Nix: Party of 5: Dance Camp and a Trip to Green Bay

Last week Abigail spent the week with us, and she and Natalie attended dance camp. James headed off to Green Bay (BY HIMSELF!) for a week of fun with Grandmama and Granddaddy. And just because that wasn't enough, I started work.....

Natalie and Abigail did five days of camp at Houston Academy of Dance. These two spent the week playing, wearing boas, staying up pretty late :) and having a great time. Other than the boas, the girls were either naked or in their ballet leotard and tutu. The camp was for three hours in the morning, and these tiny dancers hung in there very well.

Silly girls at breakfast.

The girls played very sweetly and really never argued. However, these two loves to stay up late playing in the bed. A 10:00 bedtime resulted in a few cranky mornings. I love this picture of Abigail: "Sarah, I've had enough. I'm done"

Still waking up

These precious cousins are the best of friends. The first picture isn't the best, but I took about 15 trying to capture this moment: they were headed up to bed (or rather, to play for 2 more hours) holding hands.

At the end of the week, the camp put on a show. Well, seeing that it was my third day of work, I didn't get to attend (mom guilt already). Brad, Rosemary and Brannon represented well and made up the best cheering section. Brannon filmed the recital, so no one got actual still pictures.

On Tuesday I put James on a plane headed to Green Bay.

This trip has been planned for months, and I never had a second thought about James flying alone. However, when we got to this point......

I suddenly got very nervous and sad. True to form, James never looked back. I called Mom and told her that I had just stuck James on a Sandpiper plane (old tv show Wings reference) headed all the way across the country. Luckily, I had this chipper guy along for the ride. He kept saying "bye, bye, James", which at times made me smile and other times made me tear up.

James was greeted by the welcome wagon in Green Bay, and this picture was a huge sigh of relief for this mom.

These three spent the week having the best time, from what I can tell. Lots of puzzles, legos, swimming, outdoor fun, and trips to the club, the Discovery Animal Center, Peninsula State Park (inlet of Green Bay), and the movies.

I love the one of James coming down the water slide. I only wish I could zoom in and capture his facial expression. The below picture is from the Discovery Center and is of Stella the bat. Yes, a bat. See, this is what grandparents do best: take you to do stuff that mom won't :)

Natalie and Luke making "welcome home" signs for James before heading to the airport

Sunday morning we realized that we didn't allow enough time to get to the airport, James's flight was scheduled to land 20 minutes early, and there was a huge wreck that shut down the tollway. I literally RAN through the airport in my flip flops and got to the gate with 2 minutes to spare. I don't know if I've been so excited to welcome someone at the airport!