Girl's Night Out

I never had a daughter. I raised boys, and I loved raising them, I did, but I always wanted a daughter. My first 2 grandchildren were boys and I suppose, after 30 years, I just got used to being surrounded by boys. But then, the sweet beautiful Miss M was born. Oh. My. Gosh! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I love her more than her brothers, it's that I love her different. I named her during a bonfire at her mom and dad's house the summer of 2005. My son, d-i-l and I had been trying to come up with the perfect name for this little baby girl who would be joining us soon. Nothing we came up with seemed to work until I said her name, which is Miss M for posting here, but you need to know that her name fits her perfectly as her full name means 'light of the sea'. She is.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I like to take one-on-one dates with my grandchildren. This was a beautiful Girl's Night Out consisting of dessert, sightseeing and ballet. We began our evening at Tre Cugini, my favorite downtown Italian restaurant, because of the 'big girl' atmosphere. After being seated at one of the high-tops we ordered a Shirley Temple (for Miss M) and a strawberry champagne gelatto to share. (shush! I'm sure there's only a tiny bit of champagne in there)


I think we were two bites into the gelatto when she leaned over and whispered into my ear, "can we come here again?" Um, yeah. Whenever you would like, darling.

One of many highlights for Miss M was when the accordian player approached her and asked if he could play her a song. It was sweet and adorable as she watched him play, her little chin resting on crossed arms, completely absorbed in his music.

We had time after dessert to explore some of downtown, but since it was quite cold for walking outside we wandered over to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. The hotel is beautiful and elegant and it was fun to watch Miss M as she explored the fountains and curving staircases. This photo is on the second floor balcony - much better to see the chandeliers from here. I imagine she would like one of these in her room?

Next it was off to see Coppelia with the toys and dolls and dancing. Miss M called it a ballet movie. I can see that. The stage did sort of look like a movie theater.

Fabulous evening! Fabulous company! I enjoyed every minute.

Here she is the next morning making us crepes. Yummmm. I didn't bring her home for 2 days. They knew where she was.