Dinosaurs and Princesses

This is my third attempt at getting this post written over the past week! Let's hope third time is a charm and I actually have a chance to finish it and hit the publish button.

We had our one-on-one dates with the kids last Sunday. Both were major successes! We don't get that individual one-on-one time with the kids very often, so this was a real treat for all of us. Ayden was in dinosaur heaven and Rylee got the full princess treatment for the day!

Tony took Ayden to a Jurassic Quest event. He sent me a text after they arrived, saying "excitement is not a strong enough word" to describe Ayden's reaction when they arrived. He got to ride several dinosaurs, including his favorite Tyrannosaurus Rex. He did some excavating for dinosaur bones, jumped in a dinosaur bounce house, and got his face painted like a dinosaur.

The picture below does not at all capture how excited this kid was to have his face painted, which was quite a shock to us, because he's always been very against having his face painted in the past. He was actually quite upset when we made him take a bath before bed to wash it all off!

Despite how much we scrubbed, he still had green dino eyes the next day!

I took Rylee to a Princess for a Day event that's specifically geared toward foster kids (who get to attend for free), but they invite all kids to participate. Our $50 fee for the event was actually used to sponsor another child, which I think is fantastic. The entire event was very well done and they did an amazing job of making all the kids feel special.

The event was held in a hotel and there was a "Prince" and "Princess" that greeted everyone in the lobby as they arrived. After getting checked in, Rylee had the opportunity to hang out with a few famous princesses while waiting for her turn. Rylee said that "sitting with the Princesses by the fire" was her favorite part of the whole day!

Belle, Rylee, Jasmine, and Aurora

When it was Rylee's turn to be transformed into a beautiful princess, she got to pick out her very own tiara, wand, and goodie bag. Then she got the royal treatment of getting her hair and make up done, and got her fingernails painted.

From there, she got to pick out her princess dress and new (to her) shoes. There were a ton of gently used dresses and shoes that had been donated. Every participant went home with a new princess dress and shoes. Not only did they have dresses and shoes for all the girls, she also got to choose a purse (we opted out) and all the accessories you could possibly think of! They had necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, feather boas, and fairy wings. Rylee chose a ring (that was way too big for her), fairy wings, and a bracelet. Once she was ready, she got to pick whether she wanted a prince or princess to walk her down the red carpet. They introduced each of the little princesses as they arrived to the "ball." Rylee requested to be introduced as Princess Cinderella.

I didn't get to the other end of the red carpet fast enough to get a better picture.

Princess Cinderella. I mean, Princess Belle. Or Rylee, or Aurora...
She changed her name several times throughout the day. It was difficult to keep up! lol

Once at the ball, Rylee danced her little heart out with Moana, Belle, a handsome prince, and a few other local princesses. They served drinks, little sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, desserts, and ice cream. Rylee had a couple bites from a sandwich, enjoyed part of a cinnamon roll, and a few strawberries, but she didn't really have time to eat much when there was dancing to be done and princesses to meet.

Getting her picture taken with Rapunzel

My Princess

At the end of the day, Ayden and Rylee both had great stories to tell and both mom and dad were exhausted. It was an amazing day full of making memories.