The London Spring Tour- Day 1.5

Following lunch & some sightseeing, we headed back to the Tube to travel to Studio 68. Along with the Pineapple Dance Studios it is one of the most famous dance studios in London.  

 

 

 

   

First Zoe took a Contemporary Fusion class.  The instructor was amazing.  And in a packed class of a bunch of talented dancers he called Zoe out to do the combination all on her own. Zoe was thrilled. Her she is with him. I can't remember his name. Darn!  

 

The last class of the day was a hip hop.  And although it's a type of dance Zoe hardly ever does, she loved the class & the teacher and had a blast doing it. She even had some swagga.  😅

 

 Tomorrow we go to Move It. It is the largest dance convention in the world. They expect 25,000 people to attend over the course of the weekend. Can't wait!!  Lots more dance classes tomorrow.  Bye for now....

The London Spring Tour 2017- Day 1

Had another travel adventure getting to our hotel last evening. Our cab broke down half way to the hotel! The cab driver, who was very nice older gentleman, said "The engine light has come on so I need to pull over & check under the bonnet." (All said with a proper English accent of course.)  Turns out we had a broken fan belt and were leaking water. So we "collected our bits" & out we went to find another cab. One and half hours & 136 pounds later, we arrived at our hotel. 

Sweet view from our room located at Royal Victoria Dock. 

 

After checking in & having some delicious pizza in the hotel bar, which was packed with people watching the soccer game, we jumped into bed for a big day of dancing ahead.  

Out of bed bright & early at 7:30am & had a full English breakfast with a great view of the water. Meal already consumed in picture below in case you were wondering. 😋

 

After breakfast we connected with the LST group & met everyone & set out for the London tube to go to the Pineapple Dance Studios for morning dance classes.  

Riding the tube, walking the tube & arriving at Pineapple Studios.  

 

    

Pineapple Dance Studios has 11 dance rooms at it. Zoe took two 90 minute classes, one was contemporary jazz & the second was jazz but the combination for the second class was more lyrical.  Man what a workout.  I was tired & sweaty just watching them.  But of course after the first 2 classes they were all ready to hit the next studio location for 3 more hours of classes!  

Bridget, Zoe & Addison 

 

 

 

After the morning classes we went for lunch. Yep you guessed it, Fish & Chips.  With the biggest damn piece of fish I've ever seen!  

 

Did a little sight seeing after lunch prior to heading to the evening dance classes.  What is that guy doing?  

 

What?  A phone booth?!!  Zoe, get back on your iPhone & let's go!  Did I really just write that. 😂

 

 

Ok time to get back on the tube to travel to Studio 68 for more dance classes.   Catch ya later!  👯

The London Spring Tour 2017

Well our trip started out great.  We got to the airport 2 hours early, check our bags, breezed through TSA Pre Check and headed straight to the United Club for a cocktail (for me!) and a snack prior to boarding the plane. 

 

 

After a tasty treat, we proceeded to our gate & boarded the plane.  As is custom in Business/First Class we were promptly served a drink.  Ah, a nice glass of bubbly for me & a kid-friendly cold beverage for Zoe. 

 

No sooner do we pull away from the gate than the captain comes on & says there is a mechanical issue & we head back to the gate.  After two glasses of champagne & sitting on the plane for about an hour, the captain announces that we need to deplane.  

6 hours later, at 1am, we are finally off to London!  Unfortunately we will miss the group orientation & dinner & ride on the London Eye in the evening with the tour group.  Ah well, such is the joy of traveling!  We'll just chalk it up to being part of our adventure. But here's hoping the rest of our travels go a little more smoothly this next week!  😊

The minute we board the second plane it's lights out for Zoe. And look who came along for the trip. It's Audie!  Quite the world traveler that (not so) stuffed animal!  

 

 Good night all!  See you in London!  😘

Joffrey NYC Summer Intensive: End of Week 1

 Zoe has completed her first week of her 3 week Jazz/Contemporary Joffrey Summer Intensive in NYC.  All in all it's been a great week for her. 

Here's her room all set up. She has 2 roommates and the top bunk on the left is her bed. 

They've got a little stove & sink along with a dresser & a lamp. They each get one drawer in the dresser. 

The bathroom- toilet, sink & shower.  What more do you need? 

She has a meal plan where she gets 2 meals a day delivered to her housing. Here's a sample of a breakfast & dinner. She said the food is decent. 

Down in the basement is where they do laundry as well as have a TV and lounge area to hang out in. 

 

Here's Zoe's stuff all set out to go to classes in the morning. Backpack from Hawaii that Uncle Brent & Aunt Joni got her that has her personal items along with her dance shoes and accessories, her water bottle & her lunch. 

The very first evening last Monday they had an audition for the show on August 12th. One of the choreographers posted this on his Instagram. There is Zoe! 

And guess what?  He picked Zoe to be in his piece!  And he posted a video from the first rehearsal. Here's a picture from the video of Zoe with her partner Alejandro. 

An inside look at one of the dance rooms during lunch break. 

Just before starting Pilates class to do some core strengthening. 

 

Brendan Moran, who won Teen Mr. Dance of America 2 years ago, was in Zoe's group this past week. 

Just had to post this picture. On Friday after their last class they all went to grab an ice cream. This was Zoe's- rocky road ice cream with Carmel swirl over it. How decadent!  But no worries when you are dancing 8 hours a day. 

This past Saturday Zoe did a tour of Radio City Music Hall and then went shopping with some friends. 

Back in her room chill'in with her new M&M pajamas & slippers. 

Today, Sunday, Zoe and a few girls went exploring the city, did some more shopping and had some lunch. When Brad & I talked to her this evening she said she was doing great and had a fun and relaxing day. So happy to hear!  

She isclooking forward to her week ahead. Here's her schedule of classes which is followed by rehearsals in the evening for the show on the 12th. She was picked to be in 2 numbers for the show and is super excited for both of them. 

Well that's about all. Will post another update later in the week.  Bye for now! 

 

Zoe in NYC for Joffrey Summer Intensive

Flew Zoe out to NYC late yesterday after having to rebook our flights twice due to issues going on at my work. We made it to NY about 12:30p last night instead of Friday evening as was the original plan. 

Today we got up & headed to her home for the next 3 weeks on the Upper West Side of NYC in a nice, quiet neighborhood located near many places to eat, Starbucks, Whole Foods, TJMax; etc.  

Here is her room. Very small. She will be with 2 other girls both 14 years old. One named Gianna from St Louis and one named Athena from New Jersey whose Mom actually works in NYC. So yes, I got her cell number just in case. 

They each get one drawer and there is a small cabinet for hanging clothes and they each get one shelve in that. There is a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower but there is air conditioning!!  It was 96 in the city today. Broke a record from 1999.  Yes, it was hot!!

Here is her schedule for the coming week   So exciting!!  

Ok gonna go so this will post before I take off. On the plane, just upgraded to First Class!!  Woo hoo!!  

Day 5: Rockettes and Dinner/Dance Cruise

Finally getting around to posting the last day of the NYC trip. 

Jordan had a blast doing the Rockette Experience. She took a class with 2 Rockettes. They learned a jazz, tap & kick line combination. Then they did a mock audition in groups of 4. She loved it all & although she did the best on the kick line, she actually did great on the tap combination. Go figure!

Here they are learning the kick line combination. 

There's JoJo in the back row, 3rd from the right. 

After they did the auditions they got to tour Radio City Music Hall. 

Rockettes, the Next Generation!  👍😊

And all of this was followed by seeing their New York Spectacular show. It was so awesome!!

In this number they actually tap danced in water raining down on them that made puddles on the stage. Too cool.

Jordan was excited to be able to get lots of autographs on her tee shirt from the Rockettes. 

 

That night was a formal dinner/dance boat cruise to end the convention. Jordan & her buddy Mia both looked so pretty! 💕

Here's the whole yellow group before boarding the boat. 

They sure did treat the All Star Dancers well! The boat was beautiful & the dinner was actually quite tasty. 😋

Beautiful picture with the city in the background as the sun was starting to set. 

The DJ was rock'in the house, I mean boat. And JoJo was getting her groove on. 

Major happy feet!  Or is it foot?!

Wait Mom, don't take my picture yet! My hair is blowing! 

All the girls got an All Star Dancers plaque to remember the event. Here's Jordan getting her award. 

The whole yellow group with their plaques. 

Proud girl!  Proud Mom!  

Gorgeous sunset. Just so beautiful.

Lov'in the boat cruise. There was actually a slight breeze! Nice to not be sweating our *** off. 😵

The Statue of Liberty at sunset. 

       💕💕💕  We ❤️ NY!!! 💕💕💕 

This trip was such a gift that we will always treasure & remember.💝