ballet recital . . day two

hello mr. frog. it was another day of rehearsals and recitals . . chanda ran her dance with her modern dance teacher at 9:50 am and then we were in the car and on the way downtown for her show call at 10:23 am which gave her extra time to stop at whole foods for a smoothie. i went back uptown and parked the car and then walked downtown again . . and it was hot, though not as hot and humid as yesterday.

greg and i watched the first show at noon and then the three of us met my cousin and her family at duane park patisserie for strawberry rhubarb pie and tea. my nephew (second cousin?) is home for two more weeks from london.

here's a pic taken before the second show started . . of dancers and teacher before going backstage for their entrance. greg and i had gone to another dance recital . . of our friend's children (the ones who helped morgana get placed with her austrian family). 

 coming out of the school where the second recital was (just across the street from chanda's) the sky had darkened considerably and the predicted thunderstorm looked like it was about to start.

 greg hightailed it home on a citibike . . 

 i walked over to the pier to take a few photos first . .

 i started walking back to the theatre after taking this one . . !

 how would you like to be up in the freedom tower for a thunder and lightening storm? i bet it would be very dramatic and beautiful . .

 i arrived at the theatre in time to help with the dancer sign outs (which was just as chaotic as last night, though they did rearrange the tables and put up stanchions for crowd control . . and they even asked a few security guards to stand around and look intimidating!) (there were over two hundred dancers in the show).

a group portrait the dancers took of themselves which they all put up on instagram.

the rain storm hit at the end of the sign out process . . when we finally said our good-byes we walked out to pouring rain . .

 which caused everyone to stop in their tracks and try to figure out alternative ways of getting home, rather than walking. we called greg.

 playing in the rain . . 

 our taxi took a little while to arrive but we were thankful he came out again for us.

 it was a wet ride home but we still went out again to move ellen's vermeer costumes into the theatre on 19th street . . but only after a dinner of warm chicken soup . . and thankfully the rain had stopped by then. 

ballet recital . . day one

it's that time of year again when i walk downtown with chanda to her ballet recital at the local community college. it was a warm spring morning . . 

and all the joggers were out . . 

we had packed our lunch and were ready for a long day . . 9 am to 7:30.

 the older class had a long wait as the younger ones all go first . . they never understand why they just can't be called later in the day . . 

 still waiting . . but downstairs and closer to the stage . . which didn't help matters as it turned out . . 

chaos before lunch break . . 

 lunchtime found them all at the salad bar at whole foods still having not run the dance in their costumes . . 

 saying hello to mr. frog and bee again . .

 finally . . after lunch they had their costumes on and were ready to go . . 

the dancers were pleased with their costumes this year . . well, except for the headpieces . . their teacher picked out the dresses and tunics . . someone else chose the headpieces . . 

after the show . . when leaving the theatre we were all . . moonstruck . . 

la bella luna . . 

it had been a long day . . it was so nice to walk home . . 

celebrating isadora's birthday

chanda and her friend danced with catherine gallant today at bethesda fountain, celebrating isadora duncan's birthday (which was yesterday, may 27th - she was born in 1877 in san francisco).

sisters

three graces

rose petals (brahms, waltz in a major, opus 39, no. 15)

baby shower

 pics of yesterday's baby shower for chanda's ballet teacher . . no time to write about it now, but will do so tomorrow . . 

the party was hosted by one of the students and her mom. they live in a building on the upper west side with a nice rooftop and a beautiful view of the hudson river.

we were high up and hanging out with the water towers!

they had a delicious punch and turkey, veggie and ham sandwich wraps; scones and strawberry jam; and an amazing cake . . 

 it was a vanilla cake with icing on the inside too . . 

this was "pass the pacifier on the straw."

irene, their beautiful ballet teacher, with some of the mamas.

a matching game: you had to guess which phrase matched a particular candy bar. for example, the hint "triplets" matched the candy bar "three musketeers." 

 i can't remember what candy bar matched "twin boys."

chanda picked out "baby giggles" which paired with "snickers." i actually really like snickers bars . . 

the gifts were all so beautiful! chanda knitted a baby hat with some soft yarn we had . . 

and her friend margaret knitted this beautiful sweater . .  

and i knitted this baby blanket! when chanda and margaret compared notes they realized they had both been up late the night before, furiously knitting away and trying to finish their projects in time for today!

we also had a jar in which everyone placed a card with a blessing for mother and baby.

irene and her handsome boy, angus, who is terribly excited about having a baby sister (he had wanted a brother whom he would have liked to name "lucas").

finally opening some big brother gifts  . . lego toys . . 

and here chanda is inscribing the book we picked out for him, one of our favorites, miranda the great by eleanor estes.

angus and the girls . .

waiting outside for the car ride home . .

angus does not stop moving .  . 

and he's seemingly fearless; dauntless and happy.

his mama is very calm and patient with him.

we loaded all her gifts into my friend's car and then helped her get them into her own apartment a few blocks away. it was a wonderful party and we're now looking forward to meeting the baby. irene has a name picked out but is waiting to share that for after the little one is born.