Springfest

Every year, our small town has a big celebration over Memorial Day weekend.

And every year, our small dance studio puts on a big performance at the amphitheater.

Both the girls dance with Dance FX, run by Toby and Rosalie Black (I second-shoot weddings with Rosalie).

They offer a wide assortment of dance classes,

from Tiny Tots (ages 2-3):

(I have no idea what this little girl is doing, but her expression is priceless! And that's Rosalie with her)

to cheerleading:

(They cheer with the high school cheerleaders.)

to big girls' hip hip:

to jazz:

(That's C!)

to lyrical jazz:

to little boys' hip hop:

to Irish dancing:

to big boys' hip hop:

(Here's a random picture of E doing her hip hop; I can't figure out how to move pictures around from Picasa.)

to clogging:

I love this performance! It's by far my favorite every year.

The weather doesn't always cooperate (as you can tell from the photos; the clouds and sun were fighting that day, making it impossible for me to keep up with my camera settings), but it's a beautiful, fun setting, and free for the community to watch.

And can you tell I finally figured out how to do a watermark? Love!

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

...but it sure is beautiful.

**********

Don't forget! This ends tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday--Moses Lake

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Wall

On Saturday we took the girls to visit the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall at the fairgrounds here in Moses Lake.

It was quite impressive, even after having seen the original, full-sized memorial in Washington, DC.

Sleeping Beauty walking around in front of the Wall.

The most difficult part was explaining the concept of war to Cinderella and trying to wrap her four-year-old mind around the fact that each of the names represented someone who had (most likely) died during the war. For the most part, she got it.

There were also some vehicles from the local National Guard post out here, and they were open for the Wall visitors to explore. For Cinderella, this broke up some of the solemnity of the evening, but that was okay. She probably needed something like that after all our talking about guns and dying.

Prince Charming and Cinderella inside a tank, or armored personnel carrier, or whatever it's called.

We talked to some very nice people and tried to ignore some very rude people talking loudly on cell phones. Cinderella talked to a vet who told her he ate bugs in the jungle after his rations ran out. She was pretty grossed out by this and couldn't figure out why he didn't just get some more food from the grocery store.

Even though we spent quite a bit of time chasing Sleeping Beauty and making sure Cinderella didn't walk into anyone (she doesn't really watch where she's going), it was a memorable evening.

Dear Construction Workers in My Backyard,

Thank you for building a new school out here. Our old ones are way overcrowded and are beginning to look run down. I appreciate your willingness and hard work in bringing my little town something this necessary and needed.

I do, however, have a few minor complaints. Your hard work and diligence are much appreciated, but do you have to start working at 7:00 in the morning? I suppose 7:00 isn't so bad, but do you have to start prepping the equipment at 6:45? Can't that wait until 7:00?

Also, your hard work has most definitely earned you at least an hour for lunch; I don't begrudge you this. In fact, I think you've earned an even longer lunch break, say, three hours? How does that sound? You could take off for lunch at 12:00 and come back at 3:00? Does that work for you? My not-really-a-baby-anymore would appreciate this greatly, too. You see, she likes to nap at this time and her mother is exhausted from her only sleeping 1.5 hours a day during the week. She needs at least 2 hours, if not 3. So, I think a longer lunch would benefit everyone, don't you? That way you could do more of your work in the coolness of the late afternoon/early evening. That would feel better, right?

Thank you Mr. Water Truck Driver! Your efforts to reduce the amount of dust in the air around my neighborhood have been duly noted. I think I will recommend to the city that you receive a medal for doing your part to preserve the air quality around Moses Lake. They probably won't listen to me, but it's the thought that counts, right? Anyway, please be aware that at least one person out here appreciates you and your commitment.

Again, thank you one and all. It will be nice to one day have something else to look at beyond my backyard besides sagebrush, skunks, and anthills. You are all doing a wonderful job! Keep it up and please, for the love of all that is holy and righteous, HURRY UP AND FINISH MOVING DIRT AND ROCKS!

Your appreciative neighbor,

The Queen I Am Not

Backyard Construction

You are all way too smart!

Yes, indeed, there is a school being built in my backyard. An elementary school, to be precise. And it is supposed to open (fingers crossed) in time for Cinderella to begin Kindergarten.

AND Prince Charming has (finally) said he's willing to teach there, if the new principal will hire him.

Yay!

Can you imagine walking half a block to get to work every day? I can't, but Prince Charming will be able to, assuming he can get the job.

The worst part about this whole thing is that, except for my neighbors to the north, there are no houses between us and the school. There is only a big, empty, tumbleweed-filled lot behind us. Fortunately, we have a good, solid fence.

Today, we have two diggers working. I can't see that much is being done, though. They're mostly just moving dirt around and finding rocks.


Here's the water truck. This poor driver. All he does all day is drive back and forth, back and forth, spraying water on the dirt so the dust doesn't fly everywhere.

Look at that pile of rocks! That's nothing, compared to the pile they had a few days ago.


Here's the rest of the equipment. You can see the corner of my property and the highly effective, three-foot-high construction fence. This is not all good, people; not all good.

Front to Back

There are exciting things springing up in both my front yard and my backyard.

These are from my front yard:


They smell heavenly!

This is going on in my backyard:



Any guesses as to what's going on? Here's a hint: I live in a strictly residential neighborhood, but this has nothing to do with housing.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller...

The Snow Hath Come, Again

It snowed AGAIN last night!

Woo hoo!

This time we got about an inch, with another possible inch coming down today.

Woo hoo!

I LOVE snow! I love it even more now that I'm not working and don't have to drive 25 miles in it down roads that haven't been plowed, nor ever will be.

Snow is simply amazing! It's like we went from this:








To this:









Well, minus the gigantic sand dunes (although, we do have real sand dunes out here, down by where I live) and the pine trees.

Well, and the mountain, for that matter. On a very clear day we can see Mount Rainier from here, but I digress.

Too bad the snow is so icy that all you can do with it is compact it into an ice cube.

Doesn't matter to Cinderella, though. As long as she can eat it, she could care less what kind of snow it is.