Skittle is 17

As she told me, it's her last kid birthday. Tears! From me, not her. World, watch out!

Broadway Birthday

I was spoiled to get to again do my favorite thing for my birthday - NYC!

We saw Chess and while we knew little about it beforehand, we were blown away by the vocal and dance talent and star struck by Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit in person.

We ate the favs - poke bowl, Ellen's (Mamma Mia medley!) - and tried Sei Less (highly recommend).

And while we'd much prefer Chris did not need to travel as much as he does, a 43rd floor suite upgrade over Times Square thanks to hotel status was swanky!

As 45 rolls in, I have more blessings than I can count but time with favorite people doing favorite things is one of the biggest.

Dot is 15

15?! In family fashion, this one had a birthweek instead of a birthday beginning last weekend with a besties sleepover.

There were deviled strawberries

And a blind, deaf, and mute cake.

Wednesday, on her birthday, we had a brief window for family dinner - prosciutto wrapped lamb burgers.

And late night post-dance coconut cream pie.

Finally, yesterday afternoon we had time for her Lolo birthday poem and last night we had time for gifts. What to get a 15yo ballerina...

While we do not approve of the speed at which time comes at us these days, we do approve of the excellent young lady Audrey is, full of grace, grit, creativity, dedication, and a healthy dose of goofiness. What a blessing she is.

Sweet Sixteen Skittle

How can it be? This beautiful, smart, kind, empathetic, energetic, songbird is 16!

Since the DMV is closed on Sundays, we had to fill our time otherwise. She chose a Sherlock Holmes themed escape room. We escaped. It was elementary. We also had the first family swim of the season!

Her birthday dinner choice was drunken noodles. For dessert, honey lavender cheesecake.

Was there a car in any of these boxes? Yep. A matchbox Jeep. But today she became road official!

It's hard to believe we're here but we could not be prouder of how she handles herself and know she'll continue to blow through each challenge that comes her way. Let's just hope stop signs don't = challenges!

Pirouettes and Stardust

44 took us to NYC for some new adventures beginning with a run in the rain to brunch at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

 

Then we observed the gazelle in her natural habitat.

We saw a beautiful performance of Balanchine and Wheeldon works including an energetic divertisimo, gorgeous Tchaikovsky pas de deux, and finally the whimsical Carnival of the Animals narrated by John Lithgow! 

Wagamama noodles for dinner!

Then Ellen's Stardust Diner this morning for breakfast and lively entertainment by some talented Broadway hopefuls.

We had a lot of fun trying new things in old New York, New York (yes, a waiter sang that for us)!

Dot is 14

Our lovely rose is 14. Wild. She had a snowstorm sleepover on Sunday with her ballet friends and best buddy from school. We celebrated at home together Monday thanks to the MLK holiday. 

Dinner choice: prosciutto-wrapped lamb burgers, mashed sweet potatoes that she made herself, and green beans. 

Fav dessert: coconut cream pie again too. Glad to see her tastes haven't changed since last year.

On Tuesday she spent the evening at her favorite ballet classes with her ballerina buds and some Dunkin donuts.

She's growing quickly and conquering everything along the way. 13 brought some big highs as we know 14 will as well. Can't wait to watch.