And The Season Begins...

Issa and I spent this past weekend in Greenville, South Carolina for the first dance convention and competition of the season! I love this girls' weekend. I love being able to give her all of my attention; I don't think I said 20 words the entire way down. I love listening to her talk and hearing her thoughts. I also love that I can relax on the drive. This is our third trip to this convention, so we know it and the hotel so well. Friday night, we arrived in time to order our traditional room service before we went down to support our team's soloists.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early! We ate the breakfast we had packed in, and then Issa set off for her morning of dance classes:

 She still wants me to stay and watch, and I will gladly watch as long as she will have me! It has been so wonderful to watch her become more confident and be able to pick up so much more of the choreography.

After lunch, we made a quick change into competition Issa:

 I can't believe how grown up she looked! Her team competed well:

Each dance received four out of five stars, and she was really proud of how far they had come since Showcase! We all were!

After she finished competing, we had dinner with one of her teammates before supporting our older girls. By the time we found our beds, we were both exhausted...

And then we got up Sunday morning to do it all again! She only had classes, but she danced her little feet off. I just keep thinking back to our first year, when she would look at me like she terrified, and she was so lost. It's only been three years, and she has grown so much!

By the time we were headed home, it was beginning to snow! And that was the greatest gift. The roads weren't bad, but it meant we had a snow day on Monday! It was so nice to have a day to rest and unpack before the week started--especially since it's a crazy one at work!