Sunday, September 8, 2019

2018/2019 Santa Barbara Dance Arts - Jazz and Hip Hop

Samantha hasn't done any formal dance classes since doing flamenco when she was younger. And while her school has a weekly dance class and she loves it, I was shocked when she wanted to join her friends in a hip hop class at Santa Barbara Dance Arts since she has chosen to do sports over anything else. 


Unfortunately, the hip hop class was full but jazz was open and as a former dancer myself, I was more excited than Sam that it worked out this way. Plus jazz meant new shoes so that was helpful in softening the hip hop blow. 


Making themselves right at home in the student store. 


Lucky girls, they got the owner of the studio as their teacher, Alana. 


And then about two weeks later we got a call that there was room in the hip hop class for Sam. So suddenly I was paying for two dance classes because she had already begun to love jazz and well, hip hop was the original plan. I was not sure how we were going to make soccer, piano, and soon to be basketball and volleyball along with two dance classes work. But I said yes. 🤷‍♀️




In December, the hip hop class had a performance at the studio.



Pre-show practice. 







With their hip hop teacher, Britney. 


December hip hop performance.


The winter/spring season of dance started up and Sam was not wanting to stop. Unfortunately, she had to move out of the classes with her friends because her sports schedule changed. What ended up happening was A LOT of driving back and forth to the dance studio from the soccer field including having to miss the first 20 minutes of jazz each week. Madeline, Sam's new jazz teacher, was fine with this as long as Sam kept up. And she did! 


She also moved out of a tween class into a tween/teen class.



Sam got to be at the top of the pyramid in their performance routine. If you watch "Dance Moms" then you know what that is. 😂 


I thought Sam's hip hop costume for the May recital was pretty bad. 


Sam made it work but still, pretty bad. 



Dress rehearsal. 






Jazz outfits were much cuter! 



Performance night!


Sam performed in two shows, one for hip hop and one for jazz. 


The final bow. 



Mesa Cafe with all that makeup. 🙈


Ready for show #2! 





Our friend, Mia, is in SOOOO many dances. She's really good! 



Night #2 with all that makeup at Los Arroyos. 🙈


I didn't buy the class photos but took a photo of the photos at the studio. 



Obviously I didn't buy this one either. 😂




Here's some video I was able to sneak of some of Sam's classes.



And here's the dress rehearsal for hip hop and the actual show performance of jazz because I got a little adventurous and filmed during the show. SHHHHHHHHHHH! 😜

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Random August Photos


The Robinsons in town! 











Our cousin Raven plays soccer for Boise State as their midfielder and they were playing the Gauchos. The only time we will ever root against UCSB. 😂 





Club night at UCSB brings out a lot of soccer players. 



I made Thatcher get the same soccer number as Sam. Because besides the one pink/blue uniform, the rest were the same, so for the most part, there were always clean soccer uniforms for each of them when they needed them. 


Sam's Memory Book. 


I love that she is saving all this stuff!



Biking to Fiesta!


Thatcher's buddy Mateo from Sam's Linda Vega dancing days. These two logged a lot of hours watching their sisters dance. Mateo was always a good sport about keeping Thatcher entertained despite him being way older and now in high school!


We also randomly met Thatcher's hair stylist's mom! Thatcher's is famous for his "Pete Haircut" and somehow we got to talking to this lady and put two and two together that her son was Pete!


Sam's Jr. Guard's Fiesta hat came in handy!






Gone are the days of Samantha doing flamenco. Our tradition now is one afternoon at El Paseo Restaurant watching the Linda Vega dancers. 



Sofia, the OG flamenco dancer. 


It's best to bike during Fiesta!



Fiesta after-party at Leanne's casa!


The Moxi Museum with Dancing Grandma after Jr. Guards. 


Post-soccer practice Mesa Burger. 


They earned it!


Summer days at Leds. 






The days would turn into nights. 





Rio's cute little sister, Indy, dressed for the beach her own way. 


I loved sending my kids fishing with Taj since he knew how to unhook a fish properly. 


Our Go Chair ad. 


Pool date with the Paskin kiddos. 


Thatcher and I couldn't sleep one night and somehow we landed on one of those home shopping TV channels. I actually found some cool sunglasses and Thatcher thought it was funny for us to call in and buy them. Weeks later this cheap ring arrived. I have no idea how this got shipped/bought instead of the sunglasses. But I did get my money back. No cool shades though. 


Summer soccer training for Club and wetsuit neck rashes. 


More summer surf sessions. 









One of the lowest tides I've seen. 






Water looking questionable. 😬🤔


That's Todd out bodysurfing. 




Caroline teaching Lollipop to dance. 


The girls off to a beach day at Mesa Lane. 


Thatcher dragged the paddle board down. 



I think he prefers to surf. 


Thatcher and Kai were wetsuit twins. 


Every day.




Reunited for a happy hour at the Delio's 




I noticed Sky was wearing a hand-me-down I had given her. I realized it was a skirt that had been passed down from my now high schooler niece to Sam and now to Sky! We've got quite the rotation of hand-me-downs between friends. It's fun to see these clothes keep on going and going and then coming back! 


As Sam has gotten older, she cares more about keeping her room clean and organized. 👏👏👏


I mean, life of a 10-year-old is rough. 


I LOVE when she gets her chore chart going!


She may be slightly neurotic though with her scheduling. I know where she gets this from. 😬😜 


Happy 40th to Tammy! 







Meeting Cody Pirozzi! 


Sky making sure Dixie behaves. 


Cody made himself right at home in Lollipop's bed. 🤷‍♀️



Dixie and Lollipop coming to pick up the kids from school.







Days after Angela's cancer diagnosis a group of us got together to have dinner and toast to all things other than cancer. 


Hard to believe she is gone now but loved getting to know Angela more in those quick eight months.  


Ryder's 9th birthday party! 




Selfies with our neighbor, Sierra. 


Soccer breaks at Chili's for the iPad and WIFI so I can work. 


I have no idea what is in that blue drink but it looks pretty gross but it was bribery to give me more time. 


I thought this bed was so cute so I bought it for Lollipop. Apparently it is a cat bed and Lollipop is too big for it. 🤷‍♀️


Finally ready to do the minor procedure on Thatcher's foot. We certainly learned our lesson on choosing a bandaid over stitches when you aren't 100% sure if the cut is bad enough. We'll be choosing stitches next time. 







Thatcher didn't exactly take it easy after the procedure and opened the wound. 😩


Sorry, that's gross.


Weeks later when we went in to have it rechecked, we didn't quite get gold stars for having it heal properly. Scars are cool, right?


Sam ran the Nite Moves 5K a few times. 







Thatcher preferred the free snacks and ice cream over running. 



Dixie. 😂



Poor Lollipop....something was off. She gained a ton of weight and wasn't herself. The vet diagnosed her with hypothyroidism and after the first few doses of meds she was back to her old self and began to shed the pounds. 😊 You should see her now that it is a year later. She's had more problems since but she looks like a runway model at her puppy weight. 😂 


More post-soccer Mesa Burger. 


Our happy place!


One of our "pet" rabbits. Although this was a year ago and while I talked about our bunnies last month being alive and thriving in our yard, I haven't seen the original crew of three since. 😢


Celebrating Jillian! 





A final week of camp at Elings Sports Camp. 



We always try different sushi places but nothing compares to our usual stops. 


Summer dinner bike rides!



Still not used to her new metal! 


Ice cream!



Jack White at the SB Bowl!


No phones allowed which actually does make for a way better concert although I did break the rules. Just at the end though. 😜


We came home to our babysitter Sofia doing the cutest hairstyle on Sam. 



Hung up the Lollipop painting my friend Drea did. 


Jack and Thatcher's bike washing service. 


More of this. 


And this. 


More Nite Moves. 


Babysitting Fiona.


Otis and Lollipop sunning. 


Soccer tournament lunch breaks. 


Harbor Nights. 


Sunset walks on the beach. 



And why we always have to give Dixie a bath.