Pulse Dance Convention

This weekend the girls, my sister-in-law Carin and I headed up to Dallas for the first of Baylie's dance conventions for the year. We were excited about getting away, having girl time, and seeing all our favorite choreographers from our favorite dance show, So You Think You Can Dance.

Our first stop was to have dinner at the American Girl Bistro and Boutique. This was our second time to visit the store and I think I could visit 10 more times and it would be just as exciting for the girls and me. Carin and Camryn

Baylie and me

After 3 hours of dreaming of Christmas gifts and eating we had to hurry and get Aunt Carin out of the store. I think she was starting to see pink everywhere!

Saturday's first session was with Shane Sparks. Baylie's not a big fan of hip hop, but she was still excited to learn from someone we'd only seen on our shows before.

Next up, Mia Michaels...

I'd have to say that she is the main reason I was so excited about this convention. We've always loved her work on the show and for Baylie to take a class from her was such a huge honor.

Baylie with Mia Michaels

Camryn with Mia Michaels

After lunch, the girls learned kind of an old school hip hop with Dave Scott. He was so hysterical. I thought he was really great with the kids and kept us moms laughing. Come on!

Tyce Diorio was our last session of a long, tiring day.

>

At the end of the day there was a Dance showcase and all I can say about that was thank God for the cash bar and friends! Those two glasses of wine really helped me through some of those sad message songs the other teams performed. I wish we could have skipped the show, but we were all meeting at the end of the show to get a group picture with the Pulse staff.

After tumbling into bed about midnight, we were up early, but not as happy as the day before! We were so tired.

Laurie Ann Gibson was the first teacher of the day. She was very good with the kids too. Camryn thought it was funny that she kept calling everyone "muffin". More hip hop... Baylie was starting to tire of hip hop, but she's a good sport.

Guess what was next? That's right, HIP HOP with Shane Sparks! The girls were starting to lose energy and seemed tired, so I decided that we would leave after Tyce's next session. That meant we missed Cris Judd's session, but I was okay with that.

Baylie with a few friends

On our way out the door we made a quick stop at the bathroom where I spotted Kitty Carter, from Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: The Making of the Squad talking outside the door. I took a sneaky shot of her, and Baylie went and asked for her autograph. We chatted about the show, and thanked her. It was a nice end to fun, exhausting weekend!

Hill Country Christmas 2008

This year Schlitterbahn has a new Christmas display called Hill Country Christmas. Baylie's dance team was invited to dance twice at the event. We brought the whole family and planned to enjoy a little holiday cheer.

The lights were gorgeous, but I'd have I was really dissappointed in the whole thing. It was very expensive to get in (I thought they should have offered a discount for season pass holders.) and there wasn't a lot to do. There weren't very many vendors and the ice skating was $10 for 45 minutes, per child. The picture opportunites were okay if your children were interested in Santa or guy in a Rudolph costume.

Well, at least this is one thing I can cross off my list as something I prefer not to make a holiday tradition for our family.

Wassailfest 2008

Every year, on the first Thursday of December, our town has Wassailfest. The main square's blocked off and all the lights are on. The businesses set a table out out the sidewalk filled with little cups of wassil for tasting. There are old-fashioned carolers walking the streets and one spectacular dance team (if I do say so myself) dancing to Jingle Bell Rock.

Baylie dancing...

This year it was especially cold and the dance team spent all the time between dances huddled around a heater the director brought. Poor things! It's not very warm in those Ms. Claus dresses- but you never would have known they were freezing while they danced. They're a great bunch of girls.

One of the historical hotels in our town had a horse-drawn carriage out front. But, we didn't have time to take a ride with Baylie dancing.

There was also an old Wurlitzer playing Christmas songs.

I love having this as one of our Christmas traditions every year. I just know it'll be something the kids think about when they think of their childhood.