My little dancer!

This year, Ryleigh had to audition for company. I asked her several times if she wanted to do company and told her all the work that was involved. But she told me, she loved the teachers and would be sad if she didn't get to have them as teachers, and she loved to compete and would be sad if she couldn't do competitions. Complete 180 from my child who had stage fright last year.

As part of the audition process, she had to attend 6 days of intensives that were 3 hours long each day. Each intensive day was 3 different 1 hour classes with a variety of guest instructors. The first 3 days of intensives were in the beginning of July. Then last year's company girls had their national dance competition at Disneyland. And then when they got back, they had 3 more days of intensives where they'd learn the audition dances. 

Ryleigh had fun in the intensives learning different dance styles and taking classes from new teachers with all kinds of new girls. 

Auditions were on July 26th.  They had no idea which dances they'd have to perform, or which genres they were going to have to do.

Here are some of Ryleigh's friends ready for auditions. Carlee, Ryleigh, Bella, and Claire. 

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Can't take a picture without Brynn. Carlee, Ryleigh, Bella, Claire, and Brynn.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

I love these girlies!! Ryleigh and Claire have danced together since both of them started dancing at 2.5 years old. They've been in class every year together. Brynn, Claire and Ryleigh have danced together for 2 years, and were in PeeWee company together for "Cheese Please" last year. Carlee danced with Ryleigh, Claire, and Brynn in their combo class last year. 

And what can be better than Baskin Robbins on a hot summer day after 2 hour dance auditions?? So proud of my little dancer.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Then it started the waiting game. The parents were more nervous than the kids. Ryleigh came up to me a few times throughout the weekend asking if I found out if she made it or not. It was nerve wracking because they got rid of the PeeWee group, which we knew our girls could have made for sure. But knowing they were competing for spots with girls who had a lot more experience, and a lot more opportunity for technique... there was a huge doubt. I was so excited for Ryleigh when I got the email on Monday afternoon. It started a dance mom's text chain, trying to make sure all our girls made it. I printed out the email for Ryleigh and handed it to her in the car. I highlighted the part that said "Congratulations, Ryleigh has made Mini Company!" I video taped her reading it. She was so excited. She was even happier knowing that all of her friends also made it. 

Here's the proof:

From 2014 July Aug Sept

They added another group called "Mini Elite". It's basically the older and more experienced girls. But the mini and mini elite both take classes together. Mini Elite just has one extra technique class that they take to help prepare them for the next level next year. 

She started classes a few weeks ago and seems to really like it. She loves going and likes having 2 hours of class in a row. She's already working on dances for jazz and tap. Rumor has it they are trying to compete with both of those dances. We shall see. I'm excited to see how Ryleigh grows this year! 

Summer pictures

This kid is determined. On this particular night, he was eating cheese and crackers. Not sure why he had a fork, but he decided that the cracker had to go on the fork. In this picture, he's pissed because the cracker won't go on the fork.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We took Ryleigh to see "Planes: Fire and Rescue" this summer. We all really liked it. Much better than the first Planes movie. She asked for her hair to be put in curlers. We've discovered these curlers called Curlformers. We have the knockoff version we got on Amazon, but the gist is you pull hair through these spiral curlers when the hair is wet, and then let the hair air dry. So it's supposed to be better for your hair. We put them in and have her sleep in them over night. They stay in really well. And then in the morning, you just pull them out. It's super easy to do, and her hair curls great with them.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

These two are starting to "play" together and interact more. It's so cute to look in the back seat and see them holding hands. Hayden loves his big sister and gets so excited to see her. He is only 10 pounds lighter than her, so he's starting to learn how to push his weight around. So funny to see him "go get" her and he ends up sitting on her.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner one night and we were all still eating, but Hayden just decided he was done. Then he started putting his hands behind his head like that. Tell tale sign that it's bed time!!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Hayden LOVES BUBBLES!!! So we got him the Fisher Price Bubble Mower. They still make that classic! He wanted to go play outside with his bubble mower while Chris was trimming the grass. We're starting him on yard work early :)

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Hayden's July Citrus Lane Box

Here is Hayden's July Citrus Lane Box - Thanks Gigi!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

A play camera made out of all recycled materials.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Sample sunscreen - which he LOVED and HATED that I took away from him. 

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

See - loving that sunscreen bottle!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

This box he got - sunscreen trial, a pouch of Plum Organics toddler food, the play camera, an AquaDuck (it goes over the faucet and acts as an extender to bring the water closer to kids, so they can wash their hands. Ryleigh loves it.), and an oogaa placemat.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

4th of July Vacation - Part 3

July 5 - We had anticipated going back to Prescott for the 4th of July Parade. But since we had to trek through the forest... we opted not to do that. We had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove up to Jerome where we got out to explore. We found a popcorn and fudge shop and got some treats for our forest adventures.

Since we were enjoying our day, we stopped at one of the "scenic spots" along the way. Honestly, we think the ones we got up at the top of the mountain (even in a moving car) were prettier. But it's still a great view with very vibrant colors on a clear day.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We got back to Prescott and Chris wanted to have lunch at the Prescott Brewing Company. Just so happens it started to rain, just as we got into Prescott (that clear day didn't last so long on the other side of them mountain!). So everyone was eating. We wandered around inside, looking at all the shops while we waited for our table. Lunch was great. Then we went shopping around downtown Prescott. Chris, Rusty and Ryleigh got cowboy hats. I got a sun hat. They had an arts and crafts fair too. Ryleigh got a dress from there. We finished up our Prescott trip with some ice cream before hitting the road. 

On our way back home, there were signs that the main freeway back to Phoenix was closed. So we had to turn around, head back to Prescott Valley and regroup. We wandered around Sams Club. We had dinner at Chilis. And by the time we got done, the road was opened again. We didn't get home for dinner like we'd hoped - but by then we'd learned that this trip was not about to go according to our plans, so we were used to just going with the flow. We finally made it home around 10pm. The kids (and adults) were exhausted, but it was a great trip. 

Here's what we did with the rest of our vacation days:

Ryleigh discovered her love of "little" legos. She's had duplos and will build some stuff with it, but she just discovered real legos. She says she wants only "lego friends and stuff from the Disney store" for her birthday. Her uncles are excited because now they actually feel comfortable picking out a gift for her. It's their element :) 

From 2014 Apr May Jun

We went to Chuck E Cheese. Hayden had his first experience with rides there although his attention span is so short he was ready to get off long before the ride was over.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We went to a Diamondbacks game.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We had a great time with Chris's parents as usual despite the killer AZ heat. Until next time!

4th of July vacation - Part 2

When you book a trip to Prescott, you normally don't think to look for hotels over a month in advance. Well we got lucky because Rusty was looking at hotels one night and noticed the availability had decreased significantly. With 5 weeks left, there were no hotel rooms for 4 people anywhere in Prescott or Prescott Valley. And we really would have taken anything... So we found some rooms in Cottonwood. On a map, Cottonwood didn't seem that far away. It was about 50 miles. So, not exactly convenient, but closer than Flagstaff... So we went with it.

Us naive Phoenix people hadn't ventured up to that neck of the woods - EVER. So we follow the GPS... and suddenly start seeing signs for Prescott National Forest!??? Umm, we're going to Cottonwood not the forest?! But we follow, figuring GPS has to be correct. And then we got entranced by the views...

So pretty!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Look GREEN!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

And TREES!! GREEN TREES!!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Look at that VIEW!!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

We wind our way from those views, down the mountain with some pretty tight hairpin turns. Wasn't quite the Road to Hana, but it was definitely not the highway drive we were expecting. 

And then we get toward the bottom of this mountain and exit the forest and enter this little mountain town called Jerome. It's a former copper mine that's built into the side of the mountain. It's lots of artist shops, a winery, and restaurants. And it's definitely not stroller or kid friendly. Chris and I agreed we'd like to explore it without the kids sometime. After you wind your way out of the mountain past Jerome, you enter the flat land below - Cottonwood. 

As we were winding our way through the mountain we quickly realized that we weren't going to try to figure out how to get back to Prescott for fireworks. We already knew the place was a madhouse from the Rodeo, and we had no idea where the best viewing location was for fireworks. So we went to plan B - Cottonwood had fireworks at their fairgrounds. And we found the fair grounds as soon as we were coming into town (which wasn't far at all from our hotel). We found a sit down Pizza Hut restaurant for dinner. And then we parked at a Wells Fargo, walked over to a dark Ace Hardware parking lot, and watched fireworks. We had a great view. It was quiet. It was dark. And it was a really good show. Might have been plan B, but it was probably better than going back to Prescott. And we only had a 5 minute drive back to the hotel. 

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

4th of July Vacation - Part 1

Chris's parents drove out and got to Arizona for 4th of July weekend. We decided to go up to Prescott for a little cooler weather and some change of scenery. We tried to start out our holiday weekend celebration by going to see fireworks in Anthem, but they were rained out by a monsoon storm. Friday, July 4th - We drove up to Prescott. We went to the Prescott Rodeo - the World's Oldest Rodeo.

Our first trip to the rodeo! We all had fun! (Well minus Hayden who was fighting a nap the entire second half of the rodeo.)

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Hayden was excited to see the horses before the rodeo started.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Started off with the parade of horses and flags.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

They had bucking broncos. And steer roping. Didn't get those pictures due to a squirming toddler. 

Then they had these beautiful horses between events. They are huge!! But watching them maneuver that buggy was quite impressive!

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Then they had barrel racing.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

And finally they had bull riding (again fussing toddler). That was quite impressive to watch! 

Afterwards, we decided to go to the hotel for a little bit (that's for the next post)... these two passed out almost immediately after we got in the car.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

Hayden and ISR / swimming

We put Hayden in swim class this year. We'd all started to realize that the kid was fearless around the water, and willing to just climb in. I had researched different options for Ryleigh when we moved to Arizona and something I came across was "survival swim lessons". At almost 3, I felt Ryleigh was passed learning what those lessons sought to teach. But I remembered those lessons and knew they'd be perfect for Hayden.

The lessons are done through a company called Infant Swim Resource (ISR). There are instructors all over that are certified by ISR. They teach kids to instinctively roll to their backs when they fall in the water and float, and if/when they're old enough they teach them to roll over to their belly and kick toward a wall. They start these lessons with kids as young as 6 months. The premise is that young kids can get away from their parents' supervision - they're sneaky like that, so give them the tools to help save themselves if they should happen to fall into water unnoticed. 

The lessons are intense. 1 on 1 with an instructor for up to 10 minutes a day. Doesn't seem like a lot until you realize how hard they work. And the lessons are 5 days a week - Monday to Friday for 6 weeks. That's a huge commitment - both financial and time. They start slow and work on holding on to a bar in the water. Then they work up to kicking to the bar. Then floating and rolling over and kicking to the bar. Then they start tricks. Tricks are different positions simulating different situations and positions the child might be in when they fall in the water and the goal is for the child to roll over on to their backs, get a breath and float. 

Hayden cried every single lesson. He fussed and screamed. He go to the point where when the teacher would come over he'd willingly let go of me and go to her, but he never stopped crying. The teacher explained that it was because she was making him work, and as a baby he's never worked for anything before. So he didn't like the work, and therefore cried. 

I will try to post the videos somewhere so that you all can view them. The first time you watch them the first reaction is "get him!" but the teacher has to push the him a little in order to make him figure it out. 

After 3-4 weeks the instructor told us to get in the pool with Hayden and make him swim to us. He didn't like the kicking and swimming part, but did great with his floats. He was so excited to go swim to us in our own pool. 

During his final week we got in the pool with him so that the instructor could teach us how to do the tricks with Hayden. It was the first time he was excited to swim. He actually got mad when the instructor stopped making him swim in order to show us how to do a trick. The photos below are taken from the session where Chris and I got in the pool with the instructor to learn how to practice with him. 

His final week - Hayden had to go through his tricks fully clothed. First it was summer clothes - t-shirt, shorts, normal diaper, and sandals. Then it was winter PJs - a sleeper with feet. Then it was Winter clothes - thick sweat pants, long sleeved shirt, normal diaper, jacket, socks and sneakers. He did great! The clothes didn't affect him at all!

His session only lasted 5 weeks. He refused to do the roll over and swim, so the instructor let him finish at the float, since he had that mastered. Next year he will have to do a refresher course and the aim will be mastering the roll over and swim. But for now, he has the tools to help save himself if he falls in the pool or off the big step when he gets too cocky. 

No crying!! 

From 2014 Apr May Jun

From 2014 Apr May Jun

From 2014 Apr May Jun

Under water smiles!!

From 2014 Apr May Jun

He can't stop swimming!!

From 2014 Apr May Jun

Arizona Scenery

Arizona has some fabulous photo opportunities. I started to go to Pure Barre at 5:30am. On my drive to class about 5am one day this summer, this was the view I got to enjoy. I had to stop to get these pictures because it was such a beautiful sunrise! These were all taken with my iphone 5s. 

From 2014 Apr May Jun

From 2014 Apr May Jun

We have equally as spectacular sunsets. These photos were taken about 4-5pm so not quite sunset, but with the monsoon clouds, some spectacular colors were created in the sky. These were in our backyard.

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept

From 2014 July Aug Sept