Another year of dance lessons culminated with the Griffith Academy Dance recital this weekend. Molly was in her 4th recital and Annie was in her 1st ever dance recital. Both girls practiced their little hearts out and did an amazing job on stage. Best of all - they laughed, smiled and beamed from the stage. They had a blast dancing for their family and made us all so proud!
Saturday started with a ride on the RH ferry for the kids and I while Bob tried to get rid of a certain fruit fly infestation in the house! Ellie and Lizzie had never been on the ferry before and they all loved it! Plus it was a much needed cool breeze after hours at the park before hand!
Annie was so excited that cars could go on the ferry and quickly made friends with a teacher from the high school who thought she was adorable!
Lizzie was a little under the weather but once she got some water in her she started feeling better.
My boy needs a haircut but he is still adorable!
Sisters! Our ferry ride ended just in time for us to meet up with Papa for lunch.
By late afternoon it was time for Mommy and Molly to head out for pedicures for Molly's big day - her 4th Griffith Academy Dance Recital. Her make-up took about 5 minutes and her bun took about 45 minutes but we finally did it!
Molly in her Irish costume! Daddy could not get over how much like a teenager Molly looked. Once she got on stage with her huge grin - her best Molly-girl smile came out and Bob and I held hands while we watched our baby dance her little heart out!
She was amazing - joyful, energetic, in perfect rhythm and extraordinarily beautiful!
Auntie Ann has never missed a recital and she was there early and excited to see Molly-girl dance!
Molly and Julia had been talking excitedly about the recital so we begged someone to sell us an extra ticket for the recital so that Julia could be there to see Molly. Auntie Brigid and Uncle Joe were sweet enough to stay home and let Julia have the only ticket so that Molly and Julia could hang out after!
Friends and Cousins - it was very special to have Julia at her preformance!
Auntie Beth flew 3,000 miles to see Molly and Annie in their dance recitals and she loved every minute of it - at least that's what she told us! Molly was thrilled to have her auntie there!
Even though people had been waiting in line for hours Papa managed to score us front row seats on the side where Molly was dancing. Papa ROCKS!
Love this picture of Papa and Molly - she could not stop looking at Papa and smiling while she was dancing on stage and he could not wait to be the first one to hug her when she got off the stage. It was very cute when my dad leapt out of his seat to go get Molly off the stage at the end and she jumped into his arms!
When we asked Julia what she thought she said "I was very impressed and my cousin was the best one on stage!" Considering there were several World Irish Step Dancing Champions on the stage that is very high praise! We, of course, headed out to Friendlies for a celebration after!
Molly and all of the people who love her. there were many more at home waiting to see the video of her dance but tickets were very limited for her recital!
Sunday morning was Annie's turn and she could not have been more eady! Annie went from crying when we brought her to dance class on the 1st day and having Miss Marybeth hold her through the entire class to begging to go to dance 20 times a week and never wanting to leave.
Sisters!
Annie was loving Ellie and so happy that her sisters were there to see her!
Our little cupcake!
Emily and Annie
Dance class friends - Annie loves Emily!
Abby also danced on Sunday so this is my beautiful goddaughter in her "Butterfly Slipjig" costumes! She was gorgeous!
Waiting for the recital to begin!
Abby and Tyler - I forced them into this picture but how cute are they?
Lizzie was a bit under the weather and slept through most of the recital but woke up in time to see her sister!
Waiting for the show to start!
Daddy scored us the same front row seats for this show as we had the night before - we have no idea why no one took these seats but we were thrilled to have them.
The rest of the crew waiting for the recital to start.
Molly and Tyler - these 2 love spending time together!
Annie did a phenomenal job and, to be honest, at her age just getting out on stage and dancing at all is a huge step. She smiled and did her dance steps like a big girl and was very excited to see us right in the front row!Auntie Beth couldn't wait to get Annie in her arms and congratulate her.
I love this picture of Abby - she is so beautiful!
Abby and her grandmothers - what a lucky girl!
Abby and Molly - these 2 have been known to jig around our houses together until Karla and I beg the to stop because we have a headache. They both love to dance and the only thing etter than dancing is dancing together! Look at those huge smiles!
Auntie Beth and Annie
Annie was very excited because Auntie Beth said yes to a sleepover in honor of her stellar performance at her recital! She would move to LA with Auntie Beth if she could!
Auntie Kaka bought Annie this bracelet and she has not taken it off!
Abby and Annie relieve to have their recital behind them and enjoy pizza with all of their family who came to see them on this big day!
Annie loved her flowers - she even at lunch with them in her hands!
Karla forgot to put makeup on Abby for her recital and I took this picture to show Abby how incredibly gorgeous she is without any makeup at all. She looks like she has makeup on - look at those gorgeous eyelashes! I am blown away by my goddaughter - thos eyes melt my heart!
Abby loves her funny face pictures!
Pizza and fun for everyone! What a wonderful day we had! We are so lucky!
Auntie Kake and Grammy serenaded us all - it was quite a treat!
Annie and Katie - these 2 are BFF's but they are going to cause some trouble one day!
My beautiful niece with her curly locks - I love my Katie smiles!
Papa with his hands full! Our kids are so lucky to have Papa - he makes each of them feel so special and loved! Auntie Ann went above and beyond yesterday by sneaking out the door of the restaurant before we noticed that she had paid the entire bill - and that was on top of attending 2 recital in 24 hours! Auntie Beth has always been supportive of the girls dance education by supporting them in any way from financial to flying home to be at the recital each year!
All in all a wonderful weekend filled with dancing, laughter, family and love. We are so blessed in so many ways. The girls are in a dance school that values family, tradition, education and fun! Our family and friends support our children in everything they do and encourage them to be proud of themselves for any accomplishment. Bob and I have the support and love of family who hold babies, attend recitals, plan sleepovers, hug, kiss, encourage and love our children and us no matter what!
GNM - ILY!
