The Beach, Part 1

As the kids get older and have more and more summer activities, it is harder and harder to escape to the beach, but we were still able to make it work this summer.  At the beach, I take about a million photos, because I love the beach and the good times that we have there together...

The lazy river was a huge hit...

When in Orange Beach, we MUST eat at Moe's...

This was the first year that I was able to sit back and relax on the beach while the kids played together.  For the last 11 years I have constantly been lifeguarding at least one non-swimmer on the beach, so it was heaven to be able to lower my terror alert...

More fun in the sun to come! 
 

Intensive

Although it seems like we just had recital, the girls were back in the studio with their friends to start training for their second year on Pro Company in July...

Mrs. Tari calls these two weeks of dance classes "Intensive," and that's the perfect name, because it is VERY intense.  The girls dance every day for two weeks from 8 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon, and on the nights that they have summer classes scheduled, they return for a 4 hour block of classes at night on their designated class day.  I sometimes think we are participating in child abuse, but the girls love it, so who am I to judge? 
 

Pool Days

One exciting thing about our new house is that it has a pool!  The kids really enjoyed spending the summer in it, but Dad and I were so busy moving and completing home improvement projects, that I think we swam a whopping one time...

Hopefully we can have more time to enjoy the pool one day soon!  
 

LSU Baseball Camp

While the girls can't wait for theater camp every summer, the activity Watts looks forward to the most is LSU Baseball Camp.  I am not really much of a sports fan, and only watch games that my children play in or perform at, so I have no idea who any of these guys are that signed Watts' bat and ball.  While a true LSU baseball fan could probably name them all, what mattered most to me was that they were sweet to my son, and they definitely were.  This first young man was one of his coaches for the week and they really had a good time together...

Paul Mainieri...I did know who he was, or at least I figured he was the coach since he was a little too mature to be a player...

Watts had a great week at camp and was the cutest, sweatiest little thing out there...

Go Tigers! 
 

Mary Poppins

When Stella was three, we took her to New York City to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.  It was truly a magical experience, and we all treasure the memories from that trip.  When we heard that my friend Darryl Clement was directing a community theater production of that show in Reserve, we knew that the time had come for us to audition for our first production together...

It was technically our second production together, because I was pregnant with Stella when I appeared in Oklahoma! back in 2007.  Every show is exciting, but being able to be in the show with Stella and enjoy watching her learn and grow through the process was the best thing ever.  Here's her costume for "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"...

She was a dancing statue in the park for "A Jolly Holiday"...

And the cutest chimney sweep around for "Step in Time"...

She started the show flying a kite down the center aisle...

We had lots of fans in the audience for our performances...

And Damon and Katie Nanna even delivered the costumes back to Dallas so we could grab lunch with Aunt Sarah...

The only word that sums up this cast and this experience...

And our sweet leading lady, Mary Poppins herself...

Thanks, Darryl and River Parish Community Theatre for giving us the most amazing summer together in the perfect first show for mother and daughter!