Mother-Son and Daddy-Daughter Dances

Thanks to the pandemic, our stake has not hosted a Mother-Son and Daddy-Daughter dance since 2018.  As a result, I was so happy to hear that our stake primary presidency was bringing it back after a five year break--especially since this would be Logan's last year that he is young enough to attend.  However, when I went to write down the date on my calendar, I realized that Ron would be out of town for a work conference that same weekend which meant that Ella would not be able to go with him.  After thinking it over, I ended up asking the dad of Ella's one good friend from church if he wouldn't mind taking her in addition to his own two daughters.  However, this all changed last minute, when Lia had her good friend and running buddy, Hope, over to our house on Friday night when I was getting the boys ready to go to the dance with me.  The girls both agreed that it would be fun to dress up as "men" and take Ella to the dance instead!  As you can imagine, Ella was thrilled to be chaperoned by two, teenage girls and so we quickly changed our plans for the Daddy-Daughter dance.

So on Friday evening, the boys get dressed in one of their new, "casual cruise" outfits before going out to dinner with me at Chick-fil-A on our way to the dance.  It was so much fun to spend the evening with just the two of them.  We had a fun time eating dinner in the restaurant before heading over to the dance where I amazed at all of the awesome decorations and games that the stake primary presidency had incorporated with their glow-in-the-dark theme.  Since the boys really weren't that interested in dancing, I was grateful for the games that were available for the first time ever.  After eating cookies, Logan and Emmett made the rounds to all of the glow-in-the-dark games before I begged them to dance to just one song with me.  It was a successful evening until the end when Logan was done and ready to leave and Emmett could not be pulled away from the glowing hopscotch board on the gym floor.  After several minutes, the boys started kicking each other and so I quickly threw in the towel and dragged them out of the gym with less than five minutes to spare!

The next night, I got Ella ready in her new walk-through dress that she got for Easter and took her out to dinner at Trackside Pizza since Ron was unable to treat her to dinner before the dance.  We then came back home and quickly picked up Lia before driving over to Hope's house to pick up her before heading to the dance.  I followed the girls into the church building so that I could get a few pictures at the photo booth and on the dance floor before leaving them there for the next 1.5 hours.  The three of them had a great time dancing the night away in between multiple, cookie breaks that Ella requested.  I am so glad that Lia and her friend came up with this cute idea and that Ella agreed to it.  They all ended up having such a good time and I hope that this is a memory that Ella will never forget.

April 28th:

My boys and me ready to head out the door for the evening!

Emmett and Logan enjoying their Chick-fil-A dinner.

Posing at the photo booth.

Eating cookies with the crazy, glow-in-the-dark lights and decorations in the background.

The boys jumped at the opportunity to get their faces painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.  Here they are showing off their faces afterwards!

Logan and Emmett playing the ring toss game.

And bowling in the dark in the hallway outside the gym.

April 29th:

Enjoying a pizza dinner with Ella before the dance.

Back at the house, Lia and Ella all ready to go!

Ella making a funny pose with Hope and Lia disguised as "men."

A more serious shot with Ella and her chaperones.

The girls on the dance floor.

Ella enjoying the glow-in-the-dark hopscotch game.

I just love this picture that Hope took of Ella running outside the church with a balloon in her hand and the sunset in the background.

A selfie Lia took while waiting for me to pick them up outside the church after the dance was over.