Let's Not Do That Ahain

This little one gave us quite the fright last night:

We really thought she had gotten out of the house. Poor Brad spent most of the evening walking around our the outside of the house looking for her. She gotten out to the deck before, but she doesn't go very far. I don't think any of us slept very well last night.

 Thankfully, when we woke up this morning she was in the garage! We looked a million times last night, but she must have been really hiding. She has been a little extra snuggly this morning, but we don't mind one bit!
 

Island Dinners

Every once in a while, we have what I call island dinners, and last night was one of those nights:

 Some meals just work better when we are all gathered and sharing, and our dips dinner last night was one of them. We had a hummus samples, sliced veggies, pita, veggie chips, and a new whipped feta dip with hot honey that was amazing. It's a fun way to have a quick meal, and I'm always grateful when that happens.

Cleared!

 Issa officially graduated from PT yesterday! She is fully cleared and healed, and we are so excited!

Her clinic has a motto: Your goal is our goal. Their first patient wanted to be able to climb in the basket of  hot air balloon, and that balloon became their symbol. When you graduate, you name is on a balloon. 

Issa has worked so hard to fully heal that knee, and it has been incredible to watch her get stronger. And I really won't mind all the free time on our calendar.

A Weekend of the Arts

Issa and I had quite the weekend of the arts! Friday, she competed her solo:

It was her first time dancing on stage without a mask in two years! It was so, so lovely to see her smile at the end! We had some time to kill before awards, so the whole high school team, teachers, and cheering section went out to dinner:

We had burgers on the patio, and then the girls managed to swing together on our way to ice cream: 

Saturday, Issa, Mom, and I did a double header! We saw Spring Awakenings at the ballet in the afternoon:

It was four pieces, three of which we loved! Then we had dinner at PF Changs and made a quick trip to Ulta:

Watching these two pick out make-up was hysterical:

And we found bobby pins for Nana's bangs as she is growing them out:

We ended the day at Pretty Woman:

We had heard mixed reviews, but we loved it! It's not going to set the world on fire, but it was good, fun fluff.

Sunday, we were back to competition for team dances:

Both of Issa's team dances earned a platinum, which is awesome. I also love listening to the crew laugh and truly enjoy the day. It helps when your teacher will play airplane:

And no one was hurt on the landing:

The boys met us for dinner afterwards, which was fun. They may not have been with us all weekend, but they had a good one, too:

There was much video gaming, which is a good weekend for Evan.
 

Jet My Pet

Just look at this sweet girl:

 She finally out-grew her collar and is a whole six pounds. She has become quite the snuggler, and I just couldn't love her more.

Not What We Planned But Still Incredible

Friday, we were up very, very early to catch a 7:50 flight to Chicago to celebrate Easter with my sister:

We had been planning for a couple of months, and the tickets were already procured and paid for when she was diagnosed with covid last week. We knew we wouldn't get to hang out with her as planned, but we decided to go and enjoy Chicago. We stayed right on the river:

And we decided since Shannon couldn't join us we we would take Flat Shannley everywhere we went. We put her picture in our pictures and sent her the play by play through out the weekend. The first stop was Brightwok for lunch:

It's one of our very favorites because it is 100% gluten free and customizable. We all love it!

From there, we walked to the Water Tower for some shopping. Evan lovely the Lego store:

Issa found some much-needed spring dresses. We went back to the hotel for a swim and then had gluten-free deep dish delivered:

This is the best Flat Shannley picture:

Saturday, our big activity was the Shedd Aquarium:

The eel was looking right at us:

We got lucky and got to see the dolphin spotlight:

And I got very excited about the penguins:

But the highlight was our beluga whale experience:

We actually go to get in the tank with a trainer and four whales. This is Bella:

We got to rub her nose:

And give her a high five:

Then we got to meet her baby, Atlas:

He was a big fan of pats:

And jumping:

And eating fish right from our hands:

Our trainer has been with Atlas since his birth, and they have such a cool relationship:

It was amazing to hear how the study these animals to help those in the wild:

It was absolutely one of those once in a lifetime experiences. They are such gentle, loud whales, and it was so cool to spend an hour in the tank learning about them and their care.

We went for tapas for dinner:

Their dates are one of our very favorite small plates, and we were very happy to return there! We ended our day with another hotel swim!

Sunday we woke up for a very non-traditional Easter:

We ordered brunch to the room, and then we went to see Six:

Issa and I think the Chicago cast was even stronger than the Broadway cast, and we all loved it! 

We went to an Italian dinner:

Yesterday, we enjoyed one last swim before we headed home:

We are all so sad Shannon couldn't join us, but we did have a great time in Chicago!