Ocean City

Well here we are on our forced vacation for nationals...and I have to say...I am not happy about it.  But we had no choice.  It's so funny because some families are looking at this like a vacation...and others, like us, are just trying to make the best of it.  Having two girls who are in a lot of dances, this is hardly a vacation.  Julia had her solo on Monday and two small groups today.  Then both girls dance all day tomorrow from 9-5 (yes...it's the 4th of July!!) and the dance off is Thursday from 9-5.  We'll have Friday off and head back home on Saturday.

We got here on Saturday and oh boy it was H-O-T!!  After a long ten hour drive in the car, we quickly unpacked and went right to our pool to cool off and relax.  The condo we're renting is very nice.  The best part about it is that it is very very quiet.  Something that was really important to me.

On Sunday we dropped the girls off at the competition for the day so they could watch their friends dance and Danny and I spent a very long and relaxing day at the beach.  It was a perfect day.

Yesterday we got to spend the afternoon at the pool as Julia only danced in the morning.  We had a delicious dinner at the Longboard Cafe...

and then went down to the boardwalk to check it out.  It's 3 miles of stores, restaurants, amusement parks, ice cream, candy shops and lots and lots of riff-raff and honky-tonk.  If that's what you like then you'll love Ocean City.  Me???  I prefer the quaintness of Ogunquit and Cape Cod.

Julia competed two of her small groups today.  I really love both of the dances and I'm sad to see them come to an end.  Her first dance today was "Flowers in the Attic"...

I took these pictures from the balcony so they aren't the best.  Hopefully the professional photographer got better ones than me.  They placed 5th overall...

And her other small group "Never Walk Alone" won 1st place.  They get to re-compete the dance in the Battle on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to seeing it one last time.  It's really a beautiful routine...

After they were done, I slipped out of the competition before awards and spent a few hours at the pool.  Danny picked up the girls around 6:30 and we had dinner back at the condo.  We're relaxing tonight and gearing up for the next two very long days of competition. Hopefully Friday will be a nice day as that's our last full day here without anything scheduled.  We'd love to make it a beach day.  The beach is just across the street and is very nice.  No rocks or seaweed and the water is really warm.

And last but not least...my boy...

He didn't want to come with us...and I honestly don't blame him...so he is spending the week up in Ogunquit with his cousins and my sister.  Turns out some of his hockey friends are up there this week too so he's spending time with them today.  Lucky boy.  He's having a very good time.  I miss him so much.  I've never been away from him for this long...ever.  But thank goodness for FaceTime! 

So we'll have to see what the rest of the week brings. Happy 4th of July!  I'll be spending it in a dark convention hall with loud head-banging music. Fun times!

Last day of school

Finally!!!  The LAST day of school...and it's only June 26th for Pete's sake!  Nicholas and Julia actually finished yesterday.  Today is Gianna's last day but it's only a half day.  Yay!  Gianna was invited to two different last day of school pool parties today.  Thankfully they don't overlap which is really nice so she can go to both.  Julia had a last day of school pool party and sleepover yesterday.  And Nicholas also had a night out with friends last night.  I'm so glad they are keeping busy and having fun.  I'm really looking forward to sleeping in a bit in the mornings and not having to get out of bed at 6:20 everyday.  That's a bit too early for this Mama.

I love having my breakfast out on the porch to enjoy the early morning summer air.  Ahhhhh....

Summer is officially here!! : ) 

Nicholas' artwork

For the first half of the year Julia was in a Studio Art class at school that met daily.  She did some gorgeous artwork, but she did say how much work it was. 

Fast forward to the second half of this year when Nicholas comes home to say that he was in Studio Art for the last two terms.  Now this is the same fast paced demanding art class Julia did.  And Julia is quite the artist so needless to say I was quite nervous about him being in that class.  I actually told him to drop out and find something else.  He said no and that he would stick with it.  

And he did...and he really surprised me!!!

I have no idea how he made this contraption but it's really cool...

And look at this...the Chick-fil-A logo...how awesome is that???

And this cracked me up.  He said, "Look Mom...it's mushrooms"...

"and cherries!!!"  Two in one artwork!!  Haha!!

And this is just soooo my boy.  These are literally THE most important things to him...

Remote control for gaming, headphones for music, hockey puck for his passion for hockey and his phone.  : )  

That boy of ours is full of surprises.  

Recital

Recital #12...two recitals that were about 2 1/2 hours long each...and a total of 20 costume changes this year (a few less than last year).

This is the first time that I'm looking at a picture of my girls together that Gianna doesn't look little to me anymore...sniff sniff...

This will be the last year of acro for Gianna.  She simply doesn't like flipping and I don't blame her.  So I added another tap team for her next year instead...

Gianna and her cute friend Makayla...

Julia's friends came to watch.  They brought her flowers too which was so sweet...

This was Amy and Kaylee's last recital.  They are both amazing dancers and they will be missed...

And this was my mantra yesterday...

Yes, I'm glad to be alive after that horrific accident we had.

I will tell you this.  After 12 recitals this is what I know for sure.  I will never...EVER...miss recital day...NEVER.  Yes, I'm sure I will miss seeing the girls up on stage dancing with their friends and teammates...but I will never be sad when recital day ends.  It's long...it's exhausting...and it's terribly painful for me.  And this is what I know for sure as well...it wouldn't be painful at all if I could just drop my girls off in the dressing room and go sit in the audience and enjoy the show.  But that's simply not the case.  Yes, I hear it all the time from the mothers that do just that.  "Let them do it by themselves"..."they're old enough".  Well, yes and no.  I see how they struggle to get into their costumes when they are super rushed and have one or two numbers in between dances.  They are all sweaty and most of the costumes are really really tight and very difficult to get on.  There are endless accessories...gloves, chokers, head pieces, shoe changes, things that need to be pinned, some dances that have earrings and others that do not...and the list goes on and on and on.  Yes, I could let them fend for themselves...but I feel that could spell disaster, aggravation, stress and most definitely tears.  So I choose to be a helpful mom.  Most mothers do help...and then there are that few that plant their butts in the audience for the entire shows.  I wish I could be one of those Moms but I'm not.   

And with that said...I'm DONE with another recital for one more year.  

Down 17

As of this morning, I'm down 17 pounds!!  I am so grateful to Weight Watchers for helping me do this.  I could never ever do it on my own.  And I have to say how grateful I am to my personal chef...aka Danny...for being so supportive and making me such delicious and low point (and sometimes zero point) dinners for me.  Like these...

And I do the easy meals like breakfast and lunch.  Here's a typical breakfast for me these days (only 2 points)...

I'm a little over half way to my goal!  Yay!!  It is a very slooooow process but it works if you follow the plan and track your food.  The app makes it all super easy to do.  I have to say I am very proud of myself because I never thought I could do this.  : )

Another job

Nicholas got a job at Shaws!  Yay!  This will be regular steady employment for him.  He'll be working at the hockey rink this summer too score keeping and running the clock at games 4 days a week for $20 an hour.  How great is that?  He'll be making some good money over the summer and it will keep him nice and busy.  He got the summer job at the rink because he was the first person the woman thought of. She told him "that's what you get when you're a good responsible kid". Yup.  That's our boy.  He is very responsible...well...(cough)...except for his school work.  But...beggers can't be choosers.  No really...he'll do just fine in life and will find his way.

Oh what a night

Last night was Kimmy's retirement party.  She is leaving Wakefield after working there for 32 years!  She started as the music director, then moved on to Vice Principal, then Principal, then Assistant Superintendent and finally Superintendent.  Wow.  She is definitely an over achiever and reaches every goal she sets her mind to.

It was a fabulous night with outstanding performances by so many of her past and current students of the music program.  Lots of beautiful music and singing.  Then the speeches followed from so many lives she has touched over the years.  She has made a tremendous impact on that community and it was wonderful to hear all the stories and feel the love in that room for my sister.

I am beyond proud of all her accomplishments.

But this isn't the end to her story.  She will have a well deserved rest for a while and then move on to the next chapter of her life.  Many many more accomplishments to follow...that I know for sure. 

She called all her nieces and nephews up to join her at the end of her speech...

So happy my Mom was there to share that special night...

My aunts and uncles came too which meant so much to Kim.  They were there especially for my Dad.

My world right there...

Hate to ruin the love fest...but this happened to us on the way home...

Some heavy object...not sure what...somehow turned into a projectile and smashed into our windshield.  Danny was driving and there was no time to react.  It hit us head on...whatever it was...and we are so incredibly lucky it didn't break through the windshield.  Or our night would have ended very differently.

It was very loud and super scary.  But we are grateful to all be OK.  Thankfully family was on the way home from that event on that same highway and helped us get home safely.

Someone was watching over us...and for that we all get to live to see another beautiful day.

Beautiful Day