March Part 4: Dance Competitions, Tumbling Showcase, and Band Festival

The end of March brought us the beginning of the end--the start of crazy end of school year events. Rachel had two dance competitions over back to back weekends. Both competitions put her solo and team dances on the same day, which was nice in some ways but made for a REALLY long day for Rachel. The first competition was The Motion Tour in Spanish Fork. Rachel's call time was at 7 a.m. so we had to get up at 5 a.m. to get her ready. She did a great job. Here she is with her choregrapher and coach, Nicole. 

She accidentally switched the direction on one of her turns, and then had to switch directions for an entire section of her dance to compensate, but I didn't notice. I was proud of her for keeping going like she hadn't made a mistake! 

She scored a High Gold for her solo. 

After Rachel did her solo, we went out for breakfast before her call time for the team dances. 

After dropping her back off at the school, we headed to Highland to grab our boys so they could come watch her team dances, which she totally rocked.  

We had a big gap in between some of her dances, so we took the boys to D.I. in Springville. Gabe found two awesome Adidas jackets, but he only got one, which isn't this one. (This one was just the right size for him, and we were worried he'd grow out of it too quickly.)

After D.I., we booked it back to Spanish Fork High School for the rest of her dances. These boys complain about having to go and give up time of a Saturday, but they always make such a big fuss about her when she's done. 

And Michael ends up carrying her at some point. Seriously, this is turning into a thing. 

For her Jazz dance, called Glam, her team scored a high gold. For her lyrical dance, called The Rose, her team scored high gold and got 4th place. Her team hip hop dance, called Purse First,  scored high gold and got third place for amateur/intermediate production. (Highest is a Platinum). 

Gabe had his tumbling showcase. He did so great, and we got this one picture of him with his new jacket. 

Michael had his band festival at his junior high, so we got to come and watch. Michael did so great! Nana and Papa got to come too, and that was fun. Papa is a local band celebrity, so he ran into lots of people he knew there. 

The last weekend in March was the Gotta Move Competition. Thankfully, Rachel's call time was much later in the morning, so things were much easier to manage! She ended up taking first in her group, and got to have the tiara. We laughed at how tiny she looked compared to her competitors!

She also won Best Costume, which she recognized was really my award since I made her costume. I was so proud! 

Nana and Papa, as well as Ella and her brothers came to support her that day. 

In between her solo and team dances, we went to grab food at a Mexican Restaurant. Michael opted to head to Nana and Papa's for lunch. 

 After lunch, I needed to finish putting Rachel's hair into her company bun. I left it in a long, low pony for her solo with the braid wrapped around her hair-tie. Behold the power of hairspray!

The boys hung out at Kirt and Julie's house after lunch and before Rachel's team dances started. Some brothers were not so lucky, but this one was clever. It looks like he's filming the dances, but he's actually just playing on his Switch. 

Rachel's team got a sapphire rating for The Rose, 2nd place for her division, and an award for Outstanding Choreography. Glam also received a sapphire rating and 3rd place in her division. Purse First also got a sapphire rating. Highest rating is a Diamond. 

After all the dances, I went into the dressing room to help Rachel get all of her stuff, and there was so much that it was easier to just wear her tiara. I was still riding the high of winning best costume. 

Somewhere in there though, we lost Gabe. Where could he be?

Oh! There he is! 

We are so proud of our Tiny Dancer!!

 Two competitions down, only one to go! I love watching her dance.