Summer Update

So here we are..one more week of summer vacation for 3 of my kids!  This summer break FLEW by though I think 3 weeks is the perfect amount of time off of school!  One more week will be fine but I think we'll be ready for school to start on Monday.

The summer break has been great.  The girls all competed in our neighborhood swim team (go Killer Whales!).  It was our exhibition year and a great experience for the girls.  Julia was quite a little competitor in her age group, getting to swim in a few main events.  There were A LOT of 7-8 year old girls but Lily held her own and definitely improved over last year.  Emma was one of 4 9-10 year old girls and she worked really hard all summer to get better.  Once school got out she did two practices each day.  We had our swim awards this past weekend and Emma got the Most Determined Swimmer award.  She was pumped!   Julia took home "Brightest Smile"  They also all got a medal which I don't think Julia has taken off since Friday!

Emma and Lily have done a few camps this month.  Emma did a So You Think You Can Dance camp at a local studio which she loved and Lily did an art camp with two of her besties so she was in heaven.  Also they both had the opportunity to go with our church to sleep away camp - Camp Kid Jam.  It was 3 nights long at Wake Forest University and they each roomed with friends from church.  They had an absolutely fabulous time and both have resoundingly said they MUST GO BACK NEXT YEAR!  I was skeptical at first about them going away but I'm so, so glad that they got to go - such a great experience for the both of them.

So this final week of break is another camp for Emma - Science in the Summer, a free (seriously!) camp at the library and filled with appointments - eye doc and dentist.  Hopefully we can squeeze some fun it too - a few more pool days, maybe a movie and some playdates with friends.

And only 7 more days of Julia asking how long until Kindergarten!

Summer's Here!

Since my girls in year round school our summer is finally beginning for all my kids!  We're a little late to the summer party and our party will be ending in just 4 weeks that's OK with me.  We have a lot of fun to pack into these next weeks.

This week Emma and Julia got to go to Ohio with Auntie Erin for a week of Auntie Camp!  They've had a blast and we've enjoyed some quiet while they've been gone.  It's amazing how much less laundry and dishes there are!  Lily has been moving from one playdate to the other and not having to share so she's been thrilled.

For the first time the girls are doing several camps.  Thanks to Groupon, Living Social and Twongo for making camps so affordable we've been able to take advantage of some great deals.  Next week Emma will go to a dance camp while Lily will go to an art camp.  The both older girls will go to sleep away camp for the first time with our church. Then they both have a science camp at our library.  (The little kids had camp in June and Jacob will go back in August).

So in between driving the girls to camps we have some fun planned - movies, pool dates and other playdates with friends.

They go back to school July 31st so it will be a short summer but hopefully a really good one!

Emma's Dances

Lily's Dances

Julia's Ballet

Julia's Ballet Dance!

Julia's Tap

Julia's Tap Routine!

Dancing Queens

My girls had their dance recital this weekend.  Oh was it fun!  All 3 of them chose to dance this year and even though Lily lost interest about 2 months ago she hung in there until the recital (well..technically I made her since we'd purchased the costume but still..she did it).  Julia now has a little bit of performance fever and says she wants to stay in dance so she can keep doing recitals.  Emma, who dreams of being a professional dancer, was in heaven.  She was full of energy and excitement all weekend.  

Julia took a tap/ballet class and was in 2 dances in the recital.  One dance was really early in the recital and then she went again towards the end.  So she got to watch a lot of it from the audience which she loved.  She also loved coming home and watching herself dance on the computer from the video we took.

Lily took at tap/ballet/jazz combo class and was in 3 dances.  Her costume was adorable and she look absolutely precious on stage.  What she lacked in remembering the dance she sure made up for in cuteness!

Emma takes a tap/ballet/jazz combo class and is also on the pre-team (pre competitive team) class.  She was in 7 dances - three for her combo class, the opening and finale, a dance with pre-team and a solo.  Emma first mentioned that she wanted to do a solo a few months ago.  I couldn't tell if she was serious or not but apparently she'd choreographed a dance.  She set up a private lesson with her dance teacher and LuGina seemed to think it was good enough for the recital though she encouraged her to change her song.  Emma did the dance for me at home and I was impressed that she was doing it.  Fast forward to Friday - we get to the dress rehearsal and it's time for Emma to practice her dance.  I was standing there to take pictures and OH MY GOODNESS was I blown away.  I was so emotional watching my girl out there dance.  She commanded the stage, used the stage and put tons of energy into the dance.  I just couldn't believe it.  The older girls on the team were so, so sweet and gave her tons of encouragement.  She was beaming!  

Saturday was recital day.  Emma was full of nervous energy all morning.  It's a good thing she had swim team to get some energy out!  Luckily her solo was the 6th dance of the recital.  I think I was more nervous than she was though!  I was a room mom but got to sneak in the back of the auditorium to watch her solo.  Again, she completely rocked it!  Again, I was crying - I was just so proud of my baby.  Not only did she have the confidence just to get out on stage but she made up the dance and then performed it flawlessly even adding in a split she hadn't done the night before!   I think what made me so emotional was just the confidence in getting out there and performing in front of 500 people.  I am just so amazed that at 9 years old she would get out there and do it.  I hope she always has that confidence!  

I'll post videos for anyone who wants to see them!