Mother's Day Weekend

 An exciting start to the weekend was the Northern Lights that we were easily able to see. I was so glad it wasn't cloudy that night, as so often it is. I fully expected not to see them, especially at the decent hour of 10 pm. We had a big day the next day, so I wasn't even sure if I would be able to walk outside at that hour, but what we saw energized me and we even drove to a nearby park to get a better view without the street lights around. Though I have to say that one of the best viewing moments was right when we walked outside our house. The Northern Lights ebb and flow, so you don't exactly know when the best view will be. 

The moon was super cool!

The next day was Dancin' Feet's 50th anniversary. I was sad Victoria couldn't come back to perform at it with the other alumni, though not many young alumni came back this year. They had asked Jason to come back and do the Dad's dance, which he did and I think even had fun with it too! The best part about it was that I got to perform in the recital this year in the Ladies Tap dance. Two of my friends came to Victoria's last recital last year and got really excited by the Ladies Tap dance then. They wanted to take the class for the school year and asked if I would join them. It's funny because I'd been watching that recital for 15 years and the thought has crossed my mind that it could be fun to try, but since I've really never had any experience with tap, I was unsure. When two of my good friends decided to do it, I thought this was my chance. We also got Susie's mom to join as well. It was more special for her as this is Susie's senior year and her last recital.

So, after watching Erik's game Saturday morning, I got to watch 2 dance recitals, as well as perform in them. It was a Mother's Day gift to me!

About the tap class itself, I can't believe how much brain power goes into tap! It's tough mentally. Not as much physically for me as a beginner, since our moves aren't too challenging physically, unless you count the heel vs. toe movement that's always changing and sometimes my feet don't want to move in the right way! Somehow, Ms. Paige, our teacher who always performs with her students since she mostly teaches adults, decided I had enough potential and put me in mostly the front for the performance. Luckily for me, she was always nearby and I could keep an eye on her for reference. Melissa and Christina, who were the ones who convinced me to try the tap class with them, also were placed towards the front. Melissa was a ballerina for all of her young life, including through college, and Christina tapped in middle school and high school. Since we're all about the same age, it had only been 25+ years since they'd done anything of the sort!

For your viewing pleasure, I will post the video of us in the Ladies Dance if you're curious to see how us old ladies did! This was the first performance of the day and wasn't our best.

Susie was Mr. Monopoly in one of her numbers.

Jason's little head is in the middle. I have his dance recording below. He only practiced one time and so was hiding in the back for much of it!

Mother's Day itself was nice with meaningful conversations, nice meals, gifts, and beautiful weather. 

Jason made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Paella for dinner. He went all out!

Kade made me a strawberry shortcake. I have to say it was the best-tasting shortcake I've ever had!

Kade made a necklace and a dish to put it in. They all got me some ice cream storage containers for our homemade ice cream and shampoo bars so I can try to save my hair! Erik also gave me some of the things he made in LME.

Flowers from my Favorite kid!