First Competition in the Books!

Our first competition and convention of the season is in the books, and it was a huge one! We traveled to Reston, Virginia for West Coast. West Coast is absolutely my favorite weekend of the season because it really is completely focused on improving as a dancer.

For the first time, Issa competed her solo there. She had quite the look traveling from our hotel room to the competition room in her costume, spirit jersey, and sneakers:

 She was a bit nervous, and we had a rocky start. I might have accidentally glued her eye shut trying to get her lashes on. Oops. But...she slowly settled, and I loved seeing her smile in the dressing room.

 She did an amazing job onstage, and we are so grateful to Mrs. Lauren A. for this beautiful solo:

But I'm even more grateful for how well she loves our girl:

This was a new weekend for us. Issa is old enough now I don't go to the classes with her. I spent my days in the hotel room fixing food, getting costumes ready, and working. I loved being with her for the competition, though, and I love how much she is settling into herself. She knows what she needs, and she was so incredibly grateful for everything I did. I finally had to tell her to stop saying thank you.

We made it home before nine last night, and although we are both tired, I wouldn't have traded one second of this weekend for anything.