Dancing Queen

My apologies for the late post today. Normally I post earlier, but the past few days we were a bit busy.

This weekend my daughter had her dance recital. The recital features groups of all ages and is really fun to watch.

This recital was divided into three “themes.” The first was about the water – surfing, the beach, the ocean, etc… The second was more serious tap, ballet, and jazz. The final section was a salute to “the greats.”

Ella dances in the first and third sections with her group. Her first song will make the Beatles fans who read Happy – Yellow Submarine. All the gals hopped into a bathtub on wheels that was made up like a submarine. As the song starts to play, they are wheeled out and exit the sub. They moved to the front of the stage and do their dance. It was priceless!

Saluting the “greats” was a fun theme. Ella’s dance was saluting Betsy Ross with You’re a Grand Old Flag. I’m not sure if there is supposed to be a kick in it, but she did one! She looked like she is having so much fun.

The other dancers saluted Babe Ruth (Centerfield – John Fogerty), Henry Ford (Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts), Nat King Cole (L-O-V-E), Albert Einstein (Weird Science), Dolly Parton (9-5), The Big Band Era (Sing Sing Sing), Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain), Alexander Graham Bell (Pennsylvania 6-5000 and a few I can’t remember.

She had two shows – one last night and one this afternoon. Last night, a boy from her preschool class was there to watch and even brought her flowers! Honestly, I thought I had more time before boys started wooing my daughter!

I didn’t want to post without permission, so I had to cover her friend’s face. She was surprised to see him.

Andrew’s speech therapist, who we’ve become very close friends with, was also there with her daughters. Ella calls them her big sisters. They brought her a beautiful butterfly corsage and a baby rose bouquet.

She had to wear the wrist corsage when she woke up today. She put her flowers in a vase. They are next to her bed. On her nightstand.

Today, Nana and Pa brought Aunt Nikki to the show. Andrew stayed the night there last night, so they brought him to the show.

A two hour dance recital and a three year old don’t work well together. We brought his tablet, but he didn’t last long on it. He was kicking the poor woman’s seat in front of his. He also kept asking if it was over.

I wound up bringing him out to the lobby so he could run around at intermission. They had a feed of the show on the monitors in the lobby, so I got to watch her second performance on TV.

Aunt Nikki, Nana, Pa and Andrew with Ella

I’m glad Sam and I got to watch it without interruption last night. We are so proud of her.

They featured two seniors from their studio during the show. One of them had been dancing there since she was Ella’s age. Perhaps she’ll keep on dancing. I hope so!

Cinco de Birthday

Ella had a fun birthday! She thanks everyone who sent birthday wishes.

She had really hoped to go to the Children’s Museum, but it was closed. So we decided to take her down to Build a Bear where she could pick her own animal, stuff it and pick an outfit. She loved every second.

Despite the many bears, she chose to Build a Cat! The lady at the stuffing machine had her step on the pedal to shoot the stuffing in the kitty. She then got to pick a heart and put it inside the kitty. After she was stuffed, Ella went and got her a rainbow tutu and rainbow shoes to match!

Andrew got Chase from Paw Patrol. He had to get the uniform, the boots, and the hat and “pup pack.”

You can’t put a price on fun or kid memories. But this was an expensive trip! I can’t imagine my folks ever spending almost $200 on two stuffies!

They loved it, though and they will always remember that! On the way home we had to stop by Nana and Pa’s house to pick up her “Mermaid tail” cake. Nana made it out of cupcakes and she was thrilled with it.

After dinner and cake, Ella finally got to open her gifts. She got a huge box of beads and such to make necklaces, rings, bracelets and more. She also got a princess game.

Basically, the game is like the game Cootie. You spin the spinner move along the board and collect your earrings, your ring, your necklace, your bracelet and finally the crown. Collect all of those without having the “cursed ring” and you win.

When your birthday girl asks you to play … you do!

Ridiculous!

Tuesday morning, she couldn’t wait to show her class her cat! Her teachers were nice enough to let her sit up front and tell her story about building the kitty and she passed it around. I was there because she wanted me to make sure that the cat made it home safe. She wanted her to be ok when she got home from school.

Five years! Wow. It is so hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday that I was posting about her being born.

I am so glad she had a good day and I hope she’ll always remember it!

Our Ballerina Girl

Ella has been in dance for a while now. Sam has been taking her to the classes because I work on the nights of class. Outside of her showing me a few things at home, I hadn’t had a chance to see her dance yet.

Friday night was the dress rehearsal and both Sam and I got to go watch. Seeing my little girl all dressed up in her costume and makeup was more emotional than I thought. Because of miscommunication, they were told that all dancers had to have eye liner, mascara, blush, lipstick and a variety of other products. When I looked at her face, she looked 16!

At rehearsal, the director said that girls 7 and older needed full makeup, and those under needed only blush and lipstick. That was nice to hear, but it would have saved us $100 in make up if they had been more clear. She still looked older with the blush and lipstick on.

Her class performed two songs. One was ballet and one was tap. When she hit the stage during rehearsal, I watched he dance and welled up with all the dad emotions. I can’t believe that it hit me as hard as it did.

Sam had been telling me how much she loved being in dance. I didn’t realize how much she loved it until I watched her on stage. She is entirely in her element there. She loves ballet more than tap, as she has told us that a few times.

The dress rehearsal lasted about 3 hours. There were plenty of other groups dancing, too. Almost all of the dancers are aged 3 to 18. There was also a group of special needs adults who danced, as well. The rehearsal was a complete run-through with stops for repeating parts or blocking out where dancers were to stand.

Yesterday was the day of the show. They did a 2pm performance and a 7pm performance. The show was 2 hours long, so it was a very long day for everyone, but especially Ella. Almost everyone was at the 2pm show. My dad, Sam’s parents, Aunt Margaret, and Aunt Shannon were all there.

At the end of her first performance, She received flowers from Aunt Margaret, my dad, her little brother Andrew and a bear from me. She was so excited. She posed for pictures with everyone before they left. Andrew went to Nana’s house so that we could grab dinner and get her back to the second show.

We went to Applebee’s where she ate and had a huge chocolate dessert for dancing so well. We made it back in time for her to change back into her costume and get ready for the evening show.

During the first show, Sam had volunteered to help with the kids in the back. She got to watch from the side backstage for that first show, however, was glad to be able to sit in the audience for the 7pm show. It was so nice to be sitting together and watching our baby girl shine.

Our friend, Miss Christa, came with her daughter and watched the night show. She brought Ella a book about a ballerina, which we had to read before bedtime last night.

For each show, she was on stage about a total of 6-7 minutes. It was a very long day, but those 12-14 minutes will forever stay with me. I am so proud of her and how wonderful she danced. I am already excited for the next recital!