Rainbow Fright
We recently went to celebrate our cousins’ son Edison’s first birthday in Northern Virginia. It was quick trip, but a blast nonetheless. The party started off with a visit from a balloon artist and face painter, whose skills were much more elaborate than any we’d ever encountered before. We – Clara included – were captivated as the artiste (she deserves that fancy “e” on the end) painted, stamped, and glittered masterpieces on everyone’s faces, arms, and legs.
That’s the birthday boy’s sister Elsa above, and our niece Olivia below.
Despite our initial hesitation that Clara was “too young” for it, she seemed eager to have her turn in the face painting chair – especially since her BFF Elsa got her face painted first. She even bravely exclaimed “yes!” when the woman asked if she wanted to be a “Rainbow Princess.”
Applying the rainbow part of that equation involved swiping a pre-painted sponge across Clara’s forehead, which resulted in immediate oohs and aahs from at least a dozen adults who were standing around watching. Well, this sudden realization that she was the center of attention spooked Clara and she let out some aahs of her own. And we’re not talking little cries, we’re talking seeing-fire-at-the-hibachi-restaurant-in-Hawaii shrieks (more on that here). This is the only other photo that we got of the fiasco, which captured the floodgates just beginning to crack open before the full-on wailing began. That’s my I’m-sensing-an-imminent-meltdown face:
Thankfully we got Clara out of the room and into a quiet place to calm down, and she was fully recovered and back to playing with Elsa’s toys a few minutes later.
But we’re still kinda bummed that we’ll never know what the Rainbow Princess was supposed to look like. Instead she just kinda of looked like she got sideswiped by a clown car for the rest of the party.
Oh well, at least she didn’t seem to care.
UPDATE: Since a few of you asked in the comments, the face painter’s name is Carol “Dee Vinchey” Turman and you can contact her via her website.
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Sideswiped by a clown car, too funny! Isn’t it crazy what little kids are afraid of. Most of the time, they seem to have no fear at all!
My daughter is about to be 4, and every stinking time we try the face painting it ends up like this! She looks adorable, and maybe in another year or so she’ll be willing to be a full out rainbow princess!
Very festive anyway! Kids are so funny.
Wow, that jeweled butterfly design is amazing! I too would have given it a shot if that were the example. I steered my 20 month old Coralie away from the face painting table at our friends recent ‘Pirates and Mermaids’ party, mostly out of fear for the constant smuges that would surely get everywhere in this hot and humid jungle of ours!
I can’t even explain how amusing I found the phrase “sideswiped by a clown car.” Totally cracked me up.
Same here! Too funny! :)
That is cracking me up too!!! Best line I’ve seen in a long time.
Ditto that! Best description ever!!
hahahah I was cracking up too!
“Side swiped by a clown car,” hilarious! How do you come up with this stuff John?
Yes! I literally LOL’ed in my office.
I lol’ed too, I sure did :)
I was just coming in here to say that exact thing!!! Seriously cracked me up!!!
I’m glad Ms. Clara recovered :)
could. not. stop. laughing. hilarious!
Would you mind passing on the name of the artist(e)? My niece just celebrated her second birthday last weekend for which we rented her a moon bounce (which she LOVED once she realized that when she fell she wasn’t going to get hurt). But thinking ahead to next year when maybe (ok that’s a BIG maybe) she’s more willing to sit still.
I’ll have to ask my cousin for her name. She was awesome!
xo,
s
Hi Rachel! Just got her info. It’s Carol Turman at http://www.deevinchey.com/.
-John
lol @ “sideswiped by a clown car”. it’s funny how random things can totally spook a toddler. our daughter is currently afraid of shadows and the reflections that bright objects make on surfaces when the sun shines on them. like i said, random!
Yes my daughter always did this too, now at age 5 she finally realizes it fun. Clara looks so cute, love the dress- where’s it from?
I think that’s an Old Navy dress – it was a hand me down- so cute, right?!
xo,
s
What lovely work. I’m taking it this woman was hired for the party? If so is there a chance I can get her name? I live in NoVA too and would love to look into something like this for my daughter’s birthday.
Thanks in advance for any help!
I’ll have to ask my cousin her name. She was awesome!
xo,
s
Hi Stefanie! Just got her info. It’s Carol Turman at http://www.deevinchey.com/.
-John
Your clown car comment just made me laugh out load at work!! People around me were like what is so funny – guess I don’t need to read while working :)
I LOL’d and got looked at funny for quite a while at work today because of this post. I am sure it was not funny during the meltdown, but the post is hilarious! Thanks for this. I still laugh thinking back on it now, so Had to come back and post a comment.
Aww, well, at least Clara was brave enough to give it a try. It’s always unsettling to have strange people touching your face — I hate going to the dentist and eye doctor, so I can sympathize.
So precious!
Just a small typo..
“which captured the floodgates judt beginning to crack open before the full-on wailing began.”
Guessing the “judt” is “just” in non-super-busy finger land.
Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks Wendy! All fixed!
xo,
s
Loved the post title, and I’m another side swiping clown car fan! You guys are too cool with witty words! I got a thrill that you checked out the triplets monthly fabric photos, thanks, glad it made you smile! For the record, I’ve posted phase two of their monthly pictures – in our tub lounge
chair.http://caitlinshappyheart.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/monthly-photo-project-3-bubs-in-tub.html
These are great for seeing exactly how much bigger they are getting when comparing against a consistent background. Fun!
So cute! They’re growing so fast!
xo,
s
She looks like a Rainbow Princess to me!
Awww.. such a cutie!! It’s funny how small things can spook kids- ha ha!
Side note: Love the earrings, Sherry! Where did you find them?
Those are the Clara earrings (haha) from towneandreese.com! Love them!
xo,
s
oh my, i am dying over the cuteness in this blog post. my heart melts
“…sideswiped by a clown car…” I definitely just cracked up at that! Too funny.
Clara looks adorable! *LOVE* her pretty little sundress :)
As for her face-painting, those look like very colorful inchworms to me *wink* :)
xox
LOL. Honestly she kinda looks like those face-painted hipsters! She’s still adorable!
“Instead she just kinda of looked like she got sideswiped by a clown car for the rest of the party.”
HA! That one had me laugh out loud. Our 2 year old wouldn’t have even attempted that in the fist place! :)
I am sure you meant quiet place instead of quite. I do that all the time. Love reading your blog!!!!!
D’oh! Got it fixed. Thanks!
-John
Too cute!
Maybe a small typo:
“Thankfully we got Clara out of the room and into a quite place to calm down”
quite/quiet
:)
Thanks Vickie – got it fixed!
-John
Please let us know the name/company of the artist when you get it. I’m another Nova mom of 3 who would definitely like to use her for a bday party!
Thanks!
Will do, Kate!
-John
Hi Kate! Just got her info. It’s Carol Turman at http://www.deevinchey.com/.
-John
Very 80s sweatband-esk! She can rock it!
Ahhh I seriously busted out at my desk @ “sideswiped by a clown car” too freaking cute!
Don’t worry we too had a total freak out moment at the Japanese Steakouse with our 19 month old. Kind of a bummer since we thought she’d love all tricks!
Hahaha. What a cutie!
Best phrase ever!!!!
sideswiped by a clown car
I am still LOL in the office.
Sherry…you are hysterical! Love how you write! I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face…my mom showed up for a surprise visit and I had to convince her I wasn’t upset or having a mind-afternoon crying session. I tried explaining your story, which made me laugh more…thanks for the giggles…you and sweet Clara are so funny!
“Side swiped by a clown car” seriously made me laugh out loud!
Aw, poor girl. She rocks the rainbow ninja look, toddlers can pull off anything. I do wonder how those stripes were going to look like a rainbow princess? Oh well, maybe next year. My 3-year-old gal did just fine at her first face painting last month.
That reminds me of a first birthday party I went to several years ago for a friend’s daughter. We were all watching with great anticipation for the first fistful-of-cake bite and Birthday Girl was pretty much not doing anything. Finally she got a mouthful, and of course everyone cheered, which scared her and she burst into tears, at which point everyone started laughing. She got calmed down, and it was fine, but still hilarious when I remember. Poor thing. So I understand how the oh-my-everyone-is-looking-at-me plus noise is scary to little ones. Ya just never know how they’re going to react!
I had my face painted for the first time in pre-school – everything was fine until it came time for me to look in the mirror. The woman had painted my face like a clown and I was terrified of myself and started crying hysterically – I think I thought I was going to look like that forever. They quickly cleaned my face up and I was fine, but I still can’t bring myself to wear lipstick – haha! My clown name could have been Rainbow Fright!
Aw, that’s so sad/funny!
xo,
s
I hate to laugh at Clara’s expense, but that giant rainbow sweatband on her forehead is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day!
Haha- a rainbow sweatband = the perfect description!
xo,
s
“…side-swiped by a clown car” HAHA! I laughed so loud when I read that! Fantastic! Glad Clara recovered, I get uncomfortable being the centre of attention too :(
LOL!!
I laughed so hard when I read “…sideswiped by a clown car” Hilarious :)
Hey, is that a new Michael Kors watch you are wearing? I just got that one too!
That was my v-day present from John! Love it!
xo,
s
y’all are hilarious. elsa looks like clara!! adorable.
So funny and sweet! And I love your bedroom updates, too! Amazing rug and what luck with the price :) I know the room will come together beautifully!
I was distracted by a couple of random observations above… I see an Iowa map on the wall (home!) and Sherry, we have the same watch!! Don’t you love it?! Mine was a gift a couple years ago and I’ve worn the heck out of it ever since!
Oh yes, that’s my BFF’s house (she married John’s cousin to become my actual relative!) and she’s from Iowa (Reinbeck, near Waterloo). I’ve been there a million times- even spent Christmas with her family! And yes, I love my watch (a v-day gift from John).
xo,
s
“Instead she just kinda of looked like she got sideswiped by a clown car for the rest of the party.”
Hand clamped over face to prevent laughing aloud. Lesson in why one should not read blogs at work.
oh, poor Clara! That is too cute from a bystander reading it afterwards perspective, but I’m sure it’s not as easy for you guys. We’re actually flying with our 9 month old daughter for the first time this weekend and I’m in all out terror about how my baby girl will handle it and braving it in public if she doesn’t take it well. I’ve built up some pretty bad karma from being an impatient business traveller around travelling families, so I fully deserve whatever is coming to me, I’ve yet to really deal with any meltdowns away from home. Any tips?
My main tip – which I’m still learning the practice myself – is to keep calm yourself. Everyone understands to some degree that kids have meltdowns, but if the parent is having a meltdown along with them it not only looks worse, but probably makes it worse. Clara always seems to calm down faster when we’re calm (or at least faking it well). Good luck!
-John
“sideswiped by a clown car” that’s a pretty accurate description! I was thinking she looked like she was ready for Pride Parade! That’d be an awesome paint job if so! Oh, the things I have to look forward to…
Hey John and Sherry, just an FYI I got an ACE pop up video ad and I know how you guys monitor those.
Hope you have a nice weekend!
Thanks for the heads up Sarah! We never allow pop ups and never know they’re there unless folks like you tell us so we can block them! Off to hopefully get ‘er done!
xo,
s
The kids look so sweet with their masterpiece faces. Best part of going to the fairs in the summer is getting face painted :) Also, I’m absolutely drooling about those amazing framed maps in the background! They’re fantastic!
Aw thanks Amanda! We actually got those for Cat & Travis as wedding gifts (they’re maps of their home states from a flea market).
xo,
s
This post had me rolling! My daughter would have reacted the same way.
So off topic… but I’m currently hunting a nice sippy cup for my 9 month old to drink water from. Looking for something practical yet nice looking (not some horrible kiddy design with teddies on it). What did you guys use for Clara??
She loves those cups from Target called Take And Toss. They’re BPa free and come in straw and sippy cup varieties (she likes both). Of course we reuse them and don’t toss them. Haha.
xo,
s
I used to work at an amusement park doing face painting so I’ve been on the other side of the paintbrush for a meltdown and it’s the worst feeling ever. People walking past would look at me like I was a horrible person inflicting this torture on a child and I wanted to yell “I’m not the one who’s making them get their face painted! I’m just a teenager, doing my job!”
At least you guys didn’t push it, I remember a mom who kept insisting, “He really does want to be a tiger” when her son was in a Stage 4 meltdown. My reply, “Ma’am, his tears will wash it away…Are you really the one who wants to be the tiger?”
My rules for face painting 1) It’s the kid’s face not yours, if they don’t want it they don’t have to get it. 2) If you have to wrangle your child in a choke-hold to get them to keep still, I want no part of it.
Oh man, that has to be so hard!
xo,
s