Princess Day at Dance Comes to An End...

From the bottom: the girls all went on a "Princess Parade" around the halls of the YMCA- and all the girls took it VERY seriously- especially Phoebe! They were all very serious as they smiled and practiced their princess wave to greet their loyal subjects (the sweaty gym people and the YMCA staff members). Then we have Phoebe and her little friend- Phoebe was a bad influence on her- she said, "Hi friend!" and grabbed her hand, and they ran around the whole dance studio, laughing, holding hands, smiling at each other, laughing, running...this went on for a LONG time, and then the moms had to break it up. :( Then there was the always-popular coloring segment of dance class, and Phoebe's favorite: lining up to show Miss Kelly her picture so she could get a sticker! :)

Princess Phoebe

From bottom to top: Miss Kelly called each girl up individually to "walk the red carpet as a princess," and Phoebe was first! I was thinking, "Oh no, she doesn't have an example to follow- she's gonna run right out the door!" But when she heard Miss Kelly call her name in front of all those girls, Phoebe had a look on her face like she had won the lottery! She walked right up to her and turned to face the crowd, aka her adoring subjects. Very dramatically, Miss Kelly leaned down with the crown and said, "I crown you Princess Phoebe," put a crown on her head. Phoebe stood so very still, smiling like she couldn't have been any prouder of that moment! Then she walked straight down the red carpet like a true princess: prim and proper, beaming the whole was! It was the most precious thing I have ever seen! After that she kind of unraveled though, so we had to sit off to the side so we didn't ruin anyone else's moment...then Phoebe found an old Chilis gift card, and she was entertained for a few minutes...the things these princess are interested in, I tell you... :)

Dancing Dolls Day 6: Princess Day!!

Today was Princess Day at dance class, and Phoebe was LOVING it! She was dressed as Cinderella (which she has wanted to watch one hundred times a day, every day, as of late).

Organizing Eggs

Phoebe, the tiny genius, organizing eggs by color...she only needed a little guidance from Mommy... :)

Backpack Camping, Here We Come!

So Matt was trying out all of his new backpacking gear today, making lists of things we still need, and deciding what I'll need for MY pack (if I ever get to have one...) and Phoebe thought she'd help! Sorry Phebes- this is one vacation you don't get to come on...and no, I will NOT sneak you along in my pack! :)

Getting the Hang of Things...Sort of...

I started taking video of Phoebe here because she was ACTUALLY going the right way, doing the right thing...but she quickly spiraled out of control and headed for the door...sigh... :)

More Gymnastics

Here you see Phoebe scooting down the balance beam, sitting on the bench for a time out, putting her hands on her head in anticipation of her "good job" stamp, and trying to put on her shoes all by herself. Good job, Phoebe!

Gymnastics: Day 5

Phoebe FINALLY seems to be getting the hang of the routine at gymnastics! Yippee! Today was "animal day," so she brought her little monkey, Ho-Ho, but Mommy had to carry it almost the whole time. :) Her favorite parts of today's class were the balance beam (which she walked across properly a couple times, but mostly wanted to scoot along), the log roll (as always), and the swinging bar.

Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

The playground was fun, sure, but what could be more fun than stopping every three feet to bend down and smell the flowers? Nevermind that A) these flowers probably have no smell, B) even if they had a smell, you probably would NOT be able to smell it from three feet away, and C) sometimes you're actually smelling weeds that have no flowers...who cares? It's still fun! Almost as fun as introducing yourself to all the animals; as in, "Oh, horse!" (Phoebe then points to herself and says,) "It's Phoebe!" or "It's me- Phoebe!" And I do mean EVERY animal...and even some things that were not animals...I'm pretty sure she introduced herself to a trash can at one point...but that's ok: big day of learning how to walk NEXT to the stroller, walking WITH Mommy, NOT running ahead, using a QUIET voice that does NOT scare the sheep...what more can you ask for in a trip to the zoo?? :)

First Trip to the Zoo This Spring!

Yippee! It was a beautiful day yesterday, and the kids were past the point of no return on naps, so we headed down to the zoo! Highlights of the trip included, but were not limited to: turtles on a log, flamingos, the barnyard (where we got stuck for a LOOONG time, looking at ecah cow, horse, and goat from as many angles as you can when you are like two feet tall), the chickens (where Phoebe tried REALLY hard to get her fingers pecked off), and of course- the zoo playground! Also, my camera ran out of batteries somewhere around the barnyard, and my back up batteries turned out to be dead, so that was a bummer...but we had great fun anyways!

...and the Last of Day Five Dancing...

And again, from bottom to top: Phoebe, as always, was thrilled that it was time to color- today the theme was butterflies, so they of course had a butterfly picture, and a butterfly sticker when they finished...and, as always, Phoebe gravitated to the white crayon, then the gray crayon, and then the other colors...she must have thought we were coloring moths...and then, the top picture: you will notice, in the foreground, and very small, pitiful, half-chewed bit of chocolate chip cookie...this was my cut of our dessert...I asked Phoebe, "Can Mommy share your cookie, Phoebe?" and with a big smile and a lot of bravado, she sweetly said, "Sure, Mommy!"...and THIS is what she gave me...and then she sat there, smiling, waiting for me to eat it...and then said, "Good job sharing, Phoebe!" :)

...and More Dance Photos...

From bottom to top: Phoebe flapping her butterfly wings; trying to act like a cocoon; being lazy, playing the tamborine on the mats; stalking Miss Tina, because she was eavesdropping and heard mention of the words "crayons" and "stickers"...she then lurked around Miss Tina's ankles saying, "Color?" "More color?" "Stickers?" Until it was finally time to actually color...MANY minutes later...