school's out for summer

Our Spring was busier than ever! With one dance competition under our belt, we still had one more to go. This one covered two days for both girls. It was a competition we have never done before, and a tough competition at that. The girls did a great job and worked so hard to improve their performances from the first competition.

This was the first year Cece competed in dance. Having both of my girls competing now is so fun. The love it and I love watching them on stage. I am proud of how hard they worked this year and how much they have improved. With the competitions behind us, recital is last performance of the dance season. Recital weekend is in June and it's a weekend full of all things dance. Fun, but crazy!

Next up for Olivia was being recognized for her amazing artwork from the FAME Festival. A piece of her artwork was awarded the "Mayors Award" at the festival back in March and she was invited to a special ceremony with the Mayor to receive recognition. I was proud of my girl for her art that was so cool, even the Mayor of Fort Wayne thought so!

Before I knew it, it was Mother's Day. I was able to sneak my girls away for a little bit that day so we could get manis/pedis. Cece and I opted to have our toes done, while Olivia wanted to have her nails done. It was fun to have some mommy/daughter time with my girls.

A few weeks later Cecilia was showing off her skills at her annual gymnastics showcase. This is where they highlight everything they have learned all year on each apparatus. My girl showed off her skills on the bars, vault, beam, and floor. She loves gymnastics and it shows.

Olivia's soccer team had a great season and managed to make it all the way to State finals! The worked hard, and played harder. Once they made it down to state finals they lost, coming in third for the season. Not too shabby!

While Olivia was busy with all of her soccer stuff, we had some extra time with Cece. In the Spring the best thing to do is visit the zoo! It's still cool enough to enjoy walking around and the animals are so active.

We managed to squeeze in some zoo time with Olivia too. It seems rare that we can take both girls to the zoo at the same time, so it's nice when the opportunity presents itself. Sister time is the best time!

Before we knew it school was wrapping up for the year! First up was Cece. Our girl had a great 2nd grade year. She worked so hard and met all of the goals that she set and were set for her. Her confidence improved drastically and she matured so much. Next year will be her last year at Peace Montessori. Hard to believe that we will be saying goodbye to a school both Olivia and Cece have spent so many years attending.

Olivia's last day of school was still a few days away, and before the year wrapped up each grade had their "end of the year" party. The entire 6th grade spent the afternoon at Crazy Pins doing glow in the dark bowling. Olivia has made some wonderful friends during her time at Canterbury. Her grade is small so they all know each other and she has made some really special friends.

And just like that, 6th grade was over. The last day of school was only a half day, but a fun one at that. It was a good year for Olivia. She put in the work and it showed through in her grades. She managed to balance her school work with dance and soccer, all with great success. Things will only continue to be more challenging, but I know she can manage it all.

That evening Olivia's hard work was rewarded at the end of the year awards ceremony at her school. She received high honors for maintaining all A's in all four quarters, as well as the "head student" award for being one of the top 8 in her grade. By far one of our proudest moments. What a year it was for her!

School was done and summer had begun. So many things to look forward to...swimming, camp, fun with friends. Bring on the sun and fun!

spring time, busy time

Winter was finally over, and as March rolled around we prepared for the annual Middle School musical. Olivia loved participating last year so she could wait for tryouts to roll around. This year they presented Aladdin, which she loved. Being involved in the musical is fun, but very time consuming. So many practices after school! Canterbury puts on pretty high quality productions and it shows! Olivia was a part of the chorus but because of her dancing skills she was featured a few times. She did a great job, as did all of the kids. It was a great show, and a rewarding experience for Olivia.

This year both girls' schools participated in the FAME festival, which meant they both had artwork on display. The FAME festival highlights art and music in schools. They were excited to see which pieces of art were chosen to be shown at the festival.

Olivia had a few more pieces in the festival than Cece, but it neat to see their creativity in individual creations. One of Olivia's was even chosen to receive the Mayor's choice award. I was proud of both girls for the time and effort they put into their artwork.

A few weeks later we were off to the girls first dance competition of the season. This competition was a little different as it was Cece's first! She was competing in tap for the first time and she was beyond excited. It was a one day competition packed with dance after dance for the girls. Cece was up first and there were no nerves in sight. I was so proud of her for getting out there and performing her dance in front of judges for the first time. Her group did a great job! 

Olivia on the other hand is now an old pro when it comes to competitions. She competed 7 dances that day including tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theater and her productions. It can't be easy to not only remember all of those dances, but to perform well enough to stand out to the judges.

It was a long day of competition, but once awards rolled around the kids were pleased with the results. Cece's little group received a platinum award as well as first place in their category. These kids really didn't understand how they did, but they were happy and they had fun, which is all that matters.

Olivia's groups did very well also. With many high scoring awards, the biggest accomplishment was with their musical theater small group. They not only received a platinum award, but also a special judges award for their performance. I was proud of her for her hard work that day and during the year leading up to this first competition. Overall it was a fun and rewarding day for both girls!

A week later we were off to California for Spring Break. The girls wanted nothing more than to visit their Aunt Sue Sue during their break from school, so my Mom arranged the trip. I was recovering from a month long illness, so getting some fresh sea air was something I was looking forward to.

Once arriving the girls could not wait to get to the beach, so we made sure to do that on our very first day. The sun was shining and it was pretty warm, so we took advantage of the weather and visited Malibu. The forecast for the rest of week looked cooler so we wanted the girls to enjoy the ocean. It was a lovely day at the beach, which the girls enjoyed tremendously!

Once we got back from the beach we kept things going at the pool in Sue Sue's neighborhood. It was a gorgeous day and we wanted to soak up every second of it. Her neighborhood pool is beautiful and almost always empty! While the girls splashed around I enjoyed the lovely scenery. It was a great first day in California!

The next day my Mom surprised the girls with tickets to Universal Studios! They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Olivia has been dying to visit Harry Potter World, so of course that was our first stop once we entered the park.

Harry Potter World was so amazing! The detail that they put into everything was so impressive. The simulated roller coaster was one of the coolest things I've ever been on. Cecilia loved it too, even when it stopped mid way through the ride for a few seconds. After walking through the village and riding the rides the girls each picked out a Harry Potter owl. With all of that, the fun was just beginning!

Next it was onto Simpson's Land. The girls are not very familiar with the Simpson's TV show, but they enjoyed it all! The simulated roller coasters seem to be all the rage these days. You ride in a roller coaster car, but everything is 3D and you never actually go anywhere, even though you feel like you are. It's pretty amazing!

The girls were especially excited about the Despicable Me section. Lots of characters and fun rides! I think the highlight for them was having their pictures taken with Gru and some of the minions.

We spent the rest of the day squeezing in as many rides as we could and seeing as much as possible. We managed to do just about everything in the park and that was because of my Aunt's foot injury. A few weeks prior she fractured her foot and was in a walking boot. When we decided to visit Universal she knew she would need a scooter in order to get through the day. That scooter got us to the front of the line at every ride. It was amazing! Saved us a TON of time and allowed us to fully enjoy everything the park had to offer. It was a super fun day and one the girls will always remember!

The next day we visited a cute little town called Cupertino. It was full of small shops and great restaurants. We did some shopping and had lunch, On the way back we stopped at the goat cheese farm. The girls have been here before and remembered getting to fed the goats and alpacas. Fun place!

Another highlight of our trip was our visit to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It was a quaint little zoo set right off the ocean. It was a cool, overcast day which was perfect because the animals were very active. A few of my favorites were the flamingos, the elephants and the giraffes. 

The girls wanted to visit Hollywood again during their visit. We went last time and for me that was enough. It's pretty touristy and busy, but they love it so we did it again. Plus, my Uncle Ron "Uncle Biggie" was back from his business trip and wanted to take them. So we walked around downtown Hollywood, saw all the sights and did the things "tourists" do. Of course, they loved every second of it.

My Uncle Ron is the CEO of guitar center, so while we were in Hollywood he took us to the big store they have there. The cool thing about Guitar Center stores is that they encourage you to try the merchandise, so the girls were thrilled to try the guitars, drums and keyboards. It was a cool experience and a really neat store!

That night we had dinner plans. Before heading out for the evening the girls had a drum lesson with "Uncle Biggie". He taught them the basics and had them practice playing with a song. It was challenging, but they loved it.

During our dinner out, the girls snuck away to take a few photos. The thing I like about being on vacation is that the girls have no choice but to spend time with each other. And when you take away all of the normal things that tend to cause conflicts between the two of them, they get along just beautifully.

On our last day we did the thing that Olivia was begging to do the entire time we were in California...visit Rodeo Drive. All she wanted to do was go into the fancy stores and look around. I think the store she was most excited about was Gucci. Just being in that environment and seeing the fancy cars parked in front of the stores and watching the people as they shop...fascinating!

After waking around for awhile we stopped for lunch. The place we went was exciting as it was a restaurant owned by a woman on a show I watch. It was a lovely restaurant and very "Beverly Hills". The food was delicious and quite fancy! Olivia was in her element, and somehow we managed to get the staff to think it was Cece's birthday! It really was a lovely lunch!

That evening we just relaxed as we prepared to head home the next day. The girls had a wonderful week in California. They always enjoy visiting their great Aunt Sue Sue and Uncle Ron, and it's always hard to say goodbye. 

As soon as we got home Easter weekend was upon us. It's a tradition to spend an evening at my Mom's doing all things Easter. The girls kicked things off with cookie and egg decorating. They took a lot of time with their creations.

Next up was the egg hunt. Olivia thought she may be too old to do egg hunts anymore, but quickly changed her mind when she remembered that money and goodies were involved. Things wrapped up with the girls getting their Easter baskets from their Nana.

The next morning the girls put on their matching Easter dresses and we were off to service. It was a beautiful Spring day. Afterwards we came home and gave the girls their Easter gifts.

That afternoon we went to The Fortes for Easter dinner. The include us in their family celebration each year, which we always look forward to. The food is always delicious and girls love that they get included in all of their Easter traditions. 

Another sign that Spring has arrived is when soccer starts to pick back up. The annual Shoot for a Cure tournament is one the girls participate in each year. We never know if the weather is going to cooperate enough for the girls to get all of their games in, but this year it did and they won their division! This team of girls works hard and they just keep getting better! This was a well deserving win!

Just a few weeks away from school being out and the start of summer! They couldn't be more ready!