Days with the Dorans

I give Tina credit! She was bound and determined to make a way for the kids to continue to do a musical! It wasn't live, instead it was taped and then shown "live." I am really proud of Zach for doing it. It was kind of hard to watch and follow but I did manage to find him in parts. He played Weaselton and was the comic relief and then I think a troll guy (I don't know their official name). To be honest it was hard to watch at times because of the audio and such but I managed to get THESE clips of the Goose. Ali also joined the team in the Frozen stuff... She did the choreography for some of the dancers (not the "regular" kids- the legit dancers). To teach the kids she zoomed with them and then also made this video (slow and regular speed) to help them. I just wanted to put it here to remember this time. HERE is the video. 

It's hard to believe last year Ali was dancing in her last recital. She has had no regrets about quitting and that makes me happy. There are certain aspects she misses, but overall feels solid about her decision. She was able to say hello to the owner and a few other old friends but got the cold shoulder from others which was disappointing. After the show (before their evening show) we went out to lupper with some of the old peeps which was fun. I miss my girl, Julia. She had to do line-up all be herself this year! Proud of my dance daughter (Amber)! She did a great job up there- and proud of MY dance daughter for finding the path that was right for her!

 It's still sometimes weird that I don't see Al dancing- that we aren't going to her studio 4 nights a week and that we now get to eat dinner with her. I'm thankful for what dance gave her though~ and love that she still has these great friendships! She and I met up with Julia to watch the girls. I have to say that I REALLY miss hanging with that girl! She was my first friend at TDS- I know it's hard to believe but I'm not super outgoing when it comes to my kids' activities so Julia and I became fast friends and I'm glad she took me in! I love that Am still texts me too. I love that girl! We also got to see Al's other dance friends who are still there. They did a great job and it was fun seeing all the costumes and being totally surprised! At intermission, Al was able to pop out and say hello to the girls which was great because as soon as that show was over we were on our way home (a plus for sure). Wishing these stars all the best...

I never thought I'd be writing another blog post with "Dance" as one of the labels but I should have known better. Ali LOVED dance (she still does) and she also LOVES (still) her dance sisters. She had shared with them about her show and was sad that they couldn't come and even asked me if I thought they could come to one of her rehearsals...Um... No. What she didn't know was that they COULD come. They weren't able to make the show when she was Neleus (They had dance.) but they still got to hear her sing as a chimney sweep and dance and act throughout the show. As soon as she saw them she just started crying and all the girls hugged and loved on each other! It was such a special thing to see. Ali emailed her former dance teacher who wasn't able to make it but sent her a nice email which was cool. The girls brought her flowers and after the show we headed to Lily's house to hang (even though she had to wake up early the next morning for m...

So this is going to be a long post but that's because it was a long week! We were off to Nationals in CT with our dance peeps and wouldn't you know it... we had a missed turn (when I was driving of course) which had me driving in the Bronx. It was extremely stressful. I found this stock picture of where we were except it was crazy traffic- horns honking and pedestrians everywhere (including one in a wheelchair that came up to me asking if I had a dollar... as I was driving). I was sweating!! It was exhausting but we made it! When we got there we unpacked and walked a bit to stretch our legs. Though it was a long drive, this Nationals was much shorter than the last one we were at (five days instead of ten)- and there were no classes so I thought we'd have more free time. We did! Like Nashville- we were in a big hotel. This time we were at Foxwoods which has Casinos, outlets, restaurants and more. It didn't have an indoor river with a boat but it was equally a...