April, May, June...where did they go?

I realize I have dropped off the blog-o-sphere but I am here to give the abridged version of the last three months.  The week before Easter (week of Nora's birthday) we went to Florida.  This trip was planned for months but not nailed down to just weeks prior because we got tickets for Kennedy Space Center for the day of the Launch of Endeavour STS-134.  As Murphy would have it, 10 days before our trip they moved the launch date.  We decided to go anyway and not try to reschedule to fit the launch (and good thing with another delay).  We went to Sea World and then ditched all other plans.  We got a new hotel on the beach, so we could swim and hang-out.  It was great family time.

Then, in May, the stars aligned (pun intended) because JR was able to meet his good friend Dave at KSC for the Launch (our tickets were for the launch day).  I am so happy he was able to go, having studied space exploration his whole life.  I have never been so emotional and wrapped up in a NASA mission, but when you have been following the details for 8+months everyday on the website and you know someone there live--it was a fun day for all of us.  Here is JR's video.  Things that he said that you can't get from the video 1)it was so bright, it hurt your eyes--like looking at wielding without wearing the mask and 2)the shock wave from the sound was more intense than you can imagine--in the video you can hear the bending of the metal from the tower that holds the shuttle and he was holding the camera still as best he could against the shock waves.  Too bad it was a cloudy day, but he still got to see it and now we all have Endeavour t-shirts!

End of May was the girls Dance Recital.  To make a long story short, Clara choked.  Clara is smart and knows what she wants.  What she knew was that she didn't know the routine (because the class was such a fiasco the whole year, none of them knew it) and she didn't like her costume.  She liked Nora's costume.  Her's was green.  Nora's was cute.  So, Clara bailed but I didn't force her because it was obvious she was traumatized at the thought of going on stage.  She was the only one who saw the show three times and sat perfectly still watching every dancer for all 2 1/2 hours each time.  Nora's class did great, they stepped up at the last few lessons and got it together.  The class only met on Mondays and each class learned a tap and a jazz routine.  It was cute and fun.  Just perfect for us.  The show was in a high school auditorium with full sound, lights, all of it.  Nora got her hair cut that morning to a "non-dance" hair cut--it is really short in back, but we didn't care if she could pull it up or not.  Her class had all really good girls--she had a positive experience.

 At the dress rehearsal on Friday night her bangs were so long she had them standing straight up.

 Here she is with her lip gloss and blush on (that was a big deal) ready for the show!

In June, we have been camping twice, JR took the girls to a "kids fishing day" where Clara was one of seven kids to catch a trout in the pond, and last but not least, JR let the girls shoot the pellet gun at a can a few weeks ago.  Oh, did I mention, we have a raccoon problem (but no pictures).  We caught one baby in a live trap and JR took it out to the woods, and then we saw its 5(!) siblings with the mom that we have yet to catch.  The are living under our deck and this Mom is not happy about it.  

The girls have hit a park about 2x week at daycare and work is flying so we are having a great summer.  The sun sets at 9:40 tonight, which is one of my favorite parts of living in the North in the summer.  I hope everyone else is having a fun summer too.  I am sure everyone is a little bit warmer than we are, considering I have worn a jacket everyday to work (but the afternoons are nice and pleasant).