The Finale

 This morning we were able to run through the entire British Pageant on stage! The Member Performing Missionaries were there to help us out and cue us at the dance parts. The weather was slightly less humid, which made the heat more bearable. Camilla and Hyrum have learned where they need to be and can get there on their own. Joe, Fin, and Ollie are pretty good at listening to the music cues and getting where they need to be. We just have to watch Sawyer and Lily as we go through the scenes and dances. There are a few dancing scenes where Mike and I are partnered off and Lily is left in the care of family services or an older sibling while we go on stage during that time. It was fun to see it all go together and it felt good to do a whole run through and see where the dances fit in the entire pageant.

We are so grateful for our super district leaders and the extra attention and care they give our children. They are really good at looking out for our littles and helping them have fun and know where to be! There's one part in the pageant where we have to scoop the kids up pretty quickly and gather for a "family dance" on one side of the stage. These two always come over for the dance in the arms of either of these district leaders with smiles on their faces.

Like anything with a large group, there is a lot of coordinating and remembering who you are positioned beside for each dance. Some of them are pretty complex and it's easy to accidently fall into the wrong group and get lost. I loved this view of Camilla and Hyrum hanging out together for this particular dance. Camilla is good about finding Hyrum and holding his wrist or arm instead of his hand for things like this.

The fair was cancelled again tonight due to the heat warnings and the Pageant start time was bumped a half hour later. We had ample time to get everyone dressed and ready. The boys were sad not to be able to play stick ball with all of our new friends tonight. When it was time, we all loaded up and headed to our seats in front of the stage to see the British Pageant performed once more and join in at the finale. Lily took many trips to the bathroom with me to cool off in the AC. One time when we were in there she giggled, "Mom, I can see your boomers..." My bloomers...ha! A lot of the pageant was spent entertaining busy littles, but I loved the parts that I did get to see. After running through the entire thing this morning it was fun to see where we fit in as cast members for next week.

As soon as Lily saw the mast go down (this is not the first time we've watched this particular performance) she exclaimed, "It's our turn to go on stage! FORRAYYYYY!" Our family and a few other cast members near by got a chuckle out of that as we all quietly got out of our seats and headed back stage for the finale. If Lily had her way, she would have run up that ramp by herself and danced her heart out at the top of the stage! She loves the songs and is constantly asking to be put down to dance. "Put me down mommy? I'wll just staaaaand....I pwomisssse..." she pleads. Sometimes she does and she holds my hand and follows the lead of others around her. She really enjoys being on stage and dancing!