February kicked off busy season in the Baum house. Between two boys in baseball and dance competitions, we're running all over the place! :)
Claire and Sarah Visit:
At the beginning of the month, Cora's TN besties, Claire and Sarah, along with Claire's mom Robin came to visit. We had so much fun showing them around Sarasota, going to the beach, eating a ton of Chick Fil A, swimming and even visiting Busch Gardens. I'm so thankful for these sweet friendships that continue to grow and flourish even from afar.
Goodbyes are always the hardest.
Cruz Helicopter:
Cruz was invited to go on a helicopter tour of Sarasota with a friend from school. The day of his tour happened to be the day that we went to Siesta Key with Claire, Sarah and Robin. Cruz enjoyed his first helicopter ride and the girls enjoyed spotting Cruz's helicopter from the beach (see the third photo).
Happy Valentine's Day:
I had fun decorating the house and buying the kids little treats for Valentine's Day. Grandma and Grammy and Grampy sent treats too! We also chose a family secret Valentine to shower with love and gifts.
Cruz and Daddy had each other, Rowan had Cora, I had Rowan and Cora had me.
Retro Day:
Elementary School students got to dress up from either the 70's, 80's, or 90's. Funny that the 90's is now considered retro. Talk about feeling old!!! Cora did a great job with her 80's outfit right down to the crimped hair!
StarQuest:
Competition season kicked off in Lakeland, Florida. Cora performed her solo on stage for the very first time. She was SO nervous but she did such a great job. We had so much fun with her teammates and competing their five group dances as well. They did a great job!
Cora and Grace ready for solos!
Cora received a Platinum score on her solo, "Like This, Like That."
Linc Squad Hip Hop received Platinum Plus. This is Cora's favorite dance and she even gets a few special parts!
I Believe Lyrical received Platinum Plus.
Too Original Jazz received Platinum Plus.
You Can't Stop the Beat Musical Theater received Platinum Plus.
Beggin' Tap also received Platinum Plus!
Cora and Claire got their yearly StarQuest photo "together" thanks to some photoshop work.
Varsity Baseball:
High School baseball started up after almost a month of intense practices. Rowan's team has started the season 2-0 and we're looking forward to watching ONE of our favorite second basemen (also Cruz's position) this season. Middle School baseball had their first game as well but I was in Chicago with Cora more updates on that later!
Tremaine Chicago:
Cora's dance studio attends the Tremaine Regional competition and convention in Orlando every November. The girls have the option to compete at other Tremaine competitions around the country. If they do and their solo receives a trophy, they're able to compete it in the National competition in Orlando in the summer. Chicago was the perfect place for Cora to do this as she got to have a HUGE cheering section!
These weekends with my girl are really memorable for me. This one started out particularly fun as we were able to use points to fly first class from Sarasota to Chicago. Sis loved the first class life with unlimited drinks and snacks!
Just 50 degrees colder than when we left! :)
We spent Thursday night at Grammy and Grampy's. We had so much fun playing games, eating dinner together and just hanging out. On Friday morning, Cora got ready to head to the venue in Schaumburg for competition.
Since she didn't have her normal teachers there to do it, one of her sweet teammates who also came to this convention, helped warm her up.
4th Place!!! She qualified for nationals. Her teammates Skylar and Ava were amazing cheerleaders.
Cora also got to have Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Mar in the audience!!!
Even Jade, Jemma and Aunt Amanda got to come! We missed Uncle Nate but he was at work. It was so so so much fun to have so many special family members there!
Proud of my girl!
An early dinner at Portillo's rounded out Friday.
Saturday morning started with convention classes at 7AM. Cora danced until 1PM with a short lunch break in between. She loves all the teachers and since she's done this convention several times, is starting to get to know them.
All the girls chase the teachers around for pictures! ;)
Saturday afternoon we met up with Grammy, Aunt Amanda, Jade and Jemma at Woodfield for some shopping and then painted pottery at Color Me Mine!
Sunday starts out with auditions. Auditions consist of a ballet round and jazz round. If you're selected from both of those rounds, you become a scholarship finalist with the possibility of winning scholarships for future conventions, etc. Cora was a FINALIST and so excited about that! She didn't end up winning a scholarship but to be in the small group of Junior finalists was enough.
It's so fun for me to see her improve! At her very first Tremaine convention in November of 2021, she didn't make it past the first cut of auditions. She's come so far!
Grammy drove us to the airport but first took us to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We made so many wonderful memories this weekend and I know we're both so thankful for this time.
