More sites from The Duck Tour

Sydney drives the Duck
Josie drives the Duck "Not funny", according to Lee
Weird, huh!

"Quack, Quack"

Sydney & Josie ready to board The Duck
Michelle, Ariana, Sydney, Nina & Josie
Maria, Joyce, Shari & Barbara
Josie crashed...too much partying!!!
Amy & the girls

After another rehearsal, we headed out to board The Boston Duck... a car & boat tour- showing some important Boston landmarks. It was loads of fun, especially when it entered The Charles River...the girls even got to drive The Duck. We realized how close everything is in Boston- after getting around by "T"- we could have walked many places! Our driver was very funny & kept us entertained.

Dinner with more friends

Thursday night we planned on meeting up with some family's that we meet at the beach in North Carolina every August. Unfortunately, the past few summers we have missed because the trip runs our kids' 1st week of school. We were planning on all getting together early evening, but IMDP called a last minute rehearsal. Josie went ahead with her aunt & grandmother & fortunately Larry stayed behind until Sydney was finished & we went out a bit later...we stayed for a short while- we were all fading fast, but it was great to see everyone & catch up.

A little help from friends & family

Egypt had an early call time of 6:45 (ouch)
Debbie, Elaine, Larry & Marya in the audience
Amy, Pam & Michael
Sydney's supporters...Michael, Pam, Mom, Wayne, Aunt Debbie, Josie & Dani
Sydney's grandparents were not only entertained but very proud



The morning of the 4th found us waking up at 5:30 (not fun). They had a 6:30 call time & although I am getting better & hair & makeup...it still takes time. Lucky for Sydney she had many fans driving in to watch her performance. i think it was unanimous that the performance was way better than they anticipated...as pam faciciously said when it was over " not intense enough". We appreciate all of you coming in to watch & support IMDP!!! You were our good luck charms!!!

An outing to Fanuil Hall & Quincy Market

Ali, Josie, Sydney & Nina
Those hip hop moves came in handy
lobster party

Our 2nd full day had us competiting mid afternoon , so we headed out in the morning to Quincy Market & the North End. It was fun to walk around & the girls bought some things with their savings...it was the 1st time since we arrived that the girls left the hotel/convention center. Josie kept saying "Boston is so beautiful". It was also good to get their minds off the competition for awhile atleast

A night out in Boston

Amy & Kathy
Amy & Pam & Scott
Davis 4th girls...Amy, Pam & Kathy
Do we still look like we did in 1986?


My 2nd night in Boston, I left the girls with Julie & hopped on the "T" & met up with Kathy & her husband Mark to go meet Pam & her friends to celebrate Pam's boyfriend Michael's 40th birthday. pam & Kathy are my great friends from UVM ( see blog entry from 9/2007). What fun. First of all...I LOVE city life & it felt great to hop on mass transit for a night out, especially when I don't know exactly where I am going!!! I met Kath & mark in their hotel & then we headed to Boston Beer Works for drinks. The beer menu was incredible & the beer I had was fab! I could have stayed out a lot longer but I remembered I had to go back to a hotel room full of kids!!! What a bonus being able to catch up with my girls in Boston!

American Dance Awards / Boston 2008

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Whoa! What a memorable trip. For those of you not following along on this blog or in our day to day lives, Sydney has been dancing with In Motion Dance Project this year on their company team. They qualified for the American Dance Awards National Competition & last week Sydney, Josie & I travelled to Boston for a week to watch Sydney & her team to compete ( and do a few other things such as sightseeing & catching up with nearby family & friends).
The trip was many things- emotionally & physically exhausting (for me atleast), thrilling, fun, challenging & impressive. The quality of dancing we saw was unbelievable- so much talent out there from young dancers. Sydney competed in 3 dances - 2 of which made it to the "dance off" which is the top 21 dances in each category...there were over a thousand dances performing. It is a great honor to qualify for the dance off. We all got dressed up for a banquet where the winners were announced. Not only did her dances (Somebody's Watching Me & Egypt)make it to the top seven dances in each category - like "nominees" - they won 2nd & 1st place respectively & Egypt was the 2nd place overall for the entire competiton. Thrilling to say the least ( although Lee still cannot accept it not being #1!!!!). Trophies, a party & some serious sleep followed the awards. I am sure the girls will always remember this trip fondly- having friends on your plane & in your hotel for a week was a blast for them. The competiton gives out a few special awards each session...& I would like to give Josie the "trooper" award- she was patient & had to get up at crazy hours to watch her sister dance & wait long times in between. A special thank you to my great friend Pam & her boyfriend Michael, my sister Debbie & Wayne, Lee's sister Marya & her daughter Dani & my inlaws Elaine & Larry for driving in to cheer Sydney on...it means alot to us!!! Phew...now it is time to put the tights, leotards, eyelashes, bobbypins & double sided tape away...for awhile atleast!