LIFE with LEXIE

Yes Lexie has had her first Ballet Recital to the tune of Baby Take a Bow and man was she cute. Every Wed morning for 45 minutes Lexie and I have been taking Mommy & Me classes along with about a dozen other little 16 - 36 month old girls and their moms. It's been nice to have that time with her in the middle of the week since we started in Feb. When I signed her up I thought there is no way she'll actually learn to dance but we'll have fun which we did. But I quickly started hearing about the big dance recital and so I paid my $40 for her outfit and thought at least she'll have something cute to show for it. The date was set for Jun 28-29 (yes, she had 2 performances) and then the stage moms came out of the wood work. There were dress rehearsals, photo sessions, mom's informational meeting and I was told she needed to wear foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara and blush because she would wash out on stage. (I'm sorry but have you looked at this child's skin?) These are babies - the youngest was just 18 months so you have got to be kidding me! Luckily for all of us I think, the photo session and dress rehearsal on a different stage than where they were actually going to preform were held while we were in Mexico so I didn't need to be told by these Moms that her hair wasn't right or she didn't have enough make-up on (that's because she didn't have ANY makeup on.) I heard about one of the moms when I came back that got in a fight with another mom because her twin daughters had their hair done wrong for the pictures. It got so bad that the twins mom took her daughters and left the photo session without them being in the picture and never returned to the class. Talk about setting a terrible example of the kids.




Anyway, we returned just in time for the final class and the final dress rehearsal on Friday at the stage. I had some friends of mine come to it since they wanted $17 a seat for these tickets! Come on, this was not a Broadway show for heaven sakes. I was told to get in line at 5am so I could get decent seats for the show. If Lexie hadn't enjoyed dance class so much and liked wearing her costume I would have been done then. But she really did have fun so I kept my mouth closed (for most of the time.) She did fairly well at the dress rehearsal and of course looked adorable.
Then the day of the first performance the dance teacher decided to have some of the older dancers (that none of these girls knew) take them on stage and put them on their marks then exit stage left. Well the big girls decided to help by doing the dance on the side of the stage. So the audience say 9 very cute little girls looking off stage left. Rather frustrating. But day two was much better. Lexie did about 3/4 of the routine which was 2 minutes long and then when the audience clapped she clapped right along with them. She followed the other girls off clapping but decided to come back on stage and keep clapping with the audience who where laughing and clapping with her until one of the big girls finally came back for her. I thought it was hilarious and only wish I hadn't turned off the recorded so I could meet her back stage. So unfortunately I'd have that part on tape. But believe me when I say she was the hit of the show - all 58 numbers of it. We left after her routine to get ice cream and play in her pool. She really did have a great time and I'm glad we did it. But next year.....we'll see.

I'm still trying to catch up on all that happened this summer and after getting home from Lexie's 2nd birthday, the baptisms and my celebrating every anniversary known to man, we were off to Puerto Vallarte Mexico where my older brother Kyle, his wife Irma and their two children Dylyn 8 1/2 and Damian almost 7 live. Yeah, it was a tough place to go for a visit but someone had to do it. The whole family made it except my oldest nephew Casey (Todd's son) because he had just finished his first year of college - GO CASEY! - and was trying to find a job. We missed you Casey!!! Jim, Angie's husband, did make it but only for a few days and he wasn't in this picture (we missed you too Jim.) What a group!
Lexie had a ball and just loved being with "the kids." She is such a people person and especially loves kids. It was so nice for all of us to be together again. The last time we were all together was in Mexico 5 years ago and my dad was still with us. He was definitely missed and I'm sure he was smiling down at his family. I'm so sad that Lexie will never know what a terrific man he was or what a great PaPa she would have had. I'm going to do my best to make sure she hears a lot about him and that she know he would have loved being a part of her life.


On to happier times. We ended up staying in a brand new resort with two 2 bedroom 2 bath suites each with a full kitchen, dining and living room all overlooking the ocean and a large multi-level pool. This is the view from our balcony (note that the pool was basically a few feet from the ocean), above is part of the living/dining room with the kitchen and the other is of the kids looking out at the ocean while we were waiting for lunch to be served at the restaurant in the hotel. Not too shabby. I haven't been so relaxed in a long time. No phone calls, the Internet didn't work in your room and barely worked if you went down to the lobby. You had to bring your laptop down there too since they didn't have a computer for their guest. At first I was disappointed but very quickly I saw the advantage and just plain didn't worry about it. I figured I could fix whatever went wrong while I was gone once I got back.














Lori & Todd
Lynn & Brooke

Angie, Cody,Blake & Mackenzie

Jim with Lexie only because I couldn't find one with him & the family -Sorry Jim

Last and I promise I'm done with Mexico but here are a few more imagines that I just love of the trip.













What can I say? These kids are just amazing!!