Friday, May 17, 2019

Dancin's the Real Deal!





For years the girls have shown an affinity to anything music. They sing their lungs out in cars and in apartments. They sway and twirl around the living rooms, in gardens and in airports and they clearly love being taken into the music of their choice. As they have grown they have, of course, become more involved in more formal elements, including their participation in an after school dance program through a group called Fusion Arts. Irini was the first to get involved, joining a hip hop dance group two years ago. Then, as was expected, her little sister joined in as well. 

This year they were both in hip hop (Irini being one of the experienced leaders now) and Amalia additionally did contemporary dance in which, though it being her first year, she was quite literally 'front and center' when the dance show came around. The girls were happy as can be in their make up and outfits and happily did 'their thing' in the show. 

Mommy and daddy sat and watched their dances, tears flowing down their cheeks, filled with that parental pride of recognizing that their girls are growing up and learning and becoming such wonderful people in every way!  Take a look below at the videos (Amalia's start in contemporary and their joint hip hop) that show a small glimpse of the several songs they sand. We Love our girls!



Saturday, May 11, 2019

Horse Riding Freedom



A while back we had talked about how our girls are getting better at horseback riding. This month they both got to the point of cantering, meaning they can get the horse to do a "jog" without help. Sadly we don't have a video of Irini's work, but here is Amalia working away on getting better and better at this!  The video below is a good indicator of where she is regarding her skills. Pretty awesome stuff!


Monday, May 6, 2019

Amalia Enters Her Final Single Digit Year








And so it was... Amalia has entered her final year of single digits!  When we were trying to figure out what her special day might look like she decided she wanted a non-special special day.  So it was that we took a select group of friends (kept small by the budget) to watch a movie (Shazam!) and then headed home for a sleep over!  The following morning the gang woke up, did some arts & crafts, had breakfast and headed to the local pool to jump around a bit. This, of course, was followed by a return home for the birthday cake and more formal celebrations with all her friends!  

A birthday at our house would be a birthday without the tradition of making signs related to our girls' age (in this case "9") which, once the birthday girl wakes up, will lead her to her present(s). This was added its little bit to the wonder of the day(s). She was happy as can be, with family and with friends. After all, isn't that what it's all about?  

Unfortunately on her actual birthday daddy and Irini had a basketball tournament to go to and so Amalia had a special one-on-one day with mommy which included a visit to eat one of her favorite foods: Sushi!

All in all it was a great 36 hour birthday!  Amalia, as you grow up don't ever forget just how much we love you!  From here to the moon and back.