a little time with daddy

one of the local girl scout troops hosted a father-daughter dance last weekend, and from what the hub tells me, it was epic.

i, of course, left it till the very last minute to find something for the bean to wear.  we made a few stops that morning looking for something pretty and frilly and extra special, and found it at target, of all places.  it was from the "cinderella" line, with silver sequins at the top and a silver sequin "glass slipper" appliqué near the hem.  to be perfectly honest, i wasn't a huge fan of what she picked out (mainly due to the "CINDERELLA" printed under the slipper. hello, walking advertisement), but after awhile i came to my senses and realized that i had to make like elsa and let it go.  and really, the dress looked cute on her, she was beaming in it, and that's all that matters, right?

not to mention, you can't really see the offending ad anyway, unless you look really closely.

i was surprised that she even let me bust out the curling iron to prettify the ends of her hair:

extreme closeup!

i love this picture.  the looks on both of their faces are priceless.

since i wasn't there to snap, snap, snap away at every little thing, i didn't get much in the way of photographic evidence to share.  the dance was at a local church, and was so popular that they'd had to turn away registrations.  the organizers vowed to find a larger venue for next year's event.

after dinner, they headed to the photo booth for some fun.  she took pictures with both her daddy and her crew from her own troop.

when the dancing started, he tells me that she marched right up to the DJ and requested specific songs...and then proceeded to lead everyone in a train around the dance floor.  apparently, he was also rather entertained at the room full of 6-10 year-olds singing along with gusto to bruno mars' "uptown funk."

i've already volunteered to help organize next year's dance.  it'll be fantastic.

this i prom-ise you

what's the most important night of your high school years, aside from graduation?

prom!

i still can't believe that my firstborn has now experienced this oh-so-important rite of passage.  and looked far more fabulous than i ever have.  we'd shopped early for her dress and found it on the first try, thanks to a tip from lilcee.  she had all of her beauty appointments lined up and all of her accessories purchased way in advance, and even found herself taking charge of coordinating the party bus for their group of 36.

you want details?  i got details!

corset back and gorgeous hair.

sparkly shoes and holographic nail polished toes.

lush eyelash extensions, with a few pink highlights to match her dress.

earrings courtesy of stella & dot.

put it all together, and you get this phenomenal promtastic package:

cousin seven showed up to see her off and get a few pictures.

the bean was oh, so proud of her beautiful sister.

she's got mad love for the teen's friend, meow.

the teen's prom date was meow's brother.

corsage!

with 36 excited seniors, plus parents and other various family members armed with everything from phone cameras to full-on professional DSLRs, there was a whole lot of picture taking.  the bean entertained herself as best she could.

my babies!

the group gathered in the backyard for more photos.

back out front, someone had already grown weary of their high heels.

and i couldn't help but laugh at this.

at last, the bus arrived.

the bean and the hub had disappeared by then, but the car was still there.  this was explained the moment the bus doors opened:

before they could board the bus, each person had to sign a waiver that basically held them to a "no alcohol or drugs" promise.  and then there was a little snafu with the sound system as the cable to connect the iPod with the party playlist was on the fritz.  but the problem ironed itself out, and the group was finally on its way.  the bean looked on sadly as the bus pulled away and headed off to the high school, where the professional photos were being taken.

no worries, little girl.  it'll be your turn soon enough.

partyin', partyin', YEAH

did you ever go to sadie hawkins dances in high school?

hell, my school wasn't cool enough to have any of those.  although it's pretty fun to think back and mull over the choices i would've had to pick from to ask as my date.  heh.

anyway, the teen just had hers last weekend.  because of a miscommunication of the actual day of the dance, she ended up dateless for the actual event.  boo.  but my girl is resilient - she didn't let that stop her from going anyway and having a great time.  i actually wonder if she had more fun because she went stag.

the giant group she was going with met up at one of the girls' homes in the schwanky part o'town.  when we walked in, i muttered to her out of the corner of my mouth "dude.  there's a horse in their house."  and then i pretended to check my camera as i snapped this.

i know.  i know - i'm totally an asshole for taking photos of the inside of this house.  but i couldn't stop myself, and i didn't even get any shots of the really...um, interesting pieces of decor.  check this out, though - it was like the freaking sistine chapel up in there.

the girl's parents must be very patriotic, though.

and i thought it was nice of them to set out refreshments for the parents who came to take pictures of their precious darlings.  yes, me included, but i didn't partake.

when the party bus arrived, the driver required each passenger to sign a "no alcohol" policy.  sweet.

i heard he was also making each parent sign a waiver basically taking all responsibility for any damages possibly incurred to the bus.  too bad he never got around to me.  muahahahahahaha.

the kids were all dressed really casually - logo tees (each couple wore matching ones, how cute), jeans, and converse tennies.  here's the teen with her girls.

rock-ell wanted a shot with yours truly, which i thought was sweet.

quite the bus they rode in - i always laugh at this, since dances are always at school.  which is literally down the street.  but they do it up for dances, this time heading to downtown disney for pre-party dinner and then getting dropped off at school in style.

ugh, yes.  that is indeed a pole in there.  UGH.

the teen loves to ham it up.  wonder where she got that from?  i just don't know.

it was hilarious listening to her stories about the evening.  and i was so happy when she mentioned being a bit sore after all that dancing.  because if you know my kid, you'll know that shakin' her booty in public ain't her thang.  i guess she decided it was better to just let it loose and go with the flow.

so yay, she got in a workout too!  go operation bathing suit 2012!