Father Daughter Dance

 Last Thursday night, Eden and Kit had their father/daughter dance put on by her school.  I was able to get off work early to help her do her hair and get ready:

We had done a little early birthday shopping to pick out the dress and the shoes.  The rest of the outfit accessories were from a dinner I had attended right before covid and it was so fun to use them again! (The theme of the dance was "masquerade ball" and wearing glasses made that a little awkward, so the headband was the perfect solution!

Mia and Papa were there to hold down the fort since we all thought I would have my normal workday.

It was special to have them there to send them off!

I love that I got to be there!

They looked so good!

They danced the night away, with some added fun with photo booths, snacks, and memories...

Besties...

The night ended with a late night trip for tacos and gelato...

They had the best time and I am so glad that they got to make that memory together.  We are slowly closing out all of our elementary events and I can't believe how fast it's all going!

celebrating our girl...

 Last Friday, Eden turned 11.  We got to celebrate in the morning with our tradition of birthday doughnuts with the added benefit of getting Mia and Papa with us:

I love the tradition of the balloons with her birthday doughnuts on her special plate that we painted on her 1st birthday!

(Also these banners were from when the kids were babies and I love pulling them out every year.)

Since it was the day after their school dance and they had had a late night, Kit promised to bring her lunch at school.  She also got to hand out little goodie bags which she loved doing.

After school, we got ready for an evening with our close friends for an adventure of an escape room.  Eden, her bestie, and Ryder had done one before and LOVED it, but it was a first for the rest of us. 

 Intrepid escape rooms, you were AWESOME!

We found the relic and made it out with 19 seconds to spare!

We escaped just in time for tacos at Avila's El Ranchito, our absolute favorite...

It was such a sweet day with our close friends and getting to celebrate our Eden... I am so thankful and my heart feels so rich...

eleven

 Today we celebrate 11 years with our girl.  Each birthday seems to come faster and faster, and even when I think it's not possible, she gets even more amazing with each passing day!

You are a phenomenal human being.  You are kind and brave and courageous and gentle.  You are highly relational and nurturing, and you are one of the funniest people I know.  You care deeply about those around you. You are a fierce competitor. You are creative and inventive and when you are creating things, you are in your happiest place.  You are beautiful inside and out. I just can't believe that you are ours.  Happy birthday baby girl!  We can't wait to celebrate you today!

You complete our family!

I won't quit my day job...

 I LOVE having our bunnies, but I will tell you, my LEAST favorite thing about having them as a pet is trimming their nails.  They hate it and I hate it. This is the face of a rabbit needing her nails done and she (and I) are not happy about it...

If I ever lose my wits and tell you I want to become any type of animal groomer, please stop me... 😂

A girls weekend recap!

 This last weekend, Eden and I were able to go away for our first girls only weekend in celebration of her birthday.  We headed to Palm Springs for good food, thrifting, and time together...

Our first stop was Hadley's for date shakes and to say hi to the dinosaurs:

We hit thrift stores before we got to our hotel:

Angel view thrift was our favorite:

We stayed at Hotel Zoso. It was right in the heart of downtown Palm Springs.

We walked around the town before our table was ready at Las Casuelas.

Back at the hotel, we watched Harry Potter and Downton Abbey and painted our toes. ate our trader Joe's treats, did facials, and talked and laughed:

The next morning, we took it slow...

We grabbed lunch before we headed out...

And had to stop for some photos...

I absolutely loved everything about this weekend.  I haven't been given the role to be her best friend.  I have been given the role of being something even more sacred: being her mom.  I am so thankful for our time together for laughing and connecting and getting to know each other better as we deepen our relationship.  I love this girl SO FREAKING MUCH!