We had a busy weekend! Not only was it Daddy’s Birthday but we also had one of Bailey’s dance performances and surprised the girls with news about our upcoming trip to Disney!
Disney World Surprise
Keeping secrets has always been hard for my Mom and I. We just get so excited about fun things it’s hard to keep our mouths shut. Planning a surprise Disney trip for the girls’ birthdays definitely fell under fun and it took every ounce of our willpower to keep it a secret for this long.
Okay, so we booked the trip on January 2nd and it hasn’t even been a month yet, but in Mommy/Gigi time it felt like forever. It didn’t help that Walt Disney World started heavily advertising in our market so that every time we turned on the TV there was a new Disney commercial. Each time Bailey would see a commercial she would sigh and say “Someday I hope I can go to Disney”. Or when we were saying our Thankful-3’s each morning before school, she would include that she was thankful for Disney because they are so wonderful and that she wanted to go there. Then at dance rehearsal she told all of her friends that she wished she could go to Disney for her birthday. How can you keep up with the suspense?
Since we were all going to be together for Brian’s birthday, we saw our opening and tried to think of a way to surprise them. We had found these cute dresses in Woody & Buzz character style that would be perfect for Hollywood Studios’ new Toy Story Land and Sleeping Beauty dresses for the Magic Kingdom. We were going to just have them open up their own bags with the dresses inside but since we have a million Disney items, we decided to set up a full scene and then surprise them after Baileys recital.
The response was good and maybe a little underwhelming at the time but I’m blaming that on the exhaustion setting in after a full day of dance and a sugar crash from the Birthday cake. A few hours later, all they could talk about was Disney-this and Disney-that with several screams of joy from both of them. April can’t come soon enough and we’ll make sure to share our fun stories and photos when we get back. Let the countdown to Disney begin!
Daddy
Sunday was Brian’s actual birthday but since he is such an awesome Daddy we had to celebrate all weekend! Friday, Daddy met us up at dance rehearsal and then went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for some tacos. Bailey picked the place because she wanted to listen to the staff sing and watch Daddy get smacked in the face with whipped cream. Sadly, they were too busy to sing but Bailey decided to take the whipped cream slapping into her own hands (literally) and had a lot of fun. And of course Sienna couldn’t be left out of the fun!
Saturday we spent an easy day relaxing (while I was working) then we took Bubba for a walk on a new trail to enjoy the one day of beautiful day before the next round of arctic weather and then we did a little shopping – where we ended up buying new shoes for Mom and nothing for Daddy (fail).
Well, Daddy did get one thing – a snow ball in the face. He did earn it after nailing Bailey with a gigantic snowball in the neck that didn’t go over too well. We finished up the evening making a cake for Daddy while he was out celebrating with his coworkers.
Dance
Sunday was not only Daddy’s Birthday but Bailey’s first dance performance for Mini Company, which is in addition to her regular dance classes. It also marked the first stage performance since our last recital which you may remember ended in tears. To say we were a little nervous would be an understatement. First, we started Mini Company later than the others and with the holidays and sickness we missed a few practices so we didn’t get a lot of rehearsals in. Second, when we were in class one day Bailey’s teacher, Ms. Kelli mentioned getting up on stage to perform which caused Bailey to burst into tears. When we finally got her to calm down she told us that she was so scare of the dark and didn’t want to be alone in the dark again – her last experience apparently leaving her with some major PTSD – poor thing. We reassured her that there would be a lot more light and Ms. Kelli promised to have a flashlight handy on her phone.
Needless to say, our nerves were a little jumbled and to top it off Bailey was coming off of a nasty cold that took her out of school all week (or 2 days because of MLK Day and a midweek snow day). Luckily they held a last minute rehearsal on Friday night so we could practice. And get a few laughs in because the girls were a little wired.
Sunday came way too fast and before we knew it we had to get ready for the performance. Bailey has no problem hopping into a hair and makeup chair to get the works. She is such a little ham. Sienna had to have her own makeup chair and watched us very closely from the hall.
We got to the school, found Ms. Kelli with our costume and had to put it on right away. If you can’t tell from the pictures below, she really loves her costume.
Her favorite pose 🙂
Since our performance was #31 we got to spend time in the audience waving at friends, teachers and of course giving Miss Holly a big hug!
We were encouraged to cheer on our friends and fellow dancers and Bailey took that to heart. We were the loudest cheerleader in the filled auditorium and got several laughs for our effort. Daddy, Sienna, Gigi and Pop Pop made it shortly after the first dance and Bailey was so excited to see them all. Then it was time for us to go back to practice with our team. I don’t know if it was the fact that we got to watch several other dances, the extra love and support she got from all her teachers, friends and family or just that she loved being a mermaid…whatever it was, this girl was ready!
One more rehearsal before the big show and these little mermaids were ready to party!
All we had left to do was wait until it was time for their performance. The nerves started settling in and there was a last minute bathroom break for one of the mermaids and some rumbling hungry tummies (leaving Mom running into the audience for snacks from Dad), but then the girls all sat together holding hands and all us Moms knew there was nothing else we could do. We wished them luck as they were shuffled toward the stage and ran to the front row to get our spot for the performance. After a little delay and some duct tape on the stage we sat, waiting on bated breath for the mermaids to take the stage, we heard their little feet start to shuffle…
They nailed it! Well, they made it to the stage with no tears, big smiles on their face and danced their little (mermaid) tails off. There may have been a few missteps and some improv (we see your heel grab, Bay) but the girls kept dancing and had so much fun. The audience loved it! We are so proud of our Bailey girl! Not only did she overcome her stage fright but she did so well! Daddy, Sienna, Gigi and Pop Pop couldn’t wait to celebrate with us and we all went out to lunch to celebrate Daddy and Bailey’s performance!
Proud audience 
So proud of this little lady
It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend but an amazing one to look back on filled with great memories and lots of time with loved ones. We’ve got a lot to look forward to over the next few weeks including a few dance competitions, Valentine’s Day and of course planning our Disney/Beach vacation. We’ve got new projects to share and our kitchen island post to finish up, so stay tuned!
