This is what happens when ...

... people get too serious about the art of dance.

Day Camp #1 Bugs

Last summer, Marcelo had a hard time when we would drop Sofia off at day camp at Thanksgiving Point. There was even a day, when he had finally had it and put his foot down refusing to leave. There was an altercation in the parking lot, someone got kicked in the jaw, a silent ride home, and a question for me when we got home, "Mommy, what are you going to do with me?"

This year, he's finally old enough (or close enough to being old enough) to go to his own day camp. I was very excited about being able to offer this to him until he started getting uncharacteristically clingy at dance class drop offs. I wasn't sure how it would go. He wanted me to stay at his side the whole time but I told him that just wasn't possible. I would stay until they were ready to head off to their camp destination. He was still very excited to go. He just wanted the mommy security blanket there too.

The day came and he cautiously joined the group of kids with big sister, Sofia, at his side. He looked back to analyze my location every 30 seconds or so. But the enjoyment of playing games with the kids while they waited for everyone to arrive was enough to overcome the separation anxiety. When it was time to get going, he just went right along with everyone else. I followed him down to the wagon and he just acted like a perfectly well-adjusted human being.

He had a great time. He wasn't poisoned with foods he's allergic to. He came home with an art piece and some meal worms which along with grasshoppers bother me more than spiders, snakes, and piranhas put together. But we allowed them to live on the kitchen counter, of all places, for several days.

This is what happens when ...

... I have to take a potty break, make an important phone call, prepare nutritious meals for the family, do laundry, change a diaper, or sit down for two minutes.

The kids are running away to the Hymalayas.

Preschool 3 Graduation

Marcelo started attending Little Scholars Preschool for 3 year olds in January.  Today was their little graduation party.  I'm not sure that he learned anything new during his time there as he had been studying the letters of the alphabet for over a year with Newman's Own Alphabet Cookies in all three flavor choices.  And, PBS's Super Why and Word World filled in the rest. But, he enjoyed the social life quiet a bit since the girl to boy ratio was highly in his favor.

There was a performance before the pot luck lunch during which the kids in his class sang songs and took turns taking the lead with the microphone. There were some interesting moments from Marcelo, some of which made me want to sink to the bottom of my seat but alas, that was impossible being on the first row.



Oh, my goodness, would I love a nap right now.

Finally.  "Ladies and gentlemen ... "  -"Why is this microphone so flipping high?"

Um .... something about the color RED.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto . . . . . . . . . . . . . Domo

Shake it, Shake it
Shake Your Groove Thing, Shake Your Groove Thing
Yeah, Yeah

Spring Dance Recital

This is the second recital for Marcelo. I didn't realize until we got closer to it that this was the real deal. Translation: recital fee + costume fee = a lot of money. They performed their one little dance in between some singing numbers at The Performer's Place stage last Saturday as a bit of a practice. (This is where I took the pictures). They have a cute little stage with some inspiration posters on the walls.

Then, they had a dress rehearsal at the junior high school auditorium and pictures, then the recital the following day. I didn't take too many pictures here because on the actual recital day, there were more girls and one of the bigger little girls somehow managed her way up in front of the line and I couldn't really see him. Ironically, they all seemed a bit more focused for the Christmas recital when they were all novices then at this one. They were a bit distracted. I don't know. It could have also been the huge auditorium full of people starring back at them.

Marcelo, was super excited about his costume which was really dress pants and shirt I purchased that were a bit too big on him and a really expensive shiny black vest. I tried not to make a big deal about the fact that I put a tiny bit of stage makeup on him. But he felt pretty cool about that too, despite the fact that his eyes were "heavy".  I only saw one other boy there in a slightly older group.  No wonder, we get half off the tuition price.  And judging by the black spandex-y dance pants he was wearing, I can see why other boys may not want to join.  Marcelo's pin-striped pants rocked.  Even if they did almost fall off of him.

After the recital, we watched the rest of the dance performances.  Marcelo was tired.  He had been suffering from a foul attitude for the past several days.  Or rather, mostly, we had been suffering from it.  But, he quite enjoyed watching them.  I enjoyed it too, mostly.  Although, I did fall asleep about twelve times during some of the more interpretive type dances.  They're just not my cup of tea.  I tried to sneak out right before the last dance and he said, "No, mommy, just one more dance".

Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go ...

Pirate Party

Marcelo and Sofia both attended the Pirate Party at the Library last week. I was holding on so tight to those tickets for fear of losing them, I messed up! Sofia kept asking me for her ticket on Wednesday afternoon. I finally gave in and grabbed it out of my pocket telling her it was for Thursday when in fact it was for Wednesday.  Oops. Luckily, there was another one the next day but I had to go get Marcelo out of preschool fifteen minutes early on his Easter party day in order to make it. My head is scrambled and then look at the hoops I have to jump through to make good on these things.

I think it was worth it though. They both enjoyed going together. They were quite vocal during the story reading with all kinds of commentary. Sofia had just read the book, How I Became A Pirate, the previous night. I guess after seeing her speak up, Marcelo felt pretty good about piping up with some comments too. Being a veteran of Library functions, Sofia escorted Marcelo to the refreshments area right after the reading and then they moved on to the other activities. It's good to have a big sister like Sofia sometimes. She watches out for Marcelo and immediately removed the cookie off his plate and approved the other fruit and juice offerings explaining his food allergies.

When they got home, they continued on with the pirate theme until bedtime.