Florida Dance!!!

So, I could go on, and on about how wonderful the dance competition went. We arrived in Florida Thursday evening. The girls had a little practice and were instructed to get their cute little butts to bed to rest up for the next day. That was a little difficult for the 2 little 7 year olds in our room but we did get down around 11. We had to be up and catching a bus to the competition at 6:15am. We stayed with Cassidy Parchman and her mother Becky. They were so fun to stay with and get to know better. Cassidy is the only sister to 3 brothers, a 5 year old and twin 3 year olds. So she knows the "only girl" routine. Becky was wonderful and we really did enjoy their company. So... we get on the bus and head down to the Contest of Champions. The atmosphere was awesome.. the competition was in the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex and it was seriously what you would see on TV. Our little ones did 5 numbers throughout the day. The competition ended with the awards ceremony at 8 pm that evening. We were not allowed to take the girls from the facility so it made for a looooooong day!!! But, they definitely got their second win during the awards. Our little girls team took 4 1st place trophies and 1 second. They also took the "National Champion" ranking for their age division. They seriously danced their hearts out. It was sooooo awesome! It was the 25th anniversary of the contest of champions so at the end they brought out this huge cake (fake of course) and here comes Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. For the older girls they probably didn't think this was great but for our girls they were stoked!!! Hot Shots as a studio did fabulous. As you can see from the trophies, we brought home 22 as a studio. Our juniors were also crowned "National Champions." The girls then proceeded to get on a bus and all go get in the pool until midnight.

I would like to say the rest of the trip was wonderful but I so unluckily started feeling sick the next day. By Saturday night I was feeling awful and stayed back at the hotel room the next 2 days. I was so glad my mom was there because I felt so bad for my Macee having me in bed. I want to make sure my mom knows how much I truly appreciated her taking Macee each day. She is always fun to have on vacation and I really needed her this time. Thanks a ton Mom!!! I was soooo excited to go on this trip to spend some quality mommy-daughter time with Macee so it really bummed me out. We ended up getting an early flight home so I could get into the doc. I ended up with bronchial pneumonia. CRAPPY! My ob called today to make sure we had done okay on the trip and I told him what had gone on. He laughingly in a serious tone told me it would be a good idea to stay in bed for a few days. Hmmmmmm 5 kids, hubby out of town... that's probably not going to happen but we will try. I think I am just more drained than anything. Upped the iron so hopefully that will help!

Eric made the statement, "I bet you are thinking it wasn't that great of an idea to go aren't you." I told Eric that it was just bad luck the whole getting sick thing but I seriously felt awesome the first 2 days we were down there and would not have missed that competition for the world. Macee is still bouncing off the walls. I am sure everyone that she talks to thinks she is crazy but what a high for a 7 year old. I will post later on the whole Disneyworld experience and post more pictures.

The one cool thing we got to do the day of the competition is go to a Braves/Dodgers spring training game. It was at the sames sports complex and we had a couple hour break so that was awesome. It was 80 degrees and we got a little color. I was excited cuz I got a couple pictures of Joe Torre - who is know helping on the Dodgers staff because the Yankees management sucks!!! (Just had to make that little poke!) Anyway, I just laughed and told my mom, I never go an vaca without having to go to a game here or there and here I was in Florida with nothing but my Macee and still ended up at a ballgame. Guess it's more in the blood than I thought. I will post pictures later! Gonna go lay down! Later!!!