Dance Nats

On our way to the dance studio boat party on Lake Michigan, and you can;t even tell I have eye patches under my sunglasses

We made Dorothy pose with some street art

We did NOT mean to sit right next to Dorothy and friends, but this was the very BEST part of the boat, and WE WERE HERE FIRST

Such a pretty city

On the way to his parents' house, Ben got FOMO in advance about the boat party and bought a ticket

So we dropped Minnie off and made a night of it.

NATIONALS COMP DAY 1-- this is the day that Dorothy had 5/7 dances, and we had to leave the burbs at 6 am!

Minnie stayed at her grandparents' house, and Ben and I got to hang out together all day

First dance!

Second dance!

And then I stopped taking any pictures!

We went to Ben's parents' and had ice cream

And! Ben and I went for a run at 8:30 pm! I was SO PROUD of us!!!

Day 2 was a PAC ATTACK CALL BACK for day 1's first dance!!! And also awards. (Ben and I did an early AM run and I put my makeup on in the car).

WHERE DOROTHY'S DANCE WON BEST IN SHOW! Meaning it was one of the top 15 routines at the WHOLE ENTIRE COMPETITION!!

And we saw a statue

And had Plato's hotdog 

Nationals day 3-- Dorothy's other 2 dances (a hip hop group and her trio) competed, and Ben and I took an 8:00 am run on Navy Pier

I cooled off with a fountain Diet Coke, like one does after a run.

Loved this dance!

(Meanwhile, Minnie continued to live her best life with her grandparents)

Dorothy and I had brunch between hip hop and trio

And then she got ready for one more trio ride (they are a very cute biker gang in that dance).

And you guys! THE MUSIC CUT OUT WHEN SHE WAS DANCING! And she and her friends JUST KEPT ON DANCING! WITH NO MUSIC! They did not miss a beat, and the audience was on its feet screaming for them. It was actually pretty amazing (and they got to do it again with music). Afterwards, Dorothy went out for ice cream in her costume, and people were coming up to her to say congratulations.

Waiting for awards.

Still waiting for awards.

STILL WAITING.

FINALLY! Nationals day 4: THE BEST OF THE BEST face off!!! Out of 1500 routines, only 15 got to perform ONE MORE TIME.

pre-show ice cream

We wore noise cancelling headphones to watch dances

Quick Starbs run

Fave fan:

 Quick trip to the merry go round

WE HAD THE BEST WEEK!!