How AM~Erica Celebrated Disneyland's Birthday

So anyway...

As I love to celebrate things, and love finding things to celebrate, sometimes there's events/holidays that just sneak up on me. Either I really did forget, I didn't realize it was a holiday, or I'm just learning about a celebration that I think we need to jump on the bandwagon with.

We had been on a whirlwind college visit tour for a few days, so we hadn't kept up on much else happening. As we got back into town, I started realizing a semi-celebration happening that I didn't even realize!

Teen Girl is our Disney geeky-guru. As much as we love Disney around here, she's our nerd.

Now, she's the one that flagged me down about LEIF ERICCSON DAY, so imagine my surprise when she wasn't bringing up this particular event.

When it comes to birthday's, anniversaries, people who follow her on Twitter, etc., Teen Girl will find a way to Disneybound (an outfit that is inspired by anything Disney-related) for whatever occasion it may be surrounding whichever movie/show/character. She'll even break into the soundtrack, if it's called for.

Yesterday, I started seeing some posts from people about Disneyland. Then I realized it was a celebration for Disneyland opening 60-years-ago! There was a birthday celebration going on for Disneyland! Awww!!

How? How did Teen Girl not share this information? So I asked her about it. She told me she thought it happened a couple days before that...when we were smack-dab in the middle of college visits for Teen Boy. I guess that's why she didn't say anything...but that's weird. Generally she would have anyway.

Anyhoo...

We had nothing at home! We hadn't been to the store since we were out of town. So, shortly after we rolled back into town, to the store we went!

My brain started going into high gear as to what to do in a pinch & on such short notice. So, after discussing it with my hubby & looking at Pinterest for ideas (as one does anymore), I planned an easy go-to for dinner that would fit the theme for Disney, plus I found a dessert I thought I could make that would be as fitting. (more on that in a moment)

Now, recently, I discovered that I had been dressing as Minnie Mouse off & on over the past few years. It was for one thing or another, but hadn't realized she was my go-to of choice until I came across some pics. I started chuckling at the fact. I had never really been as drawn to Minnie...or had I?

Here's what I've run into with my own flavor of some Disneybounding Minnie thru the recent past:

2008 - Disney Day at Cambridge Preschool, Chesterfield, MO

2014 - Halloween Hustle 5k, Lee's Summit, MO

2015 - Steampunk for the fun of it

Yep. There it was! So I decided to stick with her as a fun Disney go-to. I can obviously Disneybound her pretty well!

I mean, I have Disneybounded other characters, too.

2013 - Ursula for "The Little Mermaid" musical at Starlight Theater

2014 - Cheshire Cat for cub scout Halloween party

I think I do it more often than I realize. Not as much as Teen Girl, but often enough, nonetheless.

However, I felt it fitting to stick with Minnie for Disneyland's birthday. Amm-i-rite?

So I had this stuff to put on:

2015 - Disneybound Minnie Mouse for Disneyland's 60th birthday

Then, it was time for prepping the dessert - fake-out Dole Whips! Apparently enjoying a Dole Whip is a rite of passage when you go to Disneyland. I was unaware of this until...well...Pinterest. Of course. I've been to Disneyland, but I don't remember much. Here's what memories I have from Disneyland when I visited at the age of 4:

* I remember going thru the "It's a Small World" ride. Vaguely...but I do remember.

* I very vaguely remember seeing Cinderella in her light-up ball gown during the electric parade.

* I was told that I fell asleep in my mashed potatoes.

Obviously a Dole Whip was no where along that memory lane.

So it was researching a few copycat recipes & seeing what I could get. It needed set up time, so I had to do it early. And it was at this point that Teen Girl is trying to figure out what I was planning...

First, she asked what was for dinner. I gave her a few hints without giving away WHAT the meal was & what Disney flick it was attached to. Finally she worked her way down to pasta.

Me:  Yes. What kind of pasta?

TG:  Long noodles?

Me:  Yes. What would the long noodles be called?

TG:  Spaghetti?

Me:  Yes! With?

TG:  Umm...meatballs?

Me:  YES!! Do you know why?

TG:  *thinks hard*

Me:  What Disney thing would spaghetti & meatballs be tied to?

TG:  *light bulb*
         *GASP*
         *crumbles to floor in puddle of tears*

Me:  Uh...did you figure it out?

TG:  *WEEPS*

Me:  So, I guess you know then? What do you think it is?

TG:  *speechless weeping*

Me:  OK. *laughs* Just do charades, then.

TG:  *sits up & puts hands in front to appear like paws*

Me:  Yep! Lady & the Tramp!

TG:  *collecting herself a bit* So, are you making a dessert, too?

Me:  Yep. Any guesses?

TG:  *looking at ingredients laid out* Wait...are you making...DOLE WHIPS??

Me:  Good job! Yep...I sure am!

TG:  *crumbles to floor into puddle of continued weeping*


So the plan was to have spaghetti & meatballs for dinner, followed up with Dole Whips (or a version of)

I got the Dole Whip concoction ready to freeze so I could take a breather before starting dinner.

In the meantime, Teen Girl had decided to Disneybound as Lady. Fitting. Amm-i-rite? And she shared that one month after Disneyland opened it's doors, "Lady & the Tramp" opened in theaters! So there you go! We got some Disney trivia from our Disney geeky-guru that tied in beautifully to our dinner! BOOM!
But then she changed her mind & changed to The Tramp for her Disneybounding. No pics of her take on Lady, but here she is inspired by Tramp:

2015 - Tramp Disneybound for Disneyland's 60th birthday

So we enjoyed our dinner of spaghetti & meatballs:

(Sadly, we did not have "Bella Notte" playing in the background)

However, my hubby & I had the same idea:
We would reenact the famous spaghetti & meatball scene from "Lady & the Tramp"!!

So...here's how the story goes:

Baby Girl, would you PLEASE get a couple photos of your dad & me?
You might need a bowl, too.

What kind? Wait...you're gonna do Lady & the Tramp. Aren't you?
And do I need the bowl in case I vomit?

You guys are disgusting. I might be sick.

Wait. We aren't done? You want more?

This is too much! I'm gonna vomit.

You mean we still aren't done yet??

You all are disgusting. I need a bowl to throw up in...

I can't believe you made me do this. I hate my life right now.

And, look! We are adorable!!

I mean we should have danced like a prince & princess (because we all know that I'M A DISNEY PRINCESS). But we see how Teen Girl reacted to our spaghetti shots. The kids get adorably freaked out when hubby & I get the urge to dance. *sigh* They will appreciate it later in life. I'm sure of it!

Anyhoo...

We finally enjoyed our Dole Whips...which I'm excited they turned out so well! Have a couple of other versions I want to try with it. (my version I made, HERE) My hubby even wanted seconds! Woo Hoo!

We ended the evening by deciding what to do as a family. We have several Disney movies we could have taken in, but we also know, bless her heart, that Teen Girl would say every line word-for-word AND break out, loudly, into song. We love her, but we also want to watch & enjoy the movie. I'm not a game player, but decided to do it, anyway. We do have a game that is a Disney version of Kids vs. Parents (or something like that), but we decided to play our families favorite game. It's Apples to Apples. We love that game (and one I'm willing to play).

We sat around the table, played, and even tried to play cards that might have Disney connections if you tilt your head & squint. Well, except for when the cards of Disneyland and The Little Mermaid. Those were played in the same round, by the way...to Teen Girl...who began to weep because she had to choose between them.

With all of this, it made me wonder what they were doing for the occasion in Marceline, MO. We almost went thru there on the way home from our trip, but decided not to. I kind of wish we did stop by. But another time.

No matter. We celebrated the 60th birthday of Disneyland by spending it at one of the happiest places on earth: with our kiddos.

So...

HAPPY 60th, DISNEYLAND!

Here's to many, many more....

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Takes a Slice of Ultimate Pi Day

So anyway...

Today is kind of amazing.

Fo realz, yo!

It's pretty ultimate!

Today we begin a whole new round of celebrating! And even though this one involves maths & stuffs...I still found a way to celebrate.

Today is a day that can be celebrated in the States since we have our date format set up weird. Because of our format of [month/day/year] (instead of the rest of the world that has it set up [day/month/year]), we are able to celebrate March 14th. For most of the rest of the world, it is 14/3/15. Here, in the U.S., we have it set up as 3/14/15. People! In all that confusing mess I just went thru...I'm trying to say that we can use 3/14 as Pi Day!

Are you still with me?? OK...well, today is not just Pi Day...but we are in 2015, so today is ULTIMATE Pi Day!! With Pi being 3.141592653, on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53, we have achieved Ultimate Pi! BOOM!!
*CONFETTI CANNON*

Well, since I'm not so big on the mathical smarticle parts of being smart, I would find another way! Like...going to Planet Comicon!! FINALLY!!

The whole family went, and even though Teen Boy threw something together in very short time (like right before we left), only Teen Girl & I dressed full-on for the occasion. The boys donned geeky t-shirts, but the girl & I had costumes!! I'm sure many of you are surprised by this. *cough-cough*
(My other costume stuff I've done HERE)

Remember when I unveiled my STEAMPUNK CHARACTER, Lady T'luluh Poulpe', at our church's trunk-or-treat promo table? Well, that's the direction I went! But this time, I got much more of what I'd hoped for T'luluh to look like!

Long auburn hair with blonde & brown dreadlocks & braids, all in one wig, gave my character the perfect cephalopod-type edge I'd hoped to achieve. Plus, I needed a sidekick with 8 arms. So, I adopted one from Amazon & named him Carlow McKcraic'n!

OK, part of the steampunk world has a draw to octopi. Between that & C'thulhu...it was a perfect match to work with! So, everything from my character's name, to her look, to her sidekick, even her sidekick's name, all has a tie in with c'thulhu/kraken references. Also, a couple of years ago, I discovered the magic of Brian Kensinger's Tea Girls, as well as his best known characters, Victoria & Otto (check his stuff out HERE). That's what sparked the inspiration for an tentacle-involved steampunk character. She is still a work in progress, but I was SO excited with how T'luluh & Carlow worked for Comicon!!

And? Some people GOT it! I was so excited when a guy got really excited about the c'thulhu reference...then later a kid (he was maybe about 8 or 9) yelled from quite a distance away, "C'THULHU! I LOVE C'THULUH!" It was AWESOME!!

And so many other steampunk folks there, too!!

I didn't even get all of them! However, I did find this guy right here:

Yes. This guy was an amazing Captain Jack Sparrow!! And, not only did he love the women, but he really wanted to use Carlow for his pic with Teen Girl (who went as Ariel):

He even asked if she sang & made her sing for him:

He was trying to be Ursula while she sang. He was hilarious, on-point, and awesome!!

We did have a lot of fun today:

There was so much to see!! Our only disappointment was how much it was to get pictures/autographs with the celebrity guests there...and the greatest disappointment of that was that Cary Elwes camped out behind a curtain. Ugh. So we saw the back of his head thru a slit between two curtains. Did see a few other celebrity guests from afar: Michael Rooker, Meng-Na Wen, Karen Gillian...to name a few.

But it was an amazing experience to spend Pi Day with thousands of other weird peeps. The overall respect & appreciativeness of other's effort in costuming & and overall love for the geekiness out there in so many forms. It felt like home amongst those of us weirdos. And it was wonderful!

After all of that excitement, of course we had to focus on eating for the occasion! So...PIE!

That's right. We ordered some Minsky's Pizza pies & enjoyed a small Moon Pie for dessert! PERFECT!!

Does it help that we had pizza & dessert that were round for Pi Day?

I hope you all found a way to celebrate the Ultimate Pi Day, which happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday (fitting).

Now, I'm hoping to clean this up so I can get it posted at 9:26 this evening.

More celebrations coming this week...

Stay tuned...(tomorrow is the Ides of March...beware)

God Bless, AM~Erica