Dances, hoops and scoops

While Matt and I were off to his playoff basketball game tonight (more on that in a bit), Bassam and Gracie got dressed up, went out for dinner and then to the Father-Daughter dance at school.

Bassam told Gracie they could go to dinner wherever she wanted.  Her first choice Mexicali Grill?   While we LOVE Mexican food, Bassam suggested that they do something a little "fancier" (preferably where you don't come out smelling out like Mexican food!).  She finally decided they were go to Bricks, which must be fancy because they have white table clothes (albeit with white paper on top of it).

Before leaving, Mom took a slew of  pre-dance, which of course thrilled no one. Countless shots were deleted due to "fake smiles."  Thank goodness for digital cameras (or iPhones, as the case may be!). Gracie's sweet little dress had a light green layer underneath the cream that I'm not sure you can appreciate in this picture, but she was tickled that Dad had a matching green tie.

Of course, before you can get that one nice shot, you get a whole lot of this.  Notice Bassam in the background on the phone of the twirling shots.  He was on call and trying desperately to get things settled enough so he couldn't be taking calls during the dance.   What?  You don't think you'll get your message across with Taylor Swift blaring in the background?!?

And of course, there is the mandatory picture with Charlie, who looks terribly thrilled to be there.

In the end, they had a great time, capped off by ice cream afterwards.

As for Matt and me, the Yellow Jackets lost in the first round of the playoffs 36-19.  Their record during the regular season was 2-6, so it wasn't terribly surprising.   For that reason, and many others, we were glad to close the books on basketball for the year.

It only seemed right that we stop for ice cream on the way home, too.