Winter Show 2019

The annual winter show was this past weekend. But before we get into that, let's back up to the hours and hours of work that goes into this incredible show. 

Back in early December Regan committed to trying out for the Cast of the show, which meant doubling her time at the studio for the month of January in preparation. 

She had a great try-out and landed two roles in the Cast (one part in each show), she held an evil part and a good princess part and was over the moon with the opportunity. 

Each Saturday and Sunday, she spent 3-4 hours at the studio learning her roles. I had hours of coordinating our personal schedules to accommodate her dance, help volunteering at the studio with costumes and endless driving back and forth shuffling her around to formal practices and informal at friend's houses. 

In the last week before show weekend, Regan had 6 days straight of practice leading up to 2 nights of shows. Ouch. Couple that with other activities and school work, and we had a pretty stressful week. 

And then it was time for the show. 

Unfortunately, they lost their dress rehearsal night by having to add a third show due to ticket demands! Friday night ended up being show number one and I again volunteered as usher (secretly it's the best volunteer job around because once the show starts, I was able to watch from the back. Mom win!). 

Despite no dress rehearsal, they looked beautiful on stage. There were a few mishaps (more on that later) and a lot of tears backstage, but you wouldn't know it from the audience! 

 For the first (and third) show, Regan's Cast role was part of the Evil Army. When she found out she was in the Army after tryouts, she was so excited to wear this black one piece. Some kids love them, some hate them. Thankfully she was thrilled.

To get yourself inside this suit, one needs to be zipped up completely. And to get out, unzip. These girls also had a number of "quick changes" between songs to be sure they were back on stage and ready for the next song. Sadly, Regan's hair got stuck in the zipper and there was no getting her out. I was oblivious to this whole scene until hours later when a mom text me "Heads up they had to cut Regan's hair and she was crying...."

Wait, what!??! 

"her bun got caught in her costume and they couldn't get it out". 

My heart sunk to my stomach, not knowing how bad it would look. 

Following the show, as I waited for her to come out, the studio owner found me and let me know she wasn't prepared to hear over the headset that they were having to cut out Regan from the black suit. No one still had an update as to what it looked like. I feared the worst! 

There were lots of tears when I finally got to her, still not knowing how bad it was. Eventually after a shower and a good comb out, we realized that she has so much hair, no one would even notice. 

But they all went through the next shows without zipping their buns into the costume! 

Somehow she continued the remainder of the show, click here for a short glimpse of her jazz. 

Show two brought the princess role in cast and this beautiful girl shined on stage. 

In addition to the cast role, Regan had 5 other dances which were part of her regular weekly classes. This one was certainly one of my favorites, one of the ballet classes. 

Part of it might have been the gorgeous white leotard I may have paid too much for :) 

She picked that beauty out on her own (the studio provides costumes for this show, some of them require a leotard we can borrow or find on our own). This white leo is gorgeous, and she wore it to class the final week before the show. Only to get a tiny spot of blood on the side. In quickly washing it, I didn't realize I had also thrown in a newly purchased swimsuit in the washing machine at the same time. A maroon swimsuit. 

Her white (very expensive white) leotard was now pink. 

Double crap. 

Anyone close to me knows I don't do bleach very well (and I may have put holes in Sidney's white Vineyard Vines shirt once...). I was suupppeerrr careful and managed to get this leotard white again.
Dodged that bullet!

Her new glass-less face now that she's wearing contacts. I swear, she's all "growned" up, like she asked me so many times as a little girl :) 

Let me tell you, it was no easy feat picking her out on stage minus glasses this year. All those girls start to look alike! 

There was a host of kiddos on that stage for the final bow each show. 

And when her group from cast ran out, I got giddy hearing those fellow dancers squeal and cheer. Our girl was beaming with pride on stage. 

I loved this Pixie costume. A huge thanks to all my mom friends volunteering back stage who sent me photos throughout all of the shows :)  A short glimpse of one scene is here. 

The final show was back to the evil army costume (she's center in that photo below). 

We played it super safe and all of the army was instructed to leave the bun OUTSIDE of the costume so as to avoid anymore haircuts. HA! 

My camera had a hard time keeping up focus with the stage lights and speed sometimes. I think this photo, although blurry, is a fun depiction of all the movement. No wonder Lincoln loves the winter show! 

We love watching her shine on stage, doing her thing and showing off all her hard work. 

And I know darn well she adores all the socialization part of dance. She has deepened friendships and made new friendships, with kids young and old. 

And according to this younger friend's mom, Ava was just as excited and proud to have made a 'big-kid' friend in Regan. They clearly were having a good time together sharing inside jokes and giggles :) 

Oh goodness, these costumes might be the most hideous things anyone has ever seen! I had to include the photo in this post, if to only remember them years from now. 

The bow at the base of their head is made for a wreath, and is at least 10" in diameter! It's humongous and ridiculous! 

There was a cute cheering crowd that came one night to support Regan and her friends...this photo was taken while we were still crying over the haircut. Thankfully she had that amazing support and love to lift her up and not ruin her evening! 

Congratulations Regan on a job very well done. Your persistence to learn 9 different dances in a matter of a month amazes me. I love watching you dance on stage. Your skill has grown and grown over the last 7 years!
Nice job! 

Flashback to the first days of softball

We've come a long ways from the days of Regan's first softball experience.

Days where she stood in the field, quite apprehensive about the ball coming her direction.

Days of playing in the dirt, standing semi-prepared for the next ball with her hat in rally motion.

 

And let's not forget her early catching days. This picture cracks me up. She was TERRIFIED of the ball. Putting her glove over her face whenever the ball came close, nervous that it was going to come up between the helmet and chest protector.

And now our big girl stands proud behind the plate. Diving to make plays, knowing full well she could be injured by a cleat, a bat or a player. So proud of our ball loving almost teenager!

Learn to skate

Lincoln scored hockey skates and a hockey helmet for Christmas....and we're putting them to good use this week! 

Although we have a rink across the street, Ryan took him over one night last week and it smelled horribly of dog pee. Ewww. They came home and we swore off the rink at the park until it was less smelly and ready for use. 

This week I took Sidney and Lincoln to meet up with some friends at the indoor rink instead. Good thing too, because he spent much of his time flat on his back like this: 

He is figuring out this skating business, slowly but surely. Our first few attempts at skating this year were in rentals, figure skating rentals. A toe pick helps one catch their balance. I think he'll get the hang of it after a few more attemps. 

Love watching our kiddos tackle something new!