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Another Big Bite

Another Big Bite

Category Archives: Nerd Alert

There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales from the glories of Halloweens long, long ago…

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting, The Good Ole Days

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

brave, costumes, disneyland, diy, family, halloween, halloween costume, kids, merida, sewing, traditions, yeti

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I could easily be listening to the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” on repeat right now.  Not because I am excited that Christmas is sneaking up on me like a White Walker.  Not because I particularly enjoy Amy Grant (truth be told, her version grates on my nerves like nothing else at Christmastime – you know what I mean, Mom).  Because THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  HALLOWEEN.

Last year, we had the best Halloween costumes EVER.  This year, I knew there wouldn’t be any way to top them.  The kids are getting older (and so are Nae and I), and getting everyone on board for one cohesive theme is… Difficult.  Which is fine.  Pretty soon, Nathan and I will be left to our (my) own devices and we’ll get to choose what to go as together since neither of us wants to dress up as a Skylander or something from Monster High.  But for now, the kids are into the things we expose them to and don’t take notice of much else.  Not having cable – not having commercials – really cuts down on the crazy shit they regurgitate from television.

Finn at the Matterhorn

Since our trip to Disneyland this summer, Finn’s Yeti obsession kicked into overdrive and he firmly decided that he would be a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti (not to be super specific or anything).  After balking at the cost of faux fur, I opted to stick with a white hoodie with a fur hood, gloves and boots.

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And (obviously) Nathan had to be a Yeti as well.  It was either that or a mountain climber.  Not some high-speed 2014-era adrenaline junkie, but a 1950’s, Swedish, Riiiiiiiiccccccooooooolllaaaaaaa-yodeling dude in Lederhosen.  Yeti it was.

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Oh, and the eyes HAD TO GLOW.  Because they do on the ride.  And we are all about authenticity in this family.

Alice in Scottish Highlands

I did a little happy dance when Alice picked Merida from Brave.  I was dreading making that stupid Elsa cape, but a Halloween miracle occurred and she burned out on singing “Let it Go” and watching Frozen daily sometime in July.  Merida – or “Orange Mother” as Alice refers to her – is a bow-and-arrow-toting badass compared to Elsa and Anna.  Brave centers on the struggle between her and her mother (who she has turned into a bear), so when Alice proclaimed that I was to be “Orange Mother’s Mother” I had a slight panic attack over twenty thousand yards of green taffeta and me in a floor-length gown with bell sleeves.  Queen Elinor?  Christ.  Here we go.

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Not to worry.  Alice wanted me to be the bear.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear.  Black hoodie?  Check.  Furry ears?  Check.  Crown?  Check.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear? Done.  Waaay easier than Alice’s Merida dress.  Which only took me a week and a half.  Only.

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Outtake alert.  Here is Alice “hunting yetis.”  Finn is not alarmed at all.  Which is somewhat worrisome when your kid doesn’t even flinch when someone is pointing a weapon at them.

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We went to Boo at the Zoo at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We were fully prepared for pandemonium like last year, but it turns out that it is way less crowded two weeks before Halloween and we had more than enough time to do the whole lap twice.

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We went on the Skyride for the very first time.

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We went on the carousel for the fifty-seventh time.

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And thank god that everyone recognized who the kids were.  Not that anyone who complimented Finn on his Abominable Snowman costume was politely corrected by the little man himself.

“It is a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti.  AND his eyes glow.”

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We also got to wear them to the grade school’s Trunk or Treat on Saturday.  And on Halloween on Friday.  After that, they go into heavy rotation via the costume/dress up pile where the kids will wipe peanut butter on them and roll around in the grass while wearing them.

But that’s not the end of our Halloween story.  Oh, no.  Here in Colorado Springs, the population is a wee bit on the Jesus-loving side and lots of people don’t celebrate Halloween.  I am betting this has something to do with the bizzaro Halloween Costume/Celebration norms that have sprung up in Finn’s school.  The kids aren’t celebrating Halloween at all.  Sortof.  I dunno.  They are having “Literacy Dress Up Day,” in which a pre-approved list of (not-Halloween) costumes was passed out.  Spoiler: Yetis were not on the list.  Little Boy Blue was.  Georgie Porgie was.  Abe Lincoln was.

Whatever.

Which meant I had another costume to make.  And though I would never dream of buying a costume off the shelf, it isn’t like they have The Little Red Hen costumes at Walmart anyway.

I begged for Teddy Roosevelt.  “Round Glasses!  Mustache!  You could ride Alice’s stuffed moose!!”

Shot down.

“Oooohhh!  Three blind mice!  Mickey ears!  Sun glasses!”

Nope.

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In the end, Finn chose to be the grasshopper from Aesop’s Fable The Grasshopper and the Ants.  It took me some time to warm up to the idea, but it was more exciting than George Washington.

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And here is an action shot….

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(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

I am bracing myself for the onslaught on post-Halloween cavities and looking toward Thanksgiving to fill the vacuum that Halloween has left in its wake.  Something tells me that construction paper pilgrim hats and handprint turkeys won’t give me the same thrill as fashioning fishing bobbers and battery-operated votives from Ikea into Yeti eyes.

But it will have to do until Amy Grant starts belting out, “its the MUUUOOOST wonderful time…. Of the YEAR” on the Christmas station.

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Faith, Trust, (a reasonably large sum of money) and Pixie Dust – Disneyland Part 2

27 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, On the Road Again, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

california adventure, disneyland, parenting, tower of terror, Travel, traveling with kids, vacation

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Our second day at Disneyland was a bit of a rough start.  Little people didn’t get quite enough sleep.  Coffee was not consumed early enough.  Hoards of people flocked to the gates an hour early for Disneyland’s early opening.  We were among them.  We were dragging… Quite a bit.

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Alice (very appropriately) snatched up a shiny red apple from the breakfast spread at the hotel.  Today was a day that I had been looking forward to for weeks; we had reservations to dine with the princesses at Ariel’s Grotto.  I brought along Alice’s Snow White dress for the occasion.  About two weeks before we left, I had a moment of extreme, dorkheimer clarity where I resolved to match the little lady.  No, I wasn’t going to wear the same dress…  I was just going to be “inspired” by Alice’s outfit.  Brace yourselves for the onslaught of nerdyness…

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Seriously, if a grown woman can’t dress up as Snow White at Disneyland, the world is a very unfair place.  I was later asked by a perky girl in her early twenties if I was “Disneybounding as Snow White, cause that is, like, so. SO. CUTE.”  Now I know that dressing in a regular outfit “inspired” by a Disney character isn’t just, like, a thing, and, like, so. SO. CUTE, but it has a name; Disneybounding.  And after it was brought to my attention, I realized there were scads of people doing the very same type of thing I was.  And all of them were a decade younger than me.  Even when I don’t even know it, I’m trying too hard.

Not pictured: Finn... Who was pouting in the corner, refusing to take a pic with Mickey.  Again.

Not pictured: Finn… Who was pouting in the corner, refusing to take a pic with Mickey. Again.

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Before we got around to having breakfast (at 9:30, which is damn near lunch time when you wake up at the ass crack of dawn to dress as Disney characters), we caved to Finn’s ever-increasing insistence that he go on The Tower of Terror.  It is aptly named; you get on an elevator in a run-down, haunted, cursed hotel only to shot up 130 feet and shot back down.  Again.  And again.  And again.  Normally, this kinda thing is my jam, but when you involve your naive five-year-old, the momma bear instict kicks in.

We tried talking him out of it.  I made him watch a Youtube video of the ride (which only made him more intent on going).  We resorted to begging, pleading and swearing that it was the scariest ride in the park (it is).  At the end of it all, we decided that the only way to get him to understand how scary it really is was to let him have his way and go on the ride.  He’d learn the hard way.

I gave him every opportunity to back out; all the way up to getting in the actual elevator.  He insisted.  And after buckling in, I realized all this time I had worried about it FOR HIM, I had forgotten just how scary it was going to be FOR ME.  We got in, I got the camera rolling, wrapped my arm around Finny and then started to panic.  But only on the inside.  A few seconds later, I was panicking on the outside, too.

And it was ugly.  Like, nostril-flaring, chin-quivering, ugly-faced crying UGLY.  Wanna see?  Yes.  Yes, you do.

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And it only got worse…

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All the while, Finn never made a peep.  Big eyes, one hand clutched to me and the other one in his mouth.  He was braver than I.  And when we got off, he was peachy.  My leg was shaking like a Nokia on vibrate.  Finn wanted to go again.

“Mom.  MOM.  I forgot to scream!  I was so brave that I didn’t even scream.  We have to go on it again! ”

Just in case you want to listen to me completely lose my shit, here is a minute of video.  Of me screaming.  And Finn’s eyes as big as saucers.  My dad will totally watch it.  And that’s probably all.  Sidebar; this is the worst I have ever looked on camera.  And the one screaming the loudest and the longest?  Yeah… That’d be me.

Right after Tower of Terror, we headed over to breakfast.  Where Alice was decidedly in hog heaven.

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Princess after princess came and went.  Alice was too excited to care much about her food.  I was too excited to care about how much it was costing us since we were saving hours of waiting in line to get autographs and pictures with Alice’s celebrities.

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The only one she couldn’t quite warm up to was Belle (I think it was the giant dress), but Finn was quite smitten.  Cue the blushing.

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Sadly, Tiana was nowhere to be found.  Alice was pretty let down about that, but when we told her we’d get to meet Rapunzel the next day, she leveled off.

And finally; mercifully, Nathan got some coffee in his system.

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It’s good to be king.

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We headed to Cars Land to use our passes at the Radiator Springs Racers.  This is the newest and (what seems to be) the most popular attraction in the whole park.  Since Alice was too small to ride, Nathan and Finn went first, followed by me flying solo.  Trying to explain the Fastpass system, baby swap and wait times to a five-year-old that so desperately wants to ride again sent Finny into a frenzy…  He threw a monumental tantrum.  Nathan ushered me on my way and Finn booked after me, darting through the crowds faster than a dad with a toddler could chase after him.  By the time I met back up with them, Finn and Alice were both (still) bawling and we beelined it for the park’s exit.

Once the kids had napped, they were in much better spirits.  By that time, it was Nathan and I’s turn to have our own tantrums.  It came to a head on our walk to McDonald’s.  Nathan resolved to take Alice in one direction while Finn and I went in another.  We managed to hold it together for a meal.  After Finn remarked that “Daddy isn’t going to leave with Alice; it’s all just a joke,” we both had calmed down, parental guilt weighing on our shoulders.  Honestly, there really isn’t much a handful of carbs and a box of McNuggets can’t fix when you’re on vacation.

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Poof.  Everything was perfect again.

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We took in Mickey and Minnie’s houses over at Toon Town…

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And I managed to snap two of the most adorable pics of Nathan and the kids that night.  Sure, they might not be in focus, but to me; they’re perfect.

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Knowing we still had a third day to conquer, we headed back to the hotel around ten and hoped for a better start the following day.

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After riding everything we’d missed in Fantasyland, Adventureland and taking in Big Thunder Mountain, we rafted over to The Pirate’s Lair.  To me, it will always be Tom Sawyer Island.  There weren’t many people over there; we explored the caves, bridges and the island’s bathrooms in relative peace.

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Just before we made our final stop of the day, we scarfed down Dole Whips outside the Tiki Room.  Then we settled in to watch the story of Tangled at The Royal Theatre.  Man, Disney puts the Renaissance Fairs to shame.  It was hilarious and the kids both enjoyed themselves.

After the show, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider came out to meet us.  Alice was shy.  And hey; Flynn Rider made me blush, too.

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And that's not even him doing "the smolder."

And that’s not even him doing “the smolder.”

The kids were tiring out and we made the wise choice to head on out before things got ugly.  Sadly (though not as sadly as when I leave Disney World), we bid Disneyland adieu.  And made it our life’s mission to make it to Vegas before nightfall.

Success?  Yes.  Two happy kids.  Two exhausted but happy parents.  And totally worth that reasonably large sum of money.

And for those of you still standing, please hold on to the handrails throughout our journey and check out Part 1 of our Disneyland adventure.  And please stand clear of the doors.

 

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Faith, Trust, (a reasonably large sum of money) and Pixie Dust – Disneyland Part 1

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, On the Road Again, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

california adventure, disneyland, disneyland with kids, road trip, Travel, traveling with kids

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Brilliant Plan:  Roadtrip!  Colorado to Southern California.  Two days in the car. Sixteen hours of drive time. Two kids. Concoct biggest surprise said children have had in their short lives.

Chalk this one up to “seemed like a good idea at the time.”

By all accounts, the actual trip was awesome.  The little people were relatively well behaved, Nathan and I were in good spirits (most of the time), and we only realized that the air conditioning in our road trip car was non functional once we reached the desert.  Nice.  Yeah, and we had to replace a set of tires in the middle of nowhere, Alice face planted at Walmart and just barely escaped without stitches in her lip… And that massive surprise was kind of a bust.  But other than that; good times.  Good times.

We headed straight out to Disneyland in complete secret.  Finn thought we were just out for another camping trip while I was busy sneaking autograph books, Mickey ears and Disney pins into my suitcase.  We planned on walking him into Downtown Disney, seeing how long it would take him to notice where we were and then blow the top off the whole charade.  In my mind, I pictured Finn bursting into heaving sobs of joy; hugging and kissing his parents and showering them with gratitude…  Kinda like this kid whose mom reunited him with his best friend after three years of separation.  I seem to have forgotten that my life is not a movie.  And Finn is five.

As we walked, Finny began to notice the signs for Disneyland.  And the monorail.  And when he saw crowds of people walking back to their hotels carrying Disney bags, we thought the cover was blown…

“Wow.  All those people must have just gone on vacation to Disney.  That is really weird.  Look at their bags,” Finn remarked as yet another monorail passed overhead.  And still, completely oblivious.

We sat him down, asked him where he thought he was and braced ourselves for an onslaught of gratitude.  Instead, we got a, “Oh.  That’s cool.”

By the time we were on our way to the actual park the next morning; enthusiasm seemed to pick up.  Finn’s never been to Disneyland (but has been to Disney World), so he knew what was in store, but also knew that there were things in California that he’d never seen in Florida… The Matterhorn.  Cars Land.  Monsters, Inc.  And he knew he was now tall enough to go on Tower of Terror.

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Once we were tucked away into the confines of the Happiest Place on Earth, it was an all-out scramble for Finn to get on as many rides as he could.  We took in the Matterhorn, Dumbo, the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the carousel while all anyone else seemed to care about was scrambling for a place in the two hour line to see Anna and Elsa.  Spoiler:  I have better ideas on how to spend 120 minutes.  We skipped it.

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Alice got her own Mickey ears while Finny and I went on the Matterhorn.  I felt like she was officially inducted into the family.  Sure, she’s two-and-a-half.  And our own flesh and blood.  But now she BELONGS.

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Finn is crazy for the Haunted Mansion…  The video game version, that is.  When we got to the real thing, he was ready to be done.  “Why do they have to make this place so scary???” he pleaded.  All the while, I was hoping that the whole ordeal would scare him enough that he wouldn’t want to try The Tower of Terror.  So far, no success after visiting the 999 happy haunts.  No matter his fear, he was still hell bent on flinging himself (and me) down a thirteen story elevator shaft.

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We stopped for lunch just after riding Winnie the Pooh (best lemon and honey cupcake EVER!!) and headed back to to hotel for a nap soon after.  Both kids crashed hard…  And Nathan and I had one of those moments where we almost cried we were so happy.

Well… I did.

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“Do you want to go back to Disneyland?” I asked as soon as the kids woke up.

“YES!”

For once, they agree on something.

“But what about breakfast?” Finny asked, a slight panic in his voice.

“Finn.  It is still the same day.”  This child is NOT accustomed to taking naps in the middle of the day.

via DisneyTouristBlog.com

Later that evening, we headed over to California Adventure to check out Cars Land.   It really was a sight to behold; Finn and Alice thought it was “really, really, cool” with all the rock formations from the movie.  Nathan and I rolled our eyes since they had zero interest in the real rock formations we had spent hours driving through the day before.  The rides were surprisingly a kick in the pants; I figured bumper cars, spinning tractors and a street that looked exactly like Radiator Springs would be pretty standard faire, but it was awesome.

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While waiting in line for Luigi’s Flying Tires, Alice decided she must braid my hair (just as the two teenage girls were doing in front of us).  She’s got a ways to go before we send her to beauty school.

Alice’s favorite ride of the day was the bumper cars in A Bug’s Land…  Those were exactly as much fun as I remember bumper cars being.  Only slower.  But the kids got to drive, and neither one of them noticed the lame-ness.

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We finished off the night with World of Color (a light and water show) and another trip down the main drag in Radiator Springs.  Every Disney vacation we take, without fail, Nathan always manages to get oddly overexcited about some beverage container…  We have a collection of light up mugs, blinking ice cubes and glowing Buzz Lightyear drink clips awkwardly shoved into the cabinets.  This time, it was the construction cone mug. (By the way, Nathan is not happy with me putting this “stupid picture” of him on Facebook or here.)

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By the time we stumbled back to the hotel that night, we were all cashed.  And still had two more days to go…  On our second day, I managed to showcase my complete lack of coolness – three times – on an epic scale.  One of them involved completely rocking out to “Jump” by Cyprus Hill (a staple of my junior high days) at the Mad T Party… So much so that Finn asked what the hell I was doing.  And that is the tame one.

You’ll just have to wait to see the other two.

See ya real soon!

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Captain’s Log, Stardate 04-05-14: Report from Planet Lego…

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert, Party Hearty, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

birthday party, finn, lego man cake, lego man goody bags, lego party, little boy birthday party

Another Big Bite - Finn

Saturday was a big day for us.  Finn’s birthday party started at two, which meant we started our day at six…  Cleaning, prepping, decorating…  And that was the easy part.  Once the house was packed with four- and five-year olds, the cake really hit the fan.

Originally, Finn wanted to have a “Lego Superhero Party,” but I made the executive decision to edit if down to one much simpler theme; LEGO.  Although I’ve been known to blow lots of cash on seemingly useless things in the past, I was determined this was not going to be one of them.  If that meant that everything was going to be cut out of construction paper, I was fine with it.  We had one activity that broke the bank, but more on that later…

Another Big Bite - Lego Party

One of my biggest conundrums was figuring out where to seat a whole bunch of kids; I don’t have an army of folding chairs.  After going over the math on how much it was going to cost to buy enough cheapie end tables at Ikea to have everyone seated on the floor, I had a moment of clarity…  I made Nae take the legs off the dining room table and cut short ones out of scrap wood.  Then we sat everyone on the floor.  We covered the cushions from the House with Wheels (our camper) for seating.  It worked like a charm!

Another Big Bite - Lego Man Cake

The cake turned out pretty good; though I skipped using fondant in favor of taste over beauty.  It was far from my best work, but little kids aren’t what you call sticklers for perfection.  We had Finn blow out the candles on the big Lego Man head cake, but then gave all the kids cupcakes.  No forks, no cutting, and only one kid even mentioned that he wanted some of the big cake.  Major crisis averted.

Another Big Bite - Lego Cupcakes

The cupcakes didn’t exactly turn out how I wanted them to.  I envisioned red cupcake papers, blue cake, white frosting and a yellow candy Lego Man on top.  Meh.  At least they tasted yummy.

We had a bean bag toss and did “Pin the Face on the Lego Man…”

Another Big Bite - Lego Party 2

Only Alice & Finn's faces are still up there, though...

Only Alice & Finn’s faces are still up there, though…

Another Big Bite - Lego Car

Alice, Nathan and Finn's cars.  Ten bucks if you can tell which one is the little lady's.

Alice, Nathan and Finn’s cars. Ten bucks if you can tell which one is the little lady’s.

But the big event of the day was the Lego Derby.  We ordered the parts to make a Lego car base (the plate, wheels and tires) from three separate sellers over on Bricklink and then ordered a giant box of regular Legos from Amazon.  At the very last-minute (the night before), we made the trek out to Denver’s Lego Store to pick up steering wheels, headlights, fins, propellers, shifters, control panels and other random parts from the Pick-A-Brick wall.  In the end, we dropped about sixty dollars on all the makings of fifteen Lego racers, but it was money well spent.  It was our biggest expense by leaps and bounds, but when the kids lost their minds when I said they were for them to take home, it was worth it.

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Since only about half the kids showed up (do not even get me started on how bummed I was that only three of the parents from Finn’s class RSVP’d), we had parts for extra Lego cars.  I asked if the dads each wanted to make one.  One of the dads promptly declared to his son, “Sorry buddy.  You are on your own; I’ve got my own to build.”  And he was equally excited when I told him to take both his and his son’s cars home with them.  It was awesome.

And so we had a “Dad Division” to the race.  The pull of playing with Legos follows us into adulthood, I suppose.

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Nathan built a racetrack out of scrap wood we had leftover from Finn’s bedroom and the kids had a good time shoving the little cars to victory.  Finn cheated (and was subsequently disqualified), Nathan came in DEAD LAST in the Battle of the Dads, but little Alice pulled a third place victory out of nowhere.  In the end, all three winners were girls, and I had to fight the urge to bust out a 1998-Spice-Girls-ish “GIRL POWER!!” Though I totally said it in my head.  With a mental fist-pump.

Another Big Bite - Lego Trophies

Another Big Bite - Eating

We had cake and made our own ice cream sundaes before the presents were opened.  Finny always blossoms in front of an audience, I tell you.

Another Big Bite - Lego Party Bags

Everyone got a goody bag on their way out, though it wasn’t epic by any means.  Fruit snacks, a lollypop, a bouncy ball and some stickers never looked so good.

Both Nathan and I were exhausted at the end of the party; I have no idea how teachers do it for an entire day with three times as many kids…  We ordered pizza for dinner and everyone crawled into bed in a Lego haze.

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It wasn’t quite over, though.  Finn’s actual birthday was Sunday.  Nathan had a full day of work, so we woke the kids up at six to sing Happy Birthday, open presents and have cake.  Since Alice’s birthday in December, I think we have a new tradition on our hands…  Birthday cake for breakfast is the bomb-diggity, and they kids get all day to play with their new toys.  In Finn’s case, twelve Lego sets to be exact.

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Over the course of 24 hours, he put every single set together.  I was on hand to affix decals and find little missing pieces that jumped and hid (or were pilfered by Alice), but by four in the afternoon on Sunday, he had everything done.  He was still in his pajamas, but I figured if there was any day where he was allowed to forget the rest of the world, it was his birthday.

We took him to It’z (a bigger version of Chuck E. Cheese) for dinner, and when we got home, there was one last package to open from Uncle Mike and Aunt Tamara…  A robot fish.  Which made him squeal with delight.  And made me breathe a sigh of relief since it was the only toy he had gotten that needed batteries.  Robot fish for the win!

Lordy, I’m exhausted just reliving the whole weekend.  But to see this look on Finny’s face;

Another Big Bite - Finn 5

… I’d do it all over again.

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Biding My Time Until Halloween

31 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

disney princesses, diy, dress up, princess, sewing, snow white dress

alice snow white

Though I seem to repeat myself time and time again that I am not much of a “pink” person, I am a girlie-girl on a ridiculous level.  Alice wants her room painted pink? Pink bubble mower?  Nope.  But tempt me with an all-day Disney Princess marathon and I’m yours.  Whether it is an extension of my love for all things Disney World, my incredible nerdiness or my denial that dude, I’m like, an actual grownup now; who knows.  What remains is this; if I could dress up as Tiana from the Princess in the Frog on Tuesday and rock out Anna’s coronation gown on Wednesday (and have it be an accepted social norm), I’d be on my way to the satin aisle at Joann Fabrics instead of of tapping out this post.

It seems like it was just a few months back when I wondered if and when Alice would want to play dress up.  Once she tried on a twirly Cinderella gown at our local bouncy house place she was a woman obsessed.  Suddenly I was getting the evil eye from Nathan as he realized that Alice was wearing a crushed velvet, tulle and silk flowers over her jeans at Costco.

snow white dress 1

But one dress will not suffice.  As long as I have a working sewing machine and an arsenal of rotary cutters and (don’t-you-dare-use-those-to-cut-paper!) scissors, I might as put them to work.  Alice was going to get an Ariel dress, even if I had to sacrifice two nights of sleep for her to get it.

Nathan doesn’t have to remind me that I do this stuff more for myself than for the kids.  I do have to question what my outlet for girlie stuff would be if I didn’t have Alice.  The fact of the matter is it is NOT socially acceptable to run to Walmart dressed as Belle.  (How slippers, jammie pants, fishnet shirts or flesh colored leggings are deemed as appropriate Walmart gear and flouncy gold ballgowns are not – that is beyond me.)

Truth be told, the Ariel dress I made for Alice was a bit of a let-down.  Not that she cared much.  I still could not shake this image of my little lady tugging at the Snow White dress that we had her try on in Disney World last June.  Even Nathan considered forking over the enough cash to buy a week’s worth of groceries… She was THAT cute in it.  But hated it.  Now that she was older; decided to strike while the iron was hot.  This girl was going to have a Snow White gown; damnit.

dresses

I adapted this pattern (I picked it up when it was on sale for a dollar); I made the skirt a bit longer and spent more time than I’d like to admit wrestling with fusable interfacing to get the collar to pop.  I added blue satin ribbon to the red sleeves and a stripe of yellow fabric down the middle of the bodice.  Once it was finished; I realized that it HAD to have a cape; Snow White has a pink one in Disney World.  Alice would, too.  Hers attaches with velcro on the sholders and loops over a covered button in the front.  (It also hides the hack job I did on what was supposed to be an invisible zipper – win.)

photo 2

We had a total “mirror, mirror” moment the first time she tried it on…

photo 1

Now she wears it around the house singing, sweeping, making pies and playing Disneyland Adventures on the XBox with her brother.  You know, all things Snow White would do.

alice

Sure, Alice loves it.  But not as much as I do.  And I think she could totally get away with wearing it to Walmart.

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