C'mon Barbie Let's Go Party

Dead snakes, mini high school reunion and a Barbie dress up night were highlights of the week. 

Dead snake: I have built up a reputation in my family for being willing to catch, touch and kill garden snakes around the yard. My mom called me up from where I was working (in their freezing cold basement hence the sweatshirt) and told me there was a snake that wouldn't move off the pool cover. After getting the net and poking at it I realized it was already dead so I scooped it up and threw it over into the pasture. I need to clarify I am not a fan of snakes but I am not terrified of them either. Honestly I think I am more afraid of frogs because they are slimy and can jump at you. I must still be traumatized by the time one jumped up my dress when I was a missionary in Tennessee. I also hate bats. Traumatized from the time several got in our house and one died in my room. I shiver just thinking about that.

Mini high school reunion. It had been since before I moved to Pittsburgh since I had seen the "Fab Four" as we used to call ourselves in junior high and high school. Abby and Abbey and Megan were my ride or die blonde friends for years and it was so fun to see them again. Especially since Abby had her cute baby James back in February. Sweet boy was born with a growth in one of his lungs that he had to go in for surgery to remove and they ended up removing his right middle lobe entirely. Because of the uncertainty leading up to his surgery Abby has kept him quarantined from extended family and friends until the operation was successfully over. So it was the first time that any of us had met him and he was seriously just the happiest giggliest boy! I'm so grateful for modern day medicine and the amazing things that Primary Children's Hospital can do for so many children and families in need. It also never ceases to amaze me when I watch how resilient kids are. 

It was so fun to catch up with friends and see how our paths of life twist and turn but still we can pick up where we leave off each time we see each other. 

Abby had told me she went to the Barbie premiere with her mom and future sister-in-law and her family. She said the whole experience of everyone wearing pink and saying "Hi Barbie" to each other was so fun. So I knew when mom said she wanted to go see it we needed to make it a production. Say no more for Nancy who if you know her you know that she can turn anything into a party. I don't know why I was surprised to walk in her closet looking for something pink and found two identical pink floral dresses. She had bought a second one to add to the first and make it more of a midi length but it worked out perfect that we could twin. Her extensive shoe, purse and jewelry collection gave us the perfect accessories and after crimping our hair to match and stuffing our bags with treats we headed off in our Jam and Glam Van (one year for Christmas I got a Barbie tour bus RV toy that was called a Jam and Glam Van and I always used the full name for it... "let me go get my Jam and Glam Van"). 

As far as our movie review I'm going to keep it simple and say that it wasn't what I was expecting or hoping for. I honestly thought it was going to be a live action Barbie and it's not. I loved America Ferreira's monologue but a lot of the other scenes and directions made me feel unsettled I think is the best way to describe it. I think overall I was catfished by thinking it was something it wasn't. I know a lot of people loved it but I definitely loved the experience of dressing up for a girls night with my mom than I did the movie. 

Peaches

• Seeing friends from high school and meeting baby James!
• Robyn's strawberry lemonade
• Dressing up to go see Barbie with my mom
• Seeing all the pink in line to get into the movie. Also saw a giant group of boys dressed up in suits trying to be Ken. Definitely a great way for them to meet girls there were SO many wandering around the theater dressed in pink!

• The fact that mom had two identical dresses in her closet. Truly a Barbie dream closet
• My mom's extensive shoe, jewelry and purse collection
• Watching dad hold my uncle Chris' dog Tiny when we went over to celebrate Chris' birthday

• Reminiscing about fun memories with Chris including the time we were driving home from our family tradition campout at Bridger Lake and I got carsick watching The Gooney's on an iPod classic screen in the backseat of his truck and threw up in a pillowcase he ripped off and threw back to me. I felt so embarrassed and bad about it but he was so kind about it
• Went and listened to Sam and Bryn's brother Luke speak at his mission farewell. He did a great job and it was fun to see a lot of other friends after at the luncheon they had
• Watching the boys interact with Sam and Kennedy's little boy Macky is so cute. It has taken him a minute to warm up to me and Jade since we've been gone for most of his life but we're making progress

• I printed off a kids alphabet yoga sheet and took the letter dice from the Scattergories game to play with the nieces and nephews after Sunday dinner. Most of them lost interest pretty quickly but Parks got way into it and wanted to do every single pose on the list. He asked if I could bring it again the next week which made me laugh!

Pits:

• Overall the Barbie movie just wasn't what I wanted it to be. Although there were parts I related to and thought were very well done it overall left me feeling unsettled. I'll always laugh and look back fondly on how much fun it was to get ready and dress up with mom in our Jam and Glam Van (which I found on Amazon! Might need to buy it for my future little girl one day!