2008 Tiny Miss Virginia Pageant & weekend in Charlottesville
We went to Charlottesville for the weekend so Cassandra could compete in the “Tiny Miss of Virginia” state pageant. She competed in the National pageant, “Tiny Miss of America” in March and was 1st runner-up so we had good expectations. Well, Cassandra’s temperament sure has changed in the past 6 months. She’s gone from cute smiley baby to temperamental toddler! She had a little melt down on stage and didn’t place well. I think we may take a break from the pageant circuit for awhile.
Cassandra went to her first ballet class Friday morning before we left for Charlottesville. Did I mention temperamental toddler, yet? She wanted to be off doing her own thing playing with everything in the room and not really paying much attention to Ms. Monique. She didn’t want to wait her turn for the tunnel or trampoline and Mommy had to force her. I was wiped out by the end of the class! She did love playing with the pom poms they brought out at one part of the class and loved running around the room in a big circle, although she was suppose to be galloping. Our little girl is sure coming into her own.
There are a few pictures here of Cassandra in the hotel room. She climbed into her little princess suitcase that I had just emptied and thought it was the funniest thing! Daddy also played superwoman with her. After hanging out in the hotel room for a few hours we got Cassandra dressed for the group photo in her official “Tiny Miss Virginia” t-shirt. She’s eating fruit snacks in some of these photos so she may be making a funny face. I also bought her a little tiara necklace that they were selling at the pageant and she wore it all weekend and liked playing with it. The chain is now broken, of course. There are a few pictures we took of her in her pageant dress with her trophy after the pageant (she did get a “princess” trophy). They didn’t allow cameras during the pageant, but I ordered a few from the photographer which we’ll get in a few weeks. At one point she put a brown bag on her head like a hat and was walking around with it on. Too funny. Of course she pulled it off and tore it before I could get a picture, but daddy fixed her hat for her and it looked funnier than ever! There are also a few pictures of her with the Winnie the Pooh suitcase they gave all the wee baby contestants. After the pageant, there was a 15 minute break while the scores were tallied. They then had all 15 contestants back on stage and brought out all the suitcases for them that we were suppose to put behind us while they called the winners. Well, do you think Cass would have that? No! Once they placed the suitcase in front of her she was off pushing it all across the stage. I couldn’t get it from her. Did I mention temperamental toddler yet?
Since the pageant was over by 11:00am on Saturday, we had the whole day ahead of us. We decided to drive another hour and a half north to see the “Natural Bridge” in Virginia. You can see it in these pictures. It was so beautiful there. We took a long path to see a “lost river” and some waterfalls. Cassandra saw lots of butterflies, birds and a couple of squirrels. Oh, and lots of doggies that people brought. We then drove down the road and took a tour of the caverns. We saw a lot of stalagmites and stalactites. Cassandra was as good as could be expected, I guess. There was even a part of the tour where they turn all the lights off to show you how dark it is in there and she didn’t even flinch.
On Sunday we slept in, until 8:15am, Woo Hoo! (granted Cassandra was up until 10:00 or so the night before and did wake at 7:15, but I made her lay down again), checked out of the hotel, but stayed in Charlottesville and visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Well, by the time we got there Cassandra was ready for a nap so she and I stepped out of the house tour towards the end because she was fussy. We walked the grounds a bit and she fell asleep in daddy’s arms on the walk back to the car. We then drove down the road and dined for a late lunch at “Michie’s Tavern”. It was a period themed restaurant. Cassandra stayed asleep in her stroller for most of the lunch, but did wake towards the end and had her share of green beans, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and corn bread. We looked in the little period shops near the tavern. It was enjoyable. That was it. We then headed back home. I slept for most of the way home. Karl drove the whole time. I put Cassandra to bed in her crib tonight. She’s been in our bed since the cruise in April, but I was inspired by a Nanny 911 episode last week and she slept in her crib Tuesday and Wednesday. Daddy put her down Thursday night as I was out late and let her sleep in our bed! (Bad Daddy). Oh, well. Since she’d be in our bed Friday & Saturday nights at the hotel I let it be, but we’re back on track again. I’m going to ensure we keep it up for another month or two and then convert her crib to a toddler bed. She hasn’t shown any desire to climb out of her crib yet, but I’m sure that day will come.
That’s it. Nothing too exciting on the horizon, either. I hope you all had a great weekend.
NOTE: I'm posting the photos on Kodak Gallery.