Good Morning and Happy Juneteenth! We have so much fun planned today that we can barely stand it. For those unfamiliar with Juneteenth, here is a quick easy read: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/19/what-juneteenth-holiday-end-slavery/713313002/
Not really sure why this isn't a national holiday but that's for another blog and our family will continue to celebrate the holiday.
This was a special day! It all started with months of built up excitement about our first activity.
BOOM: I may have splurged a little here but I will never forget the first time I got to see this with Kimmer in NYC. The human bear has been begging to go to a show with me for years and I figured why not make the first one count.
WICKED ON BROADWAY: ROW D, haters start hating!
First, we just have to get there!
I'm not sure if anyone has tried to push a 7 year old's limits on travel but we may be hitting a wall here. This was the train ride TO the city...can you say delirious?
We forgot to document our subway ride from a few days ago and lord KNOWS we don't have enough pictures and proof of every waking moment of our trip, so here you go!
The Human Bear and I are suckers for a fun street performance.
She could not stand the anticipation and we had to leave, "before the best part!" to make it to our show. She's so deprived, I know.
We made it!
Secrets, Secrets
All of the playbills have rainbows at the top for pride month...love, love!
There is NO zoom here...our seats were great!
The Human Bear even got to peak down and see the orchestra during intermission.
Where better to have dinner than at The Playwright Restaurant after an excellent show? Nowhere, I say!
Just know that there are two locations for this spot and I def sent our next cameo appearance favorite person on a bit of a wild goose chase! Sorry again B-Gil:) But she made it!
Brittany is another one of my favorite students of ALL TIME! The story of Dai-Jon Parker has been a student story that has transformed my life; however, the start of the depth of teacher-student relationships started with this amazing woman right here. Brittany Guillory (sometimes referenced as B-Gil)
As Brittany's teacher, she was the student you pray to have an entire class of each year. She was bright, bubbly, and eager to learn (she continues to be all of those things today!). She started calling me "L Deco" (short for Lindsey Decoteau for those of you that don't know me by my maiden name) and when I would get all amped up in class I quickly turned to, "Beast Mode".
At the end of the year, Brittany and her Mother were the ones that gave me Beast Mode the stuffed bear many of you have come to know and love. That is where the story of my alter eager first began. Not only did this duo go to Build-A-Bear for my end of the year gift, but they also bought a plain white t and took it to Cortana Mall to have it airbrushed with "Beast Mode" on the front and "L Deco" on the back...I often think of what a patient mom Mrs. Karen must have been to take her daughter all over with a silly, creative idea for just one of her daughter's teachers. She was a teacher herself and I know what it's like after a long day of work...usually entertaining children's ideas is the last thing one wants to do but that's how good of a person she was!
If you've known Beast Mode throughout the years, you know how much she's grown. From late nights at the bar, helicopters in bikinis, hikes, and stages with bands I can only imagine the amount of disturbing germs soaked up in that fur! Talk about immune builders:)
At 23 years old, in the summer after one of my first years of teaching, I was called by B-Gil's dad and asked to come support his daughter in the hospital after her mother had an unexpected aneurysm. This would turn out to be one of the most challenging things I have ever experienced in my life. To try and be strong for a student I adored as my heart broke along side of hers.
To be entrusted enough by a loving family to console a child during their final good-bye's to a wonderful mother will always be a pivotal moment in my life. I had to step outside of my easy, privileged life and muster up all of the courage I could to share love in a situation I couldn't comprehend the volume of and still struggle to grasp completely today.
After the loss of Brit's mother, I decided that whenever I travel Beast Mode would come with me. It just made me feel more connected to her in a world where things move too fast and no amount of random check-ins will ever be enough. I hope she knows how much she is loved and that she has played a crucial role in my growth to becoming a stronger and more compassionate person!
I felt the need to share that story to always remember the magnitude of what it meant to me last night that Brittany came out to Build-A-Bear with us. She seemed thrilled just to spend time as my Human Bear made her own stuffed bear last night.
Now that you know more of the story, it may make sense that I was choking back tears through most of this process.
I had never been to Build-A-Bear but I thought it was a really cute process. The kids are really involved in the entire process.
Similarly to Hershey's Chocolate World to make our own chocolate bars, here she could scan and produce each part of the bear.
The Human Bear has started her own brand that she realized was cool from signing so many thank you notes. If she takes out one E in Love, Ella and smushes the words together, she has created LovElla. She is a creative little thing herself and I hope to encourage and develop that instead of squash it out on the days when I'm tired.
Of course the LovElla needs a heart and they had a whole cute "ceremony" where the Human Bear had to make a wish before putting the heart into the new bear. Who is crying? I'm not crying!
Be still my heart!
It would NOT be my Brittany if she didn't realize her own bear at home needed an updated wardrobe so she added a NY shirt to the already HIGHLY accessorized LovElla!
What birth is complete without a birth certificate? None ... (speaking of birth certificates: another quick aside b/c it's Juneteenth; let's also acknowledge that Loving V. Virginia happened in 1967 and the Human Bear that was born in 2012 does not have an option to be biracial on her birth certificate...so a law passed in the 60s did not bring along changes that accommodate people impacted by said decision. We only had the choice of black or white but she is both. Another thing I don't understand. It's just not an option in Louisiana but I'm not certain about other states.
She was SO proud of her creation and I could not have been happier to be with the group I was with last night.
Our best Sex and the City look. Please give some props to the lady in the background. I don't know if she's trying to ruin our pic but I really think she just wanted to be part of our group because we were having so much fun. I've found that people in New York City don't seem to have time for joy because they are moving so fast. I constantly feel like Buddy the Elf: it feels like home, "except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me!"
I won't count this as a stop because we didn't go in but thank goodness we saw THE WORLD'S LARGEST STORE!
Ok, on this one, I kind of see why people don't like us. She just kept wanting to jump in puddles in her rain boots. What's so wrong with that New Yorkers? It's not like you are going to work at 9PM. Are you? Maybe you are, and if so, we apologize!
You know when the Human Bear is the most still in a shot, there's A LOT of movement happening! These three have more energy than anyone I know.
We hate good-byes but we will see you again and hopefully sooner than later!
We had enough time before the train ride home to find some cool things in the train station.
Maybe now that there's a new bear in town I will be able to get Beast Mode back...but upon what I woke up to this morning, most likely not!
Still happy with her decisions in the morning! Not pictured here are her shoes and SKATEBOARD. haha yes, you read that correctly (if you've even made it this far...I know it was a long one).
To B-Gil, this day will always be special to both of us and I would not have chosen to share it with anyone else. We love you more than you know!
I had no idea Build a Bear was so involved..cute!