Harper's Dance Recital was May 18th on a Saturday at 2pm. We invited all of her grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins. It was at Scott Middle School which was awesome because we were able to use Cody's classroom to hang out, get ready, and play around in. She was so excited for her recital. That everyone was coming to see her. That she got to curl her hair and wear makeup again. Plus her fun costume. She was just so so excited. We got there an hour early to get all the girls ready together in Cody's room. We curled, applied, and did all sorts of things I wouldn't have ever guessed I would do to my 3 year old. But she loved it. We got down early but the whole auditorium was either taken or reserved. Thankfully, Kelly had saved us seats down front so we had a good view. The Hempkins', the Piersalls, and the Klusmans were able to make it. Grayson and Reese came with KK because Kristen and Brian had their only baby shower that afternoon and couldn't make it. I knew it was going to be a long day since the whole show was about 3 hours and Harper was only in about 15 minutes of it. But it was worth it in the end because it was hysterical. I knew Harper would do the dance, especially because she stood next to Tessa. But I wasn't quite sure how well she would do. She liked watching Mrs. Maddie in practice and she wouldn't be out there for the real thing. In the end, it didn't matter because she did great and I smiled and laughed and cried the whole time. Sweet girl was awesome!
Her first dance was the tap dance. She loved the sound of her tap shoes. The first beat came on and up came Harper, but not the rest of the group. Sweet Tessa was trying to watch her, to make sure she knew what to do. It was awesome.
(An hour later...) Her second dance was her jazz dance. It was more fun and I think the girls really liked this one. It had the fun, feathery boa skirt and fun, fast music. Plus, a bit of interpretive dance which is way more fun! The little girl on the other side of Harper (Cambry) was very young and Harper would watch her instead of dancing sometimes. I guess she didn't understand why Cambry wasn't dancing. It was funny how anything could distract them up on the stage.
During intermission, the girls got an award based on how many years they had been at Dance Xplosion. They each got their name called and got to walk across the stage. I love Harper's little wave when she found us in the audience.
After intermission, Harper's 3rd dance was her tumbling routine. She did four passes across the stage. Somersaults, Splits Somersaults, and Cartwheels. Cambry was first, then Harper, Tessa, and the rest of the group. Cambry was the youngest and shortest and a little slower than the rest of the girls. Harper wasn't much faster. They all started ok, but after a few, the others had caught up with them. Tessa, Harper, and Cambry ended up bonking a couple of times. It was hilarious, didn't hurt anyone, and made the entire auditorium laugh. During the rehearsal, when a half of the girls did cartwheels, the other half did more somersaults (including Harper). When I asked her about it, she said that Mrs. Maddie said she had to do them because she couldn't do cartwheels. So I asked her to show me her cartwheel. She pretty much put her hands down, and hopped her feet up and down real quick. But she was proud and it was so cute so of course I told her how good she did and what a beautiful cartwheel it was! Suddenly, in her real dance recital, I saw her come out and do cartwheels. It was awesome. I don't know if Mrs. Maddie cared, but Harper was so proud of herself. I also love that she has the courage to do something that she thinks she can do, even if she has been told otherwise. Her cartwheels also made everyone laugh because they were just so cute and she tried so hard. She and Tessa butted again because Tessa has these long legs and a full cartwheel and poor Harper only moved about 1 foot each time. So it took awhile. But it was fabulous.
At this point, Harper and her dance friends, as well as Reese and Grayson had all been sitting in the auditorium being quiet for over 2 hours. They were tired of it and wanted to run around and play. So we took them upstairs to Cody's room to let them relax. They got to draw on the board and play games and color and we put a show on in the background. They snacked and had a good time. We were up there for over an hour, I'm not sure why the second half took so long. But eventually we headed down for the last dance. While we were up there, Cody went home to get Paige, who had been napping at home with our babysitter, Alyssa Cornelius. His car died and his dad was with him, so it took them awhile. The only people left in our row were Serena and Carleigh. I'm not sure how they sat there for another hour, but they held our seats for us so nicely.
Her last dance was her ballet one, set to Let It Go, from Frozen. They did good, it was one of the first dances they learned so they all seemed to know it a bit better than the rest. I love that she did extra twirls each time and that she watched Tessa for most of this dance. But she did so great!
After their last dance, all the dancers came out on stage for their standing ovation. After that, the families got to go up and give the girls flowers and hugs. Harper got flowers from us, McCools, and Klusmans, which was so many! She was so proud of herself. We took tons of pictures with all of her family and her friends. It was a very long day and we finally got to head home at about 6pm. We had dinner with all of our family at our house and got to hug Harper some more. They all left around bedtime and we sank into bed. Long but great!
Mrs. Maddie Quate (owner of Dance Xplosion and their teacher)
These girls! This picture just sums up each of their personalities perfectly! Tessa doing as asked, Reagan being cute and perfect on her own, Lucy with all the sass, and Harper just being a crazy girl. They are all such amazing, sweet, hilarious girls. We didn't get a picture with Evelyn because they had already gone to dinner with their family.
(Tessa Spiegel, Reagan Haddock, Lucy Piazza, Harper)
Our last picture of a loooooong night, a crazy weekend, and a fun year. Dance moms all the way! Funny enough, we didn't like the crazy part of being dance moms, but we loved the rest. It was such a blessing to get to know these women and get to spend time with them each week. The year before, we didn't know hardly anyone, but these women have become such dear friends. Again, we missed Laurie, but I know we will be friends for a long time.
(Lorna Haddock, AJ, Kari Piazza, Kelly Spiegel)
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