We got home from spring break on a Tuesday and had to turn around Thursday to head to Ft. Worth for Marlie's dance Nationals! It was a bit crazy but totally worth it!
Marlie started the weekend dancing her solo. I had been trying to talk her out of doing her solo at Nationals. The floor is small and slippery and I knew she wouldn't be able to practice beforehand since we were skiing! But she begged and I caved. We got up and went downstairs to warm up and run through it a few times. Her friends Lauren and Lexi joined us and she was excited to have them watch. We got dressed and came down and went to watch the high school girls perform. We were watching them when Marlie was supposed to go on (yikes) so we ran into the other ballroom and she was up! She wasn't nervous at all. As she was waiting on stage to perform they were playing music and she was dancing. She danced the best she's danced all year! Her friends were there to cheer her on and she had the time of her life! We got to see Clara dance not long after Marlie and she did so well too!
And we got to take a pic with Mrs. Stacey who started the studio years ago. She is amazing, angelic and a great role model for all of us!
Marlie got to watch Ms. Avery dance just before she went on. I think Avery inspired Marlie to dance well. Avery is such an amazing dancer!
Lauren and Lexi were so sweet to cheer Marlie on. It meant a lot to Marlie having her friends there and I think it's what made her smile so big throughout her performance!
And last but not least, a very proud Mom and Dad. We wished Matt were here but he stayed home with Nene so he didn't miss his baseball tournament! He would have been so proud of his sister (but might have jumped out of his skin watching dance for 2 straight days!).
After all the fun we headed back to our room to get ready for team jazz! This was a super cute dance but the hardest for the girls since they learned it sort of last minute. They were a bit off during their performance but placed 3rd overall. I love these costumes and Marlie's big smiles!
One more team dance to go and we're done for the day. Team contemporary was last for Friday. It's a beautiful dance (my favorite) and the girls did great! They placed 1st and were SO excited!
We slept in Saturday. Only 1 dance today so it would be an easy day! It was time for the Ninja Turtles to go out and Shell-Shock the crowd! They did great and as always the crowd loved it. They placed 3rd for hip hop and the girls were so happy to get a trophy! This is the girls favorite dance.
We took a long nap and then jumped out of bed so we could go watch Marlie's friends Lyla, Lexi and Lauren do their final dances. We got to the convention center just in time to hear them announce the solo finalists. In Marlie's age group (1st-3rd grade) there were 5 finalist. We did not expect at all for Marlie to place. We had plans with everyone to go out for dinner as soon as the girls were done. But guess who's name they called? Marlie Maziur! Marlie and I looked at each other and she said, "Mom they just called my name!" We couldn't believe it. I texted Clara immediately and asked her what to do! All the finalist had to re-dance and we had about an hour or so to get ready. I was trying to show Marlie my excitement without also revealing my shear panic! This means I have to redo hair and makeup, get dressed and she has to dance again!! AHHHH!
Once we got ready we headed down to find Clara. She has made finals too along with several other of our high school girls. We found them hiding, stretching in a back hallway and Marlie was probably most excited about just being here with them getting ready.
She was ready to perform again and everyone was there to cheer her on. My sweet friend Jaime had saved 2 seats right upfront for Doug and I. At this point I was just so crazy proud of her for making finals that I just wanted her to go out there and have fun. And she did. My heart had finally started beating normal by this time and I think this was the only time all year I wasn't nervous for her.
Thank you to all the sweet Moms and friends who cheered her on. I can't imagine how hard it is to go out there and perform for over 2 minutes by yourself. But these people cheered before, during and after and honestly that's why she did well. We had a fun dinner afterwards with Lauren and Lexi before heading to awards that night. Marlie placed 5th and we couldn't have been more excited. To be a 2nd grader and place at Nationals is awesome!
I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel (midnightish) but Marlie and Dad were still happy and full of energy! What a fun weekend! Marlie I'm glad you talked me into letting you compete at Nationals. Congratulations my sweet girl!
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