Pageant Party Weekend

Last week around this time we were just finishing our first day at our weekend pageant. My body is still recouping, haha. Following dance class last Saturday, because we can't miss a competition class, Ariel and I piled into the car at noon and drove to Abbotsford, a first for me on my own. Keeping with my stellar driving record in new areas I missed the turn to get on to the highway and took a brief detour and got stuck behind a train crossing, typical... bah!

I called from the car that we were coming, as the event started at 2pm and it was just 1 o'clock and we still had about 20minutes of driving left. Thankfully once on the highway I made up time and got us to the hotel and check in with 25 minutes to spare. Got Ariel dressed into her natural wear, thank heavens not much is needed except a quick brush in her hair, haha. Ariel was excited to see her friends and I was able to somewhat relax. 

Ariel has been practicing a lot lately and has really improved. Next was natural causal wear...

Then sports wear and runway, which she loved her dress for, super cute!

We finished up for the night and the girls were eager to go to Castle Fun Park. Here is Ariel and her 'twin' friend Emma. They are so similar that Megan their coach can't tell them apart when their backs are to her. All decked out in their team shirts from their coach.

They played hard for about an hour and we then headed back for dinner and bed. The hotel was attached to a White Spot so we got take out to our room. It was then I realized I forgot to submit Ariel's photos for judging and thankfully managed to get a hold of the pageant director so we could submit them. Gack! 

We went to bed and slept well and woke up at 5am... yes you read that right! We had to get the rollers in Ariel's hair to make it to the hair and make up people by 6am. Its those early mornings that make you realize how much these girls love this, no complaints, smiling and friendly, its rather amazing actually. Slowly her friends arrived too and they chatted getting all fancy. Kinda bummed I was too close to the window taking this photo on my phone since it is such a cute picture of the 3 of them. In case you are wondering, they don't wear much more makeup than they would for dance recitals or competitions.

Ariel's glitz beauty routine was her biggest improvement. Even Eve the photographer who shoots every pageant told me how much better she has gotten. I loved her hair this time too, lots of curls!

After beauty was the last event and always the most fun, dollwear. Ariel did Mary Poppins again and it was a crowd favorite. Its just so super cute and she just charms everyone.

The hard part is the long break till crowning. The girls hung out with coloring books and Emma's dad picked up McDonalds for them. Us moms chatted and made our predictions for what could happen in crowning. When it was time to head down we saw a surprise, a list posted stating the top 10 and all 3 girls had made it!!!

Emma ended up winning the overall award, Double Ultimate Supreme! She started to cry on stage she was so excited! Marley won Grand Supreme and Ariel won Level 3 Supreme, so all girls got a supreme title and that was fantastic for all their hard work! Ariel also won an award for each of the 4 photos we submitted. She loved the beautiful hairclip she won! It was around dinnertime at this point, and very dark. I decided to leave quickly since I didn't really want to get lost in the dark so we drove slowly until I made it to a spot I knew well. Time for a GPS, haha.

Daddy and Xander we excited to see us home again, and we were happy to go to bed early! We won't see everyone again till summer since dance takes over springtime.

Then this week Ariel finished up her latest swimming lessons and passed level 4! She is signed up for 5 over spring break, although I think she may need to do that one more than once, depending on how she does with the new stroke introduced in that level. Either way, she is on swimming hiatus until spring break, which is nice for Mommy to have a driving break haha.

This past week Xander was a model for the photo students at Ken's workplace. Nothing funnier than young people work with kids who have no prior experience. As a parent I had to sit and let them go to it, and Xander was giving them a challenge for sure. They finally got the hang of it and I am excited to see the photos, we get one print free as a thank you, yay! They want him back in 6 months for the next class, so I guess they liked his mellow behaviour. 

I also did photos this week of the kids for their valentines cards. This one isn't the one we picked but it was too cute not to share. Xander also had his gymnatics photos this week, so he is done with cameras for awhile I think.

This week I have some time off from orders but its a nice break since its a short school week with the holiday and pro-d day. Lots of fun coming with Valentines day, whee!

On a side note, our new pastor is AWESOME! Every time I have a meeting with him I get so inspired and excited. With being an artist himself he really is in touch with our creative church family. Its a blessing and I just am eager for things to unfold. So thankful...