Raine started ballet four weeks ago and today was the final day of the first session. Parents were invited inside the studio to watch what the girls have been learning. This was my first time in a ballet class so I was very excited to see what exactly was going on in there (Raine’s vague descriptions weren’t cutting it). Even though the class resembled herding sheep more than performing arts, it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the camera before I left so most of the still-shots are from my phone, i.e. terrible quality, I wanted to save what little battery I had for video.

The class started with stretching. It is easy to spot Raine, she was the only one not in a tutu. She refused to wear one. I asked her every time if she wanted to wear a leotard and/or tutu and she said no, just a skirt. That was more than fine with me!

Next was centre work.

Here is Raine with her teacher Ms. Tish.

Then, it was “goof-off time.” The class was broken into groups and each one had a turn to dance “free-style.”

Last they worked on technique, but I didn’t get any still-shots of that. The video has a little bit of everything.

Afterward, Raine’s teacher told me that she is one of the most advanced in her class. (Is that really saying much after seeing the chaos? 😉 ) Raine loves formal classes and following instructions, so this was right up her ally. When we return from Utah she will start the second session.

I was scrolling through photos on the camera the other day and half my memory card was filled with pictures like this.

I asked Raine, “What are these?”
She very proudly responded, “Pictures of my pretty toes!”
(This particular photo shows the lines from her ballet shoes. She has been wearing those things non-stop since she started class three weeks ago. Apparently she took them off just long enough to take some more photos of her toes.)

There were also a number of body-shots from a three-foot-high perspective on my camera. As unflattering as they were, it gave me some appreciation of how my children see me!

Carter is another of Raine’s favorite subjects. The photos of him are always VERY close-up!

Snitching berries before dinner.

Here is one of my personal favorite photos of late. I sent Raine off to get some underpants after a bath, Carter of course followed, and this is how they came out several minutes later. She definitely got some underpants!

Here are a few photos from my phone. I love this one of Carter. While Raine was at school, he would make sure to get plenty of use out of her favorite girl toys. Notice the princess shoes, bracelet, baby carrier, etc.

These two definitely keep life interesting.

The Best Dad in the World!

Daddy opened his presents . . . with a little help.

A new photo tie — this is a tradition around here. Somehow I missed getting a photo of him wearing it though.

Time to read the new books Daddy received.

Raine filled out this survey about Daddy in Primary. It was a really cute idea to capture exactly what Daddy means to her.

When we saw how beautiful the weather was going to be today, we knew we had to make one last trip to the zoo before the summer heat keeps us away. We decided to see the new show again, since the kids loved it so much when we saw the sneak-preview. It is a cute crime-solver mystery about the missing star at Lone-Star Ranch.

It is full of animals, like this “pokey-pine” (I love this Raine-isms so much that I can’t bring myself to correct her!) . . .

. . . and the opossum.

At one point in the show, they asked for volunteers. (Since we had seen the show before, we knew what the volunteers were in for.) Raine eagerly raised her hand and was selected to help . . .

. . . hold a 50-pound Burmese Python named Betty. Here is a video of it. I’m not sure how much weight she was actually supporting, but she was definitely touching it. Afterward, she told me it was squishy. You can also see her sort of slide toward the kid next to her as the snake’s head got a little too close. This girl is a fearless animal lover, she will touch pretty much anything!

And not to be left out . . . this little guy thought it was pretty cool that “Rah-Rah” got to hold the “ssssss”!!