Sara Sees Chicago

 A couple of weekends ago, I got the chance to bring Sara to see Chicago. My cousin's son was having his Bar Mitzvah, and it worked out for the two of us to go. We had the best time, and I was so thankful for this special time with my big girl. We played hooky on Friday and enjoyed an airport Bloody Mary (me) and frappuccino (her) together over girl talk.

 When we arrived at O'Hare, Sara was excited to see the "Home Alone" part of the airport!

 During our trip, Sara enjoyed her first cab and uber rides. From the airport to our hotel, we were in a van cab, and we each took our own bench.

 We didn't waste anytime before hitting the streets to see the city! Friday evening we had dinner with my cousin, his wife, and her family, so we just had a little bit of time to get some walking in before that.

 Northwestern School of Law ... it looks good on her!

 After our dinner with the extended family, we went to the top of the John Hancock building. 

 On top of the world!

Sara convinced Grandpa to ride the Tilt with her, which is a thrill ride that tilts you away from the building, over the city. They were glad they did it, but Sara said it was a little scary. Definitely not for me, so I'm glad Grandpa was willing!

 Asher's Bar Mitzvah, followed by a fun party, was Saturday morning. Adam and Todd tried to look the part.

Much of the service was in Hebrew, so we had to piece it together, but Sara was intrigued by the ritual.

Photo booth ready...

 Is this not the most photogenic family ever?

 Extended family from my mom's side. Grandma Lou sure would have LOVED this weekend, and it sure made me miss her.

It was fun listening to Asher's parents talk about how proud they are of him. By this time, he'd taken off his shirt and tie and changed into party clothes. The kids had a great time, and I was so proud of Sara for just jumping in with so many kids she didn't know. From slime making to virtual reality games to a fun photo booth, the party had everything a tween could want!

 Of course there were many glow sticks involved. It was so fun to watch Sara and Samara reconnect. They had the best time together! We're excited to go back and celebrate Samara in three years.

 After the Bar Mitzvah, we had Saturday late afternoon and evening to see more of the sights. It was cool and rainy, but we were determined. Chicago pizza was on Sara's to-do list!

 We had to see the bean!

 There we are, among the streaks of rain.

A picture for her dad: in front of the original White Castle.

 Strolling the city with my girl. I just loved this time with her, and she loved being alone with the grown-ups.

 Sara with G & G in the city!

 We saw Navy Pier, but unfortunately due to the weather, there wasn't much going on outside. We used the time to pick up a few souvenirs, and then headed to a nice dinner at Volare. Sara felt pretty special to be the only kid in the place, and she enjoyed the "best" meatball ever.

 We tried, but couldn't convince Sara to try to fried calamari.

We missed Steve and Emma, but they had plenty of fun at home. They hit Dave & Buster's, and Emma was sure her prize haul was way better than Chicago.

In a few years, when Samara has her Bat Mitzvah, Emma will be old enough to take on the city. Sara and I came home exhausted - between the late nights and lots of step and all the festivities, the weekend was a whirlwind. Worth every minute; lots of memories to last a lifetime!

more catch-up

I feel like this is what my blogging has become - weeks after the fact, I lump together an entire month and try to remember what happened. Oh, well. April was another busy month, so here's some documentation of it!

Emma lost her first top tooth with the help of her teacher. She was excited to come home with a tooth necklace. The second top tooth followed not long after!

 My girls never bathe together anymore; in fact it's usually just a quick shower. So I had to snap a picture of them enjoying a bubble bath together - kind of a throw back!

 For Children's Book Week, my staff convinced me to dress up as Cruella De Vil and they were all dalmatians. We had a fun day, and Emma enjoyed modeling my wig.

 Most Wednesdays are principal meeting days for me, which means my day starts a little later than usual. I enjoy these mornings because I have the opportunity to take the girls to school, and sometimes we stop for donuts first.

 My mom sent us colored pots for the back. Emma helped me pick out and plant flowers for them. With all the rain we've had, the flower are now overflowing from the pots and bring some nice color to our pool area.

 We enjoyed a long Easter weekend (Friday AND Monday off since we didn't have any snow days to make up this year. The girls started strong with the egg-dying...

 ...but soon lost interest and went to the park. I finished the eggs...

 They were up bright and early to find their baskets and hunt for eggs Easter morning. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed having the Brittains over for egg hunting, eating, and relaxing.

 Some of our college friends (just the guys this year) came for NFL Draft weekend. It happened to be a super busy weekend, complete with an evening event at school for me on Friday, two games for Emma, two birthday parties, cheer practice, and a competition for Sara. I think I went through an entire tank of gas that weekend! But I did get some quality one-on-one time in with both girls.

 And we enjoyed a girls night out at Plucker's. We all laughed about Emma's face in this photo.

 Sara's cheer team finished their competition season on a high note: highest score of the day among all teams at all levels. They even beat a team who was headed to Orlando by invite to compete the following weekend. We were so proud of them! Sara is on the right side of the pyramid in this pic.

 In this pic, she's in up a stunt to the left of, and just down from, the middle high stunt.

 In the past, the team has earned a team trophy for a division win. This time, though, as overall champions, each girl received a medal and they were fitted for jackets! It was such an exciting day for this team. The gym now has had enough girls come out to form two teams, which was the goal from the beginning when the new coach came on board last summer. Based on their ages and the cheer division guidelines, Sara won't be with most of these girls next season. They will have some over 15, which means they have to move up a division, but you also have to be 11 by August to move ... so Sara and another girl who will still be ten will be on a different team with some new younger girls. Other girls who are on the current team and who are between 11-14, but who aren't ready to move up, will also be on the second team. It's taken me a while to understand the cheer divisions/levels. Sara had an amazing experience this year, and next season will be a bit different since she'll be with many new girls and will also be a leader on the team. They'll keep practicing all summer; I"m excited to see Sara continue to improve!

This competition was at UNT in Denton, so we had to stop by Buc-ee's on the way home!

 Here's the toothless-top grin! This was on a two-game, two-goal weekend for Emma!

School ends this coming Friday, and the girls are ready for summer! We don't have a whole lot planned yet, but right now, the girls are looking forward to relaxing and I'm looking forward to not having to get them out of bed so early in the mornings. I'll have about 2.5 weeks off this summer. I have no idea what that time will look like because I'm struggling to think two days ahead right now, but if all I do is sit by the pool, I'll be happy. I definitely need to get my hands on a couple of good books!