Pictures with Santa

This morning was the annual Breakfast with Santa and I took the girls to get their picture mad, eat pancakes and play & craft with the Junior Women’s League.  Mom and Jamie met me there with Mary-Jane.

So…here’s how the pictures went:

A happy but reserved (amazingly quiet & calm!) Campbell

 

An absolute hissy fit throw down Sara Gray with her embarrassed sis….

 

and cousins with Honey (because that was the ONLY way that Santa was going to be able to handle all three of them plus Honey had her red lipstick on!) Look at those faces!!

 

I told that Santa not to even let all that screaming & squirmin’ to bother him because it wasn’t bothering me one bit!  I know it looks like torture but I love it and know these will make us giggle for years to c

Pike County Fair 2010

It’s  a tradition. Campbell has loved a fair ever since we took her two years ago and we enjoy getting to see her have so much fun.  This year could be no exception.  I have been out of town earlier this week and thanks to soccer games and a field trip, I knew tonight would be the only night we could go as a family. 

We had some long lines and some limited rides and some kinda scary, creaky equipment so we didn’t really get the full experience!  But in spite of all that I know the girls had a great time.

Campbell of course loved riding everything and Sara Gray stayed up until 9pm (she is usually in bed at 6:30!) and was totally mesmerized by all the lights, sights & sounds.

Look at both their faces!  We had just arrived and they were totally amazed!

FBC Picnic at Banks

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of fellowship,play and food with our church family earlier today. It was the perfect weather to be outside and enjoy some old-fashioned FUN!

Hula Hoop Contest!

 

Some proud grandmothers!

Even Sara Gray got in on the hula  hoop fun

Cousins

 

Campbell and friends decided to get in  stage for an impromptu children’s choir rehearsal. She LOVES a microphone!

Newton & Mary-Jane

Campbell’s first trip to the Theatre

The Troy Arts Council had Billy Jonas Band in town tonight which was a great performance! Billy Jonas is a mix between Stomp! and James Taylor…I know, weird mix.  But he has a very spiritual/folk sound yet his instruments are buckets, a 55 gallon drum, tribal bells, pots & pans, beads in a water bottle!  So you can imagine how fun and exciting a show he puts on and how much kids love it.

I decided this would be the perfect event to introduce Campbell to live performance so I asked her if she would like to be my date to the theatre and she said YES!

I told her we needed to get dressed up (and then later had to talk her out of her Cinderella dress).  She did however have a LBD in the closet so we got dolled up and went to the Claudia Crosby Theatre.

On the way there (taking multiple construction detours) I thought about when I was on the Troy Arts Council for several years and I would sometimes ask myself WHY I was doing it all and then I would think about the day that I had my own children and how I would want them to have opportunities to be exposed to the arts, here in our community.  And last night it all came full circle for me.

In spite of their being no popcorn or skittles (the theatre thing did skew her expectations), Campbell enjoyed the performance. She got to sit next to her friend Lola (whose mother, Kristy, and I would always sit next to each other during our tenure on the Arts Council!) and the girls had fun getting to make the gestures and sing and clap along.

We left early because it was way past bedtime and the melancholy James Taylor-esque-ness was getting to my little girl. On our way out of the lobby, a reporter stopped us and interviewed Campbell and I was so surprised how much she had soaked in. She told him her favorite songs and favorite instruments and how much she really enjoyed it!

On the way home, I learned that Campbell was truly upset by one of the songs, “Zach’s Walk”.  It was about a 2-yr old, named Zach, that left his crib & walked  out of his house at 2am to go on a little walk. The police found him and returned him home to his sleeping parents at 5am!  So it was a really good story and song and Campbell had listened and understood every word which left her very upset and sad.  This combined with her sleepiness made for a not-so-much-fun ride home but nevertheless it was a special night for me and my little girl. 

I can’t wait to take Sara Gray to her first performance one day  and then one day take both my girls to the REAL DEAL theatre-Broadway!