Willa's recital

 Willa had her first ballet recital a few days after Larkin's graduation. She was so excited about the recital that you would have thought it was her Broadway debut. She kept talking about how the audience was probably going to throw flowers everywhere onto the stage when she finished dancing and that she would grab a bunch of them, and her invitation list for the recital was over 50 people long--"We should invite them too-I bet they can't wait to see my dance!!"

I'm so glad that Willa did ballet because it gave her a place to feel special and shine. I didn't want to put both of the girls in preschool at the same time (money wise would have been expensive and unnecessary!). Willa always looked forward to her ballet day and would talk all week about her teachers and friends.

practicing with a friend

 On the big day she was not nervous at all and did great! The recital was held in a performing arts center that was very impressive. There was stage lighting, curtains, and even a professional videographer so that all the relatives can see Willa's two minutes of fame! I wasn't allowed to take pictures during the show but we did order a copy of the video recording.

The highlight for Willa though was the trophy she received after the show. She fell in love with it (named it "Tropha") and just could not believe that she got such a beautiful trophy. Larkin couldn't believe it either and spent at least an hour crying out of jealousy. 

On the way home from the show we stopped to eat lunch and Willa held it during the whole lunch and showed to every person that walked by.

Over lunch she said, "Mom, I'm never going to let you take ballet because then Dad and Larkin would be jealous of your trophy. I just love this thing."

She slept with Tropha every night for a week!