Disney On Ice (Treasure Trove)

We headed back to Disney On Ice this year! The kids love it, and it is just about the cheapest ticket you can get to a show. Darren bought the tickets after Christmas, and then...he ended up with back-to-back business trips and couldn't attend. So, I asked our backdoor neighbor if their youngest daughter could attend with us. The girls talked, and all the kids dug into the goodie bags I brought before the show started. The show didn't have the best start, but as soon as Mickey & Minnie skated onto the ice, there was a delighted gasp from the audience, and it felt like the show had really begun. Like most of the DOI shows, this one included snippets from the movies that Disney is famous for. There were a lot of different movies highlighted this year, which was nice. Kyrie was excited to see Alice in Wonderland, and they also added Peter Pan, Tangled & the Princess & the Frog. The skating was great, and there was a big finale with all the princes & princesses! It was a very fun afternoon with the kids!

Getting a little sleepy, Degen thinks the music gets too loud! 

This is one of my favorite photos from the Aladdin sequence: nothing but air!

The grand finale!

Happy 4th Birthday, Degen!

Of course, it wouldn't be a birthday without a birthday morning donut! We started the day with sugar, candles & singing! The kids enjoyed a lazy morning playing together. We had piano lessons in the afternoon and then headed to Chuck E. Cheese afterward. Unfortunately, Degen's birthday fell on a school holiday and CEC was packed. I knew that it would be, but the kids don't seem to mind the crowds nearly as much as I do, so we went anyway. Darren left work early and joined us for a little bit, just enough time to use up the last of our tokens. 

Degen loves the driving games a lot, and he got me in on the game to push the pedals he can't reach! Both kids earned quite a few tickets in just a short time, but we decided to save them up for another visit. 

My little rock star!

Both kids love to get long chains of tickets! Here is Degen counting them up!

After Chuck E. Cheese, we headed home for gifts & cake. Degen was really excited to open his gifts, and Kyrie was nearly as excited as her brother! It was controlled frenzy of wrapping paper, cards and packaging! 

I was grateful for leftover cake! There was enough for everyone to have a piece! There was more singing and candles and then more sugar! Degen had a great birthday, and we all enjoyed sharing the day with him!

Happy birthday, little man! We love you!

Kyrie showing off her frosting mouth!

Super Party At SuperGames

This year, we had Degen's birthday party at SuperGames. It is a large "bounce" facility where we have played many times. We got half of the space all to ourselves with 2-3 staff members to keep the kids safe on the bouncers. Our theme was superheroes.

I thought that this was a really fun party. We had the space for 2 hours, and I liked that it was an open play time. Most party spaces give you a specific time to play and a specific time to eat/open gifts/etc. Because the space was ours, guests were able to snack or play as they pleased the entire time. We had a good group of families who were able to join us! 

Darren & Kyrie preparing to race through an inflatable obstacle course!

Darren had as much fun as the kids and spent much of his time on the bouncers with the them!

Degen got a special SuperGames t-shirt. He was so serious when the manager was talking to him and giving him his shirt. He wore that shirt for the rest of the day! 

Because our party was for a younger group of kids, I didn't think that they would open the rock wall, but they did and almost all of the kids tried to climb it. They had a blast! 

Degen loves air hockey, and he had a lot of fun playing with his goofy daddy!

Cake time! I think in the past, I have usually devoted a whole post just to the birthday cake. For this cake, I put together three smaller cakes, each with a superhero logo. They came together pretty quickly, each cake taking about 30 minutes to put together. I asked Degen what kind of cake he wanted, and he said vanilla. Darren was a little disappointed with that, so I used a chocolate filling for the Captain America cake. Each filling also had sprinkles, which was fun, but the sprinkles didn't allow the layers to stick together very well, so next time I will know to put a layer of icing on both sides. I had people ask about my red icing since it turned out so bright. In the past, I have used the gel colors to make red, but you have to use a lot and it still seems a bit pink and imagination or not, the coloring seems to kind of flavor the icing a bit (?). Knowing I didn't want to deal with that again, I used spray-on color. I have used this before for a black (graduation) cake. It is such a dream, and the color really does come out nicely. Spiderman had the most detail, but was definitely one of the favorites. Serving up cake, the kiddos would just call out which superhero they wanted, which was cute (and easy!). We went home with just a handful of pieces, which was perfect! 

We really enjoyed the afternoon spent celebrating Degen with all of our friends! 

Daisies At The Conservatory

To commemorate the troop's completion of their second 'journey,' there was a field trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory. The girls had a great time exploring the five different gardens and learning about conservation. Our family joined the troop for an afternoon in the gardens while the snow blew outside! 

Degen with the troop. He can get a little disappointed when we tell him that he cannot be a Girl Scout when he gets older. 

Darren & Degen. This is about the best photo you are going to get of Degen these day!

The Conservatory is hosting an orchid exhibit- beautiful!