PHEW! Baseball, dance photos, an almost disappearance. Not in that order.

Minnie is developing a very particular sense of style, and I am here for it. Tutus and Champion slides? SIGN ME UP

Cooper got called up to play in the league above his for baseball last night, and you would have thought he was going to the majors. He was SO EXCITED. He played great— center field, short stop, catcher. He got on base with a dropped third strike, and 3 runs scored after that (one RBI for him). He hit the ball but got thrown out, and he also “got strucken out,” which is a phrase both he and Dorothy use that delights me. Harry had to work, and Jack was at the pool I assume freezing to death because it was 73 and breezy last night, so the girls and I dropped by the Little League fields to lend our support.

Minne, who ate pizza, French fries, and ice cream for dinner because we are awesome parents, demanded “wawa,” or, more specifically, a “wawa baba” from the concession stand and delighted herself by throwing little fluffy white pollen balls from the trees into the air and screaming “BUBBO.”

Dorothy screamed “I am going to the park!” And streaked over to the Little League playground as soon as we pulled up. Ben and Minnie joined her briefly while I talked to a professor in my department whose son was also playing ball. I checked on Dorothy after I joined Ben and Minnie, but then we both got absorbed in the game. Finally, Minnie and I were ready (past ready) for bed, and I asked Ben to grab Dorothy for me so the girls and I could meet Jack at home.

AND HE COULD NOT FIND HER. 

Before he alerted me to the problem, he scoured the pplayground and softball field, as well as the bathrooms, the concession stand, and some bushes at the perimeter of the park. Then we both sort of freaked out and started describing her to parents and kids at all 3 fields. Lots of kids reported seeing her and playing with her, but they didn’t know where she went. Dads joined in the hunt for a little girl with a curly blond ponytail in an orange dress and yellow Birks. Ben was about to get on the PA system and call for her (with the next step after that being calling the police) when word of her absence reached Coop on third base. As soon as his team’s side was retired, he ran to the dugout— where Dorothy and her softball friend were hanging out— and told her she was lost. Good old Cooper. He always knows where his sister is.

I have never been so happy to see someone in my entire life. 

She claims she told me as she ran by that she was going to play behind Coop’s dougout (literally the farthest point from the playground she could find and still technically be in the confines of the Little League park), and that might be true. I was really watching Cooper bat because a 10 year-old playing with giant 12-year-olds is adorable, and I never really worry about Dorothy at baseball. She always knows where to find us, and we have always also been able to find her. But yikes. SO SCARY.

Speaking of Dorothy:

She performed a solo dance in her school’s talent show, and it was DARLING. The whole talent show was adorbs. I as especially touched by a 4th grader reciting the Gettysburg Address (I cried a little) and a cute little neighbor doing a card trick.

Instead of dance class this penultimate week of the rec season, Dorothy has had PHOTO WEEK instead. So, 4 times (!!) we have done full-out hair and makeup and gone to the studio for pics and a quick parking lot performance. Her studio has a cute little stage and awesome speakers from 2020 when the only performance they could have was a parking lot show.

When the three of us (Minnie is my constant companion) showed up on Tuesday, a musical theatre class was all dressed up like Mirabel and dancing to Bruno, and Minnie was CHARMED. She asked for “mo” (with word and sign) music, and she immediately took off her shoes and claimed the stage. Except for having to be suitcased off of there every time a class came out to perform, she was a delight all 3 days of pictures.

Lyrical hair and makeup; sporty spice clothes. My fave!! I am a sucker for a 9 year-old in a full face.

I didn’t take any pics in her lyrical or tap costumes but never fear— dress rehearsal is next weekend!

Here she is after ballet pics, the official end of her photo week. Phew!!!

MY FLY WAS DOWN THE WHOLE TIME. AWESOME.

Other moms: posed photos by the sign and peonies.

Me: