Recital Weekend!

Laken had her dance recital May 21 & May 22nd. On May 21st she danced at 7pm. She was so excited all day to perform. For the 1st time I did her hair myself, which was a HUGE undertaking, because I am not a hair person. All the girls bring a beach towel and wait back stage until their dance numbers. She did not bat an eyelash for me to leave her backstage with all her "girlfriends". They had a blast playing with each others toys. My friend Karen lined them up backstage, so she was kind enough to take pictures of her backstage. They are posted on FB. Brad, the boys, Clara, Nama and Grandpa and I were all at this performance. We were sitting close enough that she could even see us despite the spotlight. Preston was worried he would be bored during it, so he brought a pen and paper, but never wrote anything the entire time. He was totally engaged in it. Laken was fabulous. You can tell she is loving every minute of being up there. Her star really shines on stage.












I learned the first year of her dance (mommy and me) that it is customary to bring your dancer a "gift" of some sort after the recital for a job well done. This year we bought her an American Girl dress, shoes and crown that resembled her dance outfit somewhat. She was elated!












Her next performance was on Sunday, May 22 at 2 pm. This time she wanted her hair in pigtails. So I tried my best to make dance worthy pigtails. This time she was able to perform for Gammy, Grandpa and Mike. Grandpa even thought she was the only one who knew what she was doing. One of the other parents overheard Grandpa and agreed. Beside her ballet and tap numbers at both performances, she had a big part in the finale where she was front and center. She loved ever minute of it! Afterward, we all came back to the house and she rode her princess bike in full costume.