bumbershoot
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Aw drat. On the other hand, they are 3.99 normally, which is fairly reasonable. I like the collages. I also have a really good Walgreens nearby; their photolab is excellent.
going to disney&uni again! Sep 2011
- Thread starter bumbershoot
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bumbershoot
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Birthday party options:
Small picnic with E's invited friends and maybe a parent of them at the local park.
Bigger picnic with E's friends, any siblings that want to come AND their parents at the local park.
But what if it rains, then where do we go?
Children's Museum (that I despise...seriously, why call it a museum? nothing museumy about children's museums!) where they can do a craft and I can order Round Table (yumyum) pizza.
Rock climbing gym.
Pottery/drawing/art kid's studio.
Laser tag.
Bounce house place.
JoAnn fabric for a craft party.
Local Toy Store's upstairs party area.
Bumper bowling.
I like the *concepts* of the "activity parties", they all sound like massive amounts of fun, and E likes them all.
But the biggest problem with most of these places, other than the park options, is that there will be SOME kid or another having a hissy fit about it all. Eamon would love any of them. But one of his friends is a girl, and she's a girly girl, and probably wouldn't appreciate lasertag, and might not appreciate the rockwall climbing. Another friend is a bit older, and he's not the most athletic (and cries "bully" when other kids play normally around him), and I cannot imagine him enjoying the more physical activities. And lasertag is out b/c his mom absolutely would NOT allow it. Another boy has massive tantrums, and I can see him flipping out b/c he didn't do as well as the others, because his craft isn't as good as someone else's, his bowling ball didn't get down the lane, etc. (the remaining boy is a lot like E, he likes anything, though he's quiet and really calm while E can be more boisterous)
So then I go back to the park option. And I like the second one, with a more family vibe to it, though my budget says "ouch" vs the more limited park option.
(though any park option is cheaper than just about ANY of the activity parties!!!)
So you think that the park type party, really free-form and just for play, with deli sandwiches, maybe some pizza, maybe some salads and desserts and soft beverages, would be fun for a bunch of just-finished-first graders (and a 10 year old) and any siblings that might like to come too?
Is that "enough" for a party?
Since I totally skipped out on THREE of his party opportunities I'm just totally behind on it all. MIL did the first, and then the 4th and 5th we went to Disneyland...
Oh, and if I do the bigger park party, I should invite family friends too, right? Like adult friends that would care about being there?
I just gotta get through this next month and then I'll start talking about the trip again, I promise!
Small picnic with E's invited friends and maybe a parent of them at the local park.
Bigger picnic with E's friends, any siblings that want to come AND their parents at the local park.
But what if it rains, then where do we go?
Children's Museum (that I despise...seriously, why call it a museum? nothing museumy about children's museums!) where they can do a craft and I can order Round Table (yumyum) pizza.
Rock climbing gym.
Pottery/drawing/art kid's studio.
Laser tag.
Bounce house place.
JoAnn fabric for a craft party.
Local Toy Store's upstairs party area.
Bumper bowling.
I like the *concepts* of the "activity parties", they all sound like massive amounts of fun, and E likes them all.
But the biggest problem with most of these places, other than the park options, is that there will be SOME kid or another having a hissy fit about it all. Eamon would love any of them. But one of his friends is a girl, and she's a girly girl, and probably wouldn't appreciate lasertag, and might not appreciate the rockwall climbing. Another friend is a bit older, and he's not the most athletic (and cries "bully" when other kids play normally around him), and I cannot imagine him enjoying the more physical activities. And lasertag is out b/c his mom absolutely would NOT allow it. Another boy has massive tantrums, and I can see him flipping out b/c he didn't do as well as the others, because his craft isn't as good as someone else's, his bowling ball didn't get down the lane, etc. (the remaining boy is a lot like E, he likes anything, though he's quiet and really calm while E can be more boisterous)
So then I go back to the park option. And I like the second one, with a more family vibe to it, though my budget says "ouch" vs the more limited park option.
(though any park option is cheaper than just about ANY of the activity parties!!!)So you think that the park type party, really free-form and just for play, with deli sandwiches, maybe some pizza, maybe some salads and desserts and soft beverages, would be fun for a bunch of just-finished-first graders (and a 10 year old) and any siblings that might like to come too?
Is that "enough" for a party?
Since I totally skipped out on THREE of his party opportunities I'm just totally behind on it all. MIL did the first, and then the 4th and 5th we went to Disneyland...
Oh, and if I do the bigger park party, I should invite family friends too, right? Like adult friends that would care about being there?
I just gotta get through this next month and then I'll start talking about the trip again, I promise!
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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I like the park type parties because every kid likes parks.
But, I will tell you that even into their teens they love the bounce house parties too. Kody went to one when she was in the 8th grade and they all had a ball.
For her 13th birthday I had a ceramics party for her. They all painted little butterflies and signed a plaque for her. A few weeks later we picked them up and delivered them to her friends and years later she still has her butterfly and the plaque that the friends signed and the owner painted beautiful flowers on.
But, I will tell you that even into their teens they love the bounce house parties too. Kody went to one when she was in the 8th grade and they all had a ball.
For her 13th birthday I had a ceramics party for her. They all painted little butterflies and signed a plaque for her. A few weeks later we picked them up and delivered them to her friends and years later she still has her butterfly and the plaque that the friends signed and the owner painted beautiful flowers on.
bumbershoot
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The bounce house would definitely be fun! I think it's one of the more expensive places, though, especially since most of the places have a minimum cost that covers "up to" a certain number of kids, and we don't even have half that number.
********
Dang. Robert is off in Korea, and he was spending the last two nights with family. Sadly, just one day after getting to his aunt's place, his uncle (aunt's hubby) is going to the hospital because he's been very ill (not contagious), and he got WAY worse overnight.
He has to leave in approximately 24 hours, and I know it's going to break his heart to do that. But since it's a work trip, and this is "just" an uncle by marriage, they aren't going to be willing to pay the change fees, and I doubt we could.
Meanwhile, E and I are having great fun and doing a ton of learning work! It's amazing how much more we can do if I leave the computer off until AFTER we've done the work. Seriously, don't most people learn this in school? Silly me. Anyway, I'm now feeling a surge of joy that maybe we CAN finish the work before our town's school year is done! Leaving the summer to learn to knit, learn to play the recorder, and take art classes from our neighbor! Oh and to play and romp and frolic as well. (but all that art stuff is just like playing and frolicking to him, he just loves doing art!)
Tomorrow's the first dress rehearsal, yikes! And today E's poor little heel discovered that there's a tiny little faucet on the bottom side of the hot water heater. Discovered it with quite a bit of force, too. Youch.
********
Dang. Robert is off in Korea, and he was spending the last two nights with family. Sadly, just one day after getting to his aunt's place, his uncle (aunt's hubby) is going to the hospital because he's been very ill (not contagious), and he got WAY worse overnight.
He has to leave in approximately 24 hours, and I know it's going to break his heart to do that. But since it's a work trip, and this is "just" an uncle by marriage, they aren't going to be willing to pay the change fees, and I doubt we could.
Meanwhile, E and I are having great fun and doing a ton of learning work! It's amazing how much more we can do if I leave the computer off until AFTER we've done the work. Seriously, don't most people learn this in school? Silly me. Anyway, I'm now feeling a surge of joy that maybe we CAN finish the work before our town's school year is done! Leaving the summer to learn to knit, learn to play the recorder, and take art classes from our neighbor! Oh and to play and romp and frolic as well. (but all that art stuff is just like playing and frolicking to him, he just loves doing art!)
Tomorrow's the first dress rehearsal, yikes! And today E's poor little heel discovered that there's a tiny little faucet on the bottom side of the hot water heater. Discovered it with quite a bit of force, too. Youch.
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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Oh poor R. That is awful.
Learning to knit is a great skill too. I crochet and have for years. My grandma taught me when I was about 8 years old and it is something that I continue to do as adult. I taught Loren to do simple cross stitch on plastic canvas with a plastic needle when he was about E's age. He still does it sometimes. The arts and craft things are a good skill for kids, they aid in learning.
I hope that E's dress rehearsal goes well, and that his heel isn't too sore.
Learning to knit is a great skill too. I crochet and have for years. My grandma taught me when I was about 8 years old and it is something that I continue to do as adult. I taught Loren to do simple cross stitch on plastic canvas with a plastic needle when he was about E's age. He still does it sometimes. The arts and craft things are a good skill for kids, they aid in learning.
I hope that E's dress rehearsal goes well, and that his heel isn't too sore.
bumbershoot
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I guess they did an angiogram last night (OK it's last night our time..but of course it was Saturday afternoon their time, ack I hate time differences!) and gave the great-uncle a lot of fluids, but he's still having problems breathing. Sigh.
R's cousin is there at the hospital and everyone else is sleeping right now. Robert will be leaving though, during their Sunday afternoon (and gets home an hour before he left, LOL...again, ack at time differences!). I know he doesn't want to right now.
I think that learning FROM someone is going to make all the difference. I tried repeatedly to teach myself to crochet (and I've been *trying* to learn from the books for knitting) but it just never worked. Thankfully the wife of one of Robert's friends is a knitter-extraordinaire and she really wants to teach me and E. I'm excited.
My stepmom does crossstitch, it's so cool! It must be great for a kid to learn it, it must really help out with other things like writing and other "close" and intricate skills. Not to mention eye-hand coordination! What a great idea...I'll have to put crossstitch on the menu for next year.
We go to the rehearsal in a couple hours. He had a rough time in his classes yesterday (ballet and aikido) because I think his heel is bruised along with cut... And this morning he had gymnastics, and not only are his palms raw b/c they climbed the rope today, but he biffed it on the carpet twice during one of their exercises, and has a nasty "burn" on his kneecap. He asked, as we got a "coffee treat" at Starbucks, if this was "hurt day". Poor guy...
Oh and last night after Aikido I was talking to the dad of one of the girls in the class, and they were rolling down the grass hill outside. We got home and all of a sudden he was just ITCHING like mad. I mean, crying and screeching he itched so badly. It's gotta be the grass, or probably what they put ON the grass, as I have that reaction to an extent to large amounts of tended lawn. I had to go through my long list of "tricks", and just before I decided to take us out to the drugstore for something, I dug up a homeopathic that had "itching" as one of the symptoms to use it...and thankfully it worked. Whew. 'cuz I did NOT want to be trying to find a dye-free artificial-sweetener-free corn-syrup-free antihistamine at nearly 9pm!!!!
Do you think it's still too early to ask my cousin if she wants to make any reservations for food? I wish I had her hubby's email...he's the planner in their house and I bet we could hash out something.
R's cousin is there at the hospital and everyone else is sleeping right now. Robert will be leaving though, during their Sunday afternoon (and gets home an hour before he left, LOL...again, ack at time differences!). I know he doesn't want to right now.
I think that learning FROM someone is going to make all the difference. I tried repeatedly to teach myself to crochet (and I've been *trying* to learn from the books for knitting) but it just never worked. Thankfully the wife of one of Robert's friends is a knitter-extraordinaire and she really wants to teach me and E. I'm excited.
My stepmom does crossstitch, it's so cool! It must be great for a kid to learn it, it must really help out with other things like writing and other "close" and intricate skills. Not to mention eye-hand coordination! What a great idea...I'll have to put crossstitch on the menu for next year.
We go to the rehearsal in a couple hours. He had a rough time in his classes yesterday (ballet and aikido) because I think his heel is bruised along with cut... And this morning he had gymnastics, and not only are his palms raw b/c they climbed the rope today, but he biffed it on the carpet twice during one of their exercises, and has a nasty "burn" on his kneecap. He asked, as we got a "coffee treat" at Starbucks, if this was "hurt day". Poor guy...
Oh and last night after Aikido I was talking to the dad of one of the girls in the class, and they were rolling down the grass hill outside. We got home and all of a sudden he was just ITCHING like mad. I mean, crying and screeching he itched so badly. It's gotta be the grass, or probably what they put ON the grass, as I have that reaction to an extent to large amounts of tended lawn. I had to go through my long list of "tricks", and just before I decided to take us out to the drugstore for something, I dug up a homeopathic that had "itching" as one of the symptoms to use it...and thankfully it worked. Whew. 'cuz I did NOT want to be trying to find a dye-free artificial-sweetener-free corn-syrup-free antihistamine at nearly 9pm!!!!
Do you think it's still too early to ask my cousin if she wants to make any reservations for food? I wish I had her hubby's email...he's the planner in their house and I bet we could hash out something.
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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I do not think that it is too early to plan for the meals. If it was Disneyland that would be another story. At WDW there are so many more choices and then there is limits because of menus etc.
I hope all goes well for R's uncle and that R gets home fine.
I hope E manages to feel better. I am glad you found something because I cannot begin to imagine how hard it would have been to find something last night.
I hope all goes well for R's uncle and that R gets home fine.
I hope E manages to feel better. I am glad you found something because I cannot begin to imagine how hard it would have been to find something last night.
Brady's Mom
Get off the roof, get off the roof!
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I vote for the park party. I just did 2 of them successfully. Okay, not "just" for one of them - it as last September. 
We did a party for Nathan (6) at the local park near our house and invited all 17 boys in his kindergarten class, although only 10 came. We roasted hot dogs, had a pinata (we had to be careful of ingredients since one of his friends is highly nut allergic) and cupcakes. We had water, some chips and hot dogs with the cupcakes, presents and pinata later after they had a chance to swing, slide and run. It was a great party, Nathan had a great time and so did his friends. We did it for 2 hours, a couple of parents stayed and helped and DH and DS 22 were there, so there were enough grown-ups.
We just did one for Brady (9) a couple of weeks ago after school. We invited 8 or 9 friends, although just 5 came. We did a similar party for 1.5 hours and had cupcakes and a pinata. I bought all of the candy for the pinata right after Easter so it was 1/2 off!! Since the boys were older we did more games instead of park stuff. We did capture the flag, snake tag, the whistling game after you eat a bunch of crackers....those kinds of games. The boys had fun. Brady had a great time. We did the pinata almost at the end right after cupcakes and presents. 1.5 hours was perfect since we weren't offering food.
I think you could go either way for the party. My sister just did one at the same park for her daughter and they did pin the hair on Rapunzel, had a pinata and decorated their own cupcakes and more "girlie" stuff as my boys would say! The park just keeps the mess out of your house, helps you not be overwhelmed by the people and noise and has a quicker clean-up and costs a lot less money, with just as much of a fun factor. I love park parties!
We did a party for Nathan (6) at the local park near our house and invited all 17 boys in his kindergarten class, although only 10 came. We roasted hot dogs, had a pinata (we had to be careful of ingredients since one of his friends is highly nut allergic) and cupcakes. We had water, some chips and hot dogs with the cupcakes, presents and pinata later after they had a chance to swing, slide and run. It was a great party, Nathan had a great time and so did his friends. We did it for 2 hours, a couple of parents stayed and helped and DH and DS 22 were there, so there were enough grown-ups.
We just did one for Brady (9) a couple of weeks ago after school. We invited 8 or 9 friends, although just 5 came. We did a similar party for 1.5 hours and had cupcakes and a pinata. I bought all of the candy for the pinata right after Easter so it was 1/2 off!! Since the boys were older we did more games instead of park stuff. We did capture the flag, snake tag, the whistling game after you eat a bunch of crackers....those kinds of games. The boys had fun. Brady had a great time. We did the pinata almost at the end right after cupcakes and presents. 1.5 hours was perfect since we weren't offering food.
I think you could go either way for the party. My sister just did one at the same park for her daughter and they did pin the hair on Rapunzel, had a pinata and decorated their own cupcakes and more "girlie" stuff as my boys would say! The park just keeps the mess out of your house, helps you not be overwhelmed by the people and noise and has a quicker clean-up and costs a lot less money, with just as much of a fun factor. I love park parties!
bumbershoot
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I love that, too.
Or "pin the saddle on Maximus". "Pin the nose on Flynn!"
I just love Tangled sooo much, and it's such a girl AND boy movie IMO, but of course the marketing people are ignoring boys with that movie.
**********
I think we've pretty much decided on the park party...now we have to work out rain contingencies. The park I'm thinking of doesn't have any rentable sheltered picnic spots, so if it's pouring (and the way this year has been going (today is dreary and grey and rainy and in the 50s) I wouldn't be surprised) we have to figure out somewhere else. Decisions decisions!
**********
Robert's home and AT home for today. Meetings the next couple days then he hits the road again to go to Taiwan. Yes yes, why didn't they just keep him there? (3 nights at a hotel and air to Taiwan vs home from Korea then to Taiwan being really weird math) The all-important meetings... My brother, who works for Cisco, would be SO disappointed that they aren't using their products for a meeting while everyone's out and about...
But oh well!
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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Hopefully there will be no rain.
I think that Disney misses the mark totally on the marketing to boys. I see it all the times with their movies. It makes no sense to me.
Poor Robert. It would be much easier on his body if he didn't have all this back and forth traveling.
I think that Disney misses the mark totally on the marketing to boys. I see it all the times with their movies. It makes no sense to me.
Poor Robert. It would be much easier on his body if he didn't have all this back and forth traveling.
nancy drew
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I pretty much agree with this. I walked into the Disney Store and tried to find things for my son but since he doesn't really care much about Cars or Toy Story (doesn't dislike them but doesn't love them either) there wasn't much "Disney" stuff for him. He does like Phineas and Ferb, so there's that. And now they have the Superheros, but that isn't really Disney, IMO. And of course they have Star Wars, but again that isn't what comes to mind when I think of Disney.
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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I know. I have a son who loves Disney but there has always been a limited amount of things that he could get. On our last trip he was almost 14 and I admit kind of immature. It was really hard to find things he wanted as souvenirs. He ended up with things that were really silly because he wanted Disney things.
bumbershoot
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Little Miss Cousin turned 4 the other day. Awwww.
Homeschool stuff is going well. We still stand a good chance of finishing by the time the local schools are out for summer!
Yearning for a house with a porch and a yard (though the yard would probably send me indoors with allergies quickly bleah) with all this sunshine that doesn't seem to make it onto our balcony.
Robert's off in the far East again. Won't be back until E's actual b'day!
Slooooowly working on my wedding-planning scrapbook. Just barely got some prints from Walgreens, some random employee gave them to me, but when i got home I noticed there was a "we need the release for these" note on the envelope...I made some collage prints of scanned ads (to show the gowns I had looked at or tried on or drooled over) because the ads themselves were far too big, and I guess that's not OK. Whoopsydaisy!
The stack of presents for E is getting bigger. Crazy us. The Lego set, a Color Wonders set (he really wants that), two Jonas Brothers DVDs containing all of their TV shows (not Jonas: LA but the one set in NJ)...who knows WHAT Robert will bring home with him?!!?
Homeschool stuff is going well. We still stand a good chance of finishing by the time the local schools are out for summer!
Yearning for a house with a porch and a yard (though the yard would probably send me indoors with allergies quickly bleah) with all this sunshine that doesn't seem to make it onto our balcony.
Robert's off in the far East again. Won't be back until E's actual b'day!
Slooooowly working on my wedding-planning scrapbook. Just barely got some prints from Walgreens, some random employee gave them to me, but when i got home I noticed there was a "we need the release for these" note on the envelope...I made some collage prints of scanned ads (to show the gowns I had looked at or tried on or drooled over) because the ads themselves were far too big, and I guess that's not OK. Whoopsydaisy!
The stack of presents for E is getting bigger. Crazy us.
The Lego set, a Color Wonders set (he really wants that), two Jonas Brothers DVDs containing all of their TV shows (not Jonas: LA but the one set in NJ)...who knows WHAT Robert will bring home with him?!!?
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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When we went to Disneyland in June Kody bought herself the Jonas Brothers show dvd. She never liked the LA one. Now her latest obsession is Big Time Rush on Nick. That is a cute show, it kind of reminds me of the Monkey's tv show.
bumbershoot
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I'll have to check out Big Time Rush. The similarity to The Monkees is what Robert and I enjoy about Jonas, so anything that's similar might also be enjoyable!
We don't actually watch Dancing with the Stars, but it's on before one of the shows we record (maybe NCIS) and Robert starts the recording around 7 minutes before the show starts, so we end up being able to watch the end of DWTS, and it's been odd seeing Chelsea from Jonas on it!
We don't actually watch Dancing with the Stars, but it's on before one of the shows we record (maybe NCIS) and Robert starts the recording around 7 minutes before the show starts, so we end up being able to watch the end of DWTS, and it's been odd seeing Chelsea from Jonas on it!
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
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Chelsea is such a little cutie. I am not a fan of DWTS either, but I love NCIS! Kody loves BTR, oh my. They are a group of four young men that she thinks are really hot especially Carlos and Kendall. But more Carlos.
bumbershoot
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So glad gymnastics goes back to normal time next week so we don't have to be there at 9:30 like the last two saturdays! Of course...it means he has gymnastics just a couple hours before his recital! Zoiks!
My MIL is angry with me because we're having a birthday party after E's birthday. I guess it goes against some Korean superstition. Dagnabit. Having it beforehand would have meant this or last weekend with Robert gone; last weekend had the rehearsal, this weekend I'm tired, and there's been NO sun on the weekends! Having it on his b'day would have meant a morning party which would mean that only his one other homeschooled friend could have come. Rock, meet hard place! Why couldn't she just be happy that I told her about the dang party???? (and why didn't Robert tell me there had been rumblings about this after-the-fact party, hmm? when I texted him about it he basically said "oops forgot about that" augh)
My MIL is angry with me because we're having a birthday party after E's birthday. I guess it goes against some Korean superstition. Dagnabit. Having it beforehand would have meant this or last weekend with Robert gone; last weekend had the rehearsal, this weekend I'm tired, and there's been NO sun on the weekends! Having it on his b'day would have meant a morning party which would mean that only his one other homeschooled friend could have come. Rock, meet hard place! Why couldn't she just be happy that I told her about the dang party???? (and why didn't Robert tell me there had been rumblings about this after-the-fact party, hmm? when I texted him about it he basically said "oops forgot about that" augh)
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