At the last minute, my two oldest children put together a trip to Six Fl*gs in the Chicago area. Brian managed to find two friends to go along, but Alyssa’s friends were all busy. So she was stuck spending the day with me. We had a wonderful day! My brave young lady wanted to ride most of the big roller coasters. It didn’t matter if it went upside down – though that wasn’t her favorite – or if it twisted and turned, she wanted to do it. And she didn’t scream, not even once. I am so impressed with her. Yes, even me, at my age, went on all of those rides with her. Despite my fear of heights, I enjoy roller coasters. Go figure. Though I do ride them with my eyes closed!

At the same time, she is still my little girl. We held hands throughout most of the day. I can’t tell you how precious that was to me. She’s ten and growing into quite the mature young lady. It won’t be long now, maybe only a matter of weeks or months, and she won’t want to do that anymore. I relished and cherished every moment of it. We talked. We hugged. We laughed. We DIDN’T scream! I will put this high on my list of my most memorable days with my daughter.

A big shout out to my dear, dear friend for being willing to take care of Jonalyn on the spur of the moment. Not only did she take care of my daughter, she spoiled her rotten. They went to the zoo together. She bought Jonalyn a stuffed cat and blue ice cream and took her for a ride on the train. I’ll never be able to top that 😉 Lisa, you are the best friend a girl could want.