Jen and Kate's birthdays

Jennifer had her birthday dinner on Friday night. Mary and Grampa Brewster came and helped celebrate. Then on Saturday was Kate's party. She had a Mickey Mouse theme. We had pizza and chips and then cake and ice cream. The kids had a great time. There was lots to do, swimming, slip-n-slide, a playhouse, swingset, etc... Kate had a great time too, she fell asleep in her swing from all the fun she had. More pics on my facebook, link is at the bottom of the post. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88107&id=701749222&1=36714e2334

Sam Jones

I finally got a good internet connection and can load up some pictures. I took these of Sam the same day as the girls' pictures. He didn't really want to have his picture taken but when I suggested we take some of him doing something he enjoyed he thought that was a great idea. He is playing football Wii here.

Jones Girls

I will have a couple of pictures of Sam tomorrow. He wasn't nearly as excited about having his picture made as Claire was. Claire is a little model! Kate isn't quite the model but I'm sure in a couple of years she will be hamming it up too. Aren't my nieces beautiful? Thursday was Kate's first birthday - Happy Birthday Kate!!

DMA - Day 5

The girls had a pretty easy day yesterday. They slept until noon and went to classes. I stayed in the room and worked. I got a lot done. After they got back from class we went down to a hamburger place called "Elevation". It was quite good. We then walked down to "Titan in the Sand' and took some pictures. The last day of competition is tomorrow so things are wrapping up. They will now only have classes until late on Friday.

DMA - Day 4

Today was another busy day for the girls. My favorite dance of the year was performed today - "Steppin' to the Bad Side". It is a tap production number which means just about everyone in the company is in the dance. Of course tap is my favorite anyway. They did a beautiful job with it, they got a gold which we thought they deserved better, but what can you do? After awards the girls went to their classes and I went to the pool. I was a little miffed when I got there and there were no lounge chairs available. It wouldn't have bothered me except this is a 3000 room hotel and they only have about 50 chairs at the ONE pool! I just don't think that is enough. I did find a chair and pulled up a side table to put me feet on. I then went upstairs and napped and then worked until the girls came up. They quickly changed clothes and we went downstairs and grabbed a quick bite to eat before the Junior Miss Dance Competition. One of the girls from our dance company is Virginia's Miss Dance and was in competition for the national honor. She did beautifully tonight and we enjoyed the show. Tomorrow will be a very slow day, they only have classes in the afternoon. Looking forward to sleeping in.

DMA - Day 3

Well, the girls were really busy all day and only one picture was taken. Unfortunately I am in the picture. Linda had her solo this morning (Gold!) and then they did "Hairspray"(High Silver), and Linda, Savanna and Amy did "Foggy Day" (Gold). After the performances the girls had classes and then scholarship classes. I drove out to Sterling to deliver a proof book and stopped and replinished the lunch supplies. After the girls got back they changed and we walked downstairs to go to dinner. When we went out to the parking lot to get my jacket we saw a huge bouquet of heart balloons in the garage. They were just sitting there where someone had abandoned them. We decided that they couldn't get them in their car so they left them. We got them! We were so excited! Tomorrow all of EDC will have a pink heart balloon! After waiting at a mexican restaurant for a little while (after looking at their menu we decided we didn't want to eat there), we walked across the street to a restaurant called "Ketchup". It was pretty good, not great though. We then walked to Ben and Jerrys and got some ice cream and walked down to the waterfront to eat it. We are having wonderful weather right now and the walk along the water was really nice. Tomorrow the girls don't have a crazy schedule so they will be able to relax a little.

DMA - Day 2

The girls had a fairly busy day today. Savanna performed her solo this morning - she received a gold award. She was very happy with that because her mind went blank on two parts while dancing so she was improvising and making things up as she went so she was VERY happy with the gold! They had a group dance this afternoon - Lion King - which also received a Gold. The judging is pretty harsh here as it usually is at DMA so they are really happy with their Golds. After competition they had a ballet scholarship class for an hour and a half and then they had a Welcome Gala that they attended. I stayed in the room and did some work. And tried to catch a nap since I had gotten up at 5 this morning. Tomorrow is mad busy with several dances in the morning and then workshop classes all afternoon and jazz scholarship classes after that. That will be their busiest day so they will be glad when tomorrow is over. I did get a chance and walked around the property a bit by myself this afternoon and took some pictures. The ones of the girls are from the gala.

DMA - Day 1

Well, here we are in Washington DC at the Dance Masters of America National Competition. By "we" I mean Savanna, Linda, and me. The rest of our family is sitting out this trip due to the fact that we are all going to TX for a week in August. We will be here for a week. Savanna will have competition in the mornings and workshops and classes all afternoon. I am planning on catching up on some sleep (although so far that hasn't worked out too well since it is 6:23 and I woke up at 5:00 this morning and wasn't able to get back to sleep - GRRRR). I also brought lots of work with me that will keep me busy when I am not at the pool.

Our stay here did not start on a good note. It is unbelieveable how many people are here in the hotel and also in this area. I stood in line for an hour and a half waiting to check in yesterday. There were no carts (we could wait for a bellman but that was another 2 hour wait) so we had to make several trips from the parking garage to our room with all the stuff it requires for 2 girls to dance for a week and 3 females to live for a week. Thankfully Amy and her mom helped us out on our last trip out to the car - we were so grateful for that! Then when it came time for dinner there was a 2 hour wait just to get seated at all the restaurants anywhere within walking distance of the hotel. We finally got seated and it was another hour before we got our food. I was wishing we had stayed in the room and had sandwiches! We can expect it to be like this here until Sunday evening then we are hoping things will lighten up. This morning Savanna will be dancing her solo and there will be a group dance (Lion King) this afternoon. We are hoping to see fireworks tonight but we were hoping for that last night too but we were waiting for our food and could only hear the booms. The picture of the girls is (l to r) Savanna, Jessica Padgett, Linda, Amanda Lowe and Amy Parrish. Charlotte Parrish is the other mom with me. Despite the beginning of our week, we are expecting a fun week ahead!