Dancing Queen

Last night, Anna had a truly wonderful evening dining and dancing the night away with her daddy and many little girlfriends at her third Daddy-Daughter Dance.

Can you see the twinkle in her eye?  She THRIVES on one-on-one quality time like this.  She couldn't wait!. And she was well prepped.  She and her date practiced several dances that they knew to expect at the ball, especially the Cha-Cha Slide.

 

She was not only lovely for her night out.  She proved herself tough, too.  She claimed the boots felt too tight and the cuffs of her dress were itching her. :S  All things that would have been helpful to know the LAST time she wore them.  At this point, it was too late to change the wardrobe; we had NOTHING else!  I told her "Beauty is pain, my love," and crossed my fingers that would buy us one more night with her darling red boots.

A kiss from Daddy to make it better?

Or worse?

By this point, Anna forgot about the tight boots and was ready to head out.  Phew!

First stop, a dinner at Rafferty's with Claire, Emma, and their daddy-dates, James and Craig - all dear friends from our small group bible study.

I just love this shot. :) Thanks for the photo assist, James!

Next stop, the dance.

 And dance, my love did a LOT of ... like frenzied and energetic and entirely committed to the moment dancing.  At least that's what Josh tells me.  He says it was something to see. :}

Aren't little girls the sweetest?

Sugar and Spice, I tell ya!

Anna has a special connection with another little friend that came to the dance, Emma Love. 

Once she spotted Emma Love that night, there was no going back.  Josh said these two were very amusing together.  I will have to take his word for it.  All I can see is how Anna's hair situation was desperate with a capital D.  Ha!

Some footage of Anna getting footloose...

Chicken Dance, I assume.

With the girls...

Conga line, perhaps?  At any rate, it looks like fun!

Anna came home around 9 which is the longest she's lasted in her three years at the dance.  This was apparently the best year yet in terms of snacks, set up, and Anna's ability to just BE ALL ABOUT IT and shake her groove thing with abandon.  ♥  By that time of night, the little girl Josh brought home was droopy tired, gray under the eyes, and had red marks on the tops of the arches of her feet ... from those dang boots that she told me were too tight.  :}  She had only the energy to stand there while I pulled off the dress and tights and helped her into her pjs.  As I tucked her in, she let me know her favorite part of the dance was the little pink cookies.  Of all things that night, she went to sleep murmuring about cookies?!

 
Ah well, we'll just chalk that up to fact that little girls ARE made of sugar and spice.