Swifties and Besties

The day after her 8th grade dance, Kaitlynn and I were BEYOND excited to attend the event of the year - the Taylor Swift Eras Tour! One of Kaitlynn's great friends, Libby, invited us to join them and several mutual friends in their suite for the concert - talk about having friends in high places!! I was so happy to join Kaitlynn for the fun event, and it was sure to become one of the all time favorite nights of her life! Jeff snapped some photos of us before we set out to meet up with the group.

 

After meeting up with part of the group, we all crammed into 2 cars for the trip to the stadium. The concert was held at NRG Stadium, and we were lucky to have a ride there and not have to worry about the heavy traffic. It was definitely chaotic getting into the stadium, but once we were there, we were pinching ourselves to be able to see Taylor from the suite level. So exciting!

Libby and her family came in hot from a softball tournament, and it was right about time for the concert to begin. It was thrilling to see Taylor emerge on stage and watch the tears of joy and excitement from the girls in the suite. We were completely spoiled with food, drinks, treats, and a great view of the show from beginning to end. 

The concert lasted several hours, and the girls soaked in every single moment of the special night. It was so fulfilling to watch Kaitlynn in her element with her friends, dancing and singing their hearts out all night long. When the concert ended, everyone was on a Taylor Swift high! We crammed into a 15-passenger van and waited out the ridiculous traffic situation before arriving back home around 1:30 a.m. on a school night. It was completely worth it for a core memory with my girl - what a night!

Kaitlynn's 8th grade dance

On the last weekend of April, Kaitlynn was excited to attend the 8th grade dance at WoodCreek Junior High, commemorating the fun rite of passage event as she and her friends prepared to close the book on their years in middle school. Connor never got to attend his 8th grade dance because that was the year when Covid cancelled everything, so I was excited to mark the special occasion with Kaitlynn. Surprisingly, it took some convincing for her to want to attend, but thankfully she gathered with a great group of friends to celebrate together. Before the event, we snapped some photos at home and then met up with her friends for some food at Sweet Paris. Kaitlynn looked beautiful and was ready for a fun night ahead.

It felt like the majority of the evening was spent taking photos upon photos upon photos. Teenage girls are all about the pictures, although Kaitlynn doesn't typically fall into that category. We took some pictures in La Centerra after their dinner, and then we drove to an old Katy hotspot to meet up with a larger group for - you guessed it - even more photos! Kaitlynn was DONE with all the picture-taking and I didn't blame her! 

Finally, it was time for the dance. We all carpooled over to the school which had been magically decorated in a Snow Ball theme. Everything looked beautiful and Kaitlynn seemed happy to hang out with her friends. One of the sweet moms snapped a photo of Kaitlynn's debut on the big screen - a photo montage of all the 8th graders side by side with their baby photos. Hard to believe these little ones were about to enter high school!

The kids had a great time at the dance celebrating their last days in junior high. Afterwards, they all went to a friend's home for an after party of pizza and swimming. Kaitlynn enjoyed her night but was happy to get home and crash, because she still had a lot more fun ahead in the days to come.