goldfish you can't eat

i'm not sure who was more excited for the bean's wheel-a-thon fundraiser for her school, her or me.  i had to miss it last year, but i made sure to calendar it this time around and even volunteered to help count laps. so with the hub on gardening duty at home, the teen and i loaded her bike into the back of the tahoe and headed out to have a little fun.

when we got there, the fun was in full swing.  her class, the oldest of the preschoolers, went last.  we checked her in and got her number - kind of like her very own racing bib.

she was pretty stoked to be able to ride her own this time, instead of riding one of the preschool's tricycles.

i took my place in the center and hoped i'd be able to keep up with the dozen or so racers.

after listening to the rules (which basically told them to look straight ahead and not to bump into each other), they took off.

she did a great job, considering she really hasn't logged in a whole lot of time on that bike.

ten minutes and about eighteen laps later, they were done.

"hey! let's go play some games!" and she was off.

of course, this was the first booth that caught her eye.  with a little help from her sister, she aimed, missed the targets by a mile, and picked a prize out of the treasure chest.

she didn't care.  she moved right on to the next game, where she won another prize.

my kid totally throws like a girl.  happily, she scored a prize of some sort at every booth she tried.

she went "fishing" and hooked a yummy snack.

at this one, she got to dig in the sand for more treasure.

another toy story-themed shooting game resulted in her first "real" prize, which she loved.

and then her sister spotted this one - very similar to one she played when she was in kindergarten.  uh-oh.

the last time, she ended up with a bowl of thirteen goldfish, which she promptly named george.  all 13 of them.  i couldn't help but groan when they both scored prizes here.  oy.

we used our last tickets at the grab bag booth, where we hoped for movie tickets, museum admissions, or maybe legoland passes.  alas, it was not to be.

the final tally:  seven goldfish, three stuffed animals, a plastic snow white doll, a coupon for a free art class, and a few handfuls of candy.

as of today, the fishbowl has had only one casualty.  freaking goldfish, man.  ugh.

the elephant in the room

a few weeks ago, i got an e-mail from a friend of a friend asking me to do some cookies for a first birthday party with a fun circus theme.  when she sent me the super cute images of the little tags she wanted to tie onto the bags, i wasn't too sure i could pull it off.  but after some googling and brainstorming, i realized it was totally doable!

now, you know i'm always worried about my artistic skillz.  i'm certainly no good at drawing (which my draw something friends can definitely attest to), but i can do shapes with simple lines when i need to.  this was one of those times.  remember those fun graduation cookies i did last year with the UCLA and USC logos?  i whipped up some royal icing and piped out some transfers onto a sheet of waxed paper:

and because they were nice and sturdy when they were fully dry, i had zero breakage and no difficulties in using them to adorn my freshly frosted cookies.

they looked really cute after they'd been bagged and tagged.

i heard back from the friend after the party, and she was really pleased with how they turned out.  i so love helping people with fun parties!

lights, camera, action!

it's hard to believe that this was the teen's third round at "action" - her school's annual tradition that pits each class against each other in a series of fun events.  seniors are typically the winners, although the title has been wrested from their viselike grip a few times in the past.  unfortunately, this wasn't one of those years - but it was close.

and i'm gonna admit it - it was really nice this year because the teen was able to drive herself there, not having to rely on me or the hub for transportation.  she got ready with friends at someone else's house and when the hub got home, i slipped out to watch for a bit and take some pictures.  she and rock-ell were signed up for the 3-legged race, and i didn't want to miss it.

as usual, the gym was full to capacity with screaming high schoolers in team tees and lots of silly signs up on the walls.  i knew the teen was somewhere in that sea of yellow, but even after scanning the crowd several times over, i couldn't pick her out.

i wasn't sure if she'd be checking her phone at a time like this, but i texted her anyway.  and sure enough, just seconds later, i had my answer.  i'd put my zoom lens on the camera, so i swung it towards the far corner of the tables and there she was.

satisfied that i'd finally found her, i let my eyes focus a bit on what was going on.  and i snickered to myself over the getups these girls were wearing.  it's amazing what they can do with a simple t-shirt.

i found another spot in the bleachers with a better view of the girls, and being picture whores just like me, they zeroed in on me instantly.

luckily, the teen's event was third on the list.  thank goodness.  the first year, we stayed the whole time and it took forever - like two hours.  ugh.  i cheered and snapped away as she and rock-ell took their places in line.

it's really fun to watch them get into the school spirit and root for their fellow classmates.  and then it was their turn:

they kicked ass, of course.

and the juniors won the event.

it was time for me to bounce on outta there.  i somehow managed to find them before i left, though.

it was definitely a close race between the juniors and the seniors, but of course, the latter took it.  that's okay, girls - next year.  you know, when you ruuuuuule the schooooool!