Disney, Dating, Drawing and Dress-Up

Unbelievably busy few days 'round here. You'd think that battling triple digit heat would slow us down like molasses and we'd do nothing other than pour tall, cool, drinks and lounge in the pool. Nahhhhh. What fun would that be? Instead we pumped up the activity level from its already existing high to supersonic.

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Disney:

Lauren had no school on Friday so Jackie used our passes to take her to Disneyland. Thankfully the temps hadn't yet risen above about 85 degrees, but still, for us, it was hot. The visit was a reward for Lauren being so successful with her thumb sucking chart, and her treat was the purchase of a princess/character autograph book with frilly pen. From the look of her book and the pictures taken, she must have been on a serious mission to hunt down every character in the park.









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Dating:

Guess what? Mama and Daddy actually had a date this weekend. Ok, so it was really just dinner with a client, but we still got dressed up, stayed out past our bedtimes, and had relatively adult conversation, so it counts as a date in my book.

It's also a good excuse to hone our burgeoning self-photography skills (please read that very sarcastically) and practice our prom pose.



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Drawing:

Cousin Harry and his new wife Sofi are in So Cal for their honeymoon (all the way from Vermont), and we were so thrilled that they came to my parents' house yesterday for lunch. We milked as much catching up as we possibly could over the course of a couple of hours. Lauren warmed up to them almost immediately. By the time we reached dessert, our budding artiste was eagerly drawing with Harry (he is a reknown cartoonist and award-winning children's book illustrator - www.harrybliss.com)





We also learned that Sofi loves to surf and has a 10-year-old daughter named Delia (which just so happens to be my name in Spanish class throughout high school). Needless to say, a return trip to California for them, or a jaunt to Vermont for us in the not-too-distant-future is a must-do.





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Dress-Up:

We went straight from my parents' house to a birthday party for one of Lauren's dance friends, Liliana (Norm actually dropped us off and picked us up - hottest chauffeur ever).

What. A. Party. It was billed as a dress-up tea party. I took that to mean that each guest was supposed to come in either a fancy dress or a princess costume, and they would be served punch out of plastic tea cups with some finger sandwiches.

Ha.

The hosts' backyard was turned into every little girl's dream.

A table meticulously decorated was set with real china cups and saucers (that the girls got to take home as favors).



A entire "rack" of beautiful gowns and costumes for the girls to wear, with additional bins of jewelry and tiaras.



Liliana and Lauren had unwavering focus while crafting beaded bracelets to wear with their outfits.



After donning their dress selections (naturally, Lauren chose the Barbie princess dress), it was off to the makeup table for rose-hued blush and and sparkly pink eyes and lips.







The girls then gathered for a group shot.



Before sitting down for tea and snacks.



Amidst the euphoric sugar rush, courtesy of cupcakes and eclair bites, the girls decided their makeup just had to be reapplied.

Out went the soft, pearly, pink makeup. The late afternoon sun called for something a little more daring and dramatic.





Introducing Goth Barbie. Sure to become this season's biggest seller.