Before I get into more of the Paris trip had to note down what we did on the weekend.

Justin and I took Holly, Meg and Addie (from next door) to Wagga for the Regional Championships of Physical Culture. They love this dance class and Meg and Holly were in the teams section as well as competing individually. We hit the road on Saturday afternoon arriving at Wagga in time for a swim at the motel and then out to dinner. We had to be at the designated meeting spot at 7.30am the next day for hair and makeup (which is very low key compared to other dance competitions!).

Meg’s team was up 4th and they did a good routine and came equal 3rd (very diplomatic of the judges there!). Holly’s team was a bit later on and they had 6 teams in their section. Holly was the team leader and did a great job, but the standard was very high and they missed out on a place.

The individual sections started with the 5 yrs, then an hour or so later Meg and Addie danced in the 6yrs. I don’t think Meg really realised that this was a serious competition. She strolled around in her marching bit, and was really relaxed while dancing. Hence, neither she or Addie made the final. They did get a medal for participation, so that was good enough for them.

By the time Holly’s section began everyone was exhausted. She danced with about 50 other girls in 3 groups, then they mixed them all up and had to dance again in another 3 groups. She did very well, gaining precision and experience with each dance. Then they took all 50 girls out and chose the top 15 to dance again in the final. When they march in it is a surprise to see who got into that final and I was really hoping Holly did, but i couldn’t be sure. Anyway, last girl out was my beaming daughter. I could tell she was so thrilled with herself. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She did a flawless routine and I was so proud of her. The judges obviously couldn’t pick a top 5 because they asked them to do it again ad Holly made a little mistake. Bugger!! The upshot of it all was that she didn’t make the top 5. This is ok, because it is a privilege to be in the final at all, and this is her first ever comp and also because the National Championships are in Sydney in a few weeks time and I don’t think Justin or I could have sat through that repetitive music so soon after this!!

We are so proud of the girls. They did a great job and I think Holly grew as a dancer from the experience. She took on board that others were better then her, and she improved herself because of it.

We didn’t get home till about 8.30pm Sunday night so the girls stayed home on Monday to have a rest and recuperation day. I needed it too. My goodness I was totally exhausted. They have taken their medals to school for news today, so no doubt more glory will be bestowed upon them. They love it!!