Ballet

The girls and I were roped into a performance scenario when we began taking dance class 1/day week at GJ Academy of Dance. In hindsight, my better judgement should have prevailed and we may have just taken the classes and skipped the whole performance thing. As it turned out, we did, but not without trying to go through with the whole she-bang. I'm pretty certain that neither Francesca or Cecilia really like dance class. I think they just want to put on some music, tights and a leotard and dance around for awhile. I think that's what we'll do from now on.

Here's Francesca's "Wee Dee Doo" dance costume:

I prefer this costume:

Cecilia said her costume was too tight and refused to wear it. She got the pukes Friday night so we stayed home from the matinee performance on Saturday while Granny took Francesca. When Francesca arrived for the performance and was told that Granny couldn't go backstage, "Stand right there up against the wall," by some total stranger (not her teacher) she said she didn't want to dance and stayed with Granny in the audience and enjoyed the show. We'll be chalkin' this one up to live and learn.

Rifle Falls

We planned a day trip to Rifle Falls with our friends and neighbors on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Cecilia awoke with a scratchy cough and runny nose so she was happy to stay home with Granny and Grandpa for the day.

For me, Rifle Falls is a bit of a childhood mecca - I remember going as a child and have vivid memories of the awesome grandeur of the wate

rfalls and caves. Upon returning last year, for the first time since age seven, I wasn't surprised to see that the Niagra Falls and mammoth caves of my memory were a wee bit smaller than what I recalled.

When we arrived, the ranger told us that the parking at the park was full and we could either wait until someone left and then drive in and park (waiting in the car? O

ut of the question,) park

on the road and risk a ticket, or go up the canyon to some dude ranch. We opted for none of the above. Let us just say that the first picture is of our covert ops. I was pleasantly surprised that our pals had no problem with our illegal parking, fence climbing, hiking scheme and everything went off without a hitch.

Francesca just wanted to fish in the creek, but we were able to pull her away long enough to hike around the falls and explore with Grace. We missed Cecilia, and Andrew will say that this is mean, but 1 less child was almost like having NO children for the day! Cecilia is just a lot of child, she's three! She's demanding, impatient, LOUD, but she's also sweet, boisterous, considerate, loving and gentle so that makes up for all the rest.