I Hope You Dance ...

Allie before the Daddy/Daughter dance.

Allie strikes a pose.

It's an evening that precipitates weeks of planning, coordinating, and general giddiness: the school's annual Daddy/Daughter dance. And now that Allie's in second grade, this will be her third go at it. 

Unlike years past, Allie spent many days agonizing over her wardrobe choice. When I brought home an adorable frock from Costco, she wrinkled her nose and quickly dismissed it. "I don't think so, Mom ... you should take that one back." Sigh.

So she carefully inspected her closet and kept coming back to a favorite fuchsia dress. Then she insisted on straight hair with a headband ... oh, and "diamond earrings that dangle."

Then there's the exchanging trade secrets with BFF Riley -- the shoes, sweater or no sweater, the plan of attack for the refreshments, the rehearsed dance moves.

And this year Allie even helped Brett pick out his shirt. Actually, she knew before even looking at her choices. "Dad, you should wear that pink shirt you have because I'll be wearing a pink dress," she announced.

Brett and Allie getting ready for the big dance.

Then on the big night it's me taking lots of pictures and Allie getting crazier by the minute and striking all kinds of big-girl poses and flashing her second-grade smile. She rides with her BFF and her dad (who happen to live across the street).

Much like last year, the dads manage to sneak in a dance or two with the girls, but the bulk of the night for Allie is gathering with a handful of friends, whirling and twirling, giggling and singing ... the stuff memories are made of.

BFFs Riley and Allie

Daddy/Daughter Dance: Year Two

If it's February, then it's time for the school's annual Daddy/Daughter dance. Allie looked adorable and her daddy dashing all dolled up for the occasion.

I had eyed that darling black and white dress at Costco and made the risky move of buying it sight unseen by Allie. When she got home and I held it up for her, she put her hands on her hips and uttered, "Sorry, Mom. It's not gonna happen."

But then a few days passed and more than once I caught her casting her gaze toward the dress hanging from my bedroom doorknob. Finally she announced, "OK, I'll at least try it on." And once it was on, she was hooked.

Allie had a great time with Brett and with R, her BFF from across the street.

Brett said he got in three dances with her before the craziness between the girls began ... that and the cookie-eating.

Allie's First Daddy/Daughter Dance

Back in January a little note came home in Allie's folder. The paper was plain white with photocopied words. But the message sent Allie's excitement level to new heights: the school's annual Daddy/Daughter Dance was coming up.

"Mommy, how do we dance? What do we do? What dress am I going to wear?" Allie asked almost daily, eagerly peppering me with variations of the same questions.

Allie practices twirling in the hallway.

One day when I was at Costco, I spied some adorable, spring-looking, twirly (a requirement for 5-year-old girls going to a dance) dresses, so I picked out the cutest one. It was white with big bright pink polka dots and a huge pink bow (I know, doesn't sound that cute, but it really, really is).

I brought it home, Allie tried it on and she liked it. But, Allie had her heart set on wearing her black, "fancy" shoes. And she explained that the black shoes did not match her white and pink dress (which, I had to agree with her on that one).

"Mommy, I want to wear my Nutcracker dress," she proclaimed.

The "Nutcracker" dress is the black and blue fancy dress she wore when we saw the Nutcracker during the Christmas season.

Getting her hair ready.

"Are you sure? We could just get some white shoes for the new dress?" I said, knowing I was in an uphill battle on this one.

"No, I really want to wear the Nutcracker dress and my black shoes," she said.

And so she did. And she looked adorable.

We curled her hair, put in a headband. Brett put on his suit and tie. I took some pictures, and then they were on their way.

Brett and Allie

Brett said she and some of her kindergarten friends spent the evening laughing, dancing, twirling and falling to the floor. Over and over.

The minute she walked in the door, she said what

many of us girls have said after an evening of cutting the rug ...

"Mommy, my feet hurt."

Catch of the Day and Other Minnesota Tales

I finally dowloaded (or is it uploaded?) my 350+ pictures from our trip to Minnesota. I'm still editing, but will send out the link to view soon.

Going through the pictures, I think I've found a favorite. This was our first day up at the cabin and little Zach's first time fishing. It was overcast and muggy. Brett, Blake and Nick had gone out on the boat with Erik; they caught about a dozen fish and the boys were hooked.

Meanwhile, back on the dock, Brett's Mom and I were helping Zach fish. He didn't know what to do with himself when he caught one (pardon the spot ... I apparently need to clean my lens). Grandma reeled it in and Zach pretty much freaked out upon viewing his catch ...


Once Nicky caught his hearty bounty, he fancied himself an expert fisherman and became the designated "net man." He looked so cute in his hat ...

Blake was enthusiastic about fishing, too:

Meanwhile, Allie spent a lot of her time picking flowers around Grandma's cabin.



Another special memory we all took home was spending an afternoon with Brett's sweet grandmother, his aunt Linda and three of his cousins and their kids. Grandma Lillian had never met the twins and it was so wonderful that she got to have all eight of her great-grandchildren together ... although when group photo time came around, they were all silly and bouncing off the walls from too many cookies ...


And, of course, no family gathering would be complete without the photo of the clan: