Christmas in the Caribbean

Well it must be Christmas. We had a Christmas parade! This was our first year here and what a great experience it was being a part of the parade! The dance studio participated and our theme was "Christmas in the Caribbean". A couple of the dads worked super hard on our float and it turned out soooo cute. We won first place! Not only did we have a super cute float full of super cute little girls dressed in their best Christmas wear, we also had live entertainment. A full crew of girls in Santa hats dancing with candy canes to Jimmy Buffet's "Christmas in the Caribbean". Our float was pulled by a tractor and the stereo was tied to the front of it. I forgot to get a pic of that, but it was great. I got to help our studio owner carry our banner and I just had so much fun walking down our little downtown street. I am amazed everytime there is a town event how many people I know.  The parade was short and sweet and that's how I like 'em. We had about 2 and a half hours of prep time for a 10 min. parade. :)

Our studio is right next door to a hair salon/ Merle Norman store and one of the hairstylist had offered to do the girl's hair. Isn't that sweet? So, we shuffled the girls back and forth between the salon and the studio. That proved a little challenging with Kate who kept getting lost in the shuffle. At one point I found her hanging out with our float designer at the tailgate of his pickup truck eating oysters. (Well, Kate just ate the crackers.) You know you live in the Florida panhandle when you're eating oysters before the Christmas parade. :) I had another terrifying moment when I lost Kate. All of the little girls had arrived and I was trying to keep up with the crowd and realized Kate was missing. I was informed (after running around screaming like a crazy person) that she had gone to the bathroom. My child who refuses to potty train decided that in the midst of the parade chaos she should just escort herself to the bathroom. After my heart stopped racing and I could breathe again, I congratulated her on going potty.

Now I will share an obnoxious amount of pictures. I will also put "Christmas in the Caribbean" on here so that you, too, could have it stuck in your head for the rest of your life. You have to listen to it to get in the proper mood. Did I mention that last Wed. was our last class to practice and I danced to "Christmas in the Caribbean" no fewer than 15 times?  "It's Christmas in the Caribbean........"

Our talented dancers

My Dazzling Dancer, Sarah!



Our award winning float!



Me with some of my baby ballerinas





Kate's first ride on a Christmas float!

A pic with Kate smiling! She called the float the "snowflake" and I was able to get her to smile and wear her hat by promising a ride on the snowflake!!

Since Jimmy Buffet is on replay in my head these days I'm taking his advice for this season. "We don't live in a hurry....."   Doing my best to slow down, enjoy the season, and avoid the stress!  What is your favorite part of this season? What is the most stressful part to you and what do you do to cope with it? Inquiring minds want to know...... :)