Mother's Day in Moose Jaw.

I usually try and get away for Mother's Day weekend. Last year Brit and I went to Radium and had the best time. You can see that post HERE. I wanted to do something like that again but McKenna's last dance competition in Moose Jaw fell on that weekend. I was a little disappointed but luckily we went to Moose Jaw with our dance friends and it turned into a really fun girl's weekend anyway.

We left Friday morning. Tara and Elliot picked us up and we traveled with them. We met Melissa and Tamara at the Tim Horton's in Coaldale and then followed each other the rest of the way. Its about a 6 hour drive. McKenna and Elliot  were travel superstars and just played and entertained each other, and Tara and I visited the whole way. We stopped for a bathroom break at a really questionable bathroom where there was a little diner, so we decided to stay and have some lunch. The food was good except for a few rotten piece's of lettuce in mine and Tara's wrap, (I mean, who doesn't notice that when preparing the food). Atleast the price's were great. Its all part of the road trip experience :) We made it to Moose Jaw around 4:00 p.m.

We checked into the hotel and then went for Supper at Brown's Social House. We went and checked out the school where the competition was and registered the girl's. We were going to stay and watch a few dances but it was so busy and we didn't want to wait in line, which was all the way out the door, so we just headed back to the hotel. The girls and I went into the hot tub. There was only a hot tub with no pool but the girls had fun playing in the hot tub, shower, and sauna. We all met in our room after the girls got ready for bed and then watched a show on one little ipad. We visited with friends until late into the night and then ended up going to Miss Joy and Miss Aurielle's room at like 11:30 for cake to celebrate one of the dancer's birthdays. I think McKenna thought life couldn't get any better. Tara and I tucked the girls in and told them we would be in the other room visiting for just a little bit longer. I thought for sure they would crash because it was already close to midnight. Pretty soon Tara gets a text from Elliot. She sent a picture of pitch black and said "help". We had left the bathroom light on for them but it is on a timer so it had shut off and the girls were in total darkness. Tara and I were ready to go to bed anyway so we headed back to our room. Elliot and McKenna were cuddled in bed together too scared to try and turn a light on. We were pretty tired and fell asleep quickly, well except me, I rarely sleep well other places and I hardly slept at all.

 McKenna had been coughing a bit throughout the day and started to cough quite a bit at night. I definitely felt like I shouldn't have kept her up so late. Mom fail. Luckily they didn't have to dance until 1:00pm so we got to sleep in. She coughed a bit in the morning and then only coughed here and there throughout the day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then went for a walk and visited the big Moose. We got the girls ready and headed over to the competition. They only had ballet today. They did a really good job. I think it was the best I'd ever seen them dance it. They got a 94/100 and received the diamond award. After adjudication we went and walked downtown a bit. Got some fudge, and then went to the Deja Vu Cafe for supper. They had amazing milkshakes. I got Gingerbread and McKenna got Watermelon. The food was really good too. We wanted to have an early night because we were all tired and the girls had two dances in the morning. We let them have a quick dip in the hot tub and then we had a dance party in the room to tire them out even more. It was so much fun. McKenna's cough was getting worse so I had picked up some rub for her. She coughed pretty hard for the first hour she had fallen asleep but then stopped for most of the night. I slept a lot better.

These girls love Miss Amy. 

McKenna was pretty sick in the morning with her cough and now a fever. We got them all ready for their dances and just drugged her up. She made it through both dances. They had jazz first. It is usually their strongest dance but they made quite a few mistakes. They still ended up with 90/100 and received 1st place and the diamond award. Tap went pretty good too. A few mistakes and the kids just seemed a little hesitant. Later we found out that they had just washed the floor and it was a bit slippery. We didn't stay for adjudication and left right after tap so I'm not sure what they ended up with. I'm guessing somewhere in the 90's and a diamond award as well. We were all anxious to get home at this point so we stopped for a quick lunch and then made the long drive home.

We had such a fun time and are so grateful for such amazing friends to share these experiences with. McKenna loved doing festival and is sad that its over for the year. We are grateful for such wonderful dance teachers who put so much time into these festivals and who choreograph such awesome dances. McKenna loves dance so much because of them. Now on to the Year End Show which is in like 5 weeks!

When we pulled up to the house Hayley was sitting outside in what she says was her rain gear, when she saw me her cute little face lit up and that was all I needed for Mother's Day.