from disney to dance friends

the next morning, we got up, packed all our stuff up and left it in the car before heading out to the parks.  on our way, we eyed some of the fun stuff on the hotel grounds:

and then used the special entrance for our magic hour at california adventure.

except that the one ride we wanted to get on - radiator springs racers - was inexplicably down that morning.  boo.  so instead we hopped on over to the disneyland side to grab fastpasses for the currently super-popular "hyperspace mountain," which is basically space mountain with a bunch of star wars enhancements.

then it was big thunder time.

in adventureland, the bean got her fortune told by rubbing the genie's lamp and then visiting the shrunken head.

castle selfie because we could.

and the line for matterhorn was only 20 minutes long.

here's our ride photo from hyperspace mountain:

and on the way out, i apparently wore a christmas tree on my head.

we were out of there by 11:00, and rushed home to get ready for our annual cookie party with our dance friends.  i'd done some prep the day before, but i did kind of feel like i half-assed it this time around.  the bean helped me set up the table with four gingerbread cookies per girl and a slew of pretzel rings to turn into those beloved nipple treats that we haven't had in ages.

the girls were sufficiently entertained though, and seemed to have a great time decorating their cookies.

and my fears turned out to be unfounded as they all had fun making the pretzel rings (and eating them).

there were other snacks too, of course.

the annual group pics!

and this year, we got one of the moms too.  the girls were all too willing to take pictures for us (although i somehow only got one, but that's okay).

talk about squeezing in as much fun into one day as possible.  i adore this yearly tradition with our dance friends, and i really hope we can continue it for years to come.  it's so much fun to watch them grow up together - although this is usually the only time we all get together in one place during the year, we all pick up right where we left off.  that's when you know you're literally BFFs, right?