Splitting

About a kajillion years ago, back in the days that we were dancing, mum tried to offer us financial incentive (that means bribe us) to do the splits, telling us that whoever could do the splits first would get $10. I am pretty sure that she forgot about the promise she made but I didn't.

Now that I am a figure skater it is time for me to start working on my flexibility. Check this out... I can do the splits!

Dad couldn't believe that I could do the splits either!

Love a $10 richer (and a much more flexible than anticipated),
Princess George

PS - I am joining with IBOT (I Blog On Tuesdays!) for the first time ever!

Crazy Busy Days

Saturday morning is normally the day that I hide from mum as she nags me to clean my room... put my stuff away... find all my dirty washing... when all I want to do is snuggle on the couch and watch tv. Normally my Saturday morning is really boring. This morning was different. Sure mum still nagged me to clean up and put stuff away but that was so that I could find my iTouch and a few bits and pieces to throw into a bag before we set off on an adventure or two.

I knew it was skating day for Milla and that we were going to visit some of mum’s friends at the beach in the afternoon but I didn’t know what we were doing for the morning. First stop was a complete surprise, we went into Southbank to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform with dancers from the Australian Ballet. At first I thought it might just be full of little kids and boring but I was wrong, it was great. The first solo of the day was the clarinet - the instrument that I play. He was much better than I am, I could almost hear mum (nagging) saying “One day you could play as well as that but first you have to practice!” She might be right and I might start to practice more, might (but probably not)!

All of the performances were really good but the best part was when Patrick the dancer snuck out in his tap shoes to make music. He would tap a rhythm and then the guy on the drum would copy him. They started off pretty slow, doing tap steps and making rhythms that I knew but got faster and faster and more complicated. Then the drummer made rhythms and Patrick copied them, it was awesome and he ended up dancing the rhythm of a drum roll!

My favourite musician had to be the guy on the Double Bass, he really had fun when he played, he was almost dancing in his seat as he played. He was really cool and fun to watch.

To be honest, I had heaps of fun at the performance and was lucky enough to have my photo taken with a few of the musicians and the dancers too.

Not a bad start to a crazy busy unexpected Saturday morning!

Next stop of the Crazy Saturday was to fill in time at Icehouse when Milli had her lessons and before we headed to the beach. Normally I don’t like hanging around when Milli has her lessons because only the people having lessons can go onto the ice but today because her lesson was at lunch time I got to go skating too. Not only did I get to go skating but I got to play with the giant snowball on the ice. Certainly much more fun than having to clean my room.

The adventure continued after skating. We grabbed some lunch from Costco and headed to the beach. All I knew is that we would spend the afternoon with some of mum’s friends, I didn’t know them but I knew that there would be boys to hang out with instead of just girls so I figured it would be fun.

Let’s just say that fun would be an understatement, I had an awesome time.

There were 4 other boys to hang out with, as well as 4 girls but the best part was that where we were staying was great, we were in the town but there was so much space around that we could be up the front building cubby houses and digging booby traps and the parents couldn’t even see us!

I think mum must have been having fun too because before she realised it, it was really late and we were ready for bed. Instead of getting back into the car and driving home, we grabbed out our ‘just in case we need them’ sleeping bags out of the car and went to bed. Can you believe that there was enough room for all of us to sleep in the one bedroom! Of course sharing a bedroom with 8 other kids meant that we stayed up really late and woke up really early to make sure we had plenty of time to hang out together.

We spent hours mucking about but even digging booby traps didn’t stop mum from making us get back in the car and heading back to Melbourne for another day of madness. I really wished that we could have stayed down by the beach to hang out with my new friends. Hopefully we can go back there again some time soon.

Love AJ Pickle

Musical Magic

So it was Saturday morning, the day I normally get (woken) up bright and early to head in to Docklands to go skating. I knew that my lesson wasn’t until later in the day so I really didn’t know what the rush was all about, but mum made us get dressed and jump into the car. I thought maybe she had forgotten the lesson times but she said she had a surprise for us before we went skating. Who was I to argue, so I got ready and off we went.

It wasn’t until we were on our way that mum let us know that we were going to see a performance of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at Iwaki Auditorium at Southbank. I was already pretty excited and then mum said that there would be ballet dancers from the Australian Ballet there too I could barely sit still.

We managed to get into the theatre at just the right time, the family that were sitting in the centre front decided to sit in the seats instead of on the floor so we go to sit right at the very front where I knew that I would be able to see everything. The conductor came out and soon the performance began.

There were 4 beautiful dancers; Patrick, Alex, Polly and Hannah. They were all amazing dancers, the way they moved they looked like the music. Polly was my favourite, not only was she a great dancer, she had a really pretty smile and looked so happy when she danced.

All of the music was fun but I had a few favourites. One was the music that the conductor said had a Spanish style, I didn’t think it sounded Spanish, it reminded me of Indian music with snakes dancing out of baskets! The hoedown was great too, the dancers made me laugh and when Patrick and Alex danced together they reminded my of Twiddledum and Twiddledee! I think my favourite piece of all was called Light Speed and it was fast and fun, it made me want to get up and dance.

Somehow mum had organised for us to meet some of the orchestra and the dancers and even had our photos taken with them!

With some of the MSO and the dancers from the Australian Ballet, and with Heidi from Stuff With Thing!

I had such a great time listening to the orchestra and watching the dancers, I really hope that we are around during the holidays to go and see another performance of the MSO - they are playing Peter and the Wolf at ACMI and I already know that music but I don’t know much about the the story.

Don’t tell mum and dad, but I had so much fun that I think I want to do dancing again and perhaps learn an instrument again, maybe the flute!

Love Princess George.

Dancing Away

We had another day off school today. I would love to say it was a just a crazy fun day but really it was just like work and it was a really really really long day. First up we had to be dressed and ready to head into the city bright and early for a 7.30am to sign in and get our security passes before heading backstage for a dance rehearsal at the Palms at Crown. We were there all morning getting ready for the show tonight.

After rehearsals we came home for some quiet time to prepare for the show. What that really meant was that we had to have a snack, pack a snack bag, make sure we hadn't forgotten anything and do our hair and make-up before heading back into the city ready for the real thing. Luckily our hair and make-up requirements weren't as crazy as other years!

We all went in together, Milla and I, Will and Chloe as the dancers and mum and Juice as the audience members. Traffic was crazy busy so we ended up getting out and walking through the city to make sure we wouldn't be too late. Luckily we made it in time.

This is Milla as we were about to head backstage.

And me just after the show (thanks for the lollipop mum!)

Mum kept raving on about how awesome the show was to watch, but I didn't see to much of it, I was to busy hanging out backstage with friends from class! What I do know is that it was heaps of fun and I think I will keep dancing again next year.

It was kinda late when we were ready to go home so we caught a taxi together instead of catching the train. I am glad we did, I didn't have the energy to walk home from the station after such a long day.

Even if it was a crazy busy, long and tiring day, it WAS fun!

Love AJ Pickle

Thriller

I am just home from our school picnic and it was fantastic. What made this picnic better than every other picnic wasn't the food that we ate, nor was it the fact that we all sat on the basketball court together instead of in the dust. It wasn't even that we were with all of our friends. What made this the best picnic ever was that we had an impromptu disco in the hall!

We danced away for hours and every third song was Thriller!

Love Princess George

Sad and Angry

Today was to be a fantastic day, it was the day that the blanket for the bridge was being officially opened. Unfortunately that didn't happen, some selfish rude people cut the entire Big Knit from the bridge. Instead of being a blanket over the bridge it was hanging in tatters from the bottom of the bridge, dragging in the water.

Luckily some smaller pieces weren't destroyed.

Even though the Big Knit wasn't what it should have been, there was still a celebration that we went to and I even dressed up in 'wool' decorations again.

It rained for most of it but it was heaps of fun, we even learnt an old fashioned dance, something called Flashdance! I had never heard of it but it was fun.

We tried to hide from the rain but we were all soaking wet.

Even if it was cold wet and miserable, even if the bridge blanket didn't look the way it was supposed to I still thought it was beautiful and I had fun!

Love Princess George

Damsel in Distress

Just because AJ has the pox, doesn't mean he is too tired, annoyed or itchy to be a real big brother.  Today he tied me to the umbrella post so that he could play Wii with Poppy without me tap dancing around and annoying them!

Just charming!

At least AJ still knows how to have fun!

Love Princess George, Damsel in Distress

Mama Mia, it's a dance concert!

Well after 3 bazillion rehearsals, it was finally time for the dance concert.  This year the concert was about Mama Mia.  Dad was in the concert too, he was an actor playing 'the Dad'.  I had three different costumes for three different dances - a flowery costume for a Beach Boys dance tap routine, an animal costume for a jazz routine to 'I Just Can't Wait' (from the Lion King) and then another costume for the finale.  AJ was only in tap and the finale so he only had 2 costumes.  

Anyway, after a really late night last night at dress rehearsals, we were up kind of early this morning to get ready for the real shows.  It took about an hour to have my hair done, but I look great in curls!  Luckily AJ didn't want his hair done, so we had plenty of time to pack our bags full of costumes, shoes, snacks and craft projects and get our makeup done ready.  

We made it to the theatre with plenty of time to spare.  AJ quickly disappeared with the other boys and I filled in time checking my makeup to make sure I was ready to go on stage.  Finally it was showtime and it was fantastic.  

Before I knew it, the show was over.  We had just enough time to run out and get something to eat.  Nanny, Poppy and Sharni were waiting for us in the foyer, they were waiting to watch the second show.

I knew where to look to see if I could see my family in the audience, but they were too far away and the lights were too bright.  I waved anyway, just because I couldn't see them didn't mean they couldn't see me.

I had a great time, here are a few photos from the day.

I had a great time at the dance concert, I can't wait until next year to dance some more.

Love Princess George

Curls First

Today it was our dancing photo shoot day.  We had to get picked up from our holiday at Sharn's house earlyish this morning so that Milli could get her hair done - it took forever!

First she had to have her hair in curls for the first photo shoot.

Then she needed her curls to be put into buns for the second photo shoot.

 My hair is cool however I do it, especially when I don't use a brush (ever).  It only took a few minutes for me to get ready!

It only took me a few seconds to get ready for my photos!

It was fun playing at the studio today, but it should be even more fun next weekend when it is showtime!

Love AJ Pickle

Performing

I didn't go to school today because I was too sick.  I really was sick - I spent all weekend sleeping.  I didn't really want to go to Bright Stars either, but it was the end of term performance and Milli really wanted to go and I wasn't allowed to stay home by myself.  Instead I put on my favourite costume and off I went.

Luckily wearing my Harry Potter costume gives me some extra energy.

Milli had fun too, even if she did pretend she was shy!

We played games, danced and sang songs and naturally all of the parents clapped and cheered.  It was fun and I am glad that I went.  

Gold

A few weeks ago, AJ and I had our dance assessments.  We have had to wait for ages to see how we went.  Finally we received our results AND our medals.

Naturally we both danced really well!

Love Princess George

Dance

As well as riding on miniature trains and going out for lunch, I went to dancing twice today.  The first time was to do my jazz dancing assessment and then later on we both did our tap dancing assessment.  

Naturally we were really all superstars.  I am sure the judges thought we were amazing, but I won't find out for sure until next week.  

No matter what, I had heaps of fun, especially when I had an extra day to play with my dancing friends.

Love Princess George

On Stage

We had our mid-year dance performance today.  

This is AJ pretending he doesn't want to dance with me.  Don't worry, he did want to dance with me, he just didn't want his photo taken!

The day was fantastic.  We danced on stage for everyone to see and cheer.  Then when the performances were over we danced with our friends for hours and hours (and hours).

Don't you wish you could have spent hours watching us all dance?

Love Princess George

A Lot Like Cinderella

Can you believe it, after all our hard work, the end of year dance performance is over!

Dancing has kept us very busy lately, with photo shoots and extra rehearsals. Apparently all of our hard work was worth it because everyone said the show was fantastic. Naturally the parts we were in were great, but it is hard to tell about the rest of the show when you are too busy backstage to see what is happening.

We were both very busy during the night. Milla was in the opening dance and the first dance after interval as well as the finale. I had 3 dances during the show and the finale. I only had 6 minutes between my first 2 dances. It was pretty crazy trying to get 14 tappers out of their 'Singin in the Rain' outfits into jazz shoes and costumes, but somehow we managed to do it. It was much more relaxing in the second half of the show when I only had one dance to worry about.

I wonder what the dance performance will be next year?

Love AJ Pickle

Here are a few photos from the show...

A Crazy Day

Today certainly was a crazy day.

First we took AJ to school, then we had to go to circus for a photo shoot to promote the show. We went straight from circus to dancing for our final class before the concert tomorrow. From dancing we went to school to collect AJ's bag. We couldn't collect AJ because he was at the swimming pool having a swimming lesson, so it was off to the swimming pool next.

After we got AJ, it was home for lunch and then off to Tia and Tio's for the Christmas Party. The crazy elf and Santa both visited the party and we had heaps of fun.

When we left the party, went home to get the rest of our dancing gear and headed off to rehearsals.

Finally when our part of the rehearsal was over, Lucy picked us up and took us home. Mum is still at rehearsal, making sure that everyone else is safe. If I wasn't so tired I would write more about our crazy day, but for now - Good Night!

Love Princess George

PS - perhaps when mum gets home she will post photos of the crazy day for me!

Milla and her balloon butterfly

AJ trying to win the tug-of-war

Thanks for our presents Santa's Helper

I won!

I went to dancing today and I won a medal for being a beautiful dancer. It is a beautiful golden medal on a shiny yellow ribbon.

Abagail won a medal too. We were both so excited.
(Kalinda won a medal too, but she didn't get hers today because she was on holidays instead.)

I wonder when we can win more medals?
Love Princess George

Bling!

I have some new bling - 2 shiny gold medals! One medal is for jazz and the other one is for tap dancing. I had my assessment on Sunday, and the adjudicators said that I was a great dancer, a real Fred Astaire.

Imagine just how good I would be if I practiced my dancing!
Love AJ Pickle

Dancing on a Sunday

Today was a really, really, really big day.
It was my dancing assessment day.

I was so excited that I woke up extra early, and woke AJ up too. We had a long, quiet and relaxing morning drawing pictures and colouring in. Mum mad me have a bath to wash off all the beautiful pictures that I had drawn all over my body. I really don't know why, I was wearing a long sleeve leotard and ballet tights.

Finally it was time to get ready, tights and leotard on and my hair tied up in a bun and we were off to the studio. I wasn't even nervous. I played with Kalinda and Abigail to warm up and then it was time for the assessment.

There were 2 adjudicators and Helen (our teacher) watching us do all of our stretches and steps. I was the leader during the fairy runs. I danced really well for almost all of the assessment. I didn't do all of my dance though, I remembered that I had a sore thumb and I couldn't do anymore dancing. Luckily my thumb was feeling better by the end of the dance and I could do my big show bow for the judges.

I had so much fun at the studio for my assessment, I even came back when it was time for AJ's assessment. I can't wait to see how we all went and to get a medal!
Love the dancing Princess George

Old School

Our dancing school had its 20th birthday party, and we were invited. We had a great time dancing around, playing games, chasing balloons, watching the clown do magic tricks and of course having birthday snacks.


I wonder why there was no birthday cake? Perhaps it was because a dancing studio can't actually blow out any candles and everyone knows that there is no point in having a birthday cake if there are no candles!

I wonder if we will still be dancing here when the dancing school is 25 years old?
Love AJ and Milla

Cheering

Today at dancing, we all learned how to be a cheerleader. It was so much fun.



What other kids activity involves me dancing around with my friends, shaking pom-poms. It was fantastic!

When I grow up, can I be a cheerleader?
Love Princess George