The "Fodder Dodder" Dance

If you're a loyal follower, you may recall the Father/Daughter sweetheart dance Ty took Anabelle to last year.

Its a shindig the City of Atascadero puts on annually and its an excuse for local fathers and daughters of all ages to get dolled up and spend a little quality time together.

Anabelle has literally talked about this event at least once a week since she attended last February. She prays about it at night, "...and thank you that I got to go to the Fodder/Daughter dance with daddy..." she looks forward to it like the other regular milestones in a child's measurement of time... Christmas, her birthday, the dance... She points out outfits she thinks we should buy ..."for when its time to go again..." and asks on a regular basis if I will style her hair like I did for the last event (that took me the better part of an hour to do...).

This year Tyson took the entire week off work because he isn't allowed to 'swap' days off until his one year hire date in April, and he was not about to chance missing it. But, since it was costing him an entire week of vacation time, we had to plan our Disneyland trip into that week as well... and it ended up being quite a juggling act to squeeze it all in.

We woke up in LA on Friday morning.... went to Disneyland until lunchtime... loaded up and flew like pixies down the freeway to make it home in time to get ready and party some more. We got home at 5:30pm...

Did a magical little song and dance the forest animals and birds and fairy godmothers taught us to sing that magically transforms carsick sleepy toads into sparkling princesses in an instant...

...and WHA-LA! We were ready to meet our friends the Moens to head out by 6:30pm!


I think they clean up pretty splendidly, if I may say so. <3

How adorable is this... my daughter is only five years old... already on her second formal dance date ever... and strapped into a booster seat with her little gal pal.

Don't be surprised if I try to talk her dates into this ritual for the rest of her life... I'm sure they make booster seats for 17year old girls who have boyfriends with drivers licenses?

Of course I'm hoping said 17 year old boy will not stand a chance...

These girls were pampered and twirled and "juice-boxed and dined" and treated like the princesses they truly are all evening long by some pretty great menfolk we happen to know and love for being the Dads most girls only dream of having.

(John and Julie)

(Jeramey and Isabella)

(Jim and Sarah)

Their daddies have some pretty big...er...jackets to fill.



So as the night wore on, I'm told my little flower began to wilt from all the excitement of Disneyland and the dance of her dreams...

In the true spirit of girl-friendship... Isabella (who had carpooled with Ty and Anabelle) agreed her friend Anabelle was indeed very, very sleepy and should head home a smidgen early to catch her beauty sleep appointment with Mr. Sandman.

It was definitely a hit, I think the girls all had a blast and... they were certainly some heaping slices of adorableness.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Nobody was AT the ranch, because Dawson and I had ourselves a double date night too!

What... you didn't expect us to sit around like wallflowers and cry about not getting asked out all night long did you?!

Connor and Meg joined Dawson and I for an enchanting evening of Gnomeo and Juliette (Yes. Its an actual movie title... the story of Romeo and Juliette... acted out by Garden Gnomes. And it happened to be a decently cute movie, I was SHOCKED!), followed by a trip to Powell's Sweet Shop and then burgers and fries and milkshakes (oh, my!) at Good Times Cafe.

Dawson and Connor rocking their respective afros... pretty awesome.

My favorite part about this date was the fact that my son insisted on wearing his Indiana Jones costume and carrying his jewel pouch and whip the whole time...

You just never know when you may be called to defend the woman you love from some killer animated garden gnome come to life.

Ah, these kids.

We love them so, and this has become one of my favorite family traditions. I hope when they are 30 years old and finally allowed to go on 'real' dates, they remember the fun and innocence of these nights together, and feel the eyes of their parents on them AT ALL TIMES! ;)

xo