Dancing through the years!

If you are familiar with Emily, you know she loves dance. Emily fell in love with the costumes, moves and being in front of a crowd. She started in kindergarten. Emily had a friend named Jaquelyn who introduced us to You Can Danz Dance Company. It has been fun to watch Em grow up in the different dance classes. Here she is in the first grade class.

Here she is in second grade.

This is her fourth grade pictureEach year has been fun. She has danced at the MOA and Timberwolves half time each year. One year, she even got to dance a the Twins baseball game. This past year, Em has been in the fifth grade and up class. This means she got to participate in the cool light stick performance AND best of all the Daddy/Daughter dance. Each year the Daddy/daughter dance has a theme. This year was Gone Country. Erik and Em got to perform dance routines (in the front row) to Born to Boggie, Hoe Down Throw Down, Buttterfly Fly Away. Yes Erik learned THREE different dance routines!
I had every intention of laughing at Erik during the dance. After all, Erik doesn't usually grab a bandana and go country...but the dance was so sweet. Emily and Erik looked so good out there. Emily is growing up so fast.

The dad's did do their own routine too. Enjoy..and yes I now see some humor in the video! That is Erik in the front center of the screen with the red bandanna. When they do the long kick line he is the second one in from the right. He was such a good sport. If you make it far enough into the video...you can see how excited Ry and Andrew are to be watching their dad dance.

All for under 20 bucks!

I was first introduced to the Harlem Globetrotters when they appeared on Scooby-Doo. Somehow the Scooby gang would run into them from time to time and it was sure to be a silly crazy episode.Do you remember these episodes or is it just me?

Fast forward MANY years later, to me sitting in a Complex Kids workshop. My cooperating teacher leans over and asks if I want free tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters for the upcoming weekend. I thought about it for about 1/2 a second and "YES!" I am a sucker for free stuff. They were playing/performing at the Target Center. The seats were up close and we absolutely had a fabulous time. We were dazzled by the basketball skills: the jumping, the shooting, the spinning and we loved booing at the Washington Generals. Of course we thought Globey the mascot was funny. It was quite a show. I think one of our favorite parts was actually captured on film. It will give you a glimpse into our family's sense of humor. Get ready for it... watch out for the masked man standing behind you!
(I am not sure the Elmo boxers are the best choice for this part of the show. Elmo's nose and mouth have an awkward placement)

Beginnings and Endings

It seems like everything happens in one night. I guess it is true sometimes. Tonight was Andrew's first night of soccer. In fact, this is his first soccer team. After school, I took him to buy shin guards and cleats. He is excited to start the season. He signed up with James, a friend from church, and ended up knowing a few of the other boys on the team as well. They are the Lime Green team and get their uniforms on Thursday. Andrew had a great time and is already learning a lot about soccer. He has good instincts. Go Lime Green!

We had to leave soccer practice 10 minutes early to make it to Emily's last band concert. Andrew and I walked in just as they were finishing their first song. I am always impressed with our school's fifth grade band. They put on a great show and even had some audience participation. Andrew was chosen to accompany the band during one of the songs. I think he got to hit an ice-cream bucket with a spoon. It was hard to tell, because he played the entire song with his back to the audience. Good stuff : ). Band has been a great experience with great friends. Emily has practiced her flute diligently all year. Now that fifth grade band is ending, she is looking forward to middle school band. We are both happy that next year, big band will be during the school day and not at 7:20 in the morning.