Chicago with the 15 Year Old

Back in February, I learned that SZA and Kendrick Lamar were touring together and that they had a show scheduled for the day after Cadence's birthday -- in Chicago! SZA is Cadence's ultimate favorite artist, so I talked to Danny and we decided to go for it. After seeing them perform together during the halftime show at the super bowl, I knew they'd put on a good show. And the timing and location were too perfect. I asked Cadence if she was up for it, and of course she was. 

We flew out of Columbus at 6pm, so we got to Chicago roughly the same time! We walked to Portillo's for dinner. The city was very colorful for pride month. It was so pretty!

We started out Friday and Saturday morning right at Do Rite for breakfast sandwiches and donuts! It's so convenient that there's a location on the first floor of Willis Tower -- which was right near the hotel where we were staying!

We spent Friday morning taking a stroll through the city. 

We ended up at Navy Pier. 

After I begrudgingly rode the swings with her (something I'll never do again!), we started to make our way back to the hotel . We stopped at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and grabbed lunch. We befriended the owner, who we found out was also going to the concert, and he changed the restaurant music to SZA radio!

We got ready for the show at the hotel and then took a Lyft to Soldier Field. 

We stood in line for merch for what seemed like forever. But that's part of the concert experience, right?!

Waiting for the show to start!

Watching Cadence experience the concert was the best part. She was so happy. It didn't hurt that SZA and Kendrick put on one helluva show.

Each artist took the stage separately, and they alternated. 

The pyrotechnics were amazing. 

At the end, SZA and Kendrick took the stage together and performed Gloria and Luther. Everyone held up their phones with their flashlights when they performed All The Stars. It looked really neat inside the stadium. The show lasted roughly 3 hours and we stood up the entire time. It was such a good show.

There were people EVERYWHERE as we tried to leave the stadium.

We decided to walk the 2 miles back to the hotel. We had to walk away from the stadium to even try to get an Uber or Lyft, so by the time we started walking we figured we could just walk the entire way back. I later learned that Danny was tracking us the whole time and nervous for our lives. We stopped and got water and ice cream for dinner! The walk back was my favorite part of the whole day 😊

The next day, I realized too late that we should've already checked out of the hotel, so we quickly packed and I snapped a few pics of our room (which was upgraded due to Danny's status).

We had the whole day on Saturday to be in the city since our flight home wasn't until that night. We decided we would rent a quadcycle. Renting the bike almost didn't happen, though. On our way there, Cadence got a text from a softball teammate asking if she was going to be at the game. Surprisingly, neither of us formally told her coach that we would be in Chicago for the weekend. I could've sworn I texted her coach, but I couldn't find any proof. Maybe I had the thought to, and never did? We both felt awful for letting the team down. Thankfully, they won their games that day, with only 8 girls on the field. It rained early Sunday morning, so the 2nd day of the tournament was cancelled!

We had fun riding around the city and got some chuckles out of spectators.

We enjoyed lunch on a restaurant patio -- demonstrators marched by while we were there. 

We bought some Garrett popcorn and enjoyed a break at a park near our hotel while we snacked.

We had SUCH a nice time together in Chicago. Between Cadence's birthday, the concert, our favorite city, and mother/daughter time, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I have fond memories of that weekend, and I hope Cadence does, too.

Time with the Rileys

 I had some really cute pictures on my phone that feature the Riley family, so I had to include them!

We recreated the winter concert photo in the spring!

During the Eagle Classic weekend, Nolan played with the Big Walnut baseball team, so Cadence tagged along with Veronica and Cora to watch them play. They had some time to kill, so they spent some time at the creek nearby. Veronica sent me these photos!

5/6 Lacrosse May

In the spring, since Colin was playing both baseball and lacrosse, it was decided that baseball would take precedence in any schedule conflicts. Weekend baseball tournaments made it impossible for Colin to play in some of the Sunday games. If baseball was just a practice or regular game, Colin would go to the lacrosse games on Sunday. Luckily, we were able to make it work. Lacrosse season wrapped up at the end of May in a tournament at Fortress Field. Cadence and I were in North Ridgeville for a softball tournament, so unfortunately, we missed out. 

Here are a couple of pics that I got in New Albany at Bevelhymer Park. 

I wasn't thrilled with how this season's pictures turned out. We worked with a photographer I had never heard of before. We purchased picture packages prior to seeing the end product. Colin looks a little washed out. I still wanted to document this season, so here goes!

Colin has decided he wants to tryout for the 7th grade baseball team this schoolyear, and since Big Walnut Lacrosse (BWLA, not school lacrosse) is only offered through 6th grade, this past season was Colin's last season of lacrosse. I'm sad to think I'll probably never see him on the lacrosse field again. This was a sport I really grew to love (even though I never fully understood all of the rules), and a sport were Colin excelled. I'll never say never, but for now, he'll be a baseball kid!

Birthdays in the House

Whoa -- we really have a 15 year old and a 12 year old now. It's crazy how fast time flies! Check how how we celebrated!

Colin's birthday fell on the day after the last day of school. When I got home from work, we let him open his presents from us. One of those included a new phone! He was stoked.

I didn't get any pictures later in the day -- poor Colin took a baseball to the nose during his game. He was running to first base while a teammate on 3rd was running home. The player from the other team went to throw the guy out at home and threw the ball at Colin's face. It was awful. He hit the ground and there was so much blood. Luckily his nose was okay and his eyes and teeth were spared. We celebrated after the game with the team with some doughnuts.

Colin was in pain that night, understandably so. We let Oden keep him company in bed.

I forgot to take his official birthday picture on his birthday, so this one from May 25 will have to do!

Cadence and I were heading to Chicago on the evening of her 15th birthday, so we celebrated with Lion Cub's cookies after her double-header (they lost one & won one).

The birthday girl at the gate at the airport ready to head to Chicago!

That night, we celebrated by having dinner at Portillo's and topped it off with a piece of chocolate cake! Hard to believe in 6 short months, she'll be able to get her temps!

Cadence's official birthday picture was also taken late, on June 10th

We honestly have two amazing kids. They excel in school, put on a good show when playing baseball and softball, and are genuinely fun kids to be around. They have a great sense of humor and big hearts. We're so very lucky to call these two ours.

Spring Band Performance

In the middle of May, Colin and the rest of the 6th grade band put on quite the show for us. It still amazes me that most of these kids played their instruments for less than a year and sounded as good as they did. 

We had to recreate the picture from the winter band performance!

14U Softball 2025

Cadence's last 14U season started off with a one-day tournament in Newark, the Contender or Pretender Tournament, on May 18. They played 4 games that Sunday -- they won the first 3 which put them in the championship game. The field they played on didn't have lights, so the game got cut short and they had to call the game. They lost 3-6, but put up a good fight! What a way to start a season!

The start of June brought us to North Ridgeville for the weekend for another softball tournament. Colin had baseball games that weekend, so we had to divide and conquer. Cadence and I had fun with Lydia and her mom, Miranda, after the Saturday games. We went out to dinner and relaxed after a long day! The girls didn't play again until after noon on Sunday, so we took a stroll to kill some time and get in some steps. Cadence couldn't pass up this photo op in front of the sign that said, "no stopping or standing." Love her sense of humor!