Mambo Italiana
Dance recital time!!! Sadly, I have no video. The studio has a rule that you cannot record the recital. I can think of no reason for this rule other than to force you to buy their video. I wouldn't even mind buying the DVD except that last year's only had about 1.5-2 secs of my kid on it. Very frustrating.

At least I have some pretty cute pictures!

Here's G backstage. All dressed up and ready to go...

Ten little girls, ready to dance...

G came off the stage with a HUGE smile on her face and two questions: "Did I do a good job, Mommy?" and "Did Daddy get me flowers?" Yes to both!!! G loved her yellow roses :-)

G with her admirers

Good job Georgie!!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of our tiny dancer.

Stars and Stripes
How cute is this Harajuki outfit?? I found it in like February at Target. G loved that the skirt was so long which is definitely her style of choice right now. We decided to leave her hair down and curl it which is quite the project. It takes me about 45 mins because her hair is so long. I keep telling her we need to trim it but she doesn't want to. G insists that she wants to let it grow to the floor "like Rapunzel". She's on her way :-) I can't believe how grown up she looks in these shots! I loved them all so much I just got the CD which, thankfully, was free because I had an awesome coupon!

Lots of pix to enjoy this time!

In this pic you can really tell how long her hair is. The giant ribbon hair clip was an end of year gift from her teacher. Cute, huh??

26 years!!
Our anniversary --June 21 --fell in the middle of the week this year so we waited til the weekend to have a little celebration. We had already agreed to no gifts and to keep it low key. Bobby did send me some beautiful flowers at work.... red roses and lilies. So pretty! Then we went to the Magic Lamp for dinner. Bobby thought of it which was sweet. Its where we had our wedding reception. I think we've only been back there one other time in the last 26 years which is kind of funny.

Its hard to believe that we've been married for 26 years. That's a LONG time!! Even after all these years, Bobby is still my best friend. I guess I'll keep him around a bit longer :-)

G and I were both a little tired --we'd been in Hollywood at the Brave movie all that morning but we both managed to rally and enjoy the evening.

This cake was to die for. It was chocolate mud... yum!

I have wedding pix of us in front of this same stained glass window. I'll try to dig them up and scan them if I get a chance.

As we were leaving, an elderly couple that had been seated behind us stopped to ask if we were celebrating something special. We explained it was our 26th anniversary to which they offered their congratulations. They then added that they were also celebrating an annivesary that evening... 56 years!!! Yowzah!! I guess that makes us practically newlyweds in their eyes. Twenty-six years down and just 30 more to go :-)

La Cage aux Folles
I've seen The Birdcage movie many times but never the play on which it was based. Our pre-dinner show this time was another of my Groupons (or maybe Living Social I forget) for a 50s diner themed place called Cafe 50's near LA City College. The area was ummmmm, interesting to say the least. Let's just say that I saw all types of people walking down the street as we ate that afternnon but it was all good :-)

My mom was excited by the fact that they made their own shakes and ice cream sodas. For some reason she's constantly trying to relive the sweets of her youth and is, sadly, constantly shocked that the shakes at McD's etc don't live up to her standards. When she found out that they actually "make" the shakes and sodas here she had HIGH hopes. She liked it but had to admit that it still wasn't as good as the ones she had when she was in teens. So funny!

Here's mom mostly enjoying her strawberry ice cream soda

Even though the area is pretty crappy I'd likely return to Cafe 50s for a preshow dinner. The food was good and its nice to find some different spots in LA.


Full of french fries and club sandwiches, we were off to the show! Things started out great. They had a very tall and thin cross dresser in front of the theater yakking with the patrons. "She" called herself Lily McWhiteass and was quite funny. She was such a hoot I wish I would have gotten a pic with her but I didn't think of it at the time. The show itself was pretty good. The lead of "George" (played by Robin Williams in the movie) was played by George Hamilton who I guess is best know for being super tan?? Anyway George Hamilton, who is probably a fine enough actor, is NOT a singer. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It did make a few of the songs a bit painful. On the other hand, the actor who played George's romantic partner Albin (Nathan Lane in the movie) did a great job portraying a sensitive and over the top drag queen. He had a very nice voice too.

Overall I enjoyed dinner (B+) and the show (B-) and especially the evening with my mom (A+)

Brave
The trailer asks, "If you could change your fate, would you?" Fair question. But then, Merida's attempts to change her fate involve her knowingly drugging her mother with a magic cake that turns her into a bear. They make a big point out of Merida being an accomplished archer but Merida is no warrior princess. Merida does not engage in any heroic actions whatsoever. Also, the fight scenes between Merida and her mother are really over the top and much too angry for a children's movie in my opinion. Let's just say I had a lot of issues with the movie and its "message" or lack thereof.

Having said that, its still an enjoyable movie. Lots of action (maybe too much/too scary for many little ones) and the 3d animation is really well done.

I was really looking forward to the film and bought tix to see it at El Capitain. Seeing a movie there always an event. We did breakfast with Merida then met friends for the actual movie which included a 10 minute or so live stage show featuring Goofy, Mickey and Minnie (each in multiple costumes), several princesses and their respective princes, Buzz and Woody doing a salute to America, Scottish dancers and of course Merida. Seriously, the stage show was awesome! It was practically worth the price of admission on its own. After the movie, which G enjoyed tremendously because she's no where as critical as I am, we headed over to Hollywood and Highland and hit the Johnny Rockets for some ice cream. G was in heaven!

You know the great thing about being on Hollywood Blvd at 8:15am??? There's no one there :-) I've always kind of wanted to get a pic of G on these stairs. Every time we go I see the tour groups lining up to snap their pix but its always super, super crowded. Not so at a quarter after the crack of dawn.

We always try to get a picture in front of the El Capitan marquee. Sadly, the building is under construction so this ones not quite as fun as most.  
Breakfast was tasty! They had these really good blueberry cakes/scones. G didn't really like hers so I kind of helped her out ;-)
 
Finally, the big moment... Merida!!! That's a LOT of red hair, just sayin'. She played the part well, very spunky, and spoke with a cute Scottish accent too!
 
How neat is this ribbon sculptured hair clip? I'm not sure it shows in the pic but the string of the bow is made from thread. Very detailed. Seriously, some people are so clever. Thank you etsy! G really liked the set she wore. We got it in a tank so we can reuse at WDW in a few mos. The appliques of Merida and her horse Angus are really well done.

This Mickey thing used to sit out on the sidewalk in front of the soda fountain. A few visits ago, it disappeared. When we asked the manager about it he assured G it would be returning after some planned construction. G was super excited (not exaggerating this point whatsoever by the way) to encounter it in the hallway near the bathrooms so we got or traditional pic. I can't wait til its back out in front where it belongs.  
They had this photo op set up in the lobby. I'm not sure if this is something that's available at other theaters or just something special for El Capitan but its pretty neat!
 
Later at Johnny Rockets with Gracie. They had a good time giggling and playing little games together.

Overall, I'd give the movie a B- but the experience an A+!!

The Addams Family
Pre-show dinner was chili burgers and fries from Tommy Burger. Yum!

After that it was off to the show. What a hoot!! From the moment the orchestra struck up with theme music "duh-duh-duh-duh! (snap, snap) duh-duh-duh-duh! (snap, snap)" I thought, this is going to be fun!!! I was totally right. Both my mom and I laughed and laughed. Just as the song promised they were creepy, kooky and all together ooky.
Fun night!

Funny thing is, the next day I decided to read some reviews of the show and it was almost universally panned. Mom and I were both shocked. Oh well, I guess we like a little low brow entertainment :-)

Father's Day
G loves her daddy to the core of her being. They have a wonderful relationship. After we met in China, G clung to Bobby and actually rejected me. With lots of work on all our parts G and I have formed a fantastic bond. But, in her eyes, I have a feeling there will never be anyone like Daddy.

I had something on Sunday night so we celebrated Father's Day on Saturday instead. It ended up being just the three of us (what I've begun to refer to as "the little family"). Casey came home from school later and Brett was out of town. So, we went to one of our current fav's, Le Rendez Vous. This place is so odd. Its located down a residential street in a rather sketchy area of town. Its been there for decades and, although never crowded, somehow manages to stay in business. I don't get it. But, the food is really good and we enjoy it. Our waiter took a pic of the three of us inside the restaurant but I looked AWFUL so here's one of just Bobby and G. They always look great!

G drew one of her famous stick figure creations. I think its so cute that she signed her full name (because otherwise Bobby wouldn't have known who it was from, right?). She did manage to get three of her four names in the right order which was impressive. For awhile there she'd always put her middle after her last. She never includes her chinese middle although she knows how to spell and write it. I'm sure the use of her many names will change over the years.

I thought this little tshirt was perfect for Miss G. The moms of the little boys in G's class have all told me that their sons have crushes on G. Apparently they argue somewhat about who is going to get to "marry" her and when they play she is the princess (big shocker there) and they bicker about who will be her prince. I'm actually not too thrilled by this game. I guess its normal preschool stuff but still. What 3-4 yr old needs to be thinking about marriage??? Anyway, with a bit of coaching, when asked who she will pick to marry she now explains that she already has a prince, "Prince Daddy". That should work for awhile :-)
 
Happy Father's Day to a great Daddy!!!

Preschool Carnival
I'm a bit behind on my blogging. We've been super busy lately and I've been working a lot which means no time or energy for late night posting. But, I'm going to try to catch up!!

A few weeks ago, G finished her first year of preschool. Its amazing to think about how much she has grown in the last 9 mos or so both socially and physically. When she started in September my main desire was that she would gain confidence. Boy has she! Georgie had such a great year and loved her school, teacher and friends so much that its hard to believe how terrified I was to drop her off that first day.

The official preschool year ended with a cute little carnival. This was a highly anticipated day in G's world and she enjoyed herself tremendously.

They had activity stations where the kids could play a little game or whatever (fishing, horseshoe toss, etc) and then choose a prize from a bucket. G was very careful to work her way through each activity and then carefully choose a single prize. It was an on-your-honor system so many of the children were a bit enthusiastic with their prize acquisition. This did not occur to G. She played each game once and took only one prize. Quite the rule follower this one :-)

The cookie decorating was a big hit with Georgie. By the time she was done "decorating" you truthfully could not even see the cookie. Apparently her restraint goes out the window when it comes to sweets!
Georgie was so excited when the director put the red ribboned medal over her head. She absolutely beamed with pride!!! so cute!!
The school hired a face painter for the event. I was thrilled to see it was the same woman we'd encountered at chick fil a awhile back on a family night. She continues to be the most amazing face painter I've ever seen. She created this mermaid on G's arm in about minute and half. She's also super nice. I've been thinking about hiring her for G's birthday party (yes, I know that's still 6 mos away but its never too early to start planning!)
End of year photo with G's teacher. Mrs Davis LOVES Georgie and the feeling is quite mutual. All of the teachers at the school are very nice but I think Mrs Davis provided the perfect first year experience.
After school let out some of moms and kids from G's class headed to Farrell's for a little get together. Yes, Farrell's... its BACK! I've gotten to know the other mom's a bit and am happy to say that they're a great group. I'm not sure whether we'll have any of the same kids in G's class next year but I hope so. Super nice families.

Trying to get a squirrely group of 4 yr olds to pose for a pic isn't so easy. But, we had good success on the silly face picture!

G won't have to wait too long to get back to her buddies. After a few weeks vacation she will be back for summer school.

Zoo Day!
Fun trip to the zoo recently. It was a perfectly beautiful, warm but not hot, day in so cal. G loves the zoo! It was a great day.

G always runs to visit the "stinkingoes" first. She wanted mommy in the picture with her this time. Notice that she has her leg up, her impression of the birds :-)
Our traditional photo with the gorilla statue! Georgie was so happy to make it down this part of the play structure. She's tried a few times but always asked for help because she got scared. This time, sweet success!!! And, of course, no Crowell trip to anywhere would be complete without at least one of these in front of something G finds impressive ;-)