Dance, Piano, and Girl Scouts.....busy times!!

Last weekend there was no time to breathe, but I can't complain. We are very lucky to have two great girls who are actively involved in a variety of activities.

1. Dance Recital

The weekend started on Friday night with Dance Recital time! This recital was Carleigh's 8th recital, and Katie's 4th.  This year it was Hip Hop and the girls had a great time and loved every minute of their performing.  Why pay for professional photos when you have your own portable photo studio at home.  The above "studio stuff" was Don's birthday gift last year.  He set it up and snapped away!

Then to the recital - they were wonderful!

A new tradition started last year was/is sunset pictures on the hill after the recital!  The girls knew it was coming, and didn't even complain.

2. Piano Recital

This was Katie's first year taking piano lessons. We inherited the piano from my parents, and originally from my grandparents.  Katie jumped right in this year and LOVES it! She had her first recital last weekend and did a great job. She played three different pieces.  The highlight was the beginning few lines of the Imperial March from Star Wars.  Don was so proud.

Above, she is practicing at home before we left.

 And...at the recital.

3. Carleigh becomes a Cadet in Girl Scouts

Carleigh joined a girl scout troop about 3 years ago and has had the best experience.  She is very lucky to be in a troop with some great girls and good friends of hers.  They have gone camping, caving, rock climbing, swimming in the Chesapeake Bay, rafting...and those are only the "fun" activities.  She finished a big community service project this year and earned her Bronze award - her troop put together "bags of fun" for children on and Indian Reservation in Arizona when they are hospitalized and bedbound with nothing to do.  As a troop, they created about 90 different bags filled with activities for kids ages 0 - 12 years old. The bags are boxed up and in the process of being sent to Arizona.  She had her bridging ceremony last weekend also.

Our activities are winding down, as is the school year.  Only 13 more school days! But our summer is winding up!  Almost time to start the staging area for our first adventure.....Can't wait!!

35 days till we leave for Florida!
42 days till I am on the beach in Emerald Isle!
60 days till we leave for Seattle!
70 days till we leave for Vancouver and Alaska!

So much to do, and SOOO... looking forward to it!

But...Lobster Days is coming first...
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Stay tuned for what happens this year...on June 25th.

Jack...Jacko...Jack Handsome Rahn....

In keeping with the theme of this blog...seldom a dull moment continues as we had the busiest of weeks in a long time, and our beloved Jack chose now to leave us!  I'll let the pictures speak as I take time to remember him and the many happy memories that he gave us in his almost 12 years of life!

He didn't miss a Christmas family portrait as soon as Carleigh was old enough to stand on her own!

Photos from Christmas, 2001 - 2010

He loved a good birthday party and we had one every year for him on September 3rd....

 #2

 #3

 #4

 #6

 #10 - big party to celebrate #10 with lots of friends and family

and most recently,  #11...

He was our practice baby! He was Don's birthday present in November of 1999.  He was 8 weeks old and I was 6 months pregnant....

 In his younger years, he was quite the athlete!  He LOVED playing catch, was the first of our family on the new swing set when we got it, and one of his favorite tricks was jumping through the hula hoop for treats!

He was Don's "boy."  He went hiking, watched football on Sundays with him and just hung out wherever Don was!

He loved playing with the girls and was definitely a "big brother" to them.  He let them do whatever they wanted from dress up to wagon rides, to pony rides...

Jack could sit for hours and just watch the world go by...he loved his people, but he also loved to just watch...

Anyone who met Jack knew he was a little man! He had many favorite people!  He LOVED Rosie and Chrissy - they would spend lots of time loving him when they visited!  He and Nana and Bubba would take long walks when they were here from PA. His first doggy friends were Stroker and Bailey, my sister Patty's dogs. Patty always knew how to treat Jacko!  She never hesitated to get down and love him as much as her own dogs! He also spent many days and nights with Rocky and Rina - their house was his second house.  He and Rocky has lots of alone time also as Rina traveled with us to Disney or the Bahamas.  He always thought whoever was here, was here to see him.  And often, that was the case...at least for the first few minutes.

We love you Jack Rahn and will miss you!