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!

The Graduate

My youngest daughter graduated preschool last week.  Sniff..sniff.  I am just in awe of how quickly those years passed.  It really feels like it was yesterday that she started at preschool.  It also means that it was 5 years ago that we moved back to NC after living in MA.  I have such fond, fond memories of living there.  It's so hard to believe it was 5 years ago that we left.

After the graduation day here's the conversation I had with her:

Julia:  So I'm graduated Preschool now?
Me:  Yes!  Isn't that exciting?
Julia:  So Kindergarten starts tomorrow?
Me:  No baby..you're on summer break now.
Julia:   So Kindergarten starts the next week?
Me:  No..it starts on August 1 for you.
Julia:  WHAT?  NO!  That's a long, long time!
Me:  It's not that long..only 2 months
Julia:  But..that means I'm just home with you..it's forever..........................

Hmm..I have a feeling these next 2 months are going to fly.....

12 Years!

Sunday was our actual anniversary - 12 years!  It was wonderful to spend the weekend celebrating in style!  NYC is where we got engaged and we've been there together a number of times for special getaways.  Even better to wake up in the Presidential Suite!  

I slept in again and enjoyed a lazy morning.  Our flight was leaving at 4:45 so we had some time to do some exploring and decided to go out to Brooklyn to hang out with my brother and sister-in-law.  We took a cab out  to Brooklyn and got to see their apartment.  Real estate in the greater NYC area never ceases to amaze me!  Their apartment is in a very charming brownstone (the whole area reminded me of The Cosby Show setting - gracious I'm OLD).  It was at one time a single family home but has turned into 4 or so apartments.  Like I said it's very charming but a little old and smallish.  And their rent is comparable to our mortgage payment!  Yikes!  

We walked to a great restaurant where we had brunch.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day so we got to sit outside.  After great eats (maple bacon pancakes!) we set our for a nice walk around before we had to leave for the airport.  I loved Brooklyn!  I'd guess if, God forbid, we ever had to move to NYC I'd pick Brooklyn.  I love how you can walk everywhere!  We walked down to the promenade and what a view.  A great day!

We had arranged for a car to pick us up for the airport and we made it in plenty of time for our flight.  What a wonderful, wonderful weekend!!

I Heart NY

Ahh...got to sleep late in the heavenly room!  Paul got up and worked while I took advantage of not having kids bound in my bed at 6:45.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Concierge Lounge and took our time getting ready before heading out to explore the city.  We had tickets for the matinee of Sister Act and early dinner reservations but otherwise we had no agenda.  Last year we discovered Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery and it's relatively close to the hotel so we started the morning with cupcakes..I know..breakfast of champions.  

After we loaded up on sugar we headed up to 5th Ave and hit some popular shops.  FAO Schwartz, Bergdof's, Tiffanys (where my sweet husband completely indulged me) and American Girl (for the girls, of course) to name a few.  We made our way over to Times Square and hit the Disney Store.  It was under construction last year so I was interested to see what they had done to it.  In true Disney fashion it's pretty cool.  Anyways we nabbed some goodies for the kids and set off to find our theater.  We grabbed a quick snack before the show at Pieface, a cutie little joint right beside the Broadway Theater.  

Our seats were orchestra level which was great.  We were on the side but still good seats.  We thought the show looked good and Raven-Symone was the lead (Olivia!).  We had some very spirited ladies sitting behind us..they were very excited to be at a show and liked to comment on nearly every line.  At first they were pretty funny but their constant commentary got old.  Fast.  Fortunately the first act was great and fortunately the theater wasn't full.  At intermission Paul darted to some open seats and we relocated for the second act.  The show was fabulous.  Funny, entertaining and Raven is extremely talented.  She far exceeded my expectations.  We really really enjoyed it!

After the show we headed back over to our hotel to drop off our packages.  It sure seemed shorter on the map!  We dropped off our stuff and headed towards Lincoln Center to Rosa Mexicana where we had early dinner reservations.   We first ate at Rosa Mexicana last year with my family.  Paul can't stop thinking about their guacamole which happens to be The. Best. Guacamole. EVER.  They make it fresh right there at your table.  Seriously the stuff is appetizer crack.  So so good.  They also have delicious Sangria.  We were in heaven.  

After dinner we leisurely strolled back to the hotel.  Stopping at Wafels & Dings food truck, which Paul had really wanted to find last year.   We popped in a few stores but took our time getting back.  We got back to the hotel and chilled in our suite.  Pefect day!