Well it's official. Nicholas, Danny and I went to our first student/parent drivers ed class this week. He can get his permit by this August and is eligible to drive by February! Yikes!! I'm sad that he's growing up...and I'm nervous for him to be driving...but yet I'm actually looking forward to having another driver in the house to help with transportation back and forth to the dance studio, hockey rinks, school, friend's houses, etc. I think I'll get used to it rather quickly. Then Julia is only one year away from starting drivers ed too. And so it goes...
I just watched the wedding of Joy-Anna Duggar and cried through the whole thing. Tears of "Joy" of course! : ) It was a beautiful wedding. I love how different the weddings of the sisters were from each other. Each wedding represented who they are uniquely. I wish I could have been there in person! I guess my invitation got lost in the mail. ; )
And how sweet was Joe proposing to his girlfriend! I'm so happy there's another wedding just around the corner! They don't wait long you know. I better start checking my mailbox...
I was so happy that Julia decided to play lacrosse this year. Good for her for just doing it! Most of her teammates have been playing for years. Julia's never played a sport before (well I guess once if you count t-ball when she was about 5).
I cannot tell you how relaxing it was compared to freaking dance! No make up, no costumes (just toss on a t-shirt and shorts), no rack and rolls, no props (well unless you count the lacrosse stick as a "prop"), no worrying about technique and placements. They don't even keep score in girls lacrosse! They just run up and down and up and down the field...back and forth...no hitting or pushing or anything like that in girls lacrosse. I'm telling you...I felt zero...ZERO...stress. I kept looking at the other parents thinking...wow...they have it made!!
And the best part was Julia scored her very first goal ever in her very last game of the season! Yay!!!
I don't have a real camera so this is all I got...with her ponytail flying in the wind...
Oh my goodness!! Today I came across this old photo of myself with a group of girls I used to dance with. That's me on the right at just 10 years old! I was so skinny that my costume wasn't even touching my body! I honestly remember taking that picture like it was yesterday. We won a few competitions with that jazz dance called "Chocolate Chip". Sadly, I found out today that the girl in the photo next to me, Jill, passed away. I had heard she got sick with cancer when she was young but didn't know she had died from the disease. Jill was the silly one that always made me laugh. I loved being her friend. Karen (on the left) was also a sweetheart. She always wanted to be my friend inviting me to her house all the time for sleepovers. I think I only went once or twice because for some reason I was drawn more to Rose (bottom). She was my very best friend way back then. She and I spent many long summer days together with lots and lots of sleepovers. We used to walk to a local convenience store called Lil' White to buy bagfuls of candy and then head back to her pool to swim. Such great childhood memories with these girls. A very brief time in my life but oh so memorable.
We found out after that competition that the senior acro production that Julia is in, "One if By Land, Two if By Sea", actually was the highest scoring routine of the entire competition! Pretty amazing considering the number of routines and the level of talent that was there. Our studio's acro production is consistently fabulous and always puts on a tremendous show. They received a standing ovation! The girls are so strong. I can't wait to see it again!
This is Julia...
When I unpacked the costumes from the rack n' roll I found Gianna's invitation to Power Pak and the top ten plaque she received for her duo. (I'm really bad at remembering to take pictures at the competitions.)
Friday night were the teen solos...Julia did wonderful as usual. I'm always so proud of her and just amazed at what a fabulous performer she is.
Saturday was all about this girl (posing in her Bollywood costume)...
I'm still getting used to seeing her white toothy smile. I think she looks so grown up and very beautiful!
She really enjoyed herself this weekend and said she wished the competition lasted longer...um...not me...I'm exhausted!!
Gianna's tap team...
They received the highest tap score for all the 11 and under routines! And their jazz won 1st place with the highest technique score. All her routines placed in the top and were fantastic.
The best award of all was when Gianna received an invitation to the Power Pak convention! It's a dance intensive summer camp where kids are hand selected to receive invitations to go. Pretty cool!! Julia got an invite two years ago too.
Then after a very long day of group competition, Julia competed her trio Saturday evening. They were gorgeous and placed 7th overall! Yay! It was a super hard competition with lots and lots of talent so I was very proud of our girls!
Sunday was all of Julia's group dances and the production for both girls. Julia with her tap friends...
Julia's "Via Della Rosa"...they were just stunning and won first place!!
I love how they bond before dancing...
So it was a very successful and fun weekend for my girls. Next up...Starquest in two weeks. I better rest up!! : )
Gianna just got her braces off temporarily. She needs to lose the rest of her baby teeth and then she'll get them back on for a while longer...but yay for getting a break from poking wires and annoying elastics!!!
and she looks soooooo pretty!!!
This is the first time she's had two adult front teeth without braces so it has really changed the way she looks. I'm loving her pearly white toothy smile!!!
This year we had an ocean front room and the view was amazing!! This is on our balcony looking off to the left...
straight out over the water...
and off to the right...
I could just sit and stare at the ocean all day...the color of the water is just phenomenal.
We had our first dinner at Captain's Cove. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Cancun. The food is great and the view over the lagoon is just gorgeous...
Julia had the cutest outfits all week. I wish I had her wardrobe...
The view from our bedroom...wow...
The girls painted more ceramics this year...
Gianna painted these cute elephants...one is for her and the other for her friend...
Julia painted this pretty pot...she used lots of yellow because she knows it's my favorite color...
and Gianna painted this beautiful owl just for me...I love the yellow eyes...
The second night we went to another of our favorite restaurants called Limoncello's. And look who joined us for dinner!! Yikes!!!
My handsome boy...
My pretty girl...
I love this picture of Gianna...
Water aerobics at 10:00...bingo at 2:00...dancing at 2:30...happy hour at 3:00...
We had a fun dinner one night at Carlos and Charlies...
Sad to say it rained for two of the days...and I'm talking buckets of rain...but we made the best of it...
Gorgeous pictures of Julia...
My babies...
We took one really fun day trip to Xel-Ha about 1.5 hours south of Cancun...lots of snorkeling and floating down the river...
There were places to climb up and jump off cliffs into the water...
But this "floating bridge" was a complete and total nightmare for me...so scary...really hard to walk on and keep your balance. I thought I was going to take a header right off the side...and my kids thought it was hilarious...ya right...
Gorgeous sunset looking over the lagoon from our hotel...
and this was another view from our balcony...
We were so sad to leave.
Some fun videos from our trip. Julia was in a limbo contest...
She was contestant #2...
Nicholas and Julia playing in the waves...
One of the entertainment guys dancing to our new favorite song "Shaky Shaky"...
Loved watching these guys dance every day...they make it look so easy...
