drunk woody loves jennie

so even after our busy morning, we still had more fun to look forward to that day.  we'd been lucky enough to receive an invitation to a birthday bash for my friend kelley's son, diego (you know i typically don't use anyone's real names, but i have permission in this case.  so there).  he was turning 3, and is an even bigger toy story fan than the bean.  it was pretty easy to figure out what to buy him, and we'd picked up a cool buzz lightyear at the disney store - the spanish-speaking version!

i was a little apprehensive as the bean hadn't taken a nap despite the extra physical activity earlier in the day.  but i could either try and get her to nap (which would put us SUPER late for the party, which started at 2) or suck it up, hope she stayed awake in the car on the way, and just power through.  i opted for the latter, and got us dressed and out the door about a half hour after the party started.  we're always late, ugh.

armed with my old iPhone, which i'd loaded the digital copy of toy story 3 onto, she happily stayed awake for the 30-minute car ride.  and as i made my way down the street, hoping for a parking spot, i spotted something fun - a girl with a full, head-to-toe "jessie" costume on, pulling party goodies out of her car and handing them to her assistants.  i pointed it out to the bean, who got really excited, and then i was too as a party guest pulled out of a parking spot right in front of the house.  jackpot!

the bean totally ambushed jessie as she ambled up the walkway.  i felt kind of bad that she bumrushed her before the birthday boy could even make his way to the door, but there was no stopping the bean.  uh...whoops.  sorry, kelley and diego.

but neither of them seemed to mind, as the bean let go as soon as she got her hug and her picture.  and diego looked pretty excited as he clambered down the steps.

jessie was like the pied piper - all of the kids (including the bean, who miraculously snapped out of her usual klingon mode) followed her happily to the back yard, where she greeted them all and attempted to set up some games.  in the meantime, knowing my kid was safely occupied, i took in all of the cute party details that kelley and her hub had been slaving over for god knows how long.  i so love it when other parents are partyzillas like i am.

and the cute little touches in the front were nothing compared to the cowboy wonderland they'd put together in the back yard.  it was seriously so awesome back there!

i sat down behind one of the bales of hay, where kelley was sitting with a friend (who, as it turns out, reads my blog and recognized the bean when she came trotting in.  so awesome).  we were chatting and watching the kids basking in the attention from jessie and having a grand old time.

and then from behind us we heard a voice.  "jennie, jennie!  i'm here!" he cried out, and burst into the back yard like a bad dream.  check out woody:

we exchanged startled glances, and as we took in the disheveled cowboy (whose belt buckle was haphazardly dangling from the waist of his pinstriped dress pants), couldn't stop laughing.  he kept calling jessie by the wrong name despite her playfully correcting him, but he obviously wasn't listening.  we were pretty sure the dude in the costume had had a few before arriving, and we were giggling madly at his antics (for the wrong reasons).  and the kids seemed just as put off by him as we were.  look at how the bean was side-eyeing his ass (i only got permission to blog photos of the birthday boy, so my blurring tool came in handy again).

even the games didn't distract her from the oddness.

after a while, she got bored with the games and came over to sit next to me.

she decided to check out the bouncer and sashayed off with hay all over her butt.

for the last party trick, we rejoined the kids and sat on another bale of hay.

the bean clowned behind this photo prop for me, totally jacking up her hair in the process.

she found the plethora of toys in the dance hall/garage, and surprised me with what a good shot she is with a basketball.  maybe santa will bring one of these for our own backyard next month.

she was quite intimidated by the giant woody piñata that was taller than she was.

cake time!  she was totally going for that candle at the end of the birthday song, but i managed to stop her right before she blew it out.  poor diego stared her down as she leaned forward, and then took matters into his own hands and got 'er done.

jessie got chopped up as the cake was sliced and served.

the bean really enjoyed her slice of cake.

i was totally amused as the kids' table went from this:

to this.  my kid sure loves her some cake.

we decided to venture over and have a little fun with my camera's self-timer and the props at the photo booth.

as the party wound down (well, for us at least - kelley reports that they kept partying way past midnight), the torches were lit, adding a pretty soft light to the shindig.

as the bean took a potty break, i - well, you know.

then she played a little while longer in the "dance hall" while i admired the OG DJ set-up.

when it finally got chilly enough for the bean to come over and say "mommy, my arms are cold," we gave kelley a hug and thanked her for the fun time we'd had, and made our exit.

happy birthday, diego!  we hope you got lots and lots of fun toys (i'm sure you did!), and that mommy and daddy weren't too hung over.  heh.