Kickin' up their heels

Lola and Amelia enjoyed four days of dance camp recently. Both girls attended at the school at which Amelia has been enrolled for the last four years and the same one I attended 33 years ago.

This was Lola's first time to officially attend class. She's been waiting patiently for two years for this moment to come, which explains why she was chomping at the bit to get to class everyday.

She's showing off her tap skills here while wearing the beautiful tutu my dear friend Hollie made for her.

Lola really enjoyed her time at camp so I am glad I've already secured her a place in class that starts in September. Since camp ended she's been performing regularly at the house. Just this morning she was dancing for me while I was emptying the dishwasher.

It was during this performance that I realized she actually absorbed quite a bit from camp. although it took me a couple of minutes to actually figure this out. Lola was leaping across the kitchen shouting, "shanay, shanay!" It was midway through her show before I deciphered that she meant "jete," which is the ballet term for jump. I would have burst out laughing, but doing so, I know, would have upset the diva so I opted to stifle my giggles.

Amelia will be beginning her fifth year of dance in two months. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact she's being doing this for so long. She really enjoys it, and I can tell participating in this program has really boosted her confidence and instilled in her a sense of pride about being able to do something few of her friends can do.

At camp Amelia participated for the first time in a jazz class. I'd been reluctant to let her take a full year's class because she's still so young, but agreed to the camp so she could get an idea of what it's like. She loved it so I said maybe we'd look into her adding jazz to her lessons next year. I know she will not let me forget to look into this for her. In fact, she's already mentioned a couple times in the week since camp ended.

Look at my sassy girl striking a jazzy pose second from left!

I am so proud of both of my girls. I am also thrilled they love dance because I feel it's something they can gain not only dance skills from but also major things that everyone should learn like self-discipline, confidence, loyalty and perseverance. Plus, unlike the mommas sweltering at the ball fields, I get to wait in a nice air-conditioned area while my ladies practice. Ahhh! We all win!