Once upon a time I was a clogger. For reals. That happened in my life.
It was kind of fun until summer rolled around. My teacher liked giving us as much exposure as possible while also teaching us to perform in different kinds of settings. This meant that along with the normal recitals, we also danced in parades, talent shows, senior citizen homes, and various dance competitions. Summer gave us lots of opportunity to perform. We danced in a lot of parades during the summer. Have I mentioned that my costume was black and had long pants and long sleeves? Parades were definitely the worst. It was so hot! And you had to worry about ruining your clogs on the harsh pavement so it was important to apply and reapply duct tape for protection.
Second on the list as worst ever was Lagoon. There was a big dance competition at Lagoon at the start of every summer and we were always in it. I was slightly skittish as a child and didn’t enjoy large, noisy crowds. Parades = large, noisy crowds. Lagoon = large, noisy crowds. Also, it all seemed so pointless. I danced because I thought it was fun, not because I wanted people to see me doing it. I was not happy.
The Big Brother’s oldest daughter has been dancing and she got an opportunity to dance at Lagoon.
Little Miss C is on the left side. Based on the variety of positions in this photo, it’s hard to know what the girls were supposed to be doing. Chances are Miss C is doing it. She knew her routine and did it with a surprising amount of precision for being 4. The other little ladies often looked to her for direction. Yes, my niece is awesome. No surprise. She is one of us, after all.
Miss C was adorable and I’m so glad I had the chance to go to Lagoon and watch her dance, even with the large, noisy crowds. If I have a daughter in dance, I might just make her dance at Lagoon even though as a child I swore I’d never be so cruel. Funny how things change.
Adoe was fantastic. She spent most of the time sitting quietly on Ka’s lap (who was riding in a wheelchair since she was very, very pregnant with baby AJ at the time), munching on some pink cotton candy.
Adoe held up her cotton candy to show Kelly Belly what she was eating and also told Kelly Belly just how delicious it was.
We didn’t stay and play at Lagoon because it was far too rainy and cold. Lucky for us there was an option to buy tickets just to see the dance competition, not to go on rides. As soon as Miss C had finished her dance, we retired to a restaurant for some smiley face pancakes.
It took the smiley face pancakes a long time to make it to our table. Papa was sitting across the table from Adoe and doesn’t mind throwing balls across tables in restaurants now that he’s a grandpa. Teaching Adoe bad table manners? Probably. Totally worth it to see her all out laughing face.
Little Miss C, showing off her dance medal.