Recital 2011

Well dance recital weekend this year turned out to be a family affair!  Well, almost, I just couldn't convince Aaron to let me find him a spot in the show!  That's alright he took good care to play host to all the family members that turned out to support us!
It started out to be a crazy weekend with the Bon Jovi concert in Milwaukee with my friend Tiana.  The concert was a Valentines Day gift to her and I from her husband!  What a guy ;)  Anyhow, we had rehearsal that evening with the agenda of me getting to do my practice stage run as quickly as possible by 6pm to be on the road to Milwaukee for the 7:30 show.  We accomplished our goal and had a great time hanging out with John and Tiana and I got to see my childhood crush, Jon for a 4th rendezvous!  A great show as usual!

Sunday morning we rushed back home to get ready for the next performance!  I was feeling pretty confident for my big recital debut since 1995!  I had joined up with the class only 5wks. before the recital and had been practicing at home enough to be able to smile through deep concentration on stage.  I am happy to say I accomplished my goal and enjoyed performing on stage.

Owen also had his debut in the freestyle break dancing.  He got to do a little freestyle duet with another little boy in his dance class.  He was a little shy compared to what I have seen out of him.  Apparently according to him he was scared of one of the students in the group dressed as a Gorilla!  Even though he knew it was Adrian in the costume from the beginning.  He eventually got into it putting his hood on his sweatshirt up half way through his dance to look the part!

Grace of course shined as she always does.  It was a little bit of a treat for me this time around to see her do a dance I had never seen.  She did a jazz dance with her class on Tuesday nights when I am at work.  The dance was combined with another group of older dancers which was a cool thing for her to dance with the older kids!  She of course did her hip hop and jazz competition dances as well.  They always rock the house with their hip hop!  Grace also did the freestyle break dance and had a whole self choreographed number that she got to show off!

Thank you to all the family that came out to watch, it was so great to have you all there!  Special thanks to my Mom and Tom for once again making the long trip down for such a short stay!  Aunt Linda (Aaron's), hope that you seriously think about those tap classes, you don't know what your missing!

From Movies

Costa Rica Part 1

What a wonderful vacation full of once in a lifetime experiences! We arrived in San Jose at about 10am after a red eye flight. We had private transportation set up to take us 2 1/2 hrs. to our hotel Mountain Paradise in La Fourtuna, the town outside Aeranal Volcano. The ride to the hotel was our first adventure. Driving through San Jose was eye opening and a little worrisome as to what we were heading into. The outskirts of San Jose is very 3rd world country-ish. Lots of shacks on the side of the roads with metal roofs, animals roaming around yards and on the side of the roads. Lots of trash and people walking along side of the busy roads. However as we left the San Jose area the scenery changed very quickly. The long straight highway lead into winding and twisting roads up and down through the hills. We sped through small towns and around these crazy corners. Our driver a pro at navigating the crazy route. The drivers we had on our trip were all crazy fast drivers and none of us ever experienced anything like it. It was exhilarating and nerve racking all at the same time. Getting closer to the volcano was beautiful with lush valleys with cattle and farm land. Arriving at Mountain Paradise the volcano was hidden under misty clouds but still breath taking! The resort was beautiful and we were greeted by a lady bearing hot towels and fresh fruit juice that provided much refreshment after the long harrowing drive. We checked into our private little villa that had a wonderful porch with a outdoor jacuzzi and a bathroom that was probably the size of our bedroom at home with 2 showers, one of them being a natural waterfall shower! We had a great view of the volcano right from our bed looking out the huge glass patio doors.
That afternoon we enjoyed a nice lunch at the open air restaurant. Later on that day we took advantage of the hotel pool and closed it down at 10pm!
The next morning we awoke an hour earlier than we needed due to operator air of the alarm. However, I was happy to look out the patio window and see the top of the volcano out from under the clouds. It was so clear you could see the smoke rising from the top! I couldn't get enough pictures it was so breathtaking! We headed out a couple hours later for our Zip Line adventure at Sky Trek Adventures. After we were geared up with harnesses, pulleys, helmets and gloves we headed up to the top of the zipline by the Sky Tram, 3,074ft. up! The first two zip lines out of a total of 8 were just short practice runs and not even close to the "real" first line that was #3 the highest of the lines at 656ft! My fear of heights was at its ultimate test. Looking out at the zipline to the end, 1, 550ft. long I realized that one look was plenty. Nate went first, Nicole second. As she stepped up for our guide to hook her to the line I could hear her breathing in and out deeply. As they zoomed her off I could feel my knees getting a little weak. It was a good thing there was someone there to hook me up and send me off because I know I wouldn't have had the courage to do it myself. As I stepped I too started with the deep breathing exercises and praying to god to give me some courage. As I zoomed off I could feel my heart fall into my stomach and I felt weightless and like I was in the middle of nowhere. The ride was INSANE racing across the sky thousands of feet above the tree tops. It was unreal like nothing I could have ever imagined! The scariest thing I had ever done in my whole life but amazing all at the same time. So indescribable. On I think the the 4th cable there was a hawk circling above. When I was flying through the air he flew about 10ft. over the top of me, close enough that I could see his eyes peering down at me! The 6th cable was the fastest at upwards of 50mph. depending on your weight. I wouldn't doubt that Aaron hit the zipline speed record he came in for his landing so fast!! The 7th line was the longest at 2,460 ft. and a duration of about 45sec. This one went part way through the trees where you could feel just how fast you were going. After we had finished I was speechless and felt like my whole body was exhausted.
That afternoon we enjoyed lunch in La Fortuna and did a little window shopping before heading back to the hotel for the next adventure! Late afternoon we were whisked off to the edge of the lava flow trail where we hiked over the lava fields to a volcano view point. Afterward, we went to Tabacon Resort to relax in the hot spring pools and have dinner.
More to follow soon.......