"Hope has overactive tear ducts. All she does is cry."

Early this morning I picked up Julia and Ciara and drove downtown to the One America. We were about to participate in Bop To The Top, a climb up 36 flights of stairs. I'd done it once before about three years ago and thought I was having a heart attack so the goal this year was so avoid that.

I love adventurous things like this with Katy, Ci, Grace and Julia. They're always up for having fun. When it was finally time to go we waited at the bottom of the stairwell to be released one by one. I carried a bottle of water with me and didn't try to go hard at first.

Julia, Katy and I caught up to each other and stuck pretty close the rest of the way up. my legs were burning by the 4th floor and we were spent by floor 16, halfway up. Finally we made it to the 36th floor and the view over the city was beautiful. I didn't have a heart attack and I only felt like I was going to throw up for a couple minutes.

 Fudge did the Triple Step (3 times to the top) and more fun friends like Elise and Lulu did it too.

Handstands make your legs feel better after climbing 780 steps.

The fun was far from over when we completed the climb.  Julia and I looked so campy in the middle of January which was sweet. Did you know she'll be in the CILT Pack this summer?

 A big group of friends joined the Andritsch fam across the street at Le Peep for breakfast/lunch. The girls researched love languages and devoured pancakes, waffles, eggs and bacon.

I took a slight detour on the way home with Ci and Julia to show them the Indianapolis Public Library. It's one of my favorite buildings downtown-- a mix of old and new architecture. We rode the escalators all the way to the top to get a view over the whole city.

Later tonight we gathered at Julia's house for her birthday party. She invited her best friends from all her different friend groups-- Chloe, Anne, Olivia Kegley, Olivia Burgess, Katy, Hope, Brooke, Hannah, Leah, Maddy and me. (Carol couldn't come because of a competition). We started with dinner at Chipotle-- Julia's favorite place.

 Eventually we made it back to Julia's house for birthday cake, presents and a sleepover.

Hope and I gave Julia the same Patagonia-look-alike-fleece from Old Navy. She got knitting needles from Katy. Hannah gave her a really cool little book that we all filled in with things we love about Julia.

 Julia's mom has a photography studio in Fishers called Studio 116. (You should get your Senior pics done with her!) The coolest part of the night was when we got to go to her studio and take pictures of all the friends. I loved getting to see all of these friends from different parts of Julia's life together at once. All the pictures will be in the next post.