Video Gold

Oh my god you guys, this video is so awesome. You know how after your kids go to bed and there is all this noise upstairs and you’re thinking, the room is dark right? What on earth are they doing?? And then they offer to show you.

They showed me a version of this, so I said we have to tape that. But when they did it the second time, you can clearly tell I was surprised by the full trick. My reaction may be the best part.

Delaney, man. That kid is going to kill me. She saw me do this trick to Caden, only I did the thing where they put their stomach on your feet, which is clearly safer? But she plotted and she planned and she figured out how she could fly Caden. And so she did.

Winter Recital

In the middle of all of the holiday happenings, the girls winter dance recital got lost in the shuffle. Truly, when I say recital I use that term very loosely. Their ‘recital’ was at their normal class time, and was held in a larger room at the studio. They showed a few of the technique things they are working on, and then performed the two routines they’ve been practicing. The thing about both routines is that they really drill the basics of ballet and tap, so as they practice they are learning the foundation steps. And! We got to see their costumes for the spring recital! Two! Gorgeous sparkly costumes. Very excited.

Their teacher told them to wear something festive and fun, so Delaney asked to wear her dance costume from the spring. Perfect idea!

My parents brought them flowers, which they loved.

Every week I watch their dance class, so I knew all of the moves but had never heard the words. This is such a cute song! You can also definitely tell that not all of the kids have the same ‘passion’ for dance. Even with my two, Delaney practices at home all week, Caden gets distracted and bored by the end of the class.

Love this tap routine! We practiced what I could remember at home, but they really picked up on the steps as they got closer to the recital. Step ball change was difficult, but they both got it down!

I can’t say enough good things about the new studio we’re at! The teacher is so great, everyone is so professional, and the girls are learning so much. I also think it’s huge that there are older girls in classes while the girls are in class. They see girls in pointe shoes and girls doing leaps and turns every week. It’s nice to see what they’re working towards.

Throwback … Friday?

I’m sick. Bah! So in the interest of sleep I give you two of my favorite videos of the girls. One old, one not so old.

My favorite video ever. This one never fails to make me laugh. Ah, Choo Choo Soul.

I’m a flower! The girls giggles get me every time.

Dive for it!

I mentioned before that my mom bought dive sticks for the girls. We hadn’t used them since the 4th of July? So the girls were very excited. Well, at least Caden was. Delaney was a little wary of going underwater at first. But Caden was all over it! Fearless and wanting to do it again and again and again. My absolute favorite part every time was how she would triumphantly hold the dive stick in the air when she came up.

But on the next try she got it!

I always wonder what the other parents think of us shoving the girls under water over and over. On Sunday we even had them racing each other for sticks. Make them competitive early on right? At least on Sunday I tried to give them some breathers in between. Both girls passed out cold for two hours after swimming on Saturday. Diving wears you out!

Swimming Videos!

Here is Laney backfloating. She’s doing much better. She can maintain for a few seconds before she realizes she’s on her own.

And Caden backfloating. I’m so proud of her that she faltered, but recovered. As her teacher said, she could do this all day long.

Here’s Delaney just after she jumped in, swimming over to the edge. She does so well!

And Caden doing her backfloat over to the stairs. Her kick was a little too big and she faltered, but this is the swim she did entirely on her own the other night.

So proud of them! They really made so much progress in these two weeks. Now to continue hitting the pool to keep up the momentum.

I’m a flower

This video could also be titled – Please let them be theater geeks! Apologies for the foggy screen, but I had to get this on video. One sister pretends to be a seed, the other waters her and she becomes a flower! Or not, depending on the sister.

Recital Videos

First up, ballet! It took me a minute to remember how to work the camera and then to find the girls. When I finally focus in on them, Delaney is on the left, Caden on the right. This was their favorite routine and the one they knew the best. I love Delaney’s fingers when she does an arabesque. She was so serious about that move. I worked with them on keeping their legs straight when they brought their arms to the floor and then up and Caden totally remembered. And then the quick pirouettes! Gah. This one was so cute.

And tap. Caden is on the left in this one, Delaney on the right. Watch Delaney’s step/claps. They are awesome. I’m so annoyed with this routine because if she’d stuck with the choreography they did a shuffle/step/clap! just as the chorus kicked in and it was so cute! I need to just let it go….

Gymnastics Complete again

Last night was our last night of gymnastics for this session. The week before the coach said to bring your cameras along to take pictures. I’ve never brought my big camera into the gym because well, it’s a gym. The lighting is horrible. But, it’s still light out during our lessons so I figured I could maybe get some decent shots. If nothing else, I should probably have more than a few cell phone videos to capture this sport at some point!

First, a few videos of the girls attempting cartwheels. I had really hoped this was a skill they could master this time around, but they just never spend any time on it. This was the first time they’ve even gotten close though!

I love this picture of Laney doing her cartwheel, and Caden very intently keeping an eye on her!

Here are a few from the beam. I have a series from the uneven bars, but I need to remember how to put them into a collage.

Caden concentrating. What I love most about these two is that as soon as their turn is done, they race back to the beams low to the ground and start practicing.

High kicks! Laney’s kicks are very enthusiastic.

Gymnastics!

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a gymnastics video. I stopped because they all looked the same. We usually do two sessions of gymnastics in the winter, and they don’t make a ton of progression until they go back the next year. But this year the time for swimming lessons didn’t work for us, so we did another round of gymnastics. And now, things are clicking! They’re making progress! I love it.

I think I’ve watched this video of Caden 20 times. She makes it look easy, but jumping on the springboard is difficult for the girls. Most of them run up to it, stop, then jump, then jump off. She does the jump and does a tuck jump off perfectly! So proud of her for this one.

And then we have Delaney. They’re supposed to jump and bring both feet up onto the mat at once. Caden has trouble with this one, but Delaney did it almost perfectly!

The Recital, Part II

Without further ado! The first “Caden & Delaney!” you hear is from one of Caden’s daycare classmates. Pretty much everything else you hear is me and my mom. They are both wearing scarves. Delaney is on the left in the purple gloves, there is a girl in between, and then Caden with pink gloves. They didn’t disappoint!