Dance Camp is over :(

For the past month Kate has had the privelege of learning to become a ballerina!!! She wasn't old enough to officially start ballet last Fall, but thanks to Cumberland Dance Academy, she was able to enroll in Spring Dance Camp....and LOVED it! But sadly, camp was only for the month of March and is now over until she can enroll in "pre-ballet" in August. Thank you Mrs. Ginger for a very fun month...and for being very patient with my sometimes wild side. :)

"Ballerina Princess Kate!"

Kate's dance camp classmates

(They were all 5, and of course, Kate is only 3 years old)

Kate was a bit distracted at first...but VERY excited...because not only did I get to sit inside the studio today, but also Granny Annie came to watch!

Practicing positions

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Oh...and "bad" mommy moment....I forgot Kate's ballet slippers today - on her last class! Oops!

Easter Eggs

This morning, while Kate was in school, Gabe & I invited Madeline & Emma over to dye Easter Eggs! It was super messy...but LOTS of fun!!! Thanks girls for coming over today! (Ava & Bryce, we missed you!)

As you can see, Gabe took his job VERY serious! He refused to smile and would barely even take the time to look at me. He had a task to do and was on the job! :)

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Madeline won the award for "Little Miss Messy!" She & Gabe both loved dumping the bowls at the end, but she actually sat in the colored puddles while Gabe moved around the whole time.

Emma was such a pro!

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Gabe began by putting all the eggs into one color, but later, after watching the girls, decided to try all the colors. We ended up with lots of broken and ripped in half (thanks to Gabe!) eggs, but we did actually manage to each go home with about half a dozen beautifully colored Easter Eggs!

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After all the fun, we carried the kids to the bath for a "hose down" and then toweled off our tie dyed toddlers so that they could have a little bit more playtime before naps!

Happy Birthday Stella!

Today we celebrated a very special 1st Birthday for Miss Stella!!! Also pictured is Stella's little mommy, Miss Madeline! Madeline is showing us her best Stella impression...and notice their matching dresses!

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Unfortunately, the park doesn't let dogs inside the fenced in play area, but all the kids still had fun going up to the fence to visit and taking turns going outside the playground to love on the birthday girl!

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Then, after eating yummy cupcakes, we got to take home party favors for our dogs!

Thanks Madeline for inviting us to Stella's party today!

Bailey & Pebbles loved all their goodies and say Happy Birthday Stella!!!

Breakfast with Bun-Bun

Let the Easter events begin!!!!

This morning we went to Doing Dishes to paint ceramic Easter Eggs! We also got to have breakfast and pictures taken with Bun-Bun, the resident bunny!

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After Gabe finished painting, Katie helped me get the perfect handprint on his egg!

The finished (pre-fired) Easter Eggs!

They are cute now...but wait until they are fired and the colors show up!

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After painting it was time for pictures with Bun-Bun. The kids both loved this sweet little bunny! Photographer, Shannon Curry, was there to take professional pictures...and she got some amazing shots of the kids! Click on her name to view her gallery. (If you need a password to view, it is pottery) But, here are the photos I was able to take just seconds before my camera battery died. :(

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Shannon got one really awesome picture of Gabe!

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My camera had already shut off a few times, but I quickly turned it on to at least attempt one "together" picture.

Also joining us today were Madeline & Hannah!

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On the way home we decided to make one extra stop for more fun. This weekend Callahan celebrated the history of trains with their annual "Railroad Days" festival. I'm not going to lie and say it was amazing, but it was interesting. Some of the model engines were pretty amazing, but overall the festival was quite small and more geared to history buffs than kids, but Kate & Gabe did enjoy watching the trains and the bounce house slide! By this point my camera had completely died, but we did run into our cousins Jonie & Cody who had a camera! Thanks Jonie for the picture!!! Kate said the sun was in her eyes though so this was the best smile we could get. :)

Under the Big Top

One thing we have learned about the kids....they LOVE going to the circus!!! So, when this one came back to town, we were excited to go back "under the Big Top!"

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Before the circus began, Kate got to ride a camel and a pony...she was sooo excited! Gabe was too little for the camel, and when we tried to get him to ride the pony he would have none of it!

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A few of our favorite acts!

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After the show Gabe & Kate actually wanted me to take their picture...of course I said yes!

In fact, after a few of them both, Gabe kept pointing to my camera a posing!

So cute! I have trained them well!!! :)

Leaving the tent we found this clown for pictures. Gabe hated him and even Kate seemed a little unsure this time....

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But, even after being "tortured" by the clown, getting into the van Gabe found half of an Easter egg and, very much on his own, gave us his best clown impersonation!