April 2nd ...Last day in Belfast

Today was our last day in Belfast and it was our day to take the tour of the Giants Causeway. We said our good-byes to the Games, the Hebert's and the McDonald's. They were all leaving Belfast to day for Dublin and Paris and we had one final day as tourists.

We were picked up at 9:10 this morning and taken to catch our tour bus at the starting point. We had many stops along the way before we reached the Giants Causeway and finally the Carrick Rede Rope Bridge. The two highlights of the day....and a long day to say the least but worth it.

We leave tomorrow morning very early, with a pick up at 5:15 to get to the airport in time for our flight to London. We are hoping that we can connect smoothly and make the Vancouver flight that departs at 10:30. So we could be home by noon Vancouver time if all goes well........ fingers and toes are already crossed.

We have had an amazing time here in Belfast and we look forward to coming back in the future. But unfortunately with the way the Worlds are scheduled for the next 6 years in will be a little while.

So good-bye Belfast till next time!

March 31st Competition Day

Where do I start......the day that lasted forever. It is 1:14am in Belfast and we are just wrapping up our day and night. We have been back at the Hotel for a couple of hours now and Macaela is finally asleep in bed.

Incredible is all I can say at this point in regards to our day .... the talent of these young ladies is remarkable.

Macaela danced amazing today, stronger than ever...so strong that she placed overall 50th out of 138 dancers and missed recalling by 2 placings. One judge even place her 11th overall and another placed her 24th overall....this year with a new judging system they through out the highest and lowest marks which unfortunately brought her overall placing down to the 50th spot.

Saying that we are thrilled ! Macaela danced amazing and looked so beautiful. Her new look....dress, hair and crown...was spectacular!

Thank you for all the support, we know how much you were all cheering for Macaela today. Without all your positive thoughts, good luck wishes and constant support this day would not have been possible.

I will leave off quoting Macaela..... "Next year"

Friday March 30th ....the Day before the Big Competition

Today was a busy day in Belfast. We started with breakfast with the gang and then stright to practice. The dancers had a great practice almost 2 hours long. Then it was straight to the City Center to go shopping....

The plan was to meet in an hour and catch the 2:00 City Tour Bus. Well the shopping went a little longer than planned so a few of us missed the 2:00 and caught the 2:30 bus. The tour was an hour and a half and that was long enough....very informative but a little too much talking, even the tour guide told us that ?

After the tour we went straight to the Waterfront Hall where Worlds will be taking place. It is gorgeous and I was only in the lobby, I can't wait till we see the auditorium tomorrow. We picked up Jessie and Macaela's dance cards and the photo id cards. Unfortunately they put Macaela Bardley-Tse on the first one, yes the first one and I have just noticed they have spelt Macaela incorrectly on the second one , Macela. So I guess we will be lining up again tomorrow morning for a third attempt at correctly spelling her name.

After the Waterfront it was back to shopping, we assisted Courtney with a few pieces...so much fun! Then back to the Hotel for a little sit down rest and to curl Macaela's hair for tomorrow.

We are doing something a little different with her hair and she is also going back to a bun wig....so check in tomorrow for her new look.

We had dinner tonight with the gang and now we are back in the room. Another coat of tanner is on and a little game of Boggle for Macaela and now her nails are getting done. Lights will be out soon as we will have a 8:00am wake-up call in the morning to go for a good breakfast to start the day off right.

We are hoping for a good nights sleep and lots of positive thoughts and dreams. Thank you to everyone for all the support, comments on the blog, cards , texts and very special mementos that were sent with us. We are so lucky to have such a great support team, we hope you know how much it means to us to have you all cheering for Macaela and all the dancers.

Till tomorrow.....

Our Thursday in Belfast

It is Thursday, our first full day here in Belfast. A day to recover and adjust to the time change, do a little shopping and await the arrival of Courtney and the Game Family.

We spent a few hours walking around the city center, picked up some staples...water, chocolate milk and some fruit. We also managed to find a few of our favorite shopping places while in Ireland. Picked out some cute things for Macaela as well as Caitlin and Emma (yes we did girls , different things from Dublin Caitlin) .

We saw the City Hall , Macaela is standing in front of it in the first picture and you can see the Waterfront Hall which is where the Irish Dancing will take place in the far distance sitting on top of Macaela's head in the last picture .

So we have crossed a few things off our list and can do some sightseeing tomorrow and maybe a little more shopping.

Courtney is to arrive shortly and we can't wait to see her....this is a very exciting trip for all of us and we can't wait for the weekend to arrive. We have arranged a practice room with the hotel staff, they are even going to put down their dance floor for us...how lucky are we.

Just back from dinner with our Pickett Family and of practice of course. We had a great time talking tonight and we are all looking forward to the weekend...only 2 more sleeps for Jessie and Macaela and 3 sleeps for Tomas and Shannon. We can hardly believe that we are so close, so much time and training has gone into preparing for Worlds this year.

We ended the day with a little tanning session....the girls were all giggles. A great way a end a great day.