On Tessa's birthday, December 29, 2014, Wentlings and us surprised Chloe and Tessa with tickets to the Taylor Swift concert to be held on Chloe's birthday.
I created a text for the girls to read aloud that said
"Today on December 29, 2014 we celebrate Tessa's birthday with friends and family.
On Chloe's birthday September 6, 2015 we will travel to Denver to go to a
Taylor Swift Concert!!"
As they read the words you could see the wheels spinning. We do have it on video but the pictures are pretty accurate.
________________________________________
Flash forward to September 6, 2015!
Chloe's 9th Birthday!
Chloe, Tessa, and I woke up in WaKeeney for the State horse show.
We watched Chloe ride in the opening ceremony and then we loaded up and headed west!
It didn't take Chloe very long to realize how busy she had been the last few days.
Trey and Rachel had been to a wedding in Colorado the day before so we met up with them and made it to my dad's to get ourselves ready. The girls had made posters the day before at the horse show.
Chloe LOVES a restaurant in Cherry Creek called Little Ollie's. So that is where we had her birthday dinner and broke out the tickets for the show!
By this time us grownups were pretty darn excited, too!
Who doesn't love a good concert?!?
Since the tickets were for birthday presents for the girls we decided to go for floor seats.
It was a lot of fun having less crowds walking into our seats! I think the girls felt pretty special.
Taylor's mom made a loop through the arena!
It's show time!!
Chloe and Tessa were a little bit shocked when Taylor actually came out.
Granted, they didn't really understand 'concert behavior' either and Rachel and I had to get them to come out of their shell a little. It's a concert girls --- DANCE, SING, BE CRAZY!!!
We were away from the front stage about 1/3 of the way back. But we were directly along her runway and Taylor makes sure that everyone gets their fair share of times with her. I can't say enough about what a great performer, entertainer, and uplifting person she is to be in front of crowds these days. I was so excited for such a great first concert experience for the girls.
We were close! VERY CLOSE to her!
She DOES have leg hair on her thighs.... she DOES have a mole on her back! SHE IS HUMAN!
One of the amazing production pieces she had was her runway. All of a sudden it lifted up and swiveled over the crowd like a helicopter. She was strapped in on tracks the whole time but she works the entire crowd. She makes sure everyone can get good pictures at some point in time.
Lots of costume changes, both for her and for her dancers.
The special effects were amazing. Everyone had glow bracelets that kept the beat of her music and had sync'd colors, etc. It was really neat.
At one point in the show when the runway was swiveling in front of us we know that Taylor looked down at the girls and their signs. She didn't point anyone out during the whole show, so it's not like she was going to stop and talk to you. But she did look at the girls and smile in acknowledgement.
Shake It Off was her encore number and it was incredible. As they were taking their bows and the music kept playing they started showing more and more posters and fans on the jumbotron. We got our two favorite signs up and kept them there!
Sure enough... the VERY LAST shot of the night was of our posters!!
Miraculously I had my camera ready and got a picture of the signs on the big screen.
If you look closely you can see how tiny the stage crew (drum set, guitars, etc) are so you can see how big the screen is.
What was already an absolutely perfect day was just frosted and topped with a cherry!
We were hoarse, on a music high, and then tipped over the edge with excitement when the posters were shown. It. Was. Awesome.
We took our time leaving. We soaked in the stage, the special effects, the millions of paper airplanes on the floor from "Out of the Woods", etc. This Taylor Swift gal gave a couple of girls a night they will never forget. The adults won't forget it either.
Chloe fell asleep on the way back to dad's. She was just exhausted. He had made homemade ice-cream and she slept on the couch while the rest of us enjoyed it and talked about the show. I can't remember a birthday for her when she hasn't fallen asleep on the couch. Who can blame her? If you put yourself to bed on your birthday then you voluntarily are ending your favorite day of the year. I will always *under normal circumstances* let my kids fall asleep on the couch on their birthdays. I love birthdays and they shouldn't have to choose to end the day. Party on, kids!
These are a few collages we posted through the night.
So the biggest unspoken here is that Chloe Marie turned 9. The last of the single digits.
Royce and I can't believe what a remarkable young lady she is becoming. She is stubborn, sassy, talks back, and gets in trouble a plenty. But she is so confident, smart, well-planned, and caring. She rescues stuffed animal pets and you'd think she is running a complete shelter in her bedroom. Thankfully they are all fake (except for the snail farm), but the care and thought she puts into each of their homes and habitats shows me how well-thought her actions are.
Chloe, we love you, we love that you sacrificed a party with your friends to have an unforgettable concert experience, and we were honored to splurge on someone who would do it for someone else. We may or may not celebrate next year as I'm not really sure your dad and I are ready for a 10 year old. So.... enjoy 9 because we may not let you turn 10. We love you so much!
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