Fourth of July with my Northern Suburbs Family

After the Miss IL pageant concluded, I had the privilege of road-tripping all the way up to the Chicago area with my Teen Kalina, Pre-Teen Cassidy, and Cassidy's mom Janine--thank you for driving up the whole state IL! It was such a good time for me to spend with them, and we really bonded together. We were all pretty tired and slaphappy that day, so we have quite a few inside jokes and funny memories. (For the record, I really do love you girls, no matter what you say! Haha!)

On Independence Day, our directors and my princess Sophia joined us for the Lake Villa Fourth of July. It was a very hot, sunny day, so lots of the kids watching the parade had squirt guns...one boy actually squirted us as we went by on our festive float! I gave out some autographed photos, and we all had a good time meeting other titleholders at the parade, a troop of girl scouts, and two groups of senior citizens from local nursing homes.

After the parade, we visited The Willows--a Senior Living Facility--where we delivered over 200 handmade Fourth of July cards! It took us several hours to decorate each homemade card with festive stickers and celebratory messages. Each resident has a clip outside their room to receive mail, so we split up and delivered the cards to every room on each of the floors. Kalina and I met a couple cute elderly ladies and had our picture taken together after our conversation. We also met an older woman who was excited about going downstairs for a date! I spotted a baby grand piano in a lounge area, so when we were done delivering the cards, I sat down and performed several pieces. Cassidy and I also sang the Star Spangled Banner. The music helped to coax several residents out of their rooms to watch, including one gentleman who just kept smiling as he listened. We were glad to bring joy to their day!For lunch, Janine invited everyone to her home for a delicious barbecue, and I enjoyed spending more time with my girls, their family members, and Mr. and Mrs. Harwood. Thank you to Janine for being such a wonderful hostess! Later, Kalina and I stopped by Cassidy's softball game and then it was time for us to head home. Thank you to Kalina's mom, Sharon, for driving me part of the way home! It was a great weekend of bonding and reaching out to the people of Lake Villa, IL. I'm so proud of the Miss Northern Suburbs titleholders for showing that we are committed to continuing to represent the Miss America Organization to the best of our abilities. This is truly a special group that I am honored to be part of. Love you all!