The Beach!

We've discovered something that G-Man loves - the beach.

When our cousins were visiting from China last week, we joined them and some other friends down in Newport, RI at the beach. It was a cold, windy day, but G-Man LOVED the sand. I turned around to check on him, and found this:


He was laying on his tummy in the sand and kept putting his face right in the sand. He was even more dirty about 10 minutes after this was taken. We spent a little time in the water, but he was mostly interested in the sand.

We were able to go to the beach again today with some friends, and it was a perfect beach day. (You may have heard, we've had a bit of a heat wave around here. If you've never visited the Northeast and don't think that heat in the 90s doesn't sound like any big thing, well...you're mistaken. I used to wonder why huge snow storms and heat waves always made the national news, and then I moved here. People die when it gets this hot because of the humidity. We've been really grateful for our central A/C this week. In fact, we don't leave the house unless we absolutely have to.) And this time, we made it to the water. He still loved the sand, but we spent a ton of time in the water. G-Man was even brave enough to let go of my hand a couple of times as we "jumped" on the waves.


(thanks for the picture, Allison!)

We had such a great time. Though, I was annoyed to arrive home and find that I didn't do a good job with my sunscreen. Ouch.

SYTYCD Top 8 Results

• I love Cat's headband.
• I'm still so depressed about Alex's injury. SO depressed. Poor kid.
• Go, Emmy nominations for SYTYCD! (And Glee!! 19 Nominations!! And Modern Family!)
• Loved the opening group number. And I knew it was Mia's piece before Cat told me. Not so much because of the choreography, but because Ade was filling in for Alex. She choreographs so much in mathematical patterns for her group numbers, I knew she couldn't have Alex missing. Go, me.
  

Results:
Alex is already in the bottom. So sad.
Billy is also in the bottom. Why do you hate Billy, America?
Lauren, Kent, Robert, and Jose are safe.
Ashley is in the bottom 3, and Adechike is safe. WHY?!?!?!? Adechike needs to be in the bottom 3. He. bugs. me.

• Dear Anya & Pasha - I love you both. Please dance together always. Love, Me.
• Dear Cast of In The Heights and Lin Manuel Miranda - I love all of you too. I promise to come see you in person some day. I love this song and I wish you had time to do the whole thing. If you want to see this entire song, please watch this video from the George Lopez show.

Billy and Ashley are going to dance for their lives. And I just realized, Nigel hasn't said a thing about Alex's MRI from yesterday. And if his Achilles tendon is truly ruptured, he won't be dancing next week or anytime soon. If that is the case, they'll cut him loose now rather than lose an able bodied dancer.

• Natasha Bedingfield dancing with all-stars! I really do love this new component. And awesome for their resumes. Awesome choreography. I want to know who did this. And Natasha is singing quite well. I'm glad I watched that.

And I was right. Alex has a lacerated Achilles tendon and needs an operation and at least 3 months of rest. I'm a little teary right now. Not gonna lie. Sounds like he gets to come back because he's injured though.

So sad.

SYTYCD Top 8 Performance

First, an update from last week -

Alex and Twitch were my favorite. I've watched it 5 or 6 times since last week.
SO glad Melinda is gone.
And Cat had two fabulous hair/dress nights in a row!

And now, tonight -

• Good hair and dress again for Cat!
• New format this week - the kids dance with an all-star they haven't danced with, and then dance with a fellow contestant. I like it.
• Alex Wong may have ruptured his Achilles tendon?!?!?! NOOOOOO!!!!!! Also, OUCH!!!!

Lauren and Pasha - Cha Cha
Lauren is dressed in a piece of fringe. Just one piece.
I think they took the fabric from Lauren's dress and gave Pasha a full shirt.
Wow! Lauren is kind of awesome at ballroom!
I liked Lauren, so here is Lauren's number: 1-888-6-BEST-01

Jose and Lauren - Contemporary
That was really great. Most connected partnership I think I've seen this season.
Lauren is such a great partner and is really bringing out a great performance.
Cool, cool lift in the middle. You go, Mandy Moore.
I also liked Jose, so you get Jose's number too: 1-888-6-BEST-02

Kent and Comfort - Hip Hop
Kent is not keeping up. And though he said in the rehearsal package that his face would match Comfort's...I still felt like he was overacting at points. I tire of him.
Also, I don't love Comfort.

Adechike and Courtney - Jazz
That wasn't my favorite. I really didn't connect to it, and I kind of quit watching part way through.
Totally in agreement with Mia.

Billy and Allison - Broadway
Wait! Not Allison, Katee!!! So sad that Allison is hurt, but I love Katee.
Ugh. My least favorite musical. I'm liking the dance so far though. And grateful I didn't have to suffer through Tyce in the rehearsal package. Spencer Liff is great.
Billy really did well tonight. Such a huge difference.
Go, Billy! 1-888-6-BEST-06

Ashley and Dominic - Hip Hop
That was really fun. I am continually amazed by Tabitha and Napoleon. So creative.
The fall into the splits was sick. So cool.
Hurray, Ashley! 1-888-6-BEST-07

Robert and Katherine - Jazz
SUCH a fun concept and routine. I really liked that. Very, very cute.
Danced well and it's so fun to see something new and creative.

And now, they dance with the fellow contestants!

Adechike and Alex - Bollywood
So sad that Alex is hurt. SO sad.
Bollywood is so happy. If you don't smile when watching a Bollywood routine, you might be dead inside. Just sayin...
I feel like his movement wasn't as sharp as it should have been, but I could be wrong. It was on the verge of African movement. (Woo!! Mia agrees!)

Kent and Lauren - Contemporary
This is a perfect fit and concept for the two of them.
Lots of pretty pictures. And Kent wasn't doing the hungry jazz face and actually connected with Lauren. I liked that.

Ashley and Robert - Quickstep
I never know if people are doing a good job on quickstep or not. And now that Mary is gone, I really don't know. Though Robert seemed bouncy. I have no idea...

• New Old Spice commercial!!! Well done. I watched an entire behind the scenes podcast on how they filmed the first one in one continuous take. Now I want to see how they did that one. Awesome.

Billy and Jose - African Jazz
So fascinating to watch how the choreographer played to their individual strengths. Billy's plies were crazy low.
I really like Adam's critiques. He does such a great job of explaining very clearly what the other two judges mean. I think that is what makes him a good director. Just my opinion...

Please, please let's get Adechike in the bottom 3. We know Alex has to be there. I'm assuming the third will be Robert because of the quickstep.