Back-to-back Tahoe weekends

We don't usually do back-to-back Tahoe weekends, but because of Serafina's dance schedule, it made the most sense for us.  Unfortunately, there hasn't been any new snowfall, but there is a lot of snow pack.  The clear weather makes for easy driving and beautiful sunshine for taking Mousse out for walks.  

Here he is ready to head out in his little sweater.  He doesn't like putting his legs in so he ended up shaking it off after about half a block.  

Fortunately, since he's off-leash when we are in the neighborhood, he's running around so much that he doesn't get cold.  

When we are out, I stroll (carefully because of ice) down the street and Mousse runs back and forth checking out every house and jumping on every snowbank.  

Here he is in front of the Moose crossing sign.  

Mousse loves the snow even if he isn't very graceful in it. 

The kids and Tom had fun skiing, but there was a serious lack of pictures, except for this selfie from Serafina. 

Tom took this video of Serafina shredding it up. 

 

Hollywood Connection Pictures and Videos

We got the videos and pictures from the Hollywood Connection competition.  I don't know of any other competition that allows you to access and download this media for free.  It's really great.  

Here are her dances in the order she performed. 

The first routine was the huge hip hop crew.  The kids in this number range in age from younger than Serafina to the the oldest kids at the studio.  It's a very fun number, but she's pretty hard to spot.  

There are almost 50 kids in this dance. 

Here's the video: 

The hip hop routine won first place!

The next routine is a lyrical dance. This one also placed first in their category. 

Here's the video: 

Her jazz dance is super fun, and she's featured in the beginning and the end as part of a trio.  She was nervous about this one, but during the last few rehearsals, she started to feel more confident.  They all performed amazing, but they were less than one point away from placing in their category.  This particular jazz category has a lot of entries.  

Here's the video: 

These costumes don't look great close up, but looked really good on stage.  

Speaking of costumes...her large jazz group, called "Show Jazz", has my least favorite costume of all time and she's had some less than cute costumes in the past.  It doesn't look good up close or on stage.  The costumes look old fashion to me, which I guess is appropriate because they dance to a very old fashion song.  In fact, it was first recorded in 1938.  It's called Big Noise from Winnetka, and they perform to a Bette Midler cover of it that is from a live version because there is a crowd cheering on the track.  Again, there are a ton of kids in this number so spotting her is a challenge. 

Here's the video: 

This routine placed second in their category.  We've got a couple weeks off and then she competes again the second weekend in February.  

 

Hollywood Connection 2022

Serafina had her first competition and convention of the season this past weekend.  We were getting the hang of new costumes and more costume changes, so I didn't get any pictures during the competition.  Last year, they posted the videos and pictures taken by the professional photographer.  Hopefully that happens again this year.  For now, I have this cute picture of her talking to Sunny right she was done competing on Friday night. 

Here's a selfie she took in her room all ready in her hip hop costume with make-up and hair done. 

Here's a backstage selfie before her jazz dance. 

Here's a picture of her lyrical dance team waiting in the wings for their turn to perform.  It was posted on the dance studio's Instagram page. 

 On Saturday and Sunday, we had to get up early so she could participate in workshops in all different styles of dance.  She had a ballroom dance class for the first time during the convention. 

Overall, she did amazing.  The lyrical dance ended up taking first in their category.  She had been upset immediately after finishing that routine because there was an error in the timing and she felt responsible.  I assured her that you couldn't tell from the audience, and clearly the judges also didn't notice.  I was worried she would let her negative state of mind impact her performance in the following dances she needed to do.  She performed a jazz routine next and it was absolutely awesome.  She is heavily featured in the dance, and she really did a great job.  

It was a tiring weekend, especially since we are out of practice.  We haven't had a demanding weekend in a long time, but we did a good job managing.  It helped that it was close to home.   

Purple's Foster Puppies

 Serafina's friend Purple's family is fostering four little rolly polly puppies. She went over to Purple's house on Saturday to hang out with Purple and got lots of puppy cuddle time. 

Mousse's 2nd Birthday

Mousse is two!  The rescue told us his birthday is January 10th.  They also told us he is a lab mix, but that proved incorrect.  Regardless of the accuracy, we consider January 10th to be his birthday and this year he got a box of cheeseburger flavored dog treats and a squeaky toy.  I made him pose like a handsome boy first. 

So happy with his new toy. 

He's such a sweet dog, a little strange and still a handful, but we adore him.  He loves to play fetch and likes humans more than other dogs.  We are very happy he is our silly boy.  
 

Happy New Years 2022!

It was another quiet New Year's Eve, similar to last year.  But this negative covid test for Serafina was a ticket to having Sunny join us for the night.  

She joined us for dinner, and there was lots of squealing and giggling.  It really changed the tone of the night. 

It made everything feel more festive and fun. 

They came out of Serafina's room for treats and watching certain things on the TV with us.  

This is how much Serafina felt she needed to squat down to take a picture with Sunny.  Ha! 

We toasted the new year and can only hope that 2022 is brighter and lighter than the past two years. 

Sunny ended up going home about 1:30am to sleep in her own bed.  After this long pandemic, a full sleep-over is a bit much, but I told her there is always next time.  
 

Merry Christmas!

 We had our traditional Christmas Eve with my mom and lots of seafood for dinner.  Tom branched out and made calamari.  I missed the calamari course because I was on the phone with my cousin Dillon, but that's okay because I don't eat fish or squid.  I didn't take any pictures while my mom was here, but after she went home, we made our annual butter cookies for Santa. 

Serafina doing some decorating. 

Leo decorating. 

Here's the end result. 

I found a picture from the first time we made these cookies in 2012.  Look at those little goobers!  So small and cute. 

I didn't take any pictures of the kids opening presents on Christmas morning, only Mousse with his Baby Yoda toy from Tracy and Maya.  Ha!  I guess that's the new era we live in. 

He was so happy. 

I made them pose for a picture after dinner though.  Serafina has on her new Christmas pajama pants and new slippers. 

I told Leo to give me a good smile and this is what I got. 

New ornaments!  Beautiful Santa Mermaid from Sheila. 

See's Candies centennial ornament from Santa. 

There were renters at our house that were supposed to leave on Christmas morning.  On Christmas Eve, there was a power outage that impacted the entire Donner Lake neighborhood.  The power came back on around 5pm and the renters were gone.  I guess they didn't want to be stuck there in the dark, even though the heat is gas.  It turned out that they were smart to leave when they did because the highway closed early Christmas morning and it still hasn't re-opened.  We were supposed to get a new group of renters today, but they probably can't get there with the highway closed.  So much snow fell that when we checked the cameras this afternoon (after another outage), the snow pile in front of the house was almost to the roof!