Sara's Spring

Sara's spring has been a busy one! She took on a second job at Flip Factory, the gym where she tumbles. She is also still volunteering on Saturdays and for the past few weeks she spent several hours studying for her AP test. She's juggling all of those things along with friends, cheer, and now lots of fundraising efforts for next year's team.

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the end of the cheer season at the annual banquet. She won the "UCA Sharp" award.

Sara gave a captain's speech, and it was just so good. She was poised, well-spoke, eloquent, and made a point to personally name each person on the team. I was so proud to watch her confidently get up in front of a room of people and express herself so genuinely.

It was a fun afternoon with my girl. I did have to poke fun at all of her posing and took this pic ...

... but we got a nice one, too.

Sophomores

From there it was quickly onto all things for next year! The girls have been busy selling t-shirts, which is one of their biggest fundraisers. They had media day followed by the spring game. I'm excited to see the professional media day photos, but these candid shots are pretty fun too!

I love that Sara gets to keep cheering with her best friend.

The girls had fun at the spring game, and they are so ready for FNL!

Tomorrow is the Varsity pool party and big/little reveal. Once school is out, they will start summer practices and Sara opted to sign up for additional strength and conditioning courses. Between cheer, work, and camp, Sara will have a fun and busy summer. She is thriving, and I'm here for it!

'cause somewhere in the crowd ...

... there's you

The girls and I had the best time downtown yesterday! We started with a late afternoon meal at the OG Campisi's, one of our favorite spots.

Then we hit up the SMU bookstore for a little gear and browsing.

And then we spent a little time walking around Mockingbird Station. They had some great photo op spots!

After a little time out and about, we headed to the Music Hall at Fair Park for our much anticipated turn to see "Mamma Mia!" We had some pre-show snacks and lots of laughs before taking our seats.

The show was SO good. "Mamma Mia!" has been a favorite movie in our house for many years, so the chance to see the traveling Broadway production was such a treat. The singing and dancing were incredible, and we loved seeing the story unfold live. After the final bows, the cast came back out for three choreographed sign-along songs - we stood and danced and had the very best time. It was a late night after both girls had started the day early with sports stuff, but so, so worth it. I cherish these special memories with my beautiful girls as they are slipping through my fingers all the time ...

Spring Things

Rain this spring has resulted in many postponed soccer games, but Emma has stayed plenty busy with softball, volleyball, and softball. She's ready to run from 2nd here. I think this may be her last season of softball, sadly. I LOVE watching her play, but she's just so busy and this sport keeps falling to the bottom of her list. We'll see what happens.

Emma and I spent an evening watching "Matilda, Jr. The Musical" at my school. It was an amazing performance!

Couple pics of Jim for good measure ... one night last week, Sara was ready to chit-chat just as I was ready for bed. I know I have to take advantage of these moments, so we stayed up way too late talking in her room. Jim hung out, too - he was definitely ready for bed!

He's also been enjoying walks at the park during soccer practices!

Last weekend, Steve and I spent a night downtown to see Amos Lee at The Majestic. We had the best time on our short get-away!

This was my second time to see Amos and Steve's third - such a great show. I love his music, but I think the highlight of the night for me was his cover of "Landslide." It was unexpected and just so good.

We stayed at The Statler, which was amazing. We also did some walking and hit several fun spots for a drink.

This past weekend, G&G came to town for Easter on their way back to MN from FL. It was so fun to have them stop by! Friday night they saw skills and a VB game. Saturday's soccer was rained out so we went to the mall, which made the girls happy. It cleared up for an evening walk, and then Sunday turned into a beautiful day for soaking up some sun by the pool!

Some traditions will last forever ... dyeing eggs ...

... and hunting for them ...

I was excited to surprise the girls with tickets to see "Mama Mia"! The three of us will go to a show next weekend when Steve is out of town for the NFL Draft with his friends.

Baskets were easier (and cheaper) when I could fill them with a few summer toys ... but it's still always so fun to find something that makes them both smile! 

G&G hit the road this morning, and the girls headed to school. I have the day off! I went to the gym, started some laundry, got a little work-work done ... and now I'm about to head out back with my book. Thankful for this long spring weekend before our final countdown - 5 weeks left of school!

Spring Break

We are home from a fun and much-needed Florida get-away! We started and ended our week in Cape Coral, and spent the bulk of the week on the beach in Fort Meyers. It was the sun and sand therapy we were hoping it would be.

Emma was glad to find a volleyball net at our resort, and quickly realized how different it is to play in the sand!

A beached boat was the subject of lots of attention. It was finally towed away by the time we left, but it drew lots of crowds and attention in the meantime.

We enjoyed lots of time at our resorts cabana bar, sharing a drink, playing bags, and putting our toes in the sand. (I don't think Sara is this much taller than me; she must have been on tip-toes in this pic!)

We took a dolphin cruise that resulted in seeing maybe three dolphins ... but the other views were great and worth the ride.

Pool time with fru-fru drinks ...

... and lots of beach time which did require some escape from the sun!

The water temp was decent, and it's always fun to ride the waves.

Nothing beats a beach sunset. Day is done.

One morning, the girls got up early to take sunrise pictures! I had heard them talking about it, but didn't believe it would happen. Then early in the morning, I heard them getting ready and heard them leave. They took pics and then went back to bed, but I was so impressed!

G&G gave Emma surprise info about her trip with them, coming up this summer.

She was excited to learn about her upcoming Chicago adventures!

We ate lots of seafood, including plenty of crab legs as requested by the girls.

Can't go anywhere without a crazy Emma face.

We had an amazing view from our balcony - beach and pool. It was sure hard to leave, although the cool temps on our departure day did help a bit.

We also got in some pickle ball. Emma loved it; Sara tolerated it.

Girls pic ...

... and family pic. Always lots of laughs when we're together!

Now we're watching the Cyclones and hoping they can pull off a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. I'm not confident, but time will tell. We're ready to head back to school this week for the 4th quarter. It'll be a busy spring, and I'm thankful for a fun and memorable spring break to kick it off!