Talent Show and School Picnic

Another exciting day!  It was not only Madeleine's last day of preschool, but it was also the day of Julia's Kindergarten talent show and all-school picnic.

Because Julia was going to be participating in a solo performance at the talent show, I had the audacity to pick out a dress for her to wear today.  Not a fancy, frilly dress or anything.  Just a cute little dress that she has worn to school before, for no special occasion.  On top of the dress, I dared to try and straight-iron her hair, not to make it look fancy, but simply to make it easier to brush through, thanks to the fact that she had showered last night and then slept on her wet hair.  On a GOOD day, upon which Julia's hair is not frizzy with humidity and tangled from being wet and slept on, brushing her hair is a huge battle.  So I figured I was only going to help things by straightening out some of the wild and crazy curls before the brushing began.

WRONG.  Wrong on all counts.  Because, you see, Julia faced a problem of epic proportions; one that all women have had to deal with.  She didn't want to be the MOST BEAUTIFUL kid at the whole school.  WHY did she always have to look so BEAUTIFUL?  She didn't WANT everyone telling her she looked so BEAUTIFUL.

Seriously.  How DARE I??

At any rate, after I laid out her two options (Go up to her room and select an outfit of her choosing, or stay in her dress and stop complaining), she was able to move on with life, and I tried not to make her hair look *too* gorgeous so that she would only be in the median, beauty-wise, and not the MOST BEAUTIFUL.

Sigh.

At any rate, after school, we had about an hour to kill before the talent show began.  The show started off with a group performance:



After which the kindergarten kids performed solo or in small groups to showcase their talents.  Julia was the very last kid to perform, whipping out yet another rendition of "Freight Train" on piano:



Once her performance had ended, the kindergarten kids all assembled once again on stage to sing the grand finale:



Hooray!  Way to go, kindergarteners!  (Or, to put it in the scary way that the teachers did in the show's program, way to go class of 2025!  That makes me feel very, very old.)

After the talent show concluded, we Rowes took a few minutes to browse the school book fair, even though I had already bought the girls some books during the week.  Julia was quick to snatch up another new Ivy & Bean book, which left Madeleine in tears, because she wanted her OWN Ivy & Bean book, and Julia wasn't gonna let her SHARE it.

I suggested to Madeleine that we browse the shelves to look for a book of her very own, and it only took about 10 seconds before she latched onto this:

 "Mermaid Tales: Danger in the Deep Blue Sea"

Or, as Madeleine put it, "Daddy!  I got my OWN Ivy and BEAN book that...that...that DOESN'T even HAVE Ivy & Bean on it!"

Once the children were happily carrying their new books, we headed out to the playground to begin the fun of the all-school picnic.  The picnic included all sorts of food, as well as an ice cream truck, face-painting, and a DJ spinning tunes in the school performance center.  Of course, our girls were all for the dance party, and couldn't even take the time to finish their pizza before busting a move.  Madeleine was in seventh heaven out on the dance floor, going to town all by herself among all of the much, much bigger kids:

At one point, she even attempted what appears to be some sort of underwear-baring break-dancing:



Julia did her own underwear-baring as she performed cartwheels all over the performance center floor, but at least the other kids on the dance floor were completely focused on their own dance moves and pretty clueless to what else was going on around them.

It was a fun night had by all, and we were lucky enough to make our way nearly all the way home before the skies opened and the pouring rain began.  And for once, I think the girls won't even resist their call to bedtime tonight, eager as they are to begin their brand new books.  I can't wait to read Madeleine her Ivy & Bean book that doesn't have Ivy & Bean in it!