Dancing Lion

Our little Boog has been taking a dance class all year, and 2 weekends ago was her recital. It was so fun to watch how the class helped her grow over the year. The first few classes she wouldn't do her moves across the room without her teacher by her side, and by the end she was quite the little showgirl with her big smile on stage. We had a busy week getting ready for the shows with something dance-related nearly every night because of all the rehearsals and performances, but it was so worth it so see how proud she was to get dressed up in her costume and do the dance on the big stage. There were 8 little girls in her class, ages 4-5, and they all practiced their little hearts out. Oh man, there is nothing like 8 little girls dancing/forgetting their moves/telling each other where to go on stage. Classic. They danced to "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Disney's The Lion King. It was a proud mom (and dad) moment for sure.

In all her "lion" glory. She was quite the natural and just posed for pics without much direction from us. :)

This is what she calls her "lion face"; aren't you terrified?!

Here is the video from dress rehearsal night, which was the only night we were allowed to tape, boo. The girls were so on their game opening night, I wish I had that on video, sigh. Anyway, please enjoy the clip, it's quick! As they come on stage, Addie is the second lion!

Star Wars Birthday Party!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away....

A girl of destiny was born. The Jedi Council named her Adelyn. She was the Chosen One. In the five years that have followed her birth, she has been learning the powers of the Force. Come celebrate our young padawan's 5th birthday with us!

At least, that's what the sign on our front door said on Sunday. We had a small family birthday party for Addie's 5th birthday at our house with a Star Wars theme, because, most 5 year old girls are into Jedi and lightsabers. The cool ones, anyway. :-)



Yoda brought his scotch, so he was ready to party...

There was some pizza eating, lightsaber sparring, cake and ice cream gobbling, and of course gift opening!



Who doesn't want a cake with Darth and Luke battling it out?

The birthday girl (with our version of Princess Leia hair) and Gage wearing their party shirts. Gage's has Chewbacca wearing sunglasses on it!

  

  

  

  



A little playtime with the new action figures from the top of the cake. She was ready to take them off to play as soon as she saw them!

   

Ain't that the truth?



Uncle Matt does it again! He always brings the "it" gift. Star Wars Operation in this case.

  



Another fave. R2D2 backpack. It's almost as big as she is, but so fun! She loved it so much, she took to carrying it around like...



a baby!



 And for the final gift of the day, a special scavenger hunt surprise from Mommy and Daddy...

Looking for a clue in the pantry...



There were 4 clues, each written in the "voice" of a Star Wars character- Yoda, Princess Leia, R2D2 & C3P0, and Darth Vader. Each clue was actually a puzzle piece; she is putting them together in the picture above. And once she had the puzzle all done, we flipped it over to reveal...



We're going to Disneyland!
We have been planning this trip for such a long time, it was so hard to keep it a secret from her! We will be at Disneyland on the date of her actual birthday and we have some fun stuff planned, so stay tuned!

Happy 5th Birthday to our little Boog! We love you so much!