At the Rec!

We joined a new recreation center sort of recently and I signed up the kids (mostly Owen since Paige wasn't interested) for a bunch of activities they offered over Spring break. Owen and his friend played bubble soccer, dodgeball, gaga ball, regular soccer and then in between the activities they would eat their packed lunches and go swimming. I can't believe he's old enough to just spend hours at the rec with his friend without any supervision! Some of the activities were better than others...I signed Owen up for putt-putt because Paige was interested but they both agreed it was pretty awful and played for maybe 10 minutes. Paige met up with a friend to swim one day while Owen was busy and also did a movie/swim night that she loved!

Suiting up!

Ready to go!

Paige and Mikayla making crazy faces in the lazy river

Gaga Ball! Owen won a round and was rewarded with $1 to use at the concession stand

Putt-putt

Started out ok!

Happy Birthday Pat!

38! Pat bought his own birthday presents ahead of time this year so there weren't a lot of surprises in store for him but I think we treated him well anyway! Paige woke up in the middle of the night so Pat was awake for his "birthday time," 3:27am! Then when it was really time to get up, I had a box of Pops waiting for him (is that even still his favorite cereal? I need to check before next year...). He had to work but when he pulled in the driveway after we greeted him outside with a happy birthday sign and a beatbox rendition of the happy birthday song:) He chose Houlihan's for his dinner and then we went home for some cheesecake, cards and a present, Starburst jelly beans! 

Dinner!

Ready to sing

Owen looks ready to eat!

Posing with the tv

COSI

After Paige's competition we grabbed some lunch at Abuela's and headed to COSI. The kids initially wanted to go directly home but we ignored them and they ended up having a great time! The last time we visited was 2014 so there was plenty of new things to see, plus the stuff we saw and forgot! 

New water exhibit!

Poseidon pointing at...something?

Paige on the news!

Look! A rare sighting of the kids standing next to each other!!

I remember this exhibit being fun the last time too! Sit in the chair and use only the rope to lift yourself

Owen made it too!

How strong is Pat? Not as strong as he thinks!

One side had buttons you could press to help explain to the person on the other side what you wanted them to do with Legos

Fun trash butterfly. 

I love going through this little town!

Showstoppers

Another competition and the second weekend in a row! This one was a lot less stressful for Paige than last week because it was only performing, no classes, etc. It started out very stressful for me, however...I always pack everything and then bring Paige in to confirm we have all costume parts and dance shoes. Even though I had already looked at everything a couple times, this time I noticed a glittery smear in the bag with her mini line costume. The putty we had misplaced at last week's competition got in the bag and there was putty all through the tulle!! I managed to stay pretty calm but knew she/we would be in trouble/wouldn't be allowed to dance in mini line if we couldn't fix it. I managed to figure out a way to fix it using rubbing alcohol but I was worried for a bit! Crazy way to start the weekend!

We carpooled up with a friend Friday night and the girls got some swimming in and then it was off to bed. Saturday was all of Paige's group dances. Mini line, then awards, then tap, lyrical and jazz. Mini line got double platinum and 1st overall, her other groups got platinum and scored 3rd (jazz), 4th (lyrical), and 5th (tap) overall! We had time for more swimming that night and then the next morning I was in charge of getting Paige and her friend ready for trio. There was a last minute change of time when they bumped up her dance by 30 minutes but I had gotten up really early because I didn't know how long it would take to get two of them ready so we were fine! Pat and Owen were driving up that morning to see her trio perform and literally walked into competition as she was getting on stage! They cut it a little close but got to see the whole thing:) Her trio ended up scoring a platinum and 1st overall for duos/trios 8 and under! Such an exciting moment!!

Showstopper!

I have no idea when this picture was taken because it wasn't mine!

These girls are great at organizing themselves for pictures

Goofball!

Burnin Up! Appropriate posing by the fire extinguisher:)

Mini Line awards

Group awards

Ready for trio!

Three goofballs

Solo/duo/trio awards

The girls with their choreographer/teacher, Miss Rachel

Maeve, Miley, Arden and Paige

Made it just in time!

Guess how many of these people wanted to pose for this picture:)

Brackets and Braces

These pictures don't have anything to do with each other except that it made for a good title:) 

We missed going to Owen's scheduled orthodontist appointment so I had to make a quick appointment the next day for him. I felt a little bad about pulling him out of school with any warning for someone to go mess with his teeth but he rolled with it!

We filled out our brackets for March Madness! The second round just finished and so far Paige is winning, followed by me, then Owen, then Pat. Anything can happen though. Whoever wins gets to pick where to go for dinner!

ODM Crazy!

This is one of the craziest and busiest and most exhausting dance weekends of the year! 

Friday-four hours of dance scholarship classes where the kids have a chance to earn money and acknowledgement for their skill. Paige is still 8 but she had to be with the 9-10 year olds this year. It was a tough room! Paige didn't win anything this time and she was super duper nervous going into the room but I'm so proud of her for facing her nerves and walking into a room to compete against kids that might have been dancing 2 years more than her! I passed the time by grabbing dinner with friends at Zocalo. Yum!

Saturday is competition all day! We woke up to get ready at 6am and left the building at 7:15pm. Paige's trio turned into a duo ten minutes before they went on stage because Miley got sick! Paige and Maeve were a little thrown off but still did great and ended up scoring High Gold. The other dances were amazing too. Mini line and Lyrical got Platinum and Jazz and Tap got High Gold. 

Sunday-Paige had 4 hours of classes before she finished up at 1pm. I headed back to the hotel with friends to pack up and eat breakfast and then passed some time at the Winking Lizard. It was St Patrick's Day so there were festively dressed people everywhere!

Pictures all out of order--

Ready for Sunday classes

This is what their hair looks like after they take out all the bobby pins. They had just a little bit of time to swim on Saturday night.

Adorable and ready to rock mini line

Hotel shenanigans

Playing some Uno before starting group dances

12 and under kids ready for scholarship classes

On the way to lunch

More adorable kids

Hauling dream duffels around downtown

A duo this time!

We just arrived at the hotel and ran into some friends!

Workout Buddies!

March 1st was National Workout Buddy Day! I happened to have a run planned with some friends so it worked out perfectly. It was freeeezing (but sunny!) that day and I had put together an outfit that completely didn't match because I was really trying to coordinate whatever my warmest, clean, running clothes were left. I looked crazy but I was warm! 

Ice Skating!

If this blog is to be believed, it has been two years since we've been ice skating! I don't know why we waited so long, Paige loves it and Pat and I always find that it's more entertaining than we remember. Owen, however, still doesn't love it but we were proud of him for giving it a shot! He took some breaks in the penalty box to read but came out pretty frequently and by the end had improved a ton! Paige stayed on the ice for pretty much the entire time, she takes to ice skating quickly every time we've gone!