celebrating mini cee

the second shindig in our frozen-themed party doubleheader weekend was for the bean's BFF, mini cee.  she was so excited to celebrate mini cee's 5th birthday, and we were among the first to arrive.

lilcee had managed to snag a sweet spot in a somewhat secluded, semi-private park near pasadena's cal tech.  they'd also scored with the most perfect weather possible - sunny, breezy, temps in the 70s.  it was a glorious day.

it was comical to see the kids flip their shit when elsa arrived at the far corner of the park.  they all scurried towards her like moths to a flame.

even though she'd just seen "elsa" at a party just the day before, the bean was swept up in the excitement of it all.  apparently, she was really worried that elsa's cape would get dirty.

and i've gotta say - out of the, oh, five-ish elsas we've seen over the last six months, this one was the best.  she knew how to handle those kids and they were like putty in her hands.  they listened to her and tripped all over themselves to do her bidding.  she rewarded them with a fun story.

meanwhile, the adults were milling around taking pictures, snacking, socializing.  the dessert table that lilcee put together came out (unsurprisingly) beautifully:

with the birthday girl distracted by her many guests, the bean and nanette's em got the chance to spend some quality time together.

when it was time to do some face painting, that elsa pulled out another neat trick that avoided a long line full of squirmy, impatient party guests.  she whipped out a washable marker and assigned each kid a number, and that's the order in which they were called up for their turn.  so simple.  so smart.

the bean was obviously very concerned about her friend and hovered anxiously nearby as she got her face painted.

then it was her turn for some face time with the ice queen.  they bonded for a minute before elsa got down to business.

why yes, i sure did choose my outfit carefully that day.  i busted out an ensemble in the same colors as elsa's sister anna's costume.  it's what the true disney geeks call "disneybounding" - since adults aren't typically allowed to wear costumes to the parks, a lot of people get around it by donning getups reminiscent of their favorite characters.  don't judge me.  i don't do it very often.

cake time!

with a chunk of dry ice and a good cooler, lilcee had even managed to acquire and keep cold three gallons of locally-made fosselman's ice cream.  good stuff, man.

SFAMily group shot!

then it was piñata time.  the bean did a pretty good job of smacking the shit outta olaf.

i'm so bummed that i never did get a picture of the bean with mini cee.  bah!  instead, here's another shot with em.

it is so fun to watch these kids grow up together.  it's hard to believe they're all getting so big!  the years are just flying by.

well hey elsa, how you doin'?

the bean has been to a good number of "frozen"-themed birthday parties this year.  each one has been a little different, and all of them have been super duper fun.  i mean, it's a party...with food, and games, and cake.  what could be not fun about all of that?

i'd been asked to make some cookies for the party favors for a friend's daughter, and when we were discussing delivery, she invited us to join them for the afternoon.  luckily, our calendar was pretty open and we were able to go.

the party venue was really cute.

the cookies were placed carefully next to the goody bags.

there was a whole closet full of costumes and accessories to put on.

the bean actually tried on two before she gave up and decided to just wear the dress she'd come in.  i tried to get a picture of her, but she wasn't having it and all i got was this blurriness.

when she came out, elsa was already hard at work getting all of the guests served for their "tea."  i love that the punch was totally color-coordinated with the party theme.

i talked her into throwing on a tutu and some wings, just for fun.

meanwhile, the teen busied herself at the coloring table.

craft time!  cute idea, although if i went to sleep with that thing and woke up in the middle of the night, that pillow would scare the shit out of me.

as if they hadn't gotten enough sugar...

but they worked it out a little with a game of freeze dance.

she had a "tiara" painted on her face, got her photo op with elsa, and then it was time to go.

always the sign of a successful party.

heroes in a half shell

i love that so many toys and characters from the 80s are totally cool again. my little pony? teenage mutant ninja turtles? strawberry shortcake? it's like i'm 10 again. 

i did TMNT-themed cookies for my friend mommybelle last year, but they were simpler - pizzas to represent the turtles' favorite food. this time, when i was asked for cookies with a turtles theme, i went all out.

not wanting to buy a special cutter, i went on a hunt through my stash and came up with these:

those peeps ears would be perfect to create the turtles' masks. here's what the cut dough looked like:

after perusing some other ideas via google images, i got my black icing out and started the outline. 

with the bean's help, i achieved the perfect green for the face and started filling it in. 

the rest of it was super easy after that. i filled in the masks using the TMNT's four different colors and their eyes, added a few more details, and voila:

they looked great all wrapped up and tied with matching ribbons. 

turtle ninjas. so funny!

gimme all the free t-shirts

disney is always doing some sort of contest, with all sorts of prizes from merchandise to trips to cruises and stuff.  i enter them often, along with a kajillion other people, and it's always fun to imagine what it would be like to win something.  we all know how much i love me some freebies.

so when i got an email about a drawing for disney annual passholders to see a sneak peek screening of their new movie "million dollar arm," the auto-pilot kicked in and i filled out the entry form for me, the hub and the teen.  i didn't even know anything about the movie other than that it was some sort of sports-oriented story starring jon hamm.

well, wouldn't you know it - the teen checked her email one afternoon and noticed that she'd received something about a contest.  i hadn't even told her that i entered us all into the contest, because i never anticipate winning those things.  but sure enough, when she showed me the email, it was basically notifying her that she'd been selected to bring a fellow annual passholder to downtown disney for a pre-party at espn zone and a screening of the movie.

as we were getting ready to head down to anaheim on movie day, the hub asked me if i even knew what the movie was about.  i was like, "um, no.  but from the title...maybe football?"

"so you're going to this thing and you don't even know what it is?  just because it's from disney?"

"yup.  come on, it's a free movie!"

"you're such a disney whore."

well, i couldn't argue with that.  it's true.  heh.

downtown disney was crowded when we got there.  it was mid-morning on a saturday, and a lot of people head out there because you can park for three hours free and get a little taste of disney without having to pay the exorbitant park ticket prices.  we still managed to find a parking spot fairly easily though, and made a beeline for espn zone.

as many times as i've been in this area, i don't think i've been to this place more than once or twice.  i mean, it's not like i'm a huge sports fanatic anyway, so i was curious as to what to expect.  the cast members at the event check-in gave us wristbands, handed us a couple of t-shirts and these:

turns out that the prize included a couple of hours' worth of free games upstairs.  bonus!

we spent some time playing air hockey on this giant table meant for four players.

because of my only child syndrome, i really get into these games.  i play hard and end up super sweaty.  good thing we'd been given shirts at check-in, and we changed into them after a few games of air hockey and a couple of rounds of shooting hoops.  then we moved on to skee ball and other fun stuff.

on the opposite end of the gaming floor, they were serving hot dogs and chips.  since we'd eaten before we left the house - not to mention that the teen abhors hot dogs - we skipped it and played a few more games.

then it was time to walk over to the movie theater, just across the way.

so, the movie.  it turned out to be about baseball - based on a true story in which jon hamm played an independent sports agent who ended up touring india for several months in search of the next baseball stars.  we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a really good movie, and one that we'd be willing to watch again.  i think the hub would dig it, too.  the bean...not so much.  ha!

it came out last week, so if you're looking for something to watch while you munch on nachos and sip from a vat of soda (oh wait, maybe that's just me?), "million dollar arm" comes highly recommended by me and my kid.

and, well, jon hamm.  'nuff said.