Category: Highland Dance

Happy Robbie Burns Day!

Actually, it is a bit early as his birthday is not until Wednesday but we celebrated yesterday so I am typing this up tonight.  We did our usual thing and drove up to my parents house so that we could all go the party at the Midland Legion.  Katrine was so excited about going to dance and hear the pipes that she even had me put a bun in her doll Lily’s hair (anyone know how to get bobby pins to stick into fake hair? Mine kept falling out).  Elspeth was a bit over whelmed and spent most of the night in someone’s arms clutching her penguin Meme and her sheep Aleigh.  That said, she looked super cute in tartan, bounced along when the pipes played (vs crying), waved enthusiastically when Katrine and I danced AND not only tried haggis but gobbled up a large serving.  Guess we will make a Scots out of her yet!  She also learned a new word which will come in immensely handy this summer but little else…piper.  Our other girl?  Glowed from all of the praise about her dancing.  I think that she particularly enjoyed hearing from the lady who told her, “I remember the very first time you danced and jumped side to side.  Now look at how big you are and you were wonderful.”  By about 9:00 poor Elspeth was hanging on to wakefullness by sheer will power so we started to pack her up.  Well, Katrine would have none of that because the pipe band had yet to play.  So, I drove Elspeth back to my parents house and ended up with a whole hour to myself…happy sigh.

This morning we enjoyed the snow.  Elspeth got to go sledding for the first time sitting on my lap.  It was only a wee hill but she was clapping at the bottom.  She was also much more willing to actually walk in the snow and touch it.  After tobogganing she pulled the sled around and when she got tired she put Glenn to work pulling her all around the yard until a dog barked, scared her and she insisted on going inside.  Katrine has fun trying to coax Elspeth into walking on the snow but lost interest after tobogganing for a bit.  Then the neighbour kids came out and she was off.  More sledding followed as well as using riding on their ATV.  I thought that she would find it scary but not her, “Awesome” was her description.  Her only disappointment about the visit was that the ice was too thin to go ice fishing with Grandpa and we weren’t staying long enough to go skiing.  Guess we will simply have to head back up soon.

As the Year of the Rabbit draws to a close, I will finish off with one of Burns’ graces (kindof symbollic of the melding of cultures in our family – Burns one day, New Years the next):

SOME hae meat, and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it ;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit. 

 

Bringin in the haggis
Not a bad job on the buns aye?
"Haggi(s). Mo(re)"

Gonna use this in our 6 month update for China

"Must not fall asleep. Might miss something."

Uxbridge – Day 2

Okay, so off Katrine goes with her father.  They spend a great morning at the games.  He gets her into her national costume and off she goes to dance.  She dances her flora and lilt great and comes home with two third place medals.  How proud of her am I right now?

Tonight she showed what type of big sister she could be (as if we didn’t know already).  Great.  We had our travel group (minus the Ottawa crew but plus an honorary family who adopted previously from Elspeth’s orphanage) over for a barbeque.  We thought that it would be great to get to know each other and reconnect before we set off in a week’s time.  There was one little girl who came, not yet three.  Katrine was patient with her.  By the end of the night the pair of them were swinging and making “soup” in the kitchen.  Katrine even shared some of her precious watermelon with her.  Can’t wait to see her and Elspeth together.

 

Last Highland Competition & our Garden

Yesterday Katrine danced her highland dances for the last time this summer.  No more Saturday competitions for a while now because….we will be in China!!!!!!  She test drove a new kilt and jacket which fit her better than her green one.  She also danced the best that she has all summer.  Uxbridge was a really big competition but she managed to get a third and two fourths.  She was super excited and very proud of herself.  To celebrate, she went and made pottery with one of her friends.  Yes, they actually had a potter and a wheel at the competition who was letting the kids have a go.  She made a really pretty clay pot…with some help.  Overall it was a great way to end a week of dancing (This week was her dance camp complete with crafts, swimming and bowling….oh yes, dancing too).  Today she is off to Uxbridge again.  This time with Dad to dance her national dances for the first time in competition.  If she wins anything I will post again.  We are honestly hoping that she just finishes each of the dances and has some fun doing it.  While they are there, I am getting ready to have our fabulous travel group over for a barbeque.  It will be nice getting re-acquainted before we travel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for our garden, I am proud to report that we have summer squash!!  They are little yet but I am watering them diligently.  Keeping our fingers crossed that they will be ripe and squashy before the end of the week.

 

First Dance Competition of the Year and a Surprise!

Today was the Georgina Highland Games as well as Katrine’s first outing as a Beginner!  She was a mixture of excitement and nerves.  Over all, she danced really quite well.  There are definetely things that she can improve on but she did well nonetheless.  Well?  Two thirds in her first outing.  We had been preparing her all week for the distinct possibility that she would not win a medal being that it was her first outing in a new and harder group.  She was over the moon.  To make it better, my parents decided to drive down to see her dance.  She was just happy to have a larger cheering section.  All of the girls from Katrine’s dance school did well which was nice because no one was left feeling left out of the celebrations. Once the girls had got their medals, a whole group of them went to the craft zone to do crafts and get their faces painted.

Katrine also chose to do the mass fling at the opening ceremonies.  Mass fling?  Well it is every dancer that they can convince to walk into the middle of a empty field and then do the fling in front of the crowd.  It is actually really fun to do because it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake or remember all of those things that you are suppose to.  Instead, it is a chance to just dance and entertain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the surprise, I woke up this morning and went to check my email before setting off for the competition and what should be there?  Two new photos of Elspeth and a brief update!!  She has grown a whole centimeter and is up to 20 pounds.  Her feet are TINY.  Only 4 1/2 inches long.  That is like 12 month robbies and she is turning two in October.  She has more hair now, all spinky like.  Anyways, I promised more photos once we had some so here they are!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glenn and I?  I got burnt at the competition as is my usual at the first competition of the season.  Doesn’t look too bad though.  How I managed to get burnt with sunscreen on while sitting under the trees remains a mystery to me.  Glenn has cleaned up all of the crap from the basement and has the ceiling painted.  Yes painted.  Tomorrow it will be on to the walls.

Katrine’s First Dance Recital

I know that it sounds wierd, her first dance recital…but you have been posting about her dancing since she was three.  It is true though.  Competitions? Check.  Exams? Check.  Recital?  Not until today.  Her first recital and she was adorable.  I could have just eaten her up.  She danced really nicely (which bodes well for our first competition as a Beginner this Saturday) and finally looked like she has been practising like she has.  Her group even did their Flora, named after the Flora MacDonald who flirted with Bonnie Prince Charlie.  Now they were flirting but they were adorably cute.  At the end of the recital, all of the girls got their exam awards and then goodies.  Katrine went to bed a happy girl tonight.

Last weekend we got to go to Kingston for the annual reunion of the China girls (and boy).  It is a really special time because it lets Katrine reconnect with her Chinese “sisters” and “brother”.  At the same time, we get to see how all of these fabulous kids are doing and also reconnect ourselves.  We catch up on how they are doing in school, with friends and their extra-curriculars.  We also get to share adoption related issues with those who are also living variations of them.  We are very lucky.  We were blessed with a wonderful China family.  The families are friendly and fun and they all really care about our kids.  I mean, they were so happy about adding one more sister to the mix that they enthusiastically asked about our travel plans (August 1) and gave some super sweet outfits.  I have attached a copy of one of the cards which almost made me cry.

Heather and Katrine Dance Together

Chorus:
Oh! Campbeltown Loch, Ah wish ye were whisky!
Campbeltown Loch, Och Aye!
Campbeltown Loch, I wish ye were whisky!
Ah wid drink ye dry.

Now Campbeltown Loch is a beautiful place,
But the price of the whisky is grim.
How nice it would be if the whisky was free
And the Loch was filled up to the brim.

I’d buy a yacht with the money I’ve got
And I’d anchor it out in the bay.
If I wanted a nip I’d go in for a dip
I’d be swimmin’ by night and by day.

We’d have a gathering of the clans
They’d come from near and far
I can see them grin as they’re wading in
And shouting “Slàinte mhòr!”.

But what if the boat should overturn
And drowned in the Loch was I?
You’d hear me shout, you’d hear me call out
“What a wonderful way to die !”

But what’s this I see, ochone for me
It’s a vision to make your blood freeze.
It’s the police afloat in a dirty big boat
And they’re shouting: “Time, gentlemen, please!”

Robbie Burns Day

After skating class on Saturday, we headed up to my parents’ house in Victoria Harbour.  Even though my mom had just got home from Scotland on Thursday (more about that in a future post), all five of us were heading to the Midland legion for a Robbie Burns night celebration.  Ever since Katrine began to take dance lessons, she and I have provided the dancing portion of the entertainment for this event.  This year we did two dances together and she wowed the crowd with two solo dances.  She can be quite the show-woman when she sets her mind to it (wish that would translate into her not complaining about having to practise, sigh).  The highlight for me was when we did a dance that was coreographed by our dance teacher back when I was maybe 10 (no old lady jokes needed).  It is just a fun dance; both to watch and do.  Plus, you gotta love the choice of music.

I do have to say that the rest of the party was looking pretty sharp.  Dad had on his Drummond tartan tie which is about as Scottish as he gets (not bad for a Sassenach spouse).  Mom had brought home a Drummond plaid skirt from one of her earlier trips home and the evening gave her the perfect excuse to wear it.  I have to tell you that Glenn was looking good in his new black Stewart kilt.  He doesn’t quite have the full outfit yet but he worked with what he had.

Now that Robbie Burns is over, we have started to put up the Chinese New Year decorations.  Yes, it is almost that time of year again.  The year of the Rabbit dawns on February 3rd.  Guess what we will be having for dinner that night?

July comes in with some fun!

Well, school is finished for the year and we celebrated by having some fun…mostly. On Canada Day we headed off to Embro for a dance competition.  Us go to a dance competition again?  I know, its schocking.  Embro really is a great competition.  On top of the dancing they have sheep hurding, bands, tug-of-war and fresh squeezed lemonade (Glenn and Katrine’s favourite).  There were two highlights for us this year: 1. There was a surprise fly-by during the awards ceremony which was fun to watch and 2. I did not break anything this year so no visit to the ER for us on Canada Day.  I will admit that alone helped to make this year’s Canada Day better than last year.  Katrine also danced really well which was an added bonus.  She was thrilled with her new medals and is continuing to work hard at practising her dancing.  Our next competition is actually next weekend and then it will be a nice long break until our final competition of the season in August.

The day after Embro, Katrine and I piled into the car and headed to Ottawa to visit with friends.  The trip was a bit of a breakthrough for Katrine as both families have large and friendly dogs.  This time she didn’t whine and try to run away.  She actually stayed calm.  Maybe, just maybe, we are turning a corner in terms of her being super afraid of dogs  Anyways, Katrine had a blast watching the hand-crank locks being worked in Merrickville.  She also found the glass blower pretty interesting.  There was some really nice shopping at the glass blowers which was good for mommy.  We had the most delicious meal, gluten free of course, at a local restaurant in Kemptville called the Branches.  I can’t thank Catherine and Gary enough for suggesting that we eat there.  I can sum it up in one word as YUM!

We also had the joy of visiting with one of the Yongning families;  the very one that we went to Disney with.  A delicious barbeque on Friday night and a whole fun filled day at Suanders Farm on Sunday.  I had a great visit, as well as some much needed relaxation, and Katrine had an absolute blast with her friend.  It was fabulous watching the girls play together and bond.  On Sunday night they hauled the hose around to the backyard and turned it on.  The two of them made a glorious mud puddle and then they proceeded to jump, splash and roll in it too their hearts content.  They had pure, uncomplicated fun.

What else are we up to?  Glenn has started to take swimming lessons.  He has sore arms but is enjoying it.  Katrine is also taking swimming lessons.  She actually swam a while using her arms.  She still has to work on her back strock though because she sinks quite well.  Me?  I am taking skating lessons at the same time as Katrine.  The teacher was showing on of the other students a simple waltz jump.  It looked sooo cool but I have promised Glenn and Katrine that I wouldn’t jump just in case we had a repeat of last year’s Canada Day adventure.  Instead, I am sticking to working on cross-overs and backwards skating.

April – What a month

April has been an emotional month thus far. As you know, Glenn’s dad passed away at the beginning of the month. It wasn’t completely unexpected but hard nevertheless.
Since then we have been busy with previously made commitments for Katrine. She passed the First Steps level of her Highland Dancing exams (Actually, my mom and dad took her to her exam while Glenn and I went back to work).
This past weekend was her fifth birthday. In spite of everything we decided to go ahead with her party because she had been so looking forward to it. Thank goodness Glenn had convinced me not to have the party at home this year. We went to the local community center and used their gym and party room. Thirteen little kidlets running around in pirate hats and fairy wings. It was a fun day for Katrine. My favourite part was dinner out with my parents and Glenn’s mom. Spending time with family builds the sweetest memories.
Sunday was her actual birthday. We made pizza at Glenn’s mom’s and ate cupcakes while enjoying eachother’s company and her HUGE collection of teddies. Katrine loves arranging them into a school or piling them up to make a store. I prefer using a bunch of them as a pillow. Quite sqoushy and comfy. The morning was spent at her second skating competition. She skated against five other skaters this time and had to do five moves as compared to last competition’s three. I was really nervous as she has been quite up and down coping with her recent loss but she was on. She even managed to get her two footed turn (although she had a pretty nice spill on her first attempt). The best part was watching her do her gliding jump. Man she got some air. She was so proud of herself for trying her best and then she got a medal.
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Look at that air!
Look at that air!

Oops!
Oops!

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Embro Highland Games on Canada Day

After Katrine did so well and had so much fun at the Georgetown Highland Games, and after much pleading by her to “go to another competition” we looked around and found the Embro Highland Games. A very early morning ensued fueled by a quick stop at Tim Horton’s for donuts, followed by a 2 hour drive.

We arrived and got setup, since Katrine was dancing in the Primary A category she was dancing at about 9:40am. First up were the Pas de Basque 516 followed by Pas de Basque and Highcuts 513.

After that we took a break 510 and let Katrine play on the playground for a time and then found our way to a lemonade stand for a fresh squeezed refresher (for the non-North American readers, that was un-carbonated lemonade). Katrine really liked watching the tug-of-war competition 507and Glenn appreciated the massed pipes.501

Finally the dance results were in. Katrine recieved a 6th place in the Pas de Basque, and did not place in the Pas de Basque and Highcuts. She did however receive a collapsible lawn chair as a participation award, a medal for her 6th place showing, and a stick of candy for turning in her bib number.
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All in all it was a good day and a really enjoyable Highland Games. If Katrine is still interested in Dancing next year, it will definitely be on our calendar.

Finally here are 2 videos of Katrine dancing.

first the Pas de Basques

then the Pas de Basque and Highcuts.