Ten Point O

Today Brooklyn turned ONE DECADE old.

I literally had to check the math because it just does not seem possible AT. ALL.

So, for her 10th Birthday, here are the 10 best things about Brooklyn.

#1: She is RESPONSIBLE.

We've thrown some hefty duties at her lately and she thrives when we give her responsibility.  She's venturing into babysitting land, she's on her schools' student council, and she desperately wants to shave her legs. (not yet, dear.)

#2: She is CREATIVE.

She's my favorite shopping buddy and she honestly gets my creative juices flowing better than anyone else.  She has such a fun open mind and my best ideas come from bouncing things around with her.

#3: She is SMART.

We're talking genius-level smart.  Straight A pluses smart.  Luke-ish smart.

#4: She is DRAMATIC.

Not sure if this belongs in the positive or negative column, but it's true.  She's very dramatic.  I'm hoping she's just getting it all out of her system before her teenage years hit.  :)

#5: She is ADMIRED.

Kids LOVE her.  They flock to her.  Most kids would brush them off or want to go play with the older kids, but Brooklyn clicks with younger kids and it's adorably sweet.

#6: She is GIDDY.

She goes from zero to hyper in .0003.  She has a hysterical laugh and she pulls it out often.

#7: She is A WORRIER.

She gets scared frequently, but I can usually calm her down quickly.  Don't even get me started on the night she found out some idiots were dressing up as clowns and beating people up.  Also, what is wrong with some people?!

#8: She is equally INTROVERTED and EXTROVERTED

She is so comfortable and playful around people, but she also has a definite private side.  She both thrives in a social setting and also enjoys her solitude.

#9: She is BLOOMING.

She's turning from girl to young woman a little too fast for comfort, but she's doing it beautifully.  Also, she won't be able to date till she turns 29.

#10: She is TEN.

While I honestly can't believe it, I'm excited to see what year ten has in store for her.  I have a feeling it'll be a good one.

Tour of Chaaampions

 Q. What is better than buying 9th row tickets to see the Olympic team at the Tour of Gymnastics Champions?

A. WINNING THEM FOR FREE!!!!

Aubrey won tickets from our awesome gym (seriously, this kid wins a. lot. of. things.) so we crawled out to LA, drove around looking for parking that didn't cost the same amount as my mortgage, grabbed a salad and an ICEE and literally skipped to our amazing seats.

 I'm not even capable of describing in words how much fun we had.

I literally had to stretch my face out at one point because it hurt from smiling so much.

We saw the trampoline Olympic team, the Rhythmic Olympic team, the Acro Olympic team, and both men's and women's Olympic teams.

 There was flipping, dancing, stunts, cheering, tumbling.

(And that was just from me and Aubrey in the stands.)

It was legitimately one of the greatest nights of my life with one of the greatest girls in my life.

 And just when we thought it couldn't get any cooler, Shawn Freaking Johnson came right up to us and said Hi.

Shawn. FREAKING. Johnson.

 And we are both still smiling.

26.2 x 3

Luke ran his third marathon this weekend.  The first one he did in 4 hours, the second one he got a stomach bug the day of (GASP!) and basically crawled across the finish line, and this one he managed to finish with a smile.

 We found a spot about a mile before the finish line to sit and wait for him.  It was here that a runner collapsed and puked and made the most uncomfortable moaning noises of all time and I had to cover the girl's ears and subtly pick our stuff up and move down the block.

Yiiiiiikes.

 We waited for a good hour and then Brooklyn spotted him coming and we cheered and hugged and yelled and embarrassed ourselves so hard.

 And then Luke bent down to kiss Bailey and she didn't know it was coming so she kind of evaded him and it was so funny and sad and I started crying and I don't even know why.

 At the end we got to meet up with some dear family members and catch up a bit.

 And then I got what I had actually come for (don't tell Luke).  HOLY SWIG COOKIES.  If you have not had a Swig Cookie, you don't know.  You don't know how sweet life is.  You don't know what frosting should actually taste like.  You don't know the point of living.  YOU. DON'T. KNOW.

I had planned to let the kids have a cookie, but I think I really knew deep down that they wouldn't be getting a cookie.

We both can't wait to do it again next year.