Dance Camp & Cheer Camp

In the past two weeks Allie and Avery have attended two McCutcheon High School camps, dance and cheer. Cheerleading was first and Avery was very apprehensive to go. She started crying when we got there and I really didn't think she was going to stay. I think the only reason she did was because Allie was there with her......little did she know that they would soon be separated into their own age groups. When I picked them up I found out that Avery never left Allie's side. On the second day I had asked her to try and go to her own class and used a little bribery telling her if she did we could go play at GG's afterwards. Fifteen minutes after I dropped them off I had a call from the Cheer Coach asking if it was okay for Avery to stay with Allison's group because she was much happier there. (Allie had told her she needed to stay with her group so we could go to GG's!) LOL! Also on that 2nd day of camp Avery met one of the cheerleaders that she really liked. From that day on she enjoyed camp and would constantly be saying, "I love Katelyn!" However, she still didn't really participate all that much in the cheers as you will see in the video.




I love it when Blake makes that face!

The following week was Dance camp. Both girls were really excited about this one. I knew they would be more comfortable since they know the McCutcheon dance director really well. The girls were not initially in the same group but, once again, Avery wouldn't cooperate unless she was with Allie. Parents were allowed to come to camp 15 minutes before it was over to videotape. During that time Avery was always participating but always way behind in the moves and sometimes doing her own thing. It was actually pretty funny......she was making all of the other parents laugh. On the night of the recital I was so surprised that she actually did the performance....and pretty well compared to their practices. Deedra later told me that she bribed her with graham crackers! :)

The girls and Deedra

The kids and I have been going through old pictures and we came across this gem:

This is Deedra and I 13 years ago when we both taught in the Creative Corral PreK @ McCutcheon. 

Magical

I know we've already had Holiday World overload but I found a few more pictures. :) I especially wanted to share about our visit to see Santa at this little shop we stopped in.

He called the girls in and showed them his watch which gave them a rating from 1-10 on their behavior. Avery was first........a 5!!!!! haha, so fitting for our ornery girl. Next Allie's read a 7.5.......she was very disappointed (she does deserve at least a 9!). Then they were able to go sign their name on the nice list so Santa would know where to bring their gifts this Christmas......as long as they stay good.

 

Allie is starting to get to the age where she will question if Santa is real or not. After our visit with him she was fairly certain he was the real Santa. He had a real beard, he knew we were moving to England and said he would still come there but over there they call him Father Christmas. He also knew that Daddy was in the Air Force and gone right now (then went on telling them to be sure he said to tell him thank you and thanked them as well for being good for their Mommy, who was also doing a good job taking care of them at home). Then he saw Blake and of course he was afraid, but he was with Papa and Santa remembered Papa from visiting him when he was a little boy. It really was kind of a "magical" moment.

B-day Party

This afternoon we went to cousin Alex's 6th birthday party. The kids had fun!

About a month ago we went to Noah's b-day party......

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

We made our first trip to Holiday World a few days ago. It was so much fun. I wish we could make an annual trip out of it. We spent the first day basically just riding the rides. It seemed like we had the place to ourselves. We never had to wait in any lines! The weather was perfect too! We went ahead and purchased the discounted tickets for the next day. Unfortunately it rained for the majority of the day but we spent it at the waterpark so we were going to get wet anyway. I would have liked to have seen the sun more though. :) All in all, it was a great trip, good company with my parents, Sandy, Ashley & Conner. Now prepare for picture overload!

Day 1

Hands down, Blake's favorite thing!

Avery would only ride with Sandy......and she was screaming "get me off this thing now" the whole time

they followed Holidog around EVERYWHERE!

Blake was so cute on the rides. He would get off one and crookedly point to the next one he wanted on and say "wide"

Allie & Conner's favorite ride

this one was probably Avery's favorite

this scared me to death!

@ Santa's Lodge

walking to dinner

moments before Blake disappeared under all of those bubbles!

Day 2

exhausted! :)

cold from all of the rain

getting brave

I had no idea they were putting him on by himself! I thought he was coming down with Allie. He tossed and turned, flipped all the way down the side.....banging his head on the way. :(

Allie's favorite waterslide

this got them when we first got there. They kept a close eye on it the rest of the time.

Memorial Day Weekend

I was kind of hoping Derek would surprise us with an early return home. Wishful thinking! How perfect would that have been though. Memorial Day weekends are usually super busy for us, usually spent on the lake......not this year. We roasted some marshmallows over the fire one night. I talked at church on Sunday about military life and how the gospel helps us through these long separations. (which had me super stressed out and highly emotional all week long prior to it). And then on Memorial Day we went to the zoo with Bryan, Kim & Hannah.