ohhhhh…we're halfway there

the obsession with "frozen" continues. in today's episode, we celebrate the halfway point of the school year (holy shit, already!) with something silly and fun: crazy hat day.

as we discussed possible designs for her celebratory chapeau, it took the bean about 3.25 seconds to decide on the perfect theme. one trip to party city and a quick glance though her toy bins later, we were all set. 

i ended up taking one more trip to joann's to find something to drape around the edge of the hat. you know, to give it a little something extra. and then i busted out a bag of cotton stuffing that i use for making little stuffed animals and sat down with the glue gun. it wasn't long before i was done. 

she was super stoked when she saw my handiwork the next morning. 

oh, that toothless grin. makes me smile every time i see it. 

hitting the gym

our second birthday bash of the weekend was in familiar territory - the very same place where the bean takes her weekly gymnastics lesson.

the birthday girl's folks were hard at work making the somewhat drab party room look more like - well, a party. with a super cute mixture of handmade decorations and coordinating pieces from etsy, they managed to achieve their goal.

the teen sat down in the most perfect spot ever:

and i eyed this, wondering what deliciousness they were going to create with it. 

out on the main floor, the party guests were given a quick briefing of the equipment available to them and the basic rules they were expected to follow. the bean had been looking forward to being free to play and experiment on whatever struck her fancy, and she jumped right in. 

when we heard that parents, normally not allowed on the gym floor, were welcome to come and play in the foam pit and trampoline, our shoes were off and in we went.  didn't have to ask us twice.  finally got to try out all the fun the bean gets to have every week.

at the end of the free play hour, the kids all jumped back into the pit for some group photos. i was cracking up at the bean's antics as she goofed around with the rest of them. 

back in the party room, we finally saw (and smelled) what that grill was for. 

after the birthday song, everyone enjoyed cute mini cupcakes from susiecakes. 

as she opened presents, the birthday girl posed with each of her guests and thanked them with a hug. 

and now we get a break from birthday bashes...for at least one weekend. yay!

my girl wants to party all the time

it's totally birthday party season for the bean right now.  in the last month alone, we've been to like four gatherings with more on the horizon.  i suppose it makes sense though - as the hub pointed out, she had like 30 kids at her party in october.  i'm sure there are more invitations coming our way in the near future.

the party we attended on saturday was for one of her old soccer teammates.  unlike the soccer program we enrolled her in for the winter season*, she actually liked the girls she played with and had a good time.  and so when we received a super cute invitation wrapped around a mini rolling pin and realized who the party was for, she was really excited to see her friends again.

*the girls in her current program are SERIOUS. SOCCER. PLAYERS.  they also came with SUPER. SERIOUS. PARENTS.  after a few practices and a couple of games, we finally took pity on our poor girl and let her off the hook.  i'd thought it would be fun like the fall season we'd just done, but it was all too intense for my non-aggressive, skip-not-run kid.  so much so that she wailed and cried and made braying noises the likes of which i've never heard out of her before (and hope never to be subjected to again).  

the day started off with a bang.  as i was finishing up a shower after an early barre class, she burst through the door with a triumphant "MOMMY!  my tooth came out!"

my little toothless wonder.  so funny.

after all that excitement, we ended up running about ten minutes late to the party.  no worries, though.  she still got to decorate her chef's hat and put on a colorful apron before heading into the kitchen to make her pizza.

the girls were clearly in for a fun-filled afternoon, judging from the itinerary laid out on the whiteboard.

the table was all decked out with all sorts of kid-friendly pizza toppings for the group to put their edible masterpieces together.  she had fun putting that rolling pin to use on a lump of soft, squishy pizza dough.

with her carefully assembled pizza safely on the next pan in line to be placed in the oven, she made her way into the back yard, where a table was set up with potholders to be decorated with puffy paint in all sorts of pastel-y, pearly, glittery colors.

she now wants one of these too.  i can't lie, i think it would be really fun.

after participating in a few fun old school-type games like "pin the chef's hat on the birthday girl" and "over/under," she managed to score a prize.

by then, the pizzas were all ready.

i'm going to guess that the birthday girl isn't a big cake fan.  because instead, each guest was handed a cup of fluffy, delicious chocolate pudding and instructed to dress them up with "worms" and "dirt."

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 i love watching this one get just as excited as the little kids.

okay, i can't lie.  i may have indulged in a dirt cup myself.

in this age of balls-to-the-wall pinterested-out birthday parties (my own gatherings included), i thought it was pretty awesome to come to a shindig that wasn't crazy with tiny details and instead just busted out with some good old fashioned fun.  the kids had a blast just being together and playing games, eating food they made themselves, and doing simple little crafts that let them bring out their artsy-fartsy side.

i may have to follow suit this year - if we do a party at all.  i wonder if i can get away with suggesting a fun outing with a couple of close friends to celebrate her birthday this year instead.

wouldn't that be awesome?  i guess we'll see.

frozen in time

thanks to parent-teacher conference time, the bean had a whole day off from school. after spending some quality time with her teacher and hearing all about what a great student she is, we threw in some comfy clothes and headed down to the house of the mouse for some magical fun.

although she opted not to wear her elsa costume, we sucked it up and got in this line.

we killed time by playing word games and chatting about all sorts of things. she was excited to meet the princesses from frozen and didn't balk at the long line. 

happily, it went a lot faster than anticipated, and 85 minutes into our wait, we found ourselves at the front of the line at last.

when we got inside, the room was decorated like the castle from the movie, with pretend sweets all laid out for the coronation gala.

when it was her turn to approach anna and elsa, the bean was uncharacteristically shy. she smiled bashfully at the girls and then turned to pose for the camera. 

making our way back to toontown, we followed the bean as she wove her way through the various houses. seeing that the wait to meet mickey was just 10 minutes long, we indulged her request to go and say hello to her favorite mouse.

i'm not sure why or how it started, but taking this picture on our way out has become a must-do.

"it's a small world" is currently closed, perhaps partially to finish the removal of the holiday overlay and also to prepare for filming. a movie called "tomorrowland" is scheduled for production at the park this week, and there was quite a flurry of activity back there. in the cast? george clooney. SWOON. 

i love this phone case. 

at the bean's request, we headed to new orleans square for a mint julep and some beignets. 

a little later, as we strolled through california adventure, we spied a familiar face:

nanette and her family were heading out after a lovely staycation at the resort, and i was happy to have caught a glimpse of them even for a second.

all in all, a lovely way to spend a bonus day off from school.