Showcase!

The dance season always feels like it should be over after Nationals but Paige still had showcase and two rec recitals to perform in! I got to see her solo one last time at Showcase and she did beautifully. I still can't believe how comfortable she is on stage, I'm impressed every time! Paige was in the elementary/middle school show this year but next year she'll be with all of the older kids in the high school show! 

Posing while her awards and accomplishments are being read

 

Nationals!

We stayed close to home for Nationals again this year, only having to drive back and forth to Sandusky! It was five days of dancing and a lot happened but I'm going to limit this to one picture collage for each day with a description of what happened that day!

Day One!

Day one of Nationals started fairly early but was not a super long day. Paige competed all four of her small groups within the span of about an hour with Invisible Battles receiving a Crystal (!!) and the other three receiving Double Platinum! It was also neon day!

Day Two!

Day two was only one dance in the evening-solo! Paige looked amazing on stage and scored Double Platinum. I was so impressed with her performance and proud of her! The theme was animal print!

Day Three!

Day three's theme was beach so everyone dressed in swimsuits and leis for the most part! Paige's friend wore an inflatable shark costume too! She also only had one dance this day and it received a Crystal!

Day Four!

Day four's theme is obvious by the pictures but it was White-Out! Paige had four dances left by this day and it was all large groups! Amazingly, they all won Crystals!!

Day Five!

Day Five was reserved for the Finals. The best dances of the week compete against each other again to see who comes out on top. Sometimes the results shift and sometimes they're the same as they were earlier in the week. Paige had four dances make it into the finals which is amazing! X and It's All Coming Back to Me won First place and her other two dances won second runner up! It was such an amazing finish to the year. Paige had so many dances that were more mature and more challenging than previous years, I loved getting to watch her grow as the year went on!

 

Father’s Day!

Owen started a new job on Father's Day so we had to limit our celebrating to earlier in the day. We showered him with gifts and the kids picked out a Cameo for him too, from Coach, a player on Survivor! It was hilarious and Pat was very surprised!! After that we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and brought home dessert to eat later!

 

Recital

Recital Time! Paige will still have two more recitals she needs to participate in but this was the big one for her with all of her dances. This was also the first time I didn't go back to help with any costume or hair changes, which was probably good because the dressing rooms were packed with kids!!

It was an extra long show this year but because it was all older dance company it was full of kids we all know and great dancing so it was fun to watch! 

Family!

Miley, Emma, Paige

Sibling picture!

Maeve, Arden, Paige

Paige and Hannah

 

Wake Up!

We found out back in May that Paige had made the cheer team for 9th grade and she's easing into starting conditioning and practices! One fun tradition they have is the seniors sneak into the freshman's rooms early in the morning to wake them up and take them for breakfast! For my part I had to be up at 3am, ready to let them in the house when they arrived. They got there closer to 4:15 but the cats kept me company while I waited. Paige had a little bit of a warning they were coming but she didn't know what time and they still woke her out of sleep by playing some creepy music! She got to drive around collecting the rest of the freshman and then went to breakfast and was make home around 8 or 9!

Binx got super relaxed while we waited

Griffin kept watch

Paige with her escorts-Layla, another freshman Bella and Shannon

Breakfast with Alayna, Siannah and Miley

Everyone!

 

Parkinson's Walk

We went to Parkinson's Moving Day last week to raise money and support Uncle Bill! It was a beautiful day and perfect for the event. Owen got a very spicy chicken sandwich from a food truck which was fun to watch and then we walked a mile before heading home to meet up with Paige.

 

Last Day of School for Paige!

Paige's last day of school was a little more traditional than Owen's but still started out differently than normal. She stayed at a friends house the night before which is why her picture is in front of someone else's house. According to the kids, they didn't do much all day and then at the end they had a clap-out through the halls! Paige will be at the high school next year so it felt bittersweet. Then she had dance and we went to Dairy Queen like we always have but it was just Miley and Paige this year! Everyone they used to go with either doesn't dance anymore or didn't go to dance that day!

 

ESPYs

Owen's school has a fun sports award event and he was nominated this year for Comeback Athlete of the Year! He didn't win (and he was totally ok with that!) but the whole event was so fun. The kids who hosted did a great job and Owen got called up to participate in a hula hooping contest at one point, a perk (drawback?) of knowing the people with the microphones! 

 

Last Day of School for Owen!

The high school has a whole week of finals so there is no true last day of school for everyone together. The seniors finish a couple weeks before the rest of the school and then everyone else is done after they take their last final. Owen only had one final this year because he had so many AP tests so he was done with school last Tuesday morning! And now onto Senior year!!!

 

8th Grade Awards!

Paige worked hard this year too and also had an awards program during the last week of school that Pat and I were able to attend! She was awarded the Presidential Excellence Award for her good grades and the Presidential Educational Achievement for Growth Award. I believe the second one was for showing growth in state testing...? So proud of her!!