A Little Dancing and a Lot of Rain

Bernie's Solo
Originally uploaded by Chez VH

The dance school my girls have been attending for Irish dance for a number of years recently put together a few mini recitals to promote the school at local events. Because of our relatively uncluttered schedule (ahem, a different thing than being "busy") we were able to participate.

Thursday night was an exhibition at our local park bandstand. The three older girls comprised more than half of the Irish contingent and performed very beautifully. Ria's performance was so beautiful it made me cry. She's gained so much confidence and "presence" this past year. She credits her experience at the Chesterton conference. The weather was very nice at that point and we even made it back to the same park the next evening for a free outdoor showing of Charlotte's Web. That was a lot of fun too!

Saturday they were scheduled to dance at a local art show that our friend Nancy and her husband Michael Brown would be exhibiting at! What a fun coincidence.

I've never been to an art show before - not too surprising as we have neither the money nor the wall space to exhibit anything beyond our eclectic and well-loved collection of framed religious art (and other pieces) from rummage sales, National Geographic and AAA maps and framed photo collages.

John and I both love art, though (which is partly why our walls are so very crowded with interesting things to look at!) and it was a treat to have an excuse to go. You may have heard a little about the soggy Midwest weather of the past few weeks. Our lawn is completely spring-like (and more) - such a shock after a very brown July. The art show looked like an encampment. Lots of green grass crowded with big white tents and a lovely lake for a background. It was fun to see the famous Brown photography in person. His pieces are a lot of fun to look at and have a broad appeal. (Be sure to check out his website here).

Nancy was planning on watching the girls dance, but alas, the youth stage was unsheltered with a plywood floor that was completely water-logged. So the kids enjoyed some face painting and crafts in the kids' tent before we returned home in the rain.

Saturday night John and I celebrated our anniversary early with dessert (wonderful fruit pie a la mode) followed by dinner (we arrived at the restaurant a half hour before it opened and so decided to start with pie next door (yum!) followed by a movie. We finally saw the 5th Harry Potter movie which was quite enjoyable and engrossing.

Yesterday, we had planned on attending Irish Fest (it's been quite a few years since we made it - last year John was in Taiwan at the time), but the rain, rain and more rain just didn't sound like a pleasant prospect. So we had an impromptu Irish fest at the house with the grandparents and a few cousins. We had dancing, music, beer and a full corned beef and cabbage meal complete with delicious Irish soda bread from the local bakery (I think the local stores bring back some of these goodies in honor of Irish Fest every year).

Prospects are for more rain all week. Please pray for those who are having a great deal of trouble from all this rain. Parts of western Wisconsin (including the town where we visited friends on the way home from South Dakota earlier this summer) and suffering from severe flooding and mudslides.