Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Strictly Ballroom

When I was getting ready to do the concert post, there were TOO many concerts. So I decided to give ballroom its own post. This post is strictly ballroom. (Haha)

We have two kids doing ballroom currently. June is on the High School Team and Daisy is doing Level 2 at the Elementary. They both are so cute. I think ballroom is my favorite thing to watch.

June was part of a large performance. They had several dance teams and groups come that evening and her dances were mixed in with many others. I took stills and Tyler recorded. It is so nice to have two parents on the job.

First up was Underneath the Tree. This was an all girls number. June is third from the left. And she ends up front left in the huddle. I have to admit that when a dance starts, I spend a bit of time trying to decide which one is her. Even Tyler gets confused on some of the videos. (Give us some slack. They are all dressed the same.)



The next song was Oogie Boogie. It was fun, but most of it was dark. June told us later that the tech crew got the lights all wrong. June is front right at the beginning and ends up on the left later. See if you can follow her.




The final number was All I Want for Christmas is You. June is second from the left. I think the little Santa dresses are very cute. I'm so proud of June for trying something new that she isn't entirely comfortable with.




It was a great concert, especially if you don't count the super weird 12 minute interpretive dance by Gabby and the Orcas. (That is not their actual name. Our family has renamed them. And we actually enjoy most of their numbers. Just not that one.) I love seeing these girls support each other.


Daisy did not have a big performance. They were able to do their dance on the last day of school before the sing thing they do. Miss Tamie had costumes for them and they were so adorable.


The team is great this year. I think Daisy has really enjoyed doing ballroom again, even though it is a bit harder doing level 2.


They danced to Jingle Bell Rock. Daisy is to the right of the middle, in the front. You can usually pick her out with her glasses. She has a mini solo towards the end. She is awesome!


I love what ballroom does for the girls. It helps them with confidence and coordination. And they look beautiful as well. Daisy and I took a fancy selfie for the road. Even moms can dress up a bit sometimes.


Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Winter Retreat

Clear Creek is a fun place and I have sent multiple kids to enjoy time there. Some kids have had better experiences than others. (Poor June with her strep throat) A couple years ago I was even able to go as a parent volunteer with Ivory. So when the time came for Daisy, I signed right up. I didn't realize it is kind of a lottery with the schools. They take turns choosing weeks to go up there. Well, our school was first on the list, but something got messed up and our turn was skipped, putting us last for options. So, we had the first week of December. Brrr.

Last time I went, it was mid October and the weather was wonderful. I realized this would be a very different experience, but I was up for it. And so was Daisy. We bought some long underwear, packed extra blankets and we were on our way.

The bus ride wasn't too bad. That always takes a bit. I was a little worried about how the bus would do in the weather, but it wasn't snowing and the roads were pretty clear. We took a picture while traveling, Daisy, me, and Kiana.



Arriving at Clear Creek, we always have to sit on the bus for a bit to get the basic rules and regulations. They are actually pretty lenient up there as long as you abide by the most important rules. They did mention to NOT touch the icicles. The caretaker up there has a nice scar on his forehead from a rogue icicle. He told the kids to steer clear. But they were sure fun to look at. Some of them were growing sideways. They were so interesting. Don't worry, we didn't touch.




The kids had a little time to play in the snow. That never seems like a fun idea to me, but some of the kids were gung ho.



The first day we had lunch first. I liked that the milk had jokes on it. Maybe I am getting used to Tyler's cheesy Dad jokes every day.


Daisy and I are enjoying lunch. That child doesn't eat very much, but she seems to keep herself alive on sweets and cheese.



On the lunch bag there were little games and puzzles. There was a section that had texting abbreviations. I didn't know a lot of them. I guess my texting lingo could use some brushing up. See if you can get them all...


Daisy brought my stretchy scarf. She usually wore it over her entire body. Combine that with her fuzzy ears, she looked like a furry bear. I told the girls to enjoy their tame pet bear.



Then Robyn got ahold of that picture and edited it. It makes me laugh every time I see it.


The afternoon consisted of rotations. We did skits first. Oddly, we ended up with the same book that Ivory did when we went to Clear Creek. The book is called, That is NOT a Good Idea. It is cute and easy. On our way down to skits, we saw the camp dog. I can't remember his name, but he was a friendly chap.


After skits, we did Boondoggle. Some kids really take to it. Mine don't seem to love it. Both Ivory and Daisy were not that impressed.  But I enjoyed doing one and then another for June to add to her Ironman keychain for the truck.


Our final rotation was maglev trains. It was really cool. The girls took magnets and put them on the bottom of their cards opposite from the magnets on the tracks, so they would glide. There was something wrong with the magnets on Daisy's track, so she got very frustrated by this activity. No matter what she did, she couldn't get her train to glide all the way down. It would always stick. Such is life.


Sadly, we did all indoor activities while we were there. No ropes course and no hike. I thought we might do some snow shoeing, but that wasn't on the list. We still did the journals. I liked how Daisy's turned out. The moms were busy doing boondoggle together. It was funny to see them all huddled together.





We did the necklaces and I wrote 'Pink Ninja' on mine since I had my pink jacket and pink ski mask. But Daisy kept stealing them.


The evening had dinner and then skits. The kids did a good job. There are always a couple snoozers, but I feel like most of them weren't too bad.


For the movie, they gave the kids options. That was nice since last time they made them watch Princess Diaries. This time, they chose Incredibles 2. It doesn't matter since I went into the kitchen and played games with the teachers again. That is my signature move.

The kids went to bed pretty well, or maybe I just slept through all the noise. I was the first adult up in the morning (thanks to my alarm) and all the girls who woke up earlier were very courteous and quiet. We got everything packed up fairly quickly.


Outside, the world was quiet and cold. We broke tradition and for the first time EVER, we were NOT in Potgut hut. All Cazier's have been in Potgut hut. But we actually were in a boy's cabin. It is the only one with a ramp.


We made it through the night and we weren't even that tired. It was back to the main lodge for some last day activities.


There was plenty more boondoggling. But then they got out the rocket stuff. It was really fun except slightly dangerous. It was paper, so it wasn't that bad, but no one was keeping the kids out of the way. The rockets would come blazing through and kids would try to catch them. No one was hurt and it all ended well, but it could have been bad.



There may have been a return of the pink ninja. But she is hard to catch on camera, because of her wicked awesome fast speedy skills.


I must give a shout out to my team mom. We were in charge of the yellow group. Emily was amazing. She speaks multiple languages and encouraged me a lot to use my Spanish. I was probably a little grumpy about it. I get so nervous because I can't understand anything. But we bounced around from English to Spanish to French. She was delightful. I hope we get together again sometime.


Spoiler Alert: We made it home safely and had a great time. I'm thinking that I will be up for doing this again with Pearl in a couple years.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Spivy Flying

How about a current event? Or mostly current. If something happened in the last month, I consider it current. I mentioned that my back went out on the first of January and I had pain for nine days until I went in to get an epidural shot. I left that same day for Washington to visit my family.

I had this trip planned for quite a while. It was my gift to my family for Christmas, and I was taking Ivory because I like to take at least one child with me and it was her turn.

It was certainly sketchy getting ready. I couldn't imagine how I was going to travel in so much pain, but the shot was awesome and hours later, I was in the airport, ready to go. The great thing was that Camille, my good friend, had been visiting Utah and was traveling back to WA and we happened to have the same flight. Kismet. I adore her.


We have known Camille for so long that my kids think of her as an aunt. She is just part of the family. So Ivory was thrilled for another traveling companion.


And with a little finagling, we were able to get seats together. The airline was able to move Camille back to the same row, but not on our side, but a kind lady gave up her seat so we could all sit together. There are still very kind people in the world.


It was great to chat with Camille and really catch up. She is such an example to me of greatness. What a blessing to be able to fly with her.

We made it safely to the Dargan's house and we commenced playing games. I wasn't up for much since I was still trying to baby my back, so I sat and played games the majority of the time, while my mom made me good food. (Yes, I was a little spoiled.) Ivory spent plenty of time down with Miranda watching movies, but they came up frequently to play with us.

Games played:
Fan Tan
Buckum
Scotch Bridge
Wise and Otherwise
Apples to Apples
Codenames
Forbidden Desert
Luck of the Knock
Caveman Telephone








Movies Watched:
Moana
Conan the Destroyer
Incredibles 2
Lost in Space
Free Reign
Princess Switch

And we still managed to have time for the gift exchange which was very fun. The gift cards were the big hit. Mom got gift cards and put fun expressions on the outside of envelopes. I got "A Rhyming Wonderland" (Hobby Lobby). Ivory got "Indian, Atlantic, Pacific" (See's). I really liked "I'm in the Dark on This One" (AMC movies).

All too soon, it was time to go. I left with my back feeling pretty good and my belly full of good food. It was a great trip. It was even pretty foggy on the morning we left. I really like fog and it is one of the things I miss living in Utah.


Back to the airport we go. Tim and Mom dropped us off. They look sad but I think those are fake faces. :)


The plane ride back was good. We chatted and enjoyed each other's company. We decided to skip watching movies since it was Sunday and it was nice to spend time together. Ivory took some great pictures out the window. The mountains are so pretty.



Here we are...the airplane crazies. It was such a great trip. My family was so kind while I was still a little out of commission and Ivory put my socks on every day. She is a great traveling companion. Hopefully we can visit again soon.