Art Graces the Sky

This past weekend we brought the girls downtown to a special event taking place at ArtPrize. One of the entries was the release of 15,000 - 20,000 Chinese lanterns. Due to poor weather the weekend before, they rescheduled it to the following weekend, which meant my Mom was going to be in town and could attend with us.

We didn't say anything to the girls that we were going until that evening at dinner time. We told them that the lantern launch would be just like the movie Tangled.  They were every excited. We arrived about one and a half hours early and kept ourselves busy with a game of Uno and taking funny pictures while Brian patiently waited in line to get a couple of lanterns for the girls.  After that, a long wait at the Ford Museum for the bathrooms kept us busy until it turned dark and it was time to light and launch the lanterns.

When it came time to light the lanterns, I was so busy watching Brian light them, taking videos, and watching the girls' reaction, I didn't even notice what was going on behind me. I will always remember turning around and seeing the sky lit up with the thousands of lanterns. It was one of the most breath-taking sights I have ever witnessed in my life. I was completely taken aback. I knew it was going to be a cool sight and I knew being the sappy person I am that I would probably get a little teary-eyed; however, I never imagined it would be so beautiful and emotional.

I still don't know what Allison thought of it. She was very serious about the whole thing - she watched but didn't say a word. It took Amelia a few minutes but then she was chattering away about how it looked like Tangled. Me? I was hyped up all night from the excitement. What I loved most was how the community came together for this event. I continue to  hear stories of how friendly everyone was; people sharing their lanterns with families who weren't able to get one before they ran out, or sharing their lighters. In watching videos that have been floating around (pun intended) on the internet, I hear people in awe at the sight. In reading comments on Facebook, people have been saying over and over that this will be a night that they will never forget and how much happiness it brought to their children. I also heard that the children at DeVos Children's Hospital were able to see the lights at they floated by - how cool is that! 

So to the people of Grand Rapids, I salute you. Thank you!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

On Labor Day weekend we went to a West Michigan Whitecaps game. It was the last item on our summer bucket list that I really wanted us to get to. The girls were excited to go. They went to a game last year with friends, but this was our first family trip to the ballpark. 

This is how I can best describe my trip to the game:

1st Inning  - Told the girls to sit down and that we would be getting their food in the next inning.

2nd Inning - Brian and I took the girls to get their free kids meal.

3rd Inning - Helped the girls eat their lunch (and ate Allison's unwanted hot dog)

4th Inning - Headed to the concourse to take Allison to the bathroom and for some cotton candy 

5th Inning -  Helped the girls with their cotton candy and took Amelia to the bathroom

Top of 6th Inning - watched the actual baseball game

Bottom of 6th Inning - Took the kids to the play area

7th and 8th Inning - Stood in the hot sun while Allison & Amelia waited their turn to get in the bouncy house

Top of 9th - Bought Dippin Dots

Bottom of 9th - Cleaned up after the girls

Post Game - Waited in line so the girls could run the bases

Exit out of parking lot - Listened to meltdowns by multiple members of the family

Halfway through the game, I thought to myself that I'm either annoying the heck out of the people around us by the constant up and down (luckily we had aisle seats) or there is some mom out there that is sympathizing with me. A few days after that game, I received a letter in the mail from my friend Andrea. Her sister-in-law Deb, who was our former daycare provider and the one who brought the girls to the game last year, was also at the game and had spotted us. She texted Andrea to tell her that she saw me at the game; however, I was never in my seat so she couldn't stop by our seats to say hello. She also sent Andrea this picture - of Brian sitting all by his lonesome, which I thought was hilarious. By the end of the game, most of the people sitting near us had given up on the game due to the heat, but it looks like no one wanted to sit near him.

Life as a Kindergartner

Allison started kindergarten this fall. It was a day I dreaded for five years, one month, and nine days. In reality, I was excited for her to go; however, I was a bit (a lot) nostalgic about the fact that our lives would be changing and she wouldn't be around on a daily basis anymore.

Leading up to the first week of school, Allison was excited about going. She expressed some hesitation though. The morning of her first day, she started off in good spirits; however just before we left, Allison became very quiet and refused to pose for pictures. So much for starting an annual tradition of the girls standing on the front porch with their backpacks (granted the pouring rain would have prevented that anyways).

When we arrived at the school, we realized we left our house about 10 minutes too late, which actually got us about 20 minutes behind schedule. By the time we made it through the traffic and the drop off lane, it was a few minutes past the start of school. I quickly ran Allison into the classroom and dropped her off. She gave me a hug and I ran out of there before she could get clingy.  I ran back into the car and we took off. It didn't take long for the tears to start flowing. 

At the end of the day, Brian and I left super early to pick her up so she wouldn't have to wait too long for us to get her at the end of her first day. Disappointed I didn't get my morning pictures, I was ready to take a picture of her coming out of school. I loved the look on her face. She was so relieved to see us. We celebrated the first day by going out to dinner.

So far, Allison is doing really well. She likes school and talks about her classmates. She told us on the second day that she was going to have a play date with Michael. A few days later she told us that while she still liked Michael, she was going to have a play date with someone else, so she can meet new people.  I love the innocence of this age! Brian and I showed up at her school fund racer to walk around the track with her. I tried to take it all in. How cute she looked running around the track; how willing she held our hands; the fact we had to encourage her to walk with her friends and not hang out with us the whole time; and how she held hands with her friends, even the boys.