Ballerinas and Ballers

See what I did there?

Softball is back! What red-blooded American doesn't enjoy and night at the ball park, eh?

Same goes for a little one's ballet recital. So many warm fuzzies! All the feels! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen in my life. Here is a video from the dress rehearsal. They were nervous, on stage under the big lights. But they bravely carried on, smiling, "even though it was hard to smile that whole time, Mom" and totally won the show. (If there was a competition for cuteness.)

The dress rehearsal went great and then we had a girl's night with Riley's friend and her mom. We went to dinner and shopping, and let me tell you, it is getting so fun to shop with Riley - she has opinions. "Ooh, that looks so good. Ooh, Dad would love that hot dog shirt."

The next day was pouring rain ALL day, but never mind. The first half of the day we spent house hunting. With the kids, their raincoats and umbrellas, in and out of the car, in and out of houses. Definitely the best way to house hunt ;). Then we headed back to the auditorium for another rehearsal right before the actual performance. Those girls were super prepared.

 Warming up.

Eagerly waiting the big reveal. We haven't watched any of her practices this year so we really didn't know what to expect.

 (No pics during the actual performance, but here is one from the rehearsal)

They did such a great job! I was mush inside, absolutely melted.

Here is Riley and Gracie, and Riley and Ms. Zachari. Their teacher does all the choreography for all fifteen or so dances for all abilities and ages - she is very, very talented. And Riley loves her - totally wants to be a ballet teacher now.

So beautiful. I see so much of my mom in this picture.

Following the recital we went (back out in the rain) to...Snuffy's!

 Kid-approved as a great place to celebrate a sweet ballerina victory.

And for the "Baller" portion of this post: here's Dave.

It was so fun to be back out at the ball park. I love how no matter the ballpark, there is always a mismatched gang of happy, wild children packing around, running up to the fences to yell at their Dad or Mom, trying to hug the dogs, bumming food off each other's parents, leaving socks, shoes, and jackets strewn across the bleachers and playground, and basically having the time of their lives without any regard to bedtime or the dirt on their toes. It's also fun to watch the teams though. Dave's team appears to be something of a "comeback" team. It makes games extremely engrossing and satisfying to watch. We are going to have a fun summer!