May 2011 Yo Ho Ho! Let Down Your Hair! (New 10/9 Lessons Learned #550)

[Marshay]

Love reading about the Pixar Weekend. I was in WDW too, but attending Destination D. I was hoping to have popped over to Epcot on one of our breaks, but there was never enough time. So I will just have to experience things vicariously through you!

PS - that Russell fan is AMAZING!!!!

How was Destination D? I sooooo would love to have done that. But with 2 small kids, I really can't get away for that. but a whole weekend of Disney speakers and events --

Sorry about the Pooh shirt! For some reason, I always end up wearing that shirt on our first day!!

It was really great running in to you guys that day, and the next day, and again the day after that. And how funny is it that you found my car?!?!?!

We had the same trouble you guys had in the Pixar tent with the Monsters, Inc. characters. We really wanted to be with Mike, Sully and Boo, but they would always change them just as we were getting to the front of the line. And Boo was TOO CUTE!! Her little head bobbing up and down!!

We saw the Russel fan when we were there, too. He must have gone over there twice, because we went to the tent after running into you guys and that's when we saw him. His costume was soooo cute. He deserved the extra attention!

No prob about Pooh. It's just a running joke on here for me. I just never liked him. I think it's b/c I'm such a non"willy-nilly-silly" person that he drives me crazy.

Meeting you was a highlight of the trip -- and 3x!!

Yeah, Jerry thought I had totally lost it when I took a photo of your car

I REALLY, REALLY wanted to meet Boo, Sully and Mike. I wished they could have signed autograph books b/c I have a great page set up for them...But it was cool seeing all the monsters.

And who knows?? We go back the next day ... whom do we see????

oh many, boy were those ressies messed up... 18 people

Glad u made it to epcot for some of Pixar Weekend

Love the pics with Mr Potato Head. He is awesome

You got a lot of great photopass pics

That russell guy....that was too funny

Hope your room is good

yeah, 18 people was just a bit of a mess up. And here's a hint...that was only the beginning of our room troubles...

glad your arrival (minus the weird room mix up thing) worked out so well...you saw some amazing characters (and fans) I personally love the group shot w/ Mr. Potato head and Jerry sitting on the floor

I would have loved to see that UP! house up front and in person looked great!

the rain always comes when you don't have the ponchos

looking forward to more fun, surprises and excitment

J~

It really was exciting! They also had the characters from The Incredibles (Frozone, Mr and Mrs.) but we had already seen them on a previous visit so I wanted to stay focused on those we hadn't seen.

 

[cherbear]

Marsha, Marsha, MARSHA!!!

You could've called me up, and some of the other "lifers" and I'm sure we would've helped you make that 18 quota!

 

[cherbear]

that Russell fan was so awesome!!

Love the Potato head pics...and the Monsters. What a great first day! I love the praises!

 

[cadek]

I definately will make a trip to Flower and Garden next year. We will be upgrading to AP's, so how could we not. I love flowers and all of your pictures are so beautiful. I keep seeing pictures of playgrounds too (in other TR's), and the kids would love that!

Room trouble, that's not good, but I guess it makes for an even more interesting trip report.

 

[Marshay]

Marsha, Marsha, MARSHA!!!

You could've called me up, and some of the other "lifers" and I'm sure we would've helped you make that 18 quota!

Darn, why didn't I think of that??? Of course 18 people in a 2br might be just a *tad* too many....

that Russell fan was so awesome!!

Love the Potato head pics...and the Monsters. What a great first day! I love the praises!

The fake Russell was really cute -- he was so into it. When the real Russell came out he was literally jumping up and down in excitement.

I definately will make a trip to Flower and Garden next year. We will be upgrading to AP's, so how could we not. I love flowers and all of your pictures are so beautiful. I keep seeing pictures of playgrounds too (in other TR's), and the kids would love that!

Room trouble, that's not good, but I guess it makes for an even more interesting trip report.

Yes, there are a few playground areas that are really cute. I'll post pics later.

And what's even more interesting is how Disney handled it all! that's a hint for later...

 

[cherbear]

Darn, why didn't I think of that??? Of course 18 people in a 2br might be just a *tad* too many....

I would be willing to sleep on the balcony!

 

[Vwdiva93]

It was so nice to meet you today Marsha!! I couldn't believe it when I saw you all. I saw your husband first and I thought "Hmm he looks really familiar!" Lol! I hope you all enjoyed the parade, we usually stay in Purcellville to watch that one since it's closer but I'm so glad we decided to check out the Leesburg one today! I'm loving your TR too, your DD's are so adorable and I love your color coordinated outfits. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Queila]

Great job! We were at Epcot on that same day. That rain almost spoiled it for us. We almost had lunch at England too but voted against it last minute.

I cannot wait t read more...

Q

 

[Marshay]

It was so nice to meet you today Marsha!! I couldn't believe it when I saw you all. I saw your husband first and I thought "Hmm he looks really familiar!" Lol! I hope you all enjoyed the parade, we usually stay in Purcellville to watch that one since it's closer but I'm so glad we decided to check out the Leesburg one today! I'm loving your TR too, your DD's are so adorable and I love your color coordinated outfits. Can't wait to hear more!

Ok, that was too incredibly funny!! I'm so glad you stopped me to say hello!! I'll post our pic once my DH uploads it.

You completely surprised me -- I actually had to look at my stroller to see if I had any LGMH on it!!

Yeah, my DH definitely stands out in a crowd -- literally at 6'6"!!

We always try to get to that parade -- it's cute for the kids...then tonight we'll go to Ida Lee for the concert and fireworks!

However, you made my day!

Great job! We were at Epcot on that same day. That rain almost spoiled it for us. We almost had lunch at England too but voted against it last minute.

I cannot wait t read more...

Q

Too funny! That would have been great to see you at England. I imagine the rain really stopped a lot of Dismeets from happening. There were supposed to be like 20+ Dissers at Epcot that Saturday but I only saw 1.

 

[Marshay]

Getting Ready for a Rapunzel Birthday Party​

I interrupt this trip report for a "sneak peak" at Rachel's upcoming 6th Rapunzel Birthday party on Saturday.


I was just going to purchase Rapunzel Birthday invitations when I decided to make my own invitations and use a braid for each one. When I showed it to Rachel she asked if she could make the invitations herself. At first I was hesitant ... but told her to go ahead and show me. After seeing them, I thought they were just perfect! cheaper than buying, more personal than store-bought and less work for me!

Here is the front of the cards -- all Rapunzels

Here are all the towers and braids

This is the inside of the card -- invitation and braid. Not sure if you can make out the writing but it says:
"Let’s celebrate Rachel’s 6th birthday party!
We’ll enjoy lots of activities Rapunzel enjoyed: arts and crafts, songs, stories, painting and food.
We can’t wait to share this “Best. Day. Ever!” with you!
Wear your swimming suit under your clothes so you can escape from the “Snuggly Duckling” just like Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Don’t forget a towel and dry clothes, too."

And then on the back of the card, Rachel drew Pascal.

Then yesterday I made this tower from a design on the Disney/Family fun website. However, they were missing step #9 so I had to guess what they wanted me to do with the small turret.

A view of the Tower and turrets. Rachel added her little Pascal!

A closer look at Pascal and the inside of the tower. I had painted the inside of the small turret since I thought it looked better that way. I wish I did the inside of the large one too.

Rachel had started helping me with this tower. She made some of the faux bricks and the roof of the small turret. I then added the ivy, put it all together and added the foam flowers.

I thought I should also paint the bottom of the tower, since the kids are smaller than me and will be looking up at it. This is also the view that Flynn Rider sees!

One final picture of the tower (sans Pascal)

Right now Rachel is working on the flag banner and I'm working on the lanterns to hang from the ceiling. Jerry added the streamers yesterday.

I'm a little nervous about doing the cupcake tower since I've never done cake decorating before. But it should be fun!

 

[cadek]

Amazing! You are very creative, and always seem to have great theme parties! I'm tired just looking at the tower and invitations. They turned out great!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Rachel certainly takes after her mother in her craft skills. I love the decorations and the invitations. How cute!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Those invitations are adorable and great job on the tower!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh Marsha!!

How wonderful that is!! I love the invitations!! Rachel did a great job on them. That tower is great and Pascal looks like he belongs there.

 

[mousescrapper]

The Tower is just simply amazing so awesome...those family Fun crafts look great when done, but not always so easy huh hope you can save it in a safe place...we still have our fairy houses from last summer....

tell rachel she did a great GREAT job on the invites so cute...a very talented young lady!

can't wait to see more fun from the party!

 

[Vwdiva93]

Rapunzel's tower looks amazing. You are so creative! And Rachel did a great job on the invitations, I love the Pascal on the back I hope you all enjoyed the fireworks at Ida Lee! We decided to stay close to home and just went to Franklin Park, they were still very good though

 

[Trentmom]

Rachel did such a great on her invites. I love the braid you added

That tower is awesome

Can't wait to see pics from the party

 

[lledman]

looks like it's going to be a wonderful party - you both are very creative!!!!!

 

[Marshay]

Amazing! You are very creative, and always seem to have great theme parties! I'm tired just looking at the tower and invitations. They turned out great!

Yeah, the tower took a bit of work...would have been easier with ALL the directions but it turned out beautifully. The pictures don't really do it justice but most importantly Rachel and Elizabeth both went 'gaga' over it!

Rachel certainly takes after her mother in her craft skills. I love the decorations and the invitations. How cute!

Thanks -- yeah, I'm am simply thrilled by her creative talent. The other day she made a 2 story tissue box house, with furniture and everything, all by herself.

Those invitations are adorable and great job on the tower!

Many thanks!

Oh Marsha!!

How wonderful that is!! I love the invitations!! Rachel did a great job on them. That tower is great and Pascal looks like he belongs there.

Thanks! Rachel's idea to add Pascal...I was going to use him on the cake but he looks perfect on the tower.

The Tower is just simply amazing so awesome...those family Fun crafts look great when done, but not always so easy huh hope you can save it in a safe place...we still have our fairy houses from last summer....

tell rachel she did a great GREAT job on the invites so cute...a very talented young lady!

can't wait to see more fun from the party!

Yeah, now I wish I made those fairy houses, too. Will have to do that another time. Although I don't expect the Tower will make it past Saturday...I can hope though.

What's the best about the invites? Less work for me but still a stunning invitation! All the moms have already told me that their girls are playing with the castle/braid. I don't ever remember playing with an invitation before!

Rapunzel's tower looks amazing. You are so creative! And Rachel did a great job on the invitations, I love the Pascal on the back I hope you all enjoyed the fireworks at Ida Lee! We decided to stay close to home and just went to Franklin Park, they were still very good though

Thank you! We saw the Ida Lee fireworks but as we were about to go in the parking lot it started to rain so we bailed. So we found a spot in Kohl's parking lot and watched them from there on a grassy hill. It turned out pretty good!

Rachel did such a great on her invites. I love the braid you added

That tower is awesome

Can't wait to see pics from the party

Thank you! I was telling her this morning all the comments that you all made about her invites and she was just smiling and smiling!

looks like it's going to be a wonderful party - you both are very creative!!!!!

Many thanks! This is Rachel's first friends birthday party and yeah, I'm trying to make sure it's both great for the kids and the adults ... and shows off both Rachel's and my talents! We enjoy that ... a bit!!

 

[Marshay]

A few more decorations for the party​

Here are the paper lanterns Rachel and I made.

We will hang these from the ceiling in the party room. I just hung on a door to show you. Will wait until Saturday morning to hang them up (since I don't know how long the glue will hold for the string. Next time I should just punch a hole through the sides but I tried to be fancy with the buttons)

Forgive the bad lighting but here are the Rapunzel Tower Bookmarks that I made. On the back it says, "Thank you for coming to my 6th birthday party! Love, Rachel"

With all the parents' great reviews on the braid from the invite, I thought I'd give them one more. I tied these braids a bit looser this time for a different effect.