International Fresh Faces Pageant

Today was Shaylee's very first pageant- the International Fresh Faces pageant. She was to compete in the three year old division. I had been very anxious up to this point, having picked her dress out off eBay weeks ago.I even used a straightener on her hair to make it perfect.

The pageant was being held at the local Holiday Inn in a conference room, which was thankfully only about 10 minutes from the house. When we arrived, there was only the director, her daughter, and another mother and her girls. The International Fresh Faces banner hung as the backdrop to the "stage" and a table was set up with lots of gleaming trophies and sparkling crowns and sashes. I knew Shaylee was going to at least get a crown and had a 3 ft trophy to be sent to her via the mail (since I did not get the sponsor check out in time) but what was about to happen totally surprised me.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was evident that noone else was going to show up. Poor Shaylee never really got to "compete" as she was the only child there! So she not only won a metal for each of the catagories: On Stage Beauty, Best Eyes, Best Smile, Best Personality and Most Photogenic, but also won a trophy for Most Beautiful and was crowned Queen! And therefore, she automatically qualified to go to state finals in April. I have to say, as awesome as it was to get ALL the awards, I was really looking forward to competing! I knew she was all these things, but I wanted to see what random judges in a beauty contest thought as well. I reminded myself that we never intended to pursue pageants. This was only for fun, to have a "princess day" with Shaylee, but I was slightly bummed just the same. Anyhow, after considering all the costs that would go into attending the state finals, Nils and I agreed that we would rather spend the $400+ on something better- a family trip to SeaWorld this summer!