Princess Dance Camp / Survivor Camp

Back in the spring, I won a raffle - the prize was a gift certificate to a local kids' gym, to be used for summer camp.  We used the gift certificate to send Mister J to a "Survivor"-themed camp and Miss M to a "Princess Dance Camp" last week.

The highlight of Princess Dance Camp was an end-of-week performance, though I daresay the actual purchase of tap shoes was an equally big deal for Miss M!  (Note to Grandma RL and Grandpa H - I'm sorry that my narrow feet were hard to fit for dance shoes, and thank you so much for 15 years' worth of assorted dance shoes!  Miss M needed wide tap shoes, so I'm starting to feel your pain.)

Here are several photos (I have loads more!) followed by a video of Miss M's first tap performance.

The Princess Walk

The princesses got to come out one by one, spin, curtsy, and blow a kiss.  My princess moved fairly quickly and my camera wanted to focus on the heads of the people in front of me - therefore, I have blurry photos of the Princess Walk.

The entire cast singing - with arm/hand motions - to "A Whole New World"

The older princesses dance to "Anything Can Happen" from Mary Poppins

I'm sure Miss M loved the long ballet skirts!

"You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray

for their jazz number .

(also known as the "wiggle, wiggle" song by Miss M!)

They tap danced to "Boot Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn.

Miss M was so excited to wear her tap shoes that she was showing them to me - and making sure that I noticed them - before the tap number began!   

(Note:  I was holding the video camera in my left hand while snapping photos with a camera in my right hand.  Apologies for the camera sounds in the background and the wiggly video!)

One last photo of my Princess M at the end of the performance.  The girls did several crafts during the week, including their princess hats (see photo of the Princess Walk) and wands.

Survivor Camp didn't have an end-of-week performance, but I was able to get a few snapshots of the kids on one of their obstacle courses.  This one had water, quicksand, and a sneaky shark - plus plenty of balance, jumping, and tumbling activities.  

Both kids had a great time, and I'm sure we'll be back for camps again next summer!

Travel, Turkey, Family, and Fun!

We drove to Grandma and Grandpa R's house for the Thanksgiving holiday - Wednesday through Sunday. Some of Big J's extended family was there, too - Aunt B and Uncle J. It was a great visit, the weather was quite pleasant for the first half of our visit, and the kids had so much fun! I won't make (m)any comments about the holiday traffic, I'll just say that we are spoiled that the family usually comes to our house for the holidays, rubbernecking is not ok, and does everyone really have to pick the same time as us to drive home? We were also semi-unplugged during our visit - niiice! Yes, I missed my email, Facebook, and bloggy friends, but it wasn't all bad! We had lots of fun, as you will see. I tried really hard to pare down the photos and video for this post, and you should know that it was NOT easy. I ended up with lots of sweet, funny, cute shots of my kiddos - and the rest of the family, too! See....

Thanksgiving Day














That's Miss M serving herself before the meal was actually served. She was especially fond of the cranberry 'jelly'! Mister J enjoyed lots of good food, including pumpkin pie with whipped cream.


















On Thanksgiving afternoon, we went into 'the city' for a mouse hunt! The kids (with some help from Mom, Dad and Grandpa R) found 10 little bronze mice! I just couldn't resist showing you how many great pics I got of Mister J and Miss M together!







































That last one is Miss M, worn out after out the dozen-plus blocks of mouse hunting and walking about town, but before the walk back to where we started! There were lots more good pics, including one of the squirrel we quietly watched so it wouldn't scurry away. I am now convinced, these kids can listen to Mom, but still unsure why it isn't a daily habit....

The weather was still nice on Friday, so we played outside! Swinging, walking Aunt B's dog, riding the tricycle, playing hide-and-seek - we did it all. And, for the record, I will admit that Mister J outsmarted both his Mommy and Daddy. Special thanks to Uncle J for keeping Mister J's hiding place a secret - he will remember that for a long time!



Miss M seemed to finally get comfortable climbing the steps, and is maybe a little too confident now - from Mommy's perspective, at least!


















That evening, we went to see a local Christmas light display. We were able to walk through a portion of it, which the kids enjoyed more than the driving portion, I think. We also had some hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. Miss M couldn't wait for her spot at the fire, so started eating hers plain!































The weather wasn't quite as nice on Saturday - it was downright COLD! But, in between sprinkles, the kids played outside with a whole team of adults to keep them company.



We had so much fun! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa R for feeding us, giving us a place to sleep, and keeping us entertained. Uncle J and Aunt B, we are glad you each made the trip - we enjoyed seeing you, and the kids enjoyed having you around to play with them. By the way, as parents, we enjoyed having 8 extra hands around - it's a treat we rarely get, so Thank You!!!!

Mirror, Mirror ...

If ever there was an example of how children reflect what they see their parents say and do, this is it!

We were sitting at the dinner table this evening, when Big J was trying to entice Miss M to eat some chicken, and told her she had to take a bite before she got her second cup of milk. Of course, she dilly-dallied. Big J held up her cup and pretended to drink from it - he "sipped" and "mmm-mmm"ed over the milk before setting the cup down. Miss M eventually finished her one and only bite of chicken, and got her cup of milk. Here's what happened next:




Needless to say, no one could keep a straight face - and hiding our silent giggles was impossible - so we all enjoyed a good laugh (you'll hear the two J's in the background). Hope you did, too!

You know playtime is over when...

Big J and I had a nice, quiet, adults-only dinner this evening while we listened to the news and the sound of the kids playing outside (the rain finally stopped - hooray!). We let Mister J and Miss M continue playing even after we finished our dinner, knowing that they would tell us when they were hungry. They didn't get to stay outside quite that long, though. Big J took a peek outside and quickly determined that, hungry or not, it was time for the kids to come inside. Here's what he saw:



This is obviously a little girl who is A) very proud of her latest skill, B) very talkative, and C) lacking in modesty. We are proud of her, too. Well, except for the 'lacking in modesty' part, but we know that it will come soon enough. At least this was in the backyard and not anywhere public. As you can see, we have a good sense of humor about it all, but will eventually have to get around to setting limits on where it's okay to undress (like, oh, inside).

In case you need a translation of the toddler-speak, Miss M was telling us that her shirt was on the steps, she took it off, and it went bye-bye. Got to love that toddler logic - keeps life interesting!

My poor, sweet, sleeping girl

One of the 'benefits' of this latest bout with fever is that Miss M has actually napped three out of the last four days. Not official "let-me-tuck-you-in-now" naps, but the "asleep-in-her-tracks" kind of naps. As I was finishing up dinner this evening, I heard the familiar sound of sleep. Not silence, but this:



She's so going to be mad at me one day for posting this. But I just had to share my sweet, sleeping Miss M with you. By the way - other than the fever, she's fine. She's not congested, just noisy.

Groovin'

Here's a quick video snippet of my kids watching the intro to a new Disney Channel show called Imagination Movers. Apparently, it's called Imagination Movers for good reason! Mister J and Miss M kept this up for the whole show! I didn't get the best part of her dancing, but you get the idea.



This is definitely going to be an alternative to outdoor activity on days when Mother Nature isn't cooperating with my kids' need to get expend some energy - fun for them, and educational, too. Another plus - it has real people in it - not just animation!

(Hooray for me - my first video post!)