Dance Recital

Elizabeth had her official dance recital a couple of weekends ago. Here is her group of admirers. (Auntie Jessica was also here, I'm not sure where she went during the picture)

Elizabeth and Ben were waiting patiently to go into the dance studio.

The girls are about to head out to the dance floor.

All of the girls did such a fantastic job - Elizabeth was a little nervous to go out in front of everyone but she did great!

She felt very grown up to get flowers from her grandparents. They are still in her room!

Here is Elizabeth with her dance teacher. She's excited to take another class this summer.

A couple of days later we headed to the train ride by the zoo.

She's into posing lately. Ben was running around wanting nothing to do with pictures.

Waiting for the train.

Still waiting for the train!

Our cousins Drew and Josh came to meet us.

We had a great little trip!

Last Days

Elizabeth and Ben had their last day of gymnastics and dance last Wednesday. Elizabeth practiced her tap and ballet dances - she had a recital for all of us on Saturday.
She kept checking to make sure I was watching :)

She always does such a great job listening to her teacher and following directions. I love watching her do her dance!

Ben had gymnastics - he got to show off all his skills :)

So strong!

He's bear walking backwards.

Cooper and Ben had a little more of a difficult time following directions. If one of them scooted, the other one would scoot. If they weren't sitting by each other, they would move so that they were. It was very funny to watch (but I will admit that teacher part of me inside was saying, "Ben, sit still and listen to your teacher!!" We aren't supposed to step in during the lesson and it was really hard not to!)
This is so typical Ben. He was running to the line to get his stamp and he tripped and fell. It was funny that I got a picture of it.
He recovered quickly and was able to get his stamp. I thought he also did a great job during his class (and so did Cooper).

We signed the kids up for a fun ocean class this summer so I'll actually have different pictures next time!

My Athletes ;)

Ben and Elizabeth had their last days of gymnastics and dance class this week. We start again in about 2 weeks but this was the last day when the parents were invited into the classrooms to take pictures. My kids have class at the same time so my mom came with to take turns with me so the kids would always have someone with them. (of course Jessica was in Ben's class the entire time because of Cooper so it would have worked out if my mom couldn't come).

I have seen Ben doing his gymnastics many times since they pretty much do the same stuff in class that they did in our mommy and me gymnastics class, but I had never seen Elizabeth's dance class since the glass is frosted, so I was very excited to see what her class did. She always tells me she likes it but it is hard! :)
I don't have a very good zoom lens so my pictures are kind of far away. There are only 4 girls in the class and one wasn't there so it was a little class. Here they are stretching.

I really like this picture of my little ballerina!

They stretched and moved at the beginning to some really cute songs.

Reaching for those toes - she can get pretty far!

Then on to Ben's gymnastics. Here they are stretching.

Doing some forward rolls.

Walking like a bear (Ben's in the blue pants and Cooper's in the red pants).

Ben's showing me his favorite part - the stamp!

We really liked the classes this session and are excited to do them again in a couple of weeks!

Rodeo Day and First Day of Class

Elizabeth had her rodeo day at school on Thursday. You can tell we aren't native to TX - so many of the kids had boots, cowboys shirts, hats, and all we had was a bandana :) She was wishing we had more but they didn't even tell us about the rodeo day until Tuesday so not much time to prepare. The kids all played different rodeo games and won prizes.

Crossing the rattlesnake pit! Look at the boy behind her, he's all decked out!

Ben got to come with me, he loved it!

Here the kids are getting ready to go back to class - I think they all had a great time. I'm so glad I am able to come to all of this stuff. The only problem was today Elizabeth wanted to come back home with me. Her teacher was absent so that always makes her a little nervous.

On Wednesday the kids had their first day of dance and gymnastics. For the first time Ben was in class without me! It was fun to just be able to sit and watch, but also a little sad.

I have a very small zoom on my camera so you won't be able to see anything up close, but Ben and Cooper were in class together and both walked in without any problems. They both did a really good job listening. I was a little concerned with all the temptations that it would be difficult to sit and wait their turns, but they did a great job.

Here the kids are waiting for their classes to begin.

I'm sneaking in the back here to get a picture of Elizabeth with the other girls in her class. We aren't allowed in the room during class and the glass is frosted so you can't see anything :( She said she had a really fun time though.

I caught this picture of Ben right before he left with the teacher. I can't believe my kids are both old enough to go to class without me! It's going too fast!

Last Day of Dance

Elizabeth had her last day of dance this Thursday, got her glasses (they were ordered actually) and had her last day of swimming lessons. It was such a busy day!

Elizabeth is very lucky to have so much family who lives here and is involved in her life. Tom was able to come,

my mom, Jessica, and Cooper,

Tom's parents,

and Drew and Josh (and Janet and Zach who I didn't get a picture of). Elizabeth really loves to have everyone come watch her - she feels so special. We are looking forward to this summer though when we won't have much going on. It will be very nice! :)

Pretty in Pink (and Black)

Elizabeth had her dance/gymnastics show this week. She was lucky enough to have a lot of visitors to see her - Grandparents on both sides, her daddy, her Aunt Janet and cousins. Lucky girl to have so much family live so close! She loved all the attention. :)

Elizabeth on the high bar. For some reason she is a little nervous of this, so I was proud that she did it so well.

This is what the boys were doing during the show. The kids who were watching the show were allowed to go anywhere the girls weren't. So Ben, Cooper, Josh, and Zach had a great time running around, acting crazy.

Elizabeth on the balance beam.

E making a "table top" I guess it's the first step in a backbend.

This is their creative movement - dancing with scarfs.

Don't they all look so cute together!? This is the first time we had coordinating outfits so it was even cuter in my opinion :)!
Elizabeth and her good friend Elliott. All the girls did such a good job - and looked so sweet!