Be My Valentine

At Coyote Hills Elementary there are typically a couple of school dances through out the year. This is Paige's 3rd year in school and she was finally able to go to a dance. The Valentine's Dance was her first dance at the school. The only other dance she has attended was the Father/Daughter dance through Girl Scouts last year.

Shortly after we made plans to go to the dance Paige informed me that she would be needing a new dress to wear. I had no plans to buy her a new dress, but as the dance got closer and the more I was around her girlfriends, the more I was feeling the pressure to buy her a dress more or less because "everyone else was getting one."

We made plans to attend the dance as a family because all kids had to be chaperoned. Cole made plans with a couple of friends from his class to party around the dance floor, and Paige was convinced that she was "going" with Zachary...much to the dismay of her father!

So when we arrived at the dance Paige immediately took off with her "besties" from school. I don't think I would have seen her all night if I didn't seek her out with my camera to, of course, capture this momentous occasion on film. Most of the time she spent with her girls on the dance floor, but there were a few times when I saw a blur of pink as she rushed by. One time I stopped her to ask her where she was going in such a hurry, to which she replied, "I'm chasing Zachary!" I had to giggle, and Robert rolled his eyes. He seems to be having a tough time accepting that he does IN FACT have a daughter who does IN FACT like boys! I keep trying to reassure him that she is only 8 and that having a crush on a boy is completely normal... He is in denial. I was able to catch up with Paige and Zachary at one point, as well as another boy from her class to snap a few more pictures. I really enjoyed watching the interactions between the kids and especially taking note on the differences in the ages... from the kindies all the way up to the 5th graders.