Little Ballerinas

Last weekend marked the girls' ballet recital. While their recital was held outdoors at the Jonquil Festival last year, the teachers instead decided to move it inside the gymnasium this year. Good decision. All those little girls nearly melted in the 80 degree sun last year. This year was a bigger production too, with a backdrop and professionally-designed programs. The dance program has grown considerably over the past couple of years. When Maddie first started, there were two classes. There are now at least 12, with different types of dance offered.

Josie's dance was first. Her class performed the dance of "Ballerina in a Box."

She did such a great job. She went out on stage, full of confidence, with a big smile on her face. She never stopped smiling. The best part of it, though? She was so excited to be done with the dance and get her trophy and flowers. In fact, she even asked Bill, as soon as she exited the stage, "Can I have my flowers now?"

Maddie's class performed the "Dance of the Flower Fairy."

They performed with hula hoops decorated with ribbons. Maddie took the dance very seriously. That's not to say that she hasn't before, but she made sure that every step was the right one, looking up only a couple of times to smile at us... until the very end:

You didn't expect Maddie to perform without adding a little bit of her own flair, did you? At the end of the dance, as the dancers held their final pose, she gave a big smile and blew a kiss to the audience. She too was extremely happy to get her trophy and flowers afterwards.

The girls were lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents (and uncles and an aunt) in town to see them dance. Bill's parents came in from Indiana for a long weekend, and my family drove in from Alabama. Uncle Todd got a chance to be there as well. In all, the girls had quite an audience cheering them on. Their biggest fans of all, though?

Mommy and Daddy.

**We have some video footage of the girls dancing, but it's too large to upload right now. Need to edit it a bit first.