"Insta"-replay #82, dance recital week

One week every year seems devoted entirely to dance!  This year was no exception.  

Every evening (except Friday) they got ready to spend more time sitting than dancing, as teachers worked on last minute staging and making sure students knew where and when to come on stage.  

We managed some non-dancing fun too.

We hung out with Aunt Kim while she babysat the Ward cousins.  Kids love cell phones.

We took our own turn babysitting, playing outside since inside was too warm.

When the weather got too hot we headed to a nice air conditioned play place.

We saw our other cousins too, played inside because allergies.

I managed to do one crafty project, an embroidered doll vest.  

Then finally it was recital day!  This year we were up and ready to go early so I even managed to get coffee before helping backstage.

After that week of "go, go, go" I'm glad for a week of rest!

"Insta"-replay #81, almost missed two weeks in a row!

Did miss two weeks in a row, oops, I wrote this but didn't post it last week so looks like there will be two blog posts today!

The last two weeks have been packed!  Summer is starting with gusto.

Charry and Merry "bridged" to the next ranks of Girl Scouts.  Our troop leader is a sweetheart and always makes sure to have at least a small ceremony to make the day special.

We had a blast with all the ward and burks cousins at the Enchanted Forest.  It is a cute little theme park in a wonderful wooded area.  Even though we cut our visit short because of pouring rain it was a great time.

Merry and cousin Lidi both got to take their end of the year tests for third grade, in our state this is the first required testing.  The girls were happy to have a familiar face taking the test also.

Last week was also dress rehearsal for dance.

We spent a lot of time at the studio with out high buns!

My week finished with a ladies night out!  I went to hear my mom and Bill sing show tunes with the "festival chorale". The music was fun but the costumes are what really caught my attention.

Recital is coming quick so you can expect more pictures of little dancers next week.

"Insta"-replay #80, beach trip!

Last week went slowly by, until the weekend which past quickly!

The girls are working hard to finish up school.  Now that some subjects are done the end seems near!

We started our weekend with a trip to the local DQ.  It had been a while and I had coupons!

We had a quiet day at home, enjoying non-electronic play.

Then enjoyed a day exploring at the aquarium!

The girls could have spent the entire day just watching the sea birds.

We ended the weekend with a BBQ at the beach.  The girls played in the sand with cousins until it was time to head home.

After all that relaxing we are back to working hard! For a few days anyways.

"Insta"-replay #79, what made this week special

Last week I only took pictures of the unusual so here's what was different for the week:

 Aunt Kimie came to distract the littles during piano lessons.  Her smart watch was very effective.

Merry showed off her fashion forwardness. To be honest I was more confused than impressed but she has better fashion sense than me so maybe it's time to clip birds to hats.

We ended the week at an Engineering expo!  Seniors at OSU had their projects on display and many had candy out too.  I made the kids think of one question about the projects before they could ask about candy.

It's been a good week, now on to the next!

"Insta"-replay #78, no time to say hello, good bye

This week felt like a whirl wind!

Monday was "Star Wars" day so I celebrated with a new shirt.

Then we headed home from California.  Even with limited stops we barely had time to unload before rushing to dance class.

The next day we had a good time with my friend Katie at McDonalds before hurrying to Girl Scouts.

I thought Wednesday would be calm since AWANA is over. Instead we got to meet my second cousin Caleb, who is adorable, and rush from one meeting to another.  Both grandmas were in town and I failed to get a picture of either.

Thursday was mostly spent getting ready for the last day of co-op which was Friday's big event.  I did manage to find a death star beach ball while searching for supplies.

Thank goodness for the weekend!  It was nice to sit and watch as Aunt Katie let Charry help make brownies.

As the school year winds down we tend to have extra busyness before summer break, "the storm before the calm."

"Insta"-replay #77, Walters assemble

After our usual busy week we had a wonderful long weekend with family and "marvel"ous fun.

Cousins spent time drawing while mom's spent time drinking coffee.

My sister dragged us out into the real world with sun and everything.

We had our final night of AWANA, Merry was happy to hold the flag.

Charry had her final night in TnT, we are very proud of her for finishing all 4 book and earning her Timothy award.

Then it was off to Cali!  And what did we do in Cali?

Saw friends accomplish awesome goals.

Went to a fun movie.

Enjoyed hanging out with Walters family.

And helped with a surprise super hero party!

I must say I'm warn out!  But this week has already started without me so it's time to catch up.

"Insta"-replay #76, spring time

This week we enjoyed the spring weather.

School was done without coats on!

I managed to get patches put on vests before our GirlScouts meeting.

Merry worked on her filming skills, I think it was an adventure film because she set up a zip line.

I watched my niece for an hour and discovered she loves cats.  The real surprise was that my cat tolerated her.

We finished up the week at our local AG fest where we watched cousin Lidi clog dance.  It was a lot of fun and she did a fabulous job!

We are loving the Spring!