"I wanna do it again, Jessie."

I should have told y'all about this Sunday after-the-fact, or at least yesterday, but I didn't. Can't explain it, just didn't.

Sunday after church, I had the distinct and sincere pleasure of dressing up as Jessie from Toy Story for Molly's best friend's daughter's birthday party. I met Mols at her apartment, and we rode together to Birmingham for the party. The house sits just off the road kind of at the center of an intersection, and it's situated in such a way that, normally, when you're coming from the direction we were, you can essentially drive straight through the traffic light and into the driveway; however, that particular plan was foiled by the horse trailer in the driveway.

Yes, there was a horse and a pony.

So, we did a little turn-around to get to the other entrance to the driveway, and then went inside, being sure that Birthday Girl (very important to distinguish her from your ordinary, garden-variety birthday girl) wasn't around to see me before I got into costume. Then, with Birthday Mom's permission, I head outside with Mols as my escort. She points out Birthday Girl, who is currently riding her steed, and as I'm coming down the deck steps, B-day Mom gets B-day Girl's attention, and I give a little "Yodel-ay-ee-oooooo!" a la Joan Cusack.

Thus was the beginning of a totally wonderful afternoon and evening.

I sauntered over to meet Birthday Girl and kept saying, "It's you! It's you! You're the birthday girl!" (I'd done my homework before meeting Molly) complete with appropriate Jessie hand gestures.

Birthday Girl had to take one more lap around their (frakkin' awesome!) backyard before jumping down to let me play with her. Once she did, though, she grabbed my hand and led me to her playground (yes, a full-fledged playground in the backyard!) where she proceeded to run from me ("Aren't you going to chase me, Jessie?").
The other children there took a little bit longer to warm up to me than Birthday Girl, but once they did, they got in on the chase as well.

I was eventually saved by a final pony ride before they had to go home. When I called her "cowgirl" as she was riding, she looked at me with a very serious face and said, "I not a cowgirl, I'm the Birthday Girl!"

Then it was time for cake, ice cream, and presents, and after all that, it was dark and we all headed inside. We sat at the table and chit-chatted about my beau, Buzz, Woody and the gang, and then she opened up one more present from her grandparents: a Jessie doll with pull-string. Birthday Girl's reaction?

"It's YOU, Jessie!"

Ü

The picture at the top was taken toward the end of the evening before it was time for her to take her bath (and after she'd opened the present of the night). Of course, after the first time I'd been her personal jumperoo, she looked up at me smiling and said, "I wanna do it again, Jessie."

So we did, but then it was time for her bath and bed. We said our "good-byes," and Birthday Mom whisked her away.

Once the coast was clear, I ducked into the bathroom and put on my civilian attire (my clothes, glasses, and hair down). When Molly and I were about the leave, Birthday Dad told us to stick around and see if she recognized me. We hid the cowgirl boots and such by the front door, and when Birthday Girl came out with her wet hair and 'jamas, she looked at me kinda funny, but Molly "headed her off at the pass," and said, "Birthday Girl, have you met my friend Kate?"

Birthday Girl looks at me again and says, "Hi Kate. Do you want some cake?"

So we sat and visited with the Birthday family for about an hour, acting as if I'd just arrived, and they told me allllll about Jessie coming to the party.

It was absolutely delightful.

I also met a handful of Molly's other friends, and we had a rather in depth conversation with one about quitting life and auditioning at Disney World, or maybe a cruise line.
I had SO. MUCH. FUN Sunday night.

And I wanna do it again.