Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog: February 2015

I am a bit of a Disney Parks fanatic. I love going to them, talking about them and helping others plan vacations. In fact this past year I applied to the Disney Parks Moms Panel and made it all the way to round 4 which was quite an accomplishment as the search started with about 15,000 and I made it to Round 4 with about 100. I unfortunately did not make the panel but the Disney Parks gave me another opportunity to share my Disney love by having a #DisneySide @Home Celebration.

It was a wonderful opportunity to invite some of the kids friends over and have them show off their #DisneySide.

This was our third Disney Parks at home celebration. Here you can see a recap of last year, and here was our party from 2010.

There were so many great sponsors included in the Party Pack that I received including HP, all laundry detergent, Duff's Cake Mix, Snuggle Fabric Softner, Disney Palace Pets, Wisk Deep Clean, and some great Mickey and Minnie party supplies. A big thanks to MomSelect and Disney Parks for giving me this awesome opportunity.

First was the preparation for the party. I love cake decorating so I was very excited to try out Duff's Tie Dye Cake Mix. I love watching Duff Till Dawn, and the Kids Baking Championship and admire the work that Duff does. This cake is so fun to make for the kids and I. You make the batter and then break it in to six containers. Each container gets mixed with included food coloring to make these cool colors.

Then you pour it little by little to get a tie dye effect.

Here it is after being baked.

I decided to frost it with some fun colors and then add on some Disney characters that we had from previous parties.

Then the kids started arriving. The boys got right to the snacks and playing Disney Infinity.

Disney Infinity is a big hit with my kids and you can see previous reviews here on the 1.0 and 2.0 versions.

The girls broke in to snacks too but couldn't wait to paint their nails.

We received these cool Disney nail polishes.

The girls were really silly and ready to start picking their colors.

They got right to work painting away.

They were very proud of their newly painted nails.

Then all the kids decided it was time to play some pin the Mickey Mouse mouth on Mickey.

Of course the boys had fun spinning their friends.

Too funny!

Even our dog Fred got in to the fun showing his #DisneySide by wearing some Minnie Mouse ears.

Next was time for cake. Everyone was very excited as they had seen the cake and couldn't wait to eat it.

Here you can see the tie dye inside.

Then they went right back to games.

The girls also played Go Fish with Disney cards.

Lauren liked leading a Disney Trivia game.

I am dog tired now but what a fun time and great to talk Disney Parks with friends.

Disclosure: I received a party kit from MomSelect and the Disney Parks to have the #DisneySide @Home Celebration. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Lauren has been dancing since she was two and this year has joined the Dance Competition Team at her dance school. She is competing in Tap and Jazz and I am learning what it is like to be a Dance Mom. I will admit it is not like the show and our dance school is nothing like Abby Lee Miller's dance school.

The weekend before the competition we had dress rehearsal. The kids got to practice in their full costumes and makeup and had their pictures taken.

Plus it was a great time for me to practice her hair and makeup. I had never put eye liner, foundation and lip liner on her before so this took some practice.

The two routines are super cute. In this one she is a nurse and the song is Doctor Doctor.

This past weekend was StarQuest. It was our first experience at a Dance Competition. Well other than when I was young and used to compete.

Things I learned during the Dance Competition as a new Dance Mom:

It is nothing like the show Dance Moms. Our moms are very nice and helpful.

Dance competitions are an all day experience. In some cases it may carry over multiple days.

You do not find out which day of the weekend you are performing until about a week before the competition. Most go from Friday to Sunday.

Most of the hair you see on the girls is fake. We made a bun and covered their hair with this piece of curls. Much easier for styling as I am used to curling her hair with a curling iron for baton twirling and it takes me about an hour to do.

A lot of bobby pins and makeup is required. Having a checklist of what is needed is best.

As a Mom you are needed to do hair, makeup and get your child dressed but then the kids stay with the team and teachers and parents stay together separately.

Listening to awards is similar to listening to an auctioneer. They announce awards so quickly that I had no idea what was going on.

There are Adjudication awards. This includes Platinum, Gold, High Gold, and others. These are strictly based on your teams score. Then there are overall awards per age range, size of team and experience level.

Be prepared for many hours of practice, but for someone like Lauren she loves going to practice.

Moments like this at competition make you know it is worth it. Bonding with team members and having fun.

Here are all the kids from Ellens School of Dance on the stage after awards.

Here is Lauren ready to go in her first routine which was a tap routine to Bellhop Boogie.

I love this routine. They tap on suitcases, plus they use bells in this routine. We were not allowed to take video or take pictures but luckily they did at the competition and they did a great job with pictures.

The costumes are adorable and a kick line is always a crowd pleaser.

Here they are tapping their toes on the bells.

They did awesome and took High Gold in this number and 1st place overall for Petite Large Group.

The other routine was Doctor Doctor. This jazz routine is also adorable and high energy.

The girls had a quick change so they were partnered up with older competition members to get them changed. Here is Lauren with her partner Sarah who she loved. Sarah did her headpiece which I was thankful for as the nurse's hat was tough to get to stay in.