recapping random fun

since we got home from vegas we've done all sorts of fun stuff.  one morning, i got to have fun mimosa brunch with a few of my mom friends from school.

later that afternoon, the bean and i went to the local bowling alley with the old lady and her special friend for some friday fun.  i'd forgotten how much fun bowling is, and it's a pretty inexpensive activity that everyone enjoys.  well...everyone but the hub, who opted to stay home and hang out in the back yard while he got some work done.  i guess it was easier for him to crank some stuff out with us out of the house, too.

on st. patrick's day, we headed out to south pasadena to have some brunch at the raymond.  we were shown into the bar area to wait for our table to be ready, where the bartender talked us all into having one of their irish coffees.  okay, it didn't take much convincing, but his enthusiastic description of the fresh coffee with irish whiskey and housemade irish cream sold us pretty hard.

we shared one of their homemade cinnamon rolls:

and a dutch baby pancake, because it sounded so good.

i had the italian baked eggs, which was super delicious with prosciutto, potatoes and mushrooms baked with tomato and parmesan cheese.  talk about morning comfort food.

and when the irish coffee was all gone, i ordered up a bloody mary which turned out to be so spicy i ended up with heartburn not too much later.  such an old lady.

we capped off the day by firing up the spa for the first time in months.  it was a beautiful, warm day and soaking in the water with the jets on high was wonderfully relaxing.  stevie would come over and check on us from time to time before scampering off to play with the bean, who'd oddly decided not to join us in the water.

then we were invited to a surprise party for our friend's 50th birthday, and i was asked to make some cookies to add to the sweets table:

and they went perfectly with the rest of the goodies in the candy buffet.  there was a jar of gumballs marked "50 blows," lollipops for "50 sucks," hershey's kisses that said "50 can kiss it."  you get it.

there was a fun backdrop for taking pictures:

and still, this was the only picture i got with the hub.

the bean was having such a good time with her friends that i never even got a single picture with her at all.  oh well.

the hub's 40th birthday is next week, and we're going to spend the whole weekend celebrating.  this should be good.  just wait.

rollin' outta third grade

ah, the last week of school. isn't it always the best time of the year? all the hard work is done, grades have been turned in, and the final days are spent just unwinding, having fun, signing yearbooks. i always loved it.

as does the bean. this was her final week of third grade, and even she thought it flew by. every day was a half day, with lots of fun stuff planned. 

monday was cleanup day. the kids brought extra bags to class to pack up all of their supplies, artwork, projects, etc. and when that was all done they got to have an ice cream party to celebrate their accomplishments during "multiplication madness." over the last couple of months they worked on mastering their times tables and some basic 1- and 2-digit multiplication and basic division, and with each test passed they earned a topping for their ice cream sundae. the bean got all the way through the tables 0-12, multiplying 2 digits times 1 digit and then times 2 digits, plus dividing 3 digits by 1. it was a long, hard road for the entire class and they were thrilled to enjoy the fruits of their labor. 

after school that day we decided to truck out to the mall for lunch and a celebratory squishy from the sanrio store.

strawberry pocket pies from the hello kitty cafe seemed appropriate, too. 

and because her new cheer schedule conflicts with her hula class, this was her last one for awhile. we're hoping the schedule changes for fall, so our fingers are crossed that she can go back. 

tuesday was board game day. they got to bring a game to school to share with their friends, and spent some time signing each other's yearbooks. 

wednesday was extra fun. i'd made shirts for the whole third grade class to wear to their bowling party and i was pretty stoked to see them all wearing them. they got to grab sharpies and sign the backs of the shirts before grabbing a little breakfast. it was pretty funny watching them form little trains as they signed away. 

breakfast was provided potluck-style by the parents, plus some delicious donuts that my co-room mom brought in. 

the bowling party was a blast. 

and what's a party without cake?

the bean's teacher surprised me with a cute little pedicure basket and a little book of notes from the entire class that thanked me for being their room mom. it was all so dang sweet, and i had to wait till i got home to read it all. because you know, i didn't want to cry in front of the kids. 

yesterday was the very last day of the year. the only thing on the agenda was the final awards assembly, and we started the day with our traditional last day of school photo:

we were super proud of her as she accepted her awards. as hard as the third grade had been, she managed to pull down straight As all year long and kept her spot on the principal's list the whole way through. not only that, but she had perfect attendance for the first time ever. pretty awesome. 

we love all of her friends!

i was really amused to watch her with some of the girls as they headed back to the classroom to get their report cards. like, i KNOW she had to be feeling quite regal as her buddy carried the back of her maxi skirt to keep it from getting dirty. 

one final moment with her teacher and friends:

and then it was off to a pool party:

and later that evening, the movies. the new pirates flick is fantastic, by the way. a must-see if you were a fan of the first three. and be sure to stay to the end of the credits for a bonus scene!

whew! what a week. what a YEAR!  and now, time for a much-needed break with a summer of freedom. no summer school means no morning routines, and with all of her extracurricular activities being later in the day, it's gonna be grand. i can't wait to see what summer brings for us. 

and then come august- fourth grade, here we come!

blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol

i know you've gotta be pretty stinking tired of hearing about the endless birthday week celebration, so i'll wrap up the weekend in this one last post.  i'd skip over it, but it was just so much damn fun.

well, actually, it started off pretty slowly with the bean's saturday math and science class, plus her weekly soccer game.  and then things got quiet as the hub went off to work at the lounge for a bit and the old lady took a nap.  i decided to make good on a promise to the bean and made her a dress just like the one i'd worn to disneyland the day before:

she ended up wearing it that evening to dinner.  we headed out to tokyo wako, where we were treated to dinner AND a show:

everybody was happy.

my crab roll appetizer was really delicious.

as he perused the drink menu, the hub said "you should get one of these."  when i went to decline as i usually do, the old lady side eyed me with a "ugh, you're such a square."  OH YEAH?

i kid you not, i got through about half of this bad boy and things started getting fuzzy.  what a lightweight.  but it sure made stuff like this even more entertaining:

i do remember saying something about how it tasted like gasoline before i went to chug more of it down.  and then i also recall getting to the end of it and gesturing to the server to bring me another.  yup.  and then when i tried to get the girls to take a selfie with me, i got this:

the hub was much more accommodating.

so much so that when i blurted out "hey, i'm gonna get on social media!"  he just chuckled and said "yeah, that sounds like a GREAT idea!"  and if you follow me on twitter or are my facebook friend, well, you know the rest.

we went on a shopping spree at bath & body works because i said that the house smelled like dog pee, and i face planted right into several different candles trying to figure out which one i liked best.  the girls scored when i pointed out some fuzzy socks that i said they absolutely had to have, and then we were outta there.  the second we got home i ran to the potty and then, remembering that i needed to get up early for a 10K, face planted into bed with all my clothes and makeup and everything on.  at 2:30 i woke up with cotton mouth and got up to drink about four gallons of water, and then at 6:30 i was outta there.

luckily, the race was literally 10 minutes away from the house.  i look ready, don't i?

i found a couple of friends before the race started.

and then we were off!

oh, that oprah.  always so inspiring.

one down, five to go.

off to the side, i caught a glimpse of raging waters.  it was really warm and humid already at that hour, and i would've loved to take a ride down just one water slide.

at least the views of the lake were pretty.

right as i hit the first of what turned out to be many hills, the most perfect song came on my pandora.

just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

 somewhere between miles 3 and 5, i was so pooped and hot i missed the 4th mile marker.

miley took me on through the rest of the race.

with that done, i headed home to get cleaned up and then right back out again to south pasadena to meet up with mama wan for brunch.  it was lovely to see her, and i happily filled up on eggs, bacon and lemon ricotta pancakes.  yum.

then we had a quick playdate with friends at a nearby bowling alley:

and then went home and gave the bean a history lesson.

guess what starts this weekend?  THE BEAN'S BIRTHDAY WEEK.  i'm almost as excited for hers as i was for mine.  the fun around here, i tell ya - it never ends.