Shuffleboard!

Part of Pat's birthday celebration happened a day after he turned 40. We tried shuffleboard for the first time! They gave us some quick instructions on what to do, sanitized everything and then we had an hour to play. It was really fun, I wasn't even sure we would need an hour, thinking we might get bored before then but we fit in two games and the hour was up. Pat and Paige were on a team and won both games. After that we got some food in the restaurant part of the venue, it was our first time eating in a restaurant in over a year and it was very good!

I like the entrance!

Strategizing

Paige tried some different ways of pushing the disc (also called a biscuit!)

Pat needed a nap after all of that activity:)

 

40th Birthday!

Happy birthday Pat! Pat turned 40 over the weekend! He started his morning off by getting his first COVID vaccine and we decorated the house while he was gone. When he got home there were 40th birthday signs and spiral decorations hanging from the ceiling. We picked up Paige from dance and then went to Swenson's for his birthday meal. Paige and I are still not big fans but the guys enjoyed their food and Paige was happy with her milkshake. Later that night Owen had two soccer games (won one, tied one) and then we had some late night carrot cake and gave Pat his presents!

40!

A coworker sent Pat a giant cookie bouquet!

Griffin sat still for a moment so Pat could hang out with him

Swenson's!

Soccer!

Pat picked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for his birthday dessert

Paige made Pat a message on the iPad that said I love you, you can't see it at all:)

Owen made Pat his classic card

Family selfie!

 

Soccer!

Pat actually took a picture!! Owen's team seems to be in a rut and they haven't been able to pull off any wins lately so that's kind of a bummer but they're not letting it get them down. Next week they'll get to start outdoor practices and games so hopefully they'll start getting some wins!

Pat said there was another team from their club playing on one side of the balcony and girls playing volleyball on the other side of the balcony. Guess which one they're watching!

 

Competition #3

Phew! Three weekends in a row of competitions was a lot!! Paige had it a little easier this past weekend because she didn't have to perform three of her dances due to the prop size being too large for the studio to bring but the days were even longer than normal! We drove down Friday night because she had an early start on Saturday. She had to be there about 9am and we didn't leave until around 7pm despite only having four dances that day. The one good thing is that meant a lot of time to be with friends, watch friends dance and get actual meals. Sunday we had to be there even earlier, about 7:45 am and we didn't get home until around 9:30! I didn't really understand the scoring in this competition but things I do remember are that Paige scored Platinum for her solo and all group dances except for tap which got High Gold. Move It and Pop, Drop and Roll got 1st place overall! 

Sidenote: a ton of people got sick once they got home from the competition from what we all suspect was a problem with the lettuce at Subway. There were very few places to eat and a lot of people ate there! So far Paige and I are good. She had Subway but didn't get any lettuce or other toppings on her sandwich and I ate at another place. They've cancelled dance classes for two days already because of it!

Goofballs!

Fun between dances!

Ready for jazz!

Move It

Dressed for solos

Paige petting the t-rex while Rachel fixes her tights

Trio!

Llama stuffed animals were a popular buy

Hip hop getting a pep talk from Carlin

 

Owen!

We've had a lot of Paige posts lately and I want to make it clear that Owen and Pat have been busy while we've been out of town but Pat keeps forgetting to take pictures! Pat has been working hard on fixing the upstairs bathroom and Owen had five soccer games last weekend! He was exhausted when I saw him Sunday night!

 

ODM

Competition 2 of 3 weekends in a row was ODM in Columbus. Normally this would be a local competition but because of restrictions they had to move locations. Paige didn't perform until Saturday night so we drove up in the afternoon and checked into the hotel before heading over to the venue. It was block scheduling which meant only Paige's studio was in the building while they were dancing and she danced right up until the end of the block so we got back to the hotel around midnight! 

On Sunday we had to be back at 2:30 for Paige to do her other six dances and ended up getting home around 8. Awards were virtual that night and very long(!) so we didn't stay up for them but Paige tied for 8th place overall for her solo in a very tough category so we were all so excited for her! Her other dances did well but I don't have the rundown of the scores this time!

Day 1, Clockwise from top left-hip hop, ready for lyrical (Maya was in her acro costume), older dancers explaining their dance after Paige had some questions, Maeve giving Paige a pep talk about her solo later, ready for acro!

Day 2, clockwise from top left-a little bit of time to swim Sunday morning, the girls playing Slamwich, ready for jazz, warming up in the hotel room!

 

Showstoppers Day 3

Day 3 was the big day! Paige had to perform 9 dances! She was most worried about holding her handstand in her acro dance but she did it and she was so excited and proud!! It was such a long and exhausting day but so rewarding for Paige, she really shines up on stage and looks so happy and comfortable! 

Pop, Drop and Roll (jazz)-platinum, 3rd overall

Move It (jazz)-crystal!! 1st overall

Two Worlds (acro)-double platinum, 2nd overall

No Bad News (tap)-platinum, 9th overall

Never Alone (contemporary)-double platinum, 6th overall

Bushel and a Peck (musical theater)-double platinum, 2nd overall

Hocus Pocus (trio)-platinum, 7th overall

Crush (hip hop)- platinum, 3rd overall

The Way It Is (Lyrical)- double platinum, 1st overall, 

Paige's whole training group ready for jazz

Waiting to perform Two Worlds! This is a lift the girls do in the dance

Crystal award for Move It! Crystals are given out rarely and mean your dance was near perfect!

Siannah, Paige and Maeve ready for contemporary

Tap group with Carla after awards

Bushel and a Peck with Rachel after awards

Paige ready for her last dance-lyrical!

Lyrical after awards

Exhausted and ready to go home!

 

Showstoppers Day 2

Day 2 was another "easy" day! Paige only had two dances but one of them was her solo so the day started off a little stressful but she did an amazing job and then got to relax before performing jazz/funk. Paige's solo scored Platinum, second in her category and ninth overall. Jazz/Funk got Platinum and 4th overall.

Masks were worn the whole weekend while at the competition but we let the girls pull them down to get some pictures at various points. Dancers had to carry around a bag for their masks and they would take them off right before stepping on stage and put them back on as soon as they exited the stage.

After the dancing was done for the day we took the girls to a store to buy some fidget toys and picked up Panera to bring back to the hotel. They were disappointed that the pool wasn't open but they had fun trading toys and playing together! They spent a lot of time doing their hip hop dance too!

Maeve, Arden and Paige ready for solos

Paige's teacher is so good about getting behind the scenes shots before solos!

ATB Soloists in Paiges category

Ready for jazz/funk

So excited to be wearing hoops this year!

Fidget trading!

Showstoppers Day One

It finally happened! A full dance competition with group dances! It's been a long time, a little over a year, so there was a lot of excitement and nerves. We brought Maeve and her mom into our covid bubble because we'll have three competitions, three weekends in a row and it made sense so we could room together at the hotel, and drive together. Paige only had one dance on Friday-mini line. Normally Paige isn't worried about that dance at all but she got one of the two lead parts this year! The dance looked fantastic and scored Double Platinum and first overall!

Road trip!

Paige and Maya ready for mini line

Ready for the run through before the performance

Paige and Maya with mini line trophies

Waiting...Paige drank more rootbeer this weekend than she has in the entire last year

Hotel room fun!

Maeve, Paige and Maya playing some sort of game on their tablets