Beyoncé Renaissance Tour

Almost five years ago, I got to see Beyoncé play at Levi's stadium. It was awesome and I was so excited when she announced her Renaissance World Tour.  Tickets were pricey (of course) but I splurged on two - one for me and one for the second biggest fan in the family, Serafina.  Serafina has dance to Beyoncé songs in competitions, recitals, classes and at conventions.  Plus, I knew she would appreciate the amazing visuals and dancing in the show.  So even though it was a school night, we headed to Levi's to experience this true legend on stage.  

Serafina looked gorgeous. 

Our seats were high up, but with a straight on view and the first row of our level so no one directly in front of us.  They were definitely better seats than we had for Taylor Swift. But next time Beyoncé comes around, I'm selling a kidney and getting close up. 

Silver cowgirl hat is one of the best merch table purchases I've ever made.  Epic photo shoot prop, for sure. 

Even though we got home extremely late and were dead tired the next day, we both thought it was completely worth it.  

 

The Ciccottos Visit

Our friends, the Ciccottos, moved back to New York pretty early into the pandemic.  It was an understandable choice once Pete's job at Google went fully remote and the importance of being near family was brought into sharp focus because of the circumstances of an uncertain world.  But we missed them.  A lot.  Leo and Serafina kept in touch with the kids via social media and I text Mary regularly.  

Their visit to California wasn't only to see friends and family.  Their older two daughters were signed up for several college tours.  This brought them to town during a particularly busy weekend for Serafina since she had both boot camp for her dance team as well as choreography sessions.  But we did our best to facilitate as much visiting as possible.  

This meant on Saturday night, this gaggle of girls went with me to pick her up from the dance studio.  They were excited to surprise her.  

From the studio, we made a quick trip  to Target right before closing.  They declared they needed to get the ingredients for their s'mores lasagna, which was a recipe they made up at a sleepover many years ago.  Oh and they needed matching shirts too.  

Gotta document their creation. 

The matching shirts were Lizzy's idea so she could have them recreate this photo from March of 2019. 

Serafina spent the night, even though she had a long day of dance on Sunday. 

On Sunday, most of the Ciccottos came over to hang a little bit and hear Leo play guitar.  

It was wonderful to spend time with the Ciccottos. We hope to make it to New York at some point to visit family and to spend more time with them.  Like most visits, it went by way too fast. 

 

First day of school - 10th and 8th grade

This summer flew by in the blink of an eye.  No one was really ready to go back to school, but they threw on some new clothes and set out to conquer the day.  

Continuing the tradition of forced first day of school pictures in the front yard.  

 

Final summer adventure to the SF Zoo

We wanted one last adventure before the start of school.  Leo suggested the San Francisco Zoo to see the monkeys.  Captive animals make me feel a little sad, but I pushed that feeling aside to enjoy the beautiful weather and quality time with my teenager before their days are filled with school and dance/music.  

Serafina felt some kinship with the giraffes. 

 

Barbie movie

 We reunited with Kristi, Sid and Sunny to see the Barbie movie.  It was actually Serafina's second time seeing it since she went with dance friends to see it the week before.  

It was absolutely delightful.