My baby turns 12 today…I still can’t believe it!
If I had to describe Mackenzie in 10 words it would be:
cute | smart |witty |annoying |mature |argumentative | funny | passionate | intense |athletic
Happy Birthday Mackenzie! Love you so much and you know you’ll always be my baby.
This workshop with Nico (SYTYCD Canada Winner Season 1) and Kayla (SYTYCD US Top 4 Season 5) was such an INCREDIBLE experience for the girls!!!! It was small and intimate with only about 25 dancers in each class. It was an experience they will never forget. There were a lot of screams, tears of joy, nerves and laughter. Quoting the girls “It was the best day of their lives!”.
I think I was the only mom that asked to get a picture with Nico lol! Ummm….can my smile be any bigger?!
Kayla is sooooo beautiful and the girls really enjoyed her class.
I took more video than photos. Here’s a clip from the class with Nico. Alex is the one on the right with the white long-sleeve
The coolest part was when Nico asked to have the lights turned off. He noticed how tense and self-conscious all of the girls were (can you blame them?). He wanted them to just let go and feel the music. Once they learned the routine, he broke them down into 4 groups. He watched them dance and chose 1 girl from each group….Alex was one of them! OMG! I can only imagine how she felt. He had the four of them dance the routine and then HE DANCED IT WITH THEM!!! OMG! I really don’t know who was more excited - the girls or myself!
I can’t believe summer is over! I was going through my summer photos from the cottage and had to share these. I had this photo in my head since last summer and finally managed to take it this year.
It wasn’t the easiest to get. First, we needed a beautiful sunset and considering the number of rainy days we had, our days were limited. Secondly, I needed a willing model (the problem was So You Think You Can Dance was always on when we had a sunset and Alex didn’t want to miss it. O.k. - I didn’t want to miss it either). And thirdly, I needed a co-pilot to steer the paddle boat!
We took the paddle boat out to a small rock island near the cottage. The water was really rough, so Mackenzie, my co-pilot, had a hard time keeping the paddle boat in position while I tried to take the photos. It was completely worth it though, because I *love* these images! Now which do I enlarge?
Alex turns 15 today. She is such a beautiful girl inside and out and has the warmest, kindest heart.
I consider myself blessed to have such an incredible daughter. Love you sweetie.
It was Alex’s 12th dance recital with Miss Dar’s School of Dance this past weekend. I can’t believe she’s been dancing for 12 years and she’s not even 15 yet! Every year I look forward to recital time - the anticipation, the excitement, the costumes, the dances, the smiles. I can’t imagine Alex not dancing - it’s such a big part of who she is.
Alex takes tap, jazz, ballet and pointe. Her favourites are definitely jazz and tap but most of my photos are always of her ballets - they’re just so beautiful to photograph! Here are a few photos from dress rehearsal:
jazz:
tap:
Once again, it was an incredible recital. Miss Dar sure knows how to put on a show and all of the dancers were incredible. Lucky for me - I get to photograph all of the dancers in their costumes this week and next week. I’ll see you soon girls!
My son Mackenzie turns 11 today. He’s my baby. He’ll always be my baby even though he’s almost as tall as I am! I have no doubt he’ll surpass his dad at 6′3! Mackenzie is my hockey player, snowboarder and wakeboarder. And because it’s February and I’m so tired of the cold and snow - I’m sharing a photo of Mackenzie wakeboarding. Ahhhhh…warmth, sunshine….is it summer yet?
My son Mackenzie came up to me a few weeks ago with an issue he had. He apparently went through my blog and counted the number of photos of him compared to those of Alex! He actually had the exact number, I can’t remember what it was, but it was quite obvious that there were more photos of Alex on my blog than him. Kids love making their parents feel guilty don’t they? Well, I explained to Mackenzie that if only he would let me take his photo - I would have more of him to post!! He’s always been a tough one to photograph and pretty much runs when he sees the camera……except for recent. Mackenzie actually wanted me to take his photo!
With the busy season wrapping up, I took the opportunity today to take some photos of Mackenzie. OMG…..I’m in love with them. How cute is he? He loosened up and forgot about the camera and I was actually able to capture “Mackenzie”. Christmas has come early for me! Thanks Mack.
and a few with Alex in them:
one of Alex:
and look…one with the two of them together…Christmas really has come early!
I’m back from cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas where Alex danced on board with her dance school Miss Dar’s School of Dance. What an incredible week -it was perfect in every way - the company, the food, the service, the weather, the islands, the entertainment - just a perfect trip. There were 75 of us in total and we had a BLAST.
The dancers will never forget this trip - what an opportunity. They danced on the main stage twice and I couldn’t get over the amount of people that were there to watch them dance! They also had a choreography session with the professional dancers from the ship.
I didn’t see much of Alex! All of the dancers hung out together and took advantage of all of the activities on the ship, including their nightly hang out spot - The Living Room and Fuel - where they talked, made new friends and danced until 1:00 am every night! The parents had just as much fun as the kids as well!
Having fun in Grand Caymen
This one was taken in the Bahamas. I was on a mission to find a hammock in the middle of no where overlooking the ocean. Three of the teenage dancers are in this photo (don’t worry girls - I’ll get this printed up for you!)
and finally…on stage at the Savoy Theatre
Thank-you Miss Dar for organizing such an incredible trip and experience for our children - they will never forget this trip nor will the parents.
to all of the dads out there…I hope you have a wonderful day!
Here’s a photo of my dad and I taken in Italy last summer. Isn’t he cute? And he always has the biggest smile on this face! He has always been such an incredible father and always there for us!
And to Darby…another incredible father. It’s only appropriate that I post a photo of his first love….rowing!
This is the Welland River which our house backs onto. I know how much you love being able to pick up your urg and row in your own backyard…..you deserve it!
What a day of celebration - it’s also Alex’s 14th Birthday today! Happy Birthday sweetie…love you tons.
This photo is soooo Alex - happy, exuberant and full of life!
I can’t tell you the last time I photographed my kids…it’s been far too long. I convinced them into a little session so I can have some updated photos.
Here’s Alex - my soon to be 14 year old. She’s a little peanut who looks like she’s 12 but photographs like she’s 17!
My 10 year old Mackenzie who’s just not comfortable in front of the camera! The only time I get really natural photos of him is when he’s in his comfort zone - which is in hockey gear! This is the forced smile I usually get from him!
And then I manage to get some natural ones:
