rockin' ever after

Yawwwwn! I am still trying to wake up and recover from a Disney hangover this morning. I must say, after going to Disney World last year, and visiting Disney on Ice last night, those guys know how to put on a show! Most people chalk Disney up as "over priced", which I will admit some of their toys could afford a discount, but overall, you get what you pay for. Down to the smallest details, Disney makes every element enjoyable. The guy who hands out programs is charming, the shows are spectacular, the songs stick in your head, the characters are lovable and even the $12 bag of cotton candy seems magical. I kind of have a major crush on Disney today, so I might not agree with the cotton candy in a week, but my point is that Disney delivers! And they know how to put smiles on your face!

We headed downtown after Chris got home, and kept our destination from the girls top secret. The details of our evening were stowed away in a perfectly appropriate Disney princess gift bag, and one randomly chosen trunk. Cara made guesses such as "ooo, Monkey Joe's!" and "oh I know, the kid's place with lots of things to do". As we pulled into our ever so shady discounted parking garage, I handed the gift bag to Cara. She looked at us baffled when only discovering a piece of paper. "I don't know how to read," she admitted. So I took the ever so decorated card stock and began to reveal the surprise.

{You are cordially invited to join me and some of my most special friends tonight for a birthday surprise...}

It was a cryptic letter from Ariel telling Cara and Sam that they had a huge night in store and to make sure they thanked Gigi, Perry and Ms. Jo-Ann. Both parties contributed to the night and I wanted to make sure the girls knew since neither of them were with us. The last line said "p.s. - look in the trunk".

The dresses were stowed away with a picture of all the princesses from the Disney on Ice promotion. Cara caught on right away having seen the commercials, which made it so much more awesome for me, because she got the surprise! From then on it was all smiles! They immediately put on the dresses and started posing...

We ate in the CNN center and had a birthday toast!

And then it was showtime!

It wasn't the best lighting and I'm not the best photog, plus I took some pics on my phone...so that's the best I got. We had an awesome time! The show was phenomenal and the girls loved it. Surprisingly, I think Sam loved it more. She was in awe the entire time. Pointing, laughing, smiling! Cara loved it too, but she might have been more interested in cotton candy and toys for part of the show. Ariel went first so her attention slowly started to fade afterwards. If anyone is wondering, my favorite part was Rapuntzel. I love the movie Tangled! Plus they had the horse, which was two people skating under one giant horse costume. That is talent! We had a blast and again, are very thankful for Gigi, Perry and Ms. Jo-Ann for making the night possible! The best part might have been this morning when Sam woke me up saying, "Mommy, that was the best movie ever last night!". She hasn't stopped talking about it...

"Look Mom, this was from the movie last night!"