Beach Day....Brrrr

Yesterday it was 102 degrees in Sunnyvale.  Today it was over 90 degrees when we loaded up the car with Hadley, Leo, Serafina and Sunny to head to Santa Cruz.  You can always count on Santa Cruz to be close to 20 degrees cooler.  But that would make a perfect mid-70s beach day for us.  Well, Santa Cruz betrayed us and it was 62 degrees when we arrived.  I tried to convince the kids it would be warmer down on the sand, and it was...a little.  Even with the sun shining it was chilly.  Oh and there was huge dead seal down the beach to really tarnish my idyllic beach day.  Everyone was a good sport for as long as we could.  Hadley, Leo and I chatted and laughed.  Serafina and Sunny frolicked at the shore and played in the sand.  Then the fog started to roll in and we couldn't pretend that it was a beach day anymore.  

No matter what the weather, we are always going to get Marianne's before heading home.  

 Hadley is moving to Missouri on Friday, and Leo is bummed out.  I'm absolutely heartbroken because that kid cracks me up.  She also seems to tolerate me better than my own kids, which I deeply appreciate.  

Recital Weekend 2022

 There has not been a full dance recital since 2019.  Sure, in 2020 they had an awkward online recital, but I'd rather not think too much about that one.  But this weekend we had a honest to goodness recital with costumes and dress rehearsal and lots of flowers!  

Friday we went to dress rehearsal and she only had to rehearse her technique classes.  The competition dances are burned into these kids minds and bodies so thoroughly at this point, they don't need to take up time at the dress rehearsal practicing them.  The rehearsal had the same energy I remembered from three years ago - fun and easy.  I feel so lucky that we found this studio and get to have this experience since that has not been true other places she's danced.  

Anyway, dress rehearsal went well and we got home in the afternoon on Friday with time to recharge and prep for the big show.  Well, three shows actually.  Pre-COVID the studio was so big and had so many dancers, they would put on five shows over two days.  There are less dancers and classes now so they only had three shows all on Saturday, June 18th.  Yep, my birthday.  Serafina kept apologizing that I was spending my birthday at recital, but I was fine with it.  I knew that this was going to be the case last year, so that's why I made sure to have a party.  

We got up early and headed to the theater for the 8:45am call time.  The first show was at 9:30.  Our little friend Halle was also performing in that show so I took both girls to the theater. 

Here they are before I sent them backstage.  I had my volunteer badge on so I was able to walk Halle into her dressing room.  Serafina went off to the dressing room for her competition team. 

These pictures are a combination of shots I snuck during the actual show and pictures we were allowed to take during the dress rehearsal.  I bought a photo and video package so hopefully I'll have more shareable images and/or videos soon. 

In the first show, she performed her technique hip hop routine.  At the beginning of the dance season, she decided to join a class because her friends were in it.  It was a pretty advanced class and I wasn't sure if they would let her in because she hasn't actually taken hip hop at her current studio.  In fact, the last time she was in a hip hop class was 2017.  But we didn't mention that and she did just fine.  In fact, she did better than fine...she was awesome in this complicated routine. 

She also performed a beautiful ballet routine in the first show.  Ballet isn't her favorite but it's a required class for her to be on her dance teams and to take lyrical/contemporary class.  She started front and center for this routine.  I was very proud of her.  

That first show also had her jazz technique class routine.  I hate this costume and think they look like librarians.  But again, she was up front and center and got to do some impressive moves.  

Every show closed with her big hip hop routine.  Tom, Sunny and I were in the audience for the first show, along with Halle's mom and dad.  

We had just enough time between shows to grab a drink and some food before she needed to be backstage again for the second show that started at 1:30pm.  The second show had her competition lyrical routine in the first act and her competition jazz routine in the second act.  She also performed her technique contemporary routine during that show.  Two classes combined to make a large group, but again, she spent most of the dance in the front and had a special kick at the end when she was one of only two dancers left on stage.  

Again, she ended that show with the big hip hop routine. Leo and Nana came out for that show.  Tom was there again too, because he's a good sport and he wanted to see the contemporary routine he hadn't seen before.  She also had her school friends come out to watch. 

Here's Mia, Arya, Serafina and Rozalynn.  

With Leo and Nana. 

Whole fam. 

The 5:30 show was my turn to volunteer.  I was asked to sell flowers in the lobby, but we sold out before the show started, so I headed backstage to see where I was needed.  I ended up helping send dancers to the stage from the competition team dressing rooms.  It was a pretty easy gig, but I was also worn out from my long day. 

I did get to see her perform her last two dances of the night.  Both are competition dances I've seen several times but it's still fun to watch.  

First up was show jazz. 

Here she is with Linda before performing.  Man, I don't like these costumes. 

Impressive even from the wings. 

Once again, they closed the show with hip hop.

She was not expecting to see my backstage, and she wasn't pleased.  This is probably the stinkiest stink eye I've ever received.  

It was an exhausting, wonderful time.  We arrived home to hot take-out food that Tom and Leo fetched for us.  On Sunday, we relaxed and enjoyed Father's Day with Tom.  Her dance season isn't over since the National competition is coming up in early July.  

Lake trip with friends

Sometimes I have good ideas that are exhausting to execute.  This past weekend is a perfect example.  I thought it would be fun for the kids to invite friends to the Lake House.  Serafina's first choice was Sunny, of course, but she had multiple sports to compete in over the weekend.  Leo invited his friend Hadley, who had to miss a day of camp to come, but was willing to do that to join us.  I was worried about the dynamic if Serafina didn't have a friend, so she asked Arya to come along. I was excited about how fun it would be for the kids to have company other than their boring parents at the lake.  Then we had to think about the logistics, and honestly, it wasn't pretty.  In fact, I considered backing out of bringing along extra people.  But Tom and I knew the kids would have a super fun time with their friends so we needed to figure it out.   

The first "challenge" was getting the little cart, affectionately named the "cool rider", back up to the lake house.  We brought it down to Sunnyvale for the winter so it didn't get crushed by snow.  The method of transportation is towing it in a rented trailer.  I do not enjoy driving like this.  Not at all.  

But inside the car would prove to be even trickier.  With my back row of seats up to accommodate our extra passengers, we have very limited trunk space.  I mentioned this to a new friend I met through the middle school and she offered up a roof bag to borrow.  Well this is what made it possible.  Sure, we did tie down some duffle bags in the trailer, but we also filled up the roof bag and our little trunk, and made it work.  It helped that Hadley was a very light packer and only brought a backpack for herself.  

Here she is...trailer in back, roof bag up top.  

Trailer, "cool rider", four kids, two adults and one dog all headed up to the mountains.  

Loaded up! 

We got there late on Friday night since the driving was slow with the trailer.  Arya asked how long we had been driving before we even got on the freeway.  Leo and Hadley watched a movie in the way back and laughed through the whole thing.  When we finally got to the house a little after midnight, Arya announced it was way past her bedtime.  

The next day, everyone woke up and had some breakfast.  Tom and I had a lot to figure out to maximize the fun on the lake.  Well, Tom did almost all of it while I walked the dog and rallied the troops. 

It was an absolutely beautiful day.  Perfect lake day.  We got to experience the private beach club that we joined for the first time and I was really happy with it.  Less crowded than the public beach with tons of tables and umbrellas.  

Here's Hadley and Leo ready to conquer the water.  Leo wore his contacts so he could use his cool sunglasses.  

Hadley headed out in the kayak. 

Leo was on a standup paddle board. He really liked paddle boarding in Michigan a few summers ago, so he was excited to do it again.  

Arya and Serafina had a ton of fun on the water.  

Here's Arya and Tom in kayaks with Serafina on the paddle board.  

Paddle board queen. 

Serafina and Arya head out in the kayaks. 

Tom tried out the paddle board.  He thought it was a bit trickier than it looks. 

Such a warm, beautiful day on the lake. 

Everyone was out and about.  When they weren't on the water, they were wandering the shoreline or playing on the playground.  

Eventually they were ready to end the water fun and walk to the ice cream shop.  We sent them off, and Tom and I finally got a chance to kayak together.  Then it was time to pack up the gear. The beach is just a block and a half from our house.  The perfect distance to walk with the wagon full of towels and snacks, but when you need a big water toy, the "cool rider" is the perfect solution. 

Tom got the little paddle board, apparently.  Thankfully, it's inflatable and we were able to deflate it and fit it in the shed behind him.  

While we were working on getting things put away, the ice cream gang returned.  

That evening Tom and I socialized a little with our neighbors and then fed the kids dinner at home.  We watched Little Shop of Horrors, and all the kids were in bed by 10:30 without me telling them to go to bed.  They were exhausted.  

We woke up to rain on Sunday.  It rained pretty much the whole day.  After a slow morning, we went to town for some shopping.  We didn't last long in town because of the weather, so we headed home for a lazy afternoon around the cabin.  

Here's Tom stretching on the exercise ball while reading a magazine, Hadley doing a puzzle while listening to a podcast, and Serafina watching TV on my laptop.  

Hadley worked on that puzzle for hours and hours.  It was kind of amazing to watch. 

The rain finally cleared up before dinner so it was time for some whiffle ball to work up an appetite.  Here's Hadley up to bat.  

Mousse was convinced this game was for him. 

Arya's turn.  

We headed back into town to our favorite pizza spot.  We ate a ton of pizza and laughed about all kinds of things.  

We watched another movie that night while Hadley did more puzzling.  Monday morning, everyone pitched in to get us packed up and on the road before 10am.  I was so impressed with us.  Driving home with an empty trailer is easier, but still not fun.  What was fun?  Our crazy weekend with two extra kids!  I'm proud of Tom and I for being brave and taking on all this.  We made memories and proved to ourselves we can do it.  But we won't be in any rush to do it again.  
 

Leo's 8th Grade Promotion

 Leo is officially a high schooler!  Today we attended his 8th Grade Promotion at the middle school.  

We had to go out and buy a button-down shirt because he has not had an occasion to dress up in a very long time.  

There were some touching speeches, and everyone reflected on what a strange middle school journey these kids have had. Every year has been impacted by COVID in one way or another.  I felt on the verge of tears a couple of times, but held it together.  That was until Leo's mentor teacher gave her speech and sang a couple of lines from one of Leo's original songs. That got my waterworks going. It's been an interesting school year to return to in-person learning at a completely new school with a different teaching philosophy than the prior schools.  

Here's Leo receiving his certificate. 

I brought flowers for some of my favorite kids.  Here's Drew, Leo and Hadley with their flowers.  

Required sibling picture.  

He got this candy-filled necklace from his mentor teacher. 

Family picture (with cake of course)