I have learned two things in the past 24 hours:
1. I'm TOO good at surprises. My children now expect them and are crazy good at guessing them at the first sign of shenanigans.
2. Hamilton with someone who has listened to the soundtrack 2348710498109 times is AN EXPERIENCE.
These things are related, of course.
Alexis is a massive Hamilton fan. Of course. It's a whole lot of history, even more singing and dancing, and basically Lin Manual Miranda is her soul mate. Everything he does makes Alexis extremely happy. So of course I had to try to get Hamilton tickets while we were in Chicago. It turned out to be remarkably easy, and actually less expensive than it will be when it tours Pittsburgh. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'll take it. Thus, we drove 7 hours to Chicago and promptly got fancy to go to a show.
Alexis KNEW the second we walked out of the hotel. I don't know how. She claims it wasn't because of the fancy matching dresses I had for her and Mila. I make them wear random stuff all the time, so it's not a reliable tell. But by the time we turned the corner to the theater, Alexis knew exactly what was up.
I'm going to have to level up my shenanigan-making. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
The show, of course, was fantastic and magical and perfect and actually better than I expected. Which, I had HIGH expectations. So. It was also funnier than I expected. The impressive part is that I know that despite the woman on my left who was having the time of her life (so much dancing in her seat - it was fantastic, but a little distracting), the tween on my right who SANG EVERY SINGLE LYRIC OMG, and the small child in my lap who flipped back and forth between enthralled and CAN WE GO TO THE HOTEL NOW?
Mila loves hotelS. Her asking to leave 25 times had nothing to do with the show, which she loved, it was that HOTEL, MOM. LET'S GO TO THE HOTEL.
There was a lot happening, is what I'm saying. With the two superfans on either side of me, it ended up having an almost Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe to it. It was very interactive and lively and ... happy.
I really like being surrounded by people who are living their best life. It's pretty much the greatest.
