Ella's first Dance Recital

Well, we survived Ella's first dance recital! It was a doozy too. Let me begin by saying the whole experience is quite different on the 'mom' side vs the 'dancer' side! We started off with dress rehearsal on Friday evening. I took the below pictures in the yard prior to heading to Nana T's house to drop off Emery. Ella was so excited with her hair and makeup done, and body glitter that she couldn't contain her smile! She struck various poses for the camera- all unprompted! Even Tad had to join the dress rehearsal as he and Ella joined many other dad's for the finale- a father/daughter dance.



The day of the recital was quite busy. Nana and Papa R drove up, and so did Aunt Lee for the big day. I worked backstage for the earlier recital and was there at 9:30 a.m. It was held at JCCC's Yardley Hall. Needless to say I was on my feet until Ella arrived. Thankfully between the Nana's, Aunt Lee, and Daddy, she was dressed and ready, looking beautiful as ever! They rushed her to sit in the balcony with the other girls in her dance. I saw her briefly before her dance, and then watched as a proud mama from the wings. Then I helped her change into her daddy/daughter outfit and off she went. I didn't see her again till the end of the show. I also didn't get to sit till the end of the show, and lunch- what's that? Needless to say after me being on my feet from 9:30-5, I was pooped. So were all the visitors after sitting through a 2 1/2 hour recital! At least most of the time they were kept laughing! The little kids are quite entertaining! We all had a very nice dinner at Garozzo's, and settled in for the night! I should be getting a DVD of the recital soon, so if I can figure out how to put her dance on here, I will!