Wonderland and Final Recital

May saw the end of the 2009-2010 dance year for the girls. For their spring recital the studio did a production of Wonderland (a version of Alice in Wonderland). It was a really fun performance and the girls really enjoyed being a part of it. They also had a final recital where they performed their competition pieces on final time. It is always bittersweet, nice to have a break but sad to see it all end. This was Grace's first year and she absolutely loved it, she tends to be a bit of a shy child in front of new people or in new situations, but she just blossomed and experienced NO stage fright whatsoever! She did so fantastic as a little baby oyster! She loved every minute of it too! It was so fun to watch her and I was amazed at how well she performed on stage! Woo hoo, Grace! Audrey and Savannah were both fish and their costumes were so pretty, blue and purple and sparkly - really gorgeous, they loved wearing them. Savannah was also a bluebird and a mushroom, it was fun to watch all of them - just so cute!

Here is our baby oyster! In the performance she wore a white baby bonnet and white gloves, they were the cutest little baby oysters ever!

Audrey in her fish costume, they wore fish headpieces in the performance, but this was such a beautiful sparkly costume with all the stage lights.

Savannah in her bluebird costume.

Bluebirds.

Fishes!

Mushrooms! This was a 70's style disco hip-hop dance, it was really fun!

Oooooo! Look at that sweet little baby oyster! Love it!

I just can't get enough of that little oyster girls! She was so stinkin' adorable!

We were leaving for the show, heading to the garage when Audrey's costume caught the sunlight! She twirled and twirled watching all the sparkles on the walls!

Award ceremony!

All the girls and their friend Audrey Hansen after the final recital!

Savannah and the other Audrey!

Sweet sisters! I just love it! It's been a great year, summer will be a welcomed break and then back at it again next fall!

Mental Note - failed!

Well after my mental note last month to not get behind on my little blog - uh I got behind again. Not just behind but way behind! Will I ever learn?!? So over the next few days hopefully I'll get all caught up, but I guess I'll start here and see how far I get tonight. My plan is to start at the beginning of May and hope I eventually get to the end - you know before June ends! May was a fabulous month, it was fun to look over the pictures of the past month and remember all the fun we had! So I guess I'll get started on part one of who know how many this series will end up being, but I can't finish if I don't start so here goes!!

Spring never really arrived completely in May we had lots of cold, rainy, windy days, but somehow in all of that crazy weather my flowering plum tree bloomed. I love this tree with all the blossoms on it, so pretty and so springy despite the conflicted weather. Now that it is June the blossoms are all gone and leaves on this tree are dark red - I definitely loved it better with the flowers!

On one of the few nice days we had in May, we took full advantage and took the kids on a picnic to Palisades Creek Campground. Jonas was beyond into it! He is going to love camping this summer, and I am going to have a complete heart attack, because he has no concept of danger and insatiable curiosity, a very scary combo! With that said it was still so much fun to see him all boy in his element! Here he is helping Larren carry a log to chop up for firewood, of course we were only there a few hours but we had to build a fire! That is where part of the near heart attack came into play - fire and a baby serisouly a crazy idea!

Sticks, sticks and more sticks! He always has a stick in his little hand, must be a boy thing! He was so cute, I am so excited for some more wonderful outings outdoors with him this summer!!

Larren got the sandbox put all back together for the kids. Some days I seriously hate this thing - you know the days when come in the house a hundred times tracking literally buckets full of sand, but most days I love it! They play in it for hours at a time and there must be something magical about sitting under the canopy of the sandbox, because they hardly ever argue or fuss at each other when they're under it! Most of all it is a sure sign of summer and I was so excited to see it all back together in the backyard!

This is the new lawn mowing method at our house, poor Larren! Jonas will not just watch the lawn being mowed he has to be right in the middle of the action! The lawn has been mowed three times since this picture was taken and all three times Larren carried him in the backpack! It's going to be a long summer for Larren I think! But it is so cute that he will indulge this little guy with a bird's eye view of the lawn mower! Jonas absolutely loves it!! On a side note, Grace still calls the lawn mower the "mow lawner," I was happy to see that term return when Larren pulled it out of the shed for the first time this year! We should probably correct her at some point but it is just too cute!

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma! Larren built my mom a grandkid picnic table for her backyard. We have so many summer BBQ's in her backyard, so we knew she would love a little kid size table for all the grandkiddos! We delivered it the day before Mother's Day, while we still had Mike's truck! The kids were so excited to surprise her, it was really sweet!

Jonas loves a good brain freeze! He has discovered Popsicles and can't get enough! I think he may have a permanent blue, red, purple or orange tongue this summer! Yum-O!

Savannah had a grandma sleepover and Audrey had a "late over" with a friend, so Larren and I took the two little kids out for some mom and dad time! It was so fantastic to just have those two with us! We went to dinner at Smitty's, a childhood favorite of mine and now a childhood favorite of theirs! Grace and Jonas devoured their pancakes in no time flat! After dinner we went to the river to feed the ducks! Sometimes when we go down by the river the ducks are stuffed and will not eat a bite, but tonight the ducks and the geese were starving, so much fun for the kids!

Jonas chased and chased them, it was so cute! He loved throwing the bread and so wanted to get close enough to one to touch it! Thankfully that never happened, think of the diseases!! It was really funny though to watch him try!!

Grace throwing bread to the ducks!

More of Grace and the ducks!

This picture was taken May 6th! Just a little insight into our miserable May (weather wise that is!) Hopefully June will be better, it has been pretty chilly and wet so far though! I am really ready for some sun and warmth!!

Savannah joined the Fox Hollow Choir in the fall and has really enjoyed her experience! This spring they put on a little 50's style musical of Little Red Riding Hood, it was really fun! The music and lyrics were just cute and it was so neat to see all their hard work and practice in action!

Savannah is her 50's attire! She did a fantastic job, we loved watching her and afterwards we all went out for ice cream! A big thanks to Grandma, Emily, Lisa, Mike, Kaylee and Lydia for coming to watch, it is such a blessing to live by family!