After last year’s ball (that was 20 minutes away and we were home by 11) we decided to take the kids this year because it would be quick and easy. Ha. HAHA. Of course, best laid plans, right? This year the ball was being held AN HOUR AWAY in Milwaukee! But, we still decided to go through with it. Owen wasn’t thrilled with his new “dress clothes” (really just a nice black shirt and pants…and a bow tie that I bought on our cruise)—and I didn’t even make him wear dress shoes (he got a new pair of Vans!). Oh, he also had to wear a belt. THE HORROR, right? Katie was SUPER excited about the whole thing, but was really VERY excited about the new heels I bought for her, being able to wear a fancy dress, and wearing PANTY HOSE for the first time (I warned her that was not going to be the best part).

Prepping the playing field…

I have to do a before.

And not too terribly long later, the after. Yes, I wore the tiara!

She would have worn her dress and heels in the car on the way there if I’d let her.

I only had one pair of clip on earrings—thankfully they matched, but unfortunately they were too heavy and kept coming off her ears. (I didn’t even THINK about getting her clip-ons before packing for the trip!)

Owen was completely flummoxed at how to put on and fasten a belt. This was the first time he’s ever had to wear one (we borrowed it from a friend!).

Owen not able to get his new shoes tight enough. Poor kid. (That said, I did have to help Katie put the nylons on so she didn’t punch a finger through them in the first three seconds.)

Total cuties.

A quick snap before we got on the elevator. It looks much more striking in black and white so there you go. 🙂

Once we got to the lobby, we grabbed one of Tom’s co-workers to take a quick pic in front of the tree. As it turned out, I am SOOOO glad we did, because the official pics did not turn out well…and this might be one of the best family pics we’ve ever taken!

Open bar! So we got the kids some fancy virgin drinks. Yeah…neither one liked either one we tried. They liked the cherries and that was about it. So much for treating them to something special!

The kids were AMAZING during the ceremony (totally boring speeches to them, I’m sure). Afterwards, before dinner, we went out to use the restrooms and…RAN INTO OUR NEIGHBOR! Ha! She was there for a girls night with her college friends. I mean, what are the odds? Then we took a few pics. Because me.

So, the official pics. Ugh. I totally appreciate that one of the local Marines offered his time and equipment to take photos, but what’s the point when they’re not good? I’d rather pay for a good picture. Remember, the same thing happened last year (with a different photographer). Here’s an edited version (which is better but still not great).

Oh well, right? At least we got our Christmas tree pic.

THAT SAID, the kids were poops. They love dancing at home. They do it all the time. But here? When dancing is expected? Nope. Not happening. To his credit, Owen did eventually go over to a kid his age and they were doing some type of dance off (it was soooo cute and Tom thought he got a video but he didn’t).

We even asked them to dance a slow dance with each of us. Nope. There were lots of kids out dancing. NOPE. We finally told them they had to dance at least one song before we’d go back to the room. Katie seemed to be having a blast doing it so we thought she’d stay out for another song. Nope. Oh well. We likely won’t do this again, so at least we did it once. 🙂