Thursday, March 26, 2015

Glitter, Bows, and Hugs ~ Missouri Part I



My time in the Ozarks was highlighted by one event in particular...Hope and I took an overnight trip to the historic town of Sedalia.  To get there, we had a two hour road trip on country back roads, and Hope, having her driver's permit, was half expecting to drive.  But given the fact that neither one of us knew where we were going, and our phone GPS was sporadic since apparently ATT doesn't completely cover this area of the country, I opted to be behind the wheel.  After a few turnarounds, and the discovery that we love a number of the same songs (sorry, Hope!), we made it to our destination...

 




 




Our Friday night was free, so after checking in to the Bothwell, we decided on a meal of Chinese and a movie.  We found a restaurant that had a great review and headed that way, only to find a hand written sign pasted on the door that said "Sorry.  Mike hurt his back.  Restaurant closed today".  The note wasn't dated, so which "today" were they talking about?  And how does one employee, Mike, close down a whole restaurant?  And it's a Chinese restaurant, they could have at least called him Mikexing to add a bit of ethnicity authenticity!

(Sidenote: poor Hope has to deal with not only a Mom who's a professional photographer, but also with a Nana who's snap happy with her camera...)
 


 


And now for the what spurred this roadtrip.
Hope's sport is competitive cheer, and for the first time, I got to attend one of her events. 

 
 
To tell you the truth, I thought that after watching Hope's team compete,
 

 
I wouldn't know what to do with myself.  But the opposite was true.  Watching these teams compete, from the young mini's through to the high schoolers was quite riveting. The synchronization needed, the concentration displayed, and the fine-tuned teamwork were all lessons the competitors will take with them far into life.  And there were a few other aspects of the day that I quite enjoyed....the glitter (I may need to invest in a glitter company!) and the bows (check out my niece's site) and the hugs. 
 
Let's talk about the hugs.... I've never seen anything like it!  Once a team was done competing, there were team-group hugs, teammate hugs, coach hugs,  family hugs...no one was left out.
 

 
 
  And if you wonder why this was so special, check out the shocking truth behind hugs!  I'm a fan! 
 

 

 
Before ending, I do have to touch on one other part of this day that just warmed my heart... the spectators (especially the Dads)!  
 


 
 
My heart melted each time I passed a dad with his little mini walking hand-in-hand through the stadium.... the mini with giant bows in her hair and dusted with glitter and the big burly dad such as the one pictured above, sporting a shirt that depicted his pride.  Not only were these dads dressed out in customized t-shirts, but also dyed hair to match the teams colors, costumes, instruments, and a smile on every face.  It was quite moving!  And as you can see, siblings, and as you can imagine, Moms got into the act.
 
Well, Hope (aka, StealerOfMyPhone),
 
  
I so loved our Nana/Hope time together and look forward to many, many more!   And if we're ever in that neck of the woods again, we'll have to make Estes Drive-In our spot....and make more memories!

 

The End