Anna's Spring Show and Lots of other Fun

Yesterday was a beautiful day here and we made the most of it. We started out by going to the Earth Day Festival down by the river. It was gorgeous out and there was a great breeze blowing. There was someone playing the guitar and singing and we enjoyed walking around to the different tents, getting seeds to plant, making recycled crafts, etc. We would like to have stayed longer, but we had to leave to go to Anna's spring show (for pre-school).

If you know anything about Anna, you know that Anna LOVES a stage. The bigger the better! She has done three spring shows and three dance recitals now and it has never even once occured to her that a person might actually be nervous about performing in front of a crowd. In fact, last year before her recital my dad said to her, "Are you nervous?" She looked at him like he was from outer space speaking in a never before heard language and replied, "No, why would I be nervous?" So, to say that she was excited about her show was an understatement.

The teachers' at Anna's school put SOOO much work into their Spring Shows. They do a different theme every year, with different songs, beautiful decorations made by the kids, and different props for every song. We enjoy it so much every year. This year Anna had a special part. The next to last song was "The Grand Old Flag" and Anna's job was to stand up on a crate wearing a patriotic sash and hat and wave the big flag while the other kids marched around her waving little flags. She was so thrilled, and at dinner earlier in the week when telling me about her special part she said so sweetly, "Mommy, will you dress me in red, white, and blue?" I was so charmed by her request that we of course went out and got something to fit the occassion. I was so glad I did because it really was an adorable moment. Below are some pictures.









We of course, celebrated with ice cream. (Almost all celebrations include ice cream in this family.) And then later that evening we attended a birthday party hosted by my parents and their best friends.

Both my parents and their best friends turn 60 this year, and so they decided to rent a hall, a DJ, and get a bunch of their old friends together for a celebration. My kids and my husband LOVE to bust a move on the dance floor, so they had a ball. I did a little dancing too, but was having so much fun watching them that I spent most of the time taking pictures. The cutest part was that Anna is good friends with the other hosts' grandson. They have had many play dates at the park together, and enjoy being together a lot. What they didn't know was that they both love to dance. They had so much fun dancing together and were so cute to watch. They even held hands and danced to the slow songs.






The past few weeks I have being seeing so much evidence of what a friendly girl Anna is. I have always known that Anna is kind, sensitive, compassionate, and outgoing. But as a mother it is so great to see that what that means is that everywhere we go Anna has friends that really like her. I have been surprised to realize lately that for a five year old Anna has made a lot of friends....school friends, church friends, dancing friends, family friends, playdate friends. I am so proud of the girl she is becoming.