Girl Scout Brownie Banquet 2014

Kyrie completed another year as a Girl Scout, her first as a Brownie. This was a great year for Kyrie as she continues to grow & learn and build relationships within her troop. She has been with several of these girls for the past three years and truly embraces the concept of being a sister to every Girl Scout. Her troop has four amazing leaders who do their very best to give these girls a wonderful scouting experience. 

This year, after recognizing the troop's accomplishments, the troop's leaders took a moment to recognize each girl for their individual scouting achievements. Kyrie was honored with a badge for courage in relation to her experience with her tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. This badge was chosen for her by her troop leaders, and we were very proud she received this recognition. Kyrie also received her My Promise/My Faith pin and was recognized for the badges she earned at home, including: My Family Story, My Best Day, Household Elf (Conservation) and Pets. We look forward to completing more badge work over the summer as enrichment to our homeschool units. Lastly, Kyrie was recognized as being her troop's top seller for cookie sales. We want to thank all our neighbors, co-workers, family & friends who supported Kyrie during cookie season. Her troop was able to purchase camping equipment with the funds raised, and the girls are looking forward to a 'practice' backyard camp-out in June.

The end-of-year banquet is a wonderful opportunity for the troop's families to get together and share in the friendships are girls have built throughout the year. It is also a time when we can express our gratitude to our troop leaders. We look forward to another amazing year of Girl Scouts ahead!

Blooms & Butterflies at FPC (2014)

This belated field trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory was a part of our bug unit and Kyrie's bug badge for Brownies. We really enjoy the Conservatory and spent about an hour and a half exploring the gardens & exhibits, which is about right for these kiddos... and with a family membership, we always leave wanting to come back! Our first stop was to see the butterflies. This garden is usually pretty temperate, but on this afternoon it was pretty warm, which was nice as we had the garden to ourselves, but I would definitely remember to do this as a morning field trip next time (especially, in the real heat of the summer). The kids love the butterflies. There are more than a dozen different varieties, and it is wonderful to watch them fluttering by or sipping from the beautiful flowers. 

 After we saw the butterflies in the garden, we walked through the butterfly activities that FPC has out in one of its main corridors on our way to the traveling "Amazing Butterflies" exhibit. The kids really liked this hands-on & educational maze that takes you through a butterfly's life cycle. I went through it with them once, and we read butterfly facts and recreated aspects of a caterpillar's or butterfly's life, such as escaping predatory plants & insects, doing a mating dance, movement, and so on. We were able to review a lot we had already learned, as well as learn new facts. After we were done, the kids asked to go through it all again, which they did on their own. 

Sleeping in their cocoons!

They took turns being the spider or the butterfly.

They ended the maze in flight!

We ended our visit with this delightful, butterfly-themed art exhibit!

Clippers Baseball, Memorial Day 2014

We wrapped up our Memorial Day weekend with a Clippers Baseball game! This was a great evening to be at the ballpark with a hat giveaway, dime-a-dog night and a post-game fireworks show. We picked up our tickets a bit late, so we just "had to" get box seats as those were what were available. We made the most of these amazing seats right behind home plate. The photos I took of the game are actual views with no zoom. It was a tight game that went into extra innings. Luckily, we were still waiting for Darren to come around with the car when the Clippers scored the winning run, and we got to watch the fireworks show up close right on the street where we were waiting. It was a late night, but a fun night! Thanks to Nana Billie & Papa Derrel for a great visit! 

Kyrie's Dance Recital 2014

One of the highest compliments I was paid (as a dance-mom) was being asked if Kyrie's hair was real in her first costume. Yes, it was! My secret: gel applied on individual sections of dry hair  in overnight foam rollers.

This was Kyrie's first performance in Columbus DanceArts main show. This was her fourth year at CDA and her first year dancing hip-hop (along with ballet & tap). She had two dances in the performances: ballet & hip-hop, which meant a quick-change backstage between numbers. She was very excited for the new experience of the main show. There was a dress rehearsal on Saturday morning, which is where most of these photos came from, as photos & videos were not allowed at the actual performance, which took place on Sunday morning. The location of the main show was also a big change, as it took place at a theatre downtown instead of a local high school stage. We had an amazing experience, and I have great admiration for the directors, teachers and dancers at CDA!

So these photos are from Kyrie's first dance: "Annie." This was a super-cute hip-hop routine. I made a video of the dance itself, but had a hard time capturing Kyrie in her group, as she got stuck behind some other girls, but I love her face in these photos. Kyrie did a great job dancing, and I am even more proud of her attitude & presence on-stage, which can only be described as joyful. For each scene, the dancers in that scene waited on stage and watched the other performances. Kyrie was all-smiles and happily clapped and be-bopped along. It was impossible not to catch a glimpse of her and get caught up in the moment. That joy of hers made the entire show for me, and I loved that she (& I) got to see the company & pre-company dancers and all the different styles of dancing.

These are the photos from Kyrie's second dance to "My Girl." These little girls looked so sweet and did a great job! Kyrie has been doing dance for 4 years now, and I have really seen improvement in her this year! In the way that only moms can get nervous, I was on pins & needles waiting for Kyrie to get on-stage after her quick change. We had opted to buy a hairpiece for her ponytail as I was unsure that her curls would withstand the brushing and pulling going from pigtails to pony in her quick-change. With all that extra hair, she looked like a princess when she came scampering out from behind the curtain to join her group. As in the previous scene, Kyrie smiled and clapped to all the other performances, and even encouraged the dancers around her to join in.

The main show is a long one at nearly 3 hours, but the time passed quickly as we watched all the different dancers from novice to near-professional. I had a lot of favorite dances and marveled at the skill of those on-stage. We were grateful to be joined by Kyrie's Nana, Papa & Mimi who all helped make the day even more special. I look forward to Kyrie's future performances!