This weekend was the State Dance Competition. It is rather unlike the Minnesota one where it was part of the state sports. They don't have that here, so another company puts on this big competition down in Daytona and there weren't that many high schools there. But, it is a competition anyway and some very good teams. We had an amazing program and were very excited to show it off. Part of the music states, "Haters bring me fame" which means that the more people that hate you, the more famous you are. It has become the catch phrase of the season. So on the day we left for Daytona, all the girls wore their "Hater" jackets they designed and glittered up and Rozzie's friend Lauren made some of them these "Hater" shades (they block out your "haters"). They were rather cute!! So, here is Lauren, Nora, and Roz arriving at school on Friday morning.
We got out of school at 1:00 (I got to miss 6th period!!) and were on our way. I was a driver/chaperone and had a car load of girls. We stayed at the Hilton on the beach which was across the street from the Convention Center where the girls performed. We ate dinner at Bubba Gumps and I had the absolute worst salad I have ever had. It was completely tasteless. The chicken tasted old and lacked any flavor. I didn't even know what the eggs were. I thought maybe mushrooms. It was only on close examination that I figured out it was egg. I didn't even eat half of it. How disappointing. The funny thing is that I rarely ever dislike my food. I like food so much I'll eat things that are just so-so. This was inedible.
Saturday was a long day. We didn't dance until 6 pm, so we took a good, long time getting ready. The freshmen didn't dance this competition. They were basically "red-shirted" I'd say; that is the best way to explain it. This was a sore spot and it was apparent that the girls were feeling left out. They handled it very well, though. Rozzie and I talked a lot about accepting and being supportive anyway. They were all troopers!! Here is Rozzie and me. This picture makes her look taller than me, oh, I was just informed that she is taller than me. When did this happen?
The girls did a great performance and came in 2nd place, only .5 behind the first place team. Fort Walton Beach has always been winners here and they had dances in three divisions - we only danced Hip-Hop. But we were neck and neck!! The crowd loved the costumes (I picked them out - found it in a magazine and suggested it). Kids were asking to have pictures taken with the girls. They felt very famous. We went back the next morning and danced again and it was a solid performance. But alas, we came in 2nd again. Fort Walton Beach danced a clean dance. It wasn't very original or exciting. The word on the street is that we should have won. So many people stopped our girls and commented that they were their favorite. I guess I should add that there was also a cheer competition going on simultaneously so there were a lot of people watching.
Here is Rozzie with Lauren and Nora. You can see the make-up on Lauren. The jewels on the face really sparkled on stage.
Here is another picture - you can see how the costumes looked.
And the disappointing 2nd place.
There was crying on the way home. Losing is tough. Hearing over and over from so many people that we should have won is tough. But, it is a lesson we all learn over and over in life. I'm proud of how they did. Rozzie is really excited to dance the competition in March and get all glammed up!!
I was thankful to have a day off before returning to work. I will say that we have a great group of girls that seemed to know how to behave and they were very easy to spend a weekend with. They were very grateful for our help. It was also fun to spend a weekend with my dear friend Lani. I'm glad we had this year together with our girls on the team. I'll miss her next year. I got to know other parents better so I'll be ok - no need to worry about me!!
Travis and Rozzie just went driving. She started Driver's Ed on Florida Virtual School and so she is excited about getting her driver's permit at the end of May!!
After hearing all about Rozzie's dance competition, Maddie is excited to go to her competitions in March and April.
It made for a fun night, though. Here is Rozzie and McCall. They have enjoyed being on the dance team this year. The kids in the background are "creeping". For those who are not familiar with this term, it is where someone else is getting a picture taken and you position yourself and smile for the picture, thus "creeping" on someone else's picture. At the last competition, some girls were taking a picture and later on realized that the waitress creeped on them!!
Travis was pretty excited that he got to see someone famous at the game. This is Nolan Carroll of the Miami Dolphins.
Here is the situation: Nolan's brother, Nico plays basketball for Fleming Island and with it being senior night, Nolan came to support his brother and walk him in as he (Nico) was announced. Back in his days of reporting high school football, Travis remembered covering games with Nolan who attended Clay High, just to our south. Now, Nolan plays for the Miami Dolphins. I had never heard of him, but then Travis explained who he was and I remember the story very well. You might, too. In a game in December 2010 between the Jets and the Dolphins, a coach tripped a player running down the sidelines. The coach was fired and it was all over the news. that player was Nolan Carroll. You can look it up on youtube - I wasn't able to get it on here, but it is easy to find. So that was Travis' fun moment.
