it would be night to remember!

The ball took place at a local garden center. At arrival, all the girls received butterfly wings and the moms were given butterfly masks.

The evening started with live Symphony music while the guests had time to visit different stations where the girls had their hair done (glitter and butterflies put in), faces painted, snacked on tasty mini cupcakes, had photos taken by a professional photographer, made butterfly cards for Cystic Fibrosis patients and entered a tent filled with real flying butterflies.
In the middle part of the evening, the dance school where Tess takes lessons performed a beautiful mini-recital.
But the real excitement began when the ballet students asked all the little butterflies to come to the dance floor and dance with them.
My ecstatic girls ran out to dance and were gobbled up by a few of the older girls who very sweetly made the girls feel like the belles of the ball!Can you see Gracie Rose's look of complete awe of the ballerinas?
After the ball, Tessa's ballet teacher told me that the ballerinas were backstage talking about how there were two little girls that were so cute and loved to dance whose names were Tess and Gracie! I guess the girls made an impression on them as well!
As the ball went on, the guests and ballerinas all dwindled from the dance floor. Some of the junior high ballet school dancers changed out of their ballet costumes and came back to enjoy the dance where my two tiny butterflies, who couldn't wipe the smiles from their faces, proceeded to dance ALL night, never leaving the dance floor. They were literally the last two girls off the dance floor while the clean up crew started tearing down the event!

Here is a sweet video of the girls dancing at the ball. We hope this event becomes an annual one because an exuberant Tess said on the way home, "This is the BEST night of my whole life!"