Disney Princesses On Ice!

Today was the day we've been planning for nearly the past month: Surprising Sydni with a trip to see Disney's Princesses on Ice. I have no idea how I managed to go for weeks without spoiling the surpise; I'm absolutely the worst when it comes to harboring secrets like that. I pulled it off though, and we were dressed and on our way to The Nutter Center in Dayton.

she was trying to guess where she was headed

OH. Before I forget, I must take a moment to recognize the absolutely incredible talent of Allison, owner, baker and master magic-maker of Tu-Tu Sweet. [<< That's the Facebook link for you to go like her page, look at her pictures and ORDER. COOKIES. You're welcome.]

cookies, galore! 

^ Those volleyballs on the right were a special order for our team a few weeks back, and the Disney Frozen-themed crowns and snowflakes on the right were made especially for Sydni's big surprise today. This girl is good. I'll say it again: Friends & family, if you love cookies, call this gal. She's awesome. Thank you, Allison!!!

Anyway, we made it to Dayton and found our seats. There wasn't much happening yet, but with the giant, empty ice rink in front of us, we told Sydni what was about to commence. This, just before the squealing and tripping over all the names of princesses, was her reaction:

this is definitely an "icanteven" moment. ♥

So we settled in for the show!

the official "emcees"

beloved disney characters!
genie. lumiere. olaf. the fairy godmothers.

snow white's seven dwarves

lumiere & the dinnerware, in the
"be our guest" number 

fire-breathing dragon from sleeping beauty

Princesses!

the princes with the lovely ladies:
jasmine. belle. rapunzel. anna. 

more princesses!
tiana. aurora. snow white. cinderella. 

cinderella arriving in her chariot

A brief intermission... Did it look like she was having any fun? ;)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!

And of course, the story - and sisters - that 90% of the audience came to see today:

anna & elsa! 

prince hans. olaf. kristoff. anna.
disney's frozen! :) 

finale number: all the princesses! 

WHEW.
A very special tribute to the man in our house, for driving us all there, but more importantly for driving our zonked-out tails back home. Just another reason in the book that he is the best.

sleepy candids... 

We're home now and ready to finally relax, after Disney and an incredible weekend all the way around.

What a happy little Sunday!

xo | cmd

And BOOM. Tourney!

This is pretty much encapsulating of "outside, today:"

rain. and then some more rain.
... and also some rain. 

Yay, rain! :|

Despite the drab and dreary skies, Elisa and I unanimously voted a lunch getaway to Park+Vine. It was the usual trip, but with an added, impressive bonus of this guy:


There were some folks sitting at P+V who informed me that they'd been there for over an hour, and this man had been doing this for that entire time. Elisa and I ate our lunch, and nearly an hour later when we left, he was still doing nonstop reps. MAJOR kudos to this guy.

And,

[want!]

♥Local!

After lunch - more-so after watching that guy workout for an hour straight in jeans.. in the rain, on the side of a busy street, I was more than ready for volleyball.

AND COOKIES!
[thanks, Jessica!!!!]

Holy cow. Here's a little PSA for anyone around the Cinci area who needs [or wants; let's be honest... it's the same thing when cookies are involved..] ahhhhmazing cookies! Her name is Allison, and she is amazing. > FIND HER HERE. <  Thanks again, Jessica, for scooping those up for us!

talented work of tu-tu sweet! 

They were so good.

More and MOST importantly, we ROCKED the tourney! Poor Becky was out for the night; she had an unfortunate run-in with a kid's fist at practice over the weekend, which is resulting in a root canal this Friday [recover QUICKLY!]. Jessica was scheduled to work late, so Chad and I were planning to be left at our own devices for the night. I arrived at Hahana and nearly ran smack into Tim as I walked in the door, and recruited him to join Chad and I until Jessica was able to make it down. With the single-elimination bracket on our shoulders, we managed to survive three teams before we fell in the fourth round. In our defense, that team ended up in the finals and may have won [we left before the end of all that], so at least it wasn't a fluke team ;).

becky. cori. chad. jessica. tim

Thanks again to Tim for stepping in to sub for us [for nearly 5 hours!], and to Jessica for bringing these awesome cookies. Becky, get better soon :)

I thought the night was going to end there, as we said farewell to outdoor volleyball for the year. I made my way home, and found that Rob had made dinner:

he's the best. ever. 

I'm a lucky, happy girl these days. Awesome job & co-workers, friends & volleyball team and of course my better half to complete the day. Sydni will be here tomorrow night, which will absolutely complete my week before we take a break from everything to see Rob's family for the weekend.

Phew! G'Nite!

xo | cmd