Double Feature: The Little Mermaid

Week 4, Part II:

As I said in yesterday's post, The Little Mermaid is my all-time favorite Disney movie. This is due to the fact that Ariel is my all-time favorite Disney princess. I mean, what is not to like? Ariel is a redhead, is a mermaid living in an underwater kingdom, gets to sing/be a part of some of the best music Disney movies have produced, has a treasure trove, gets to wear a sparkly blue dress, and is A REDHEAD (so important it had to be mentioned twice)!

**Note: I had VERY red hair when I was younger (especially out in the sunlight) and loved to swim.**

**Embarrassing Note: When I'd go to the pool, I used to sing the crescendo of "Part of Your World" as I was climbing out of the water to emulate this scene. I WAS really young, mind you.**

Anyways...here is the mermaid's menu:

The crab cakes paid tribute to Chef Louis's specialty, stuffed crab. The fight scene between Louis and Sebastian is epic as were these crab cakes from a local restaurant. We, also, had hushpuppies. Hushpuppies are the ultimate seafood sidedish. I have the "HUSH" capitalized, because the sidedish also works well with Ariel's agreement. She was "HUSH-ed" by the sea witch. Shells and cheese were for Ariel's not-so-age-appropriate attire (more on this later). That's all well and good, but what is for dessert? I am glad you asked. I chose rainbow sherbet. After all the chocolate-y goodness from Lady and the Tramp, I was feeling something a little lighter. Not only did the sherbet provide this, but fit very well with Triton's wedding gift/send-off. What a "soft-shell" he turned out to be!

I, actually, added a couple things to this menu in my excitement. One, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. They are delicious and go with the seafood theme. Two, was to make "mermaids" out of dyed pasta shells and green beans. I would've dyed all the pasta purple, but I wasn't sure how Justice felt about eating purple pasta. Three, I, also, thought the green beans could be for Flotsam and Jetsam, because they were supposed to be fried green beans (the mermaid's tails would've just been "covered in sand", if this had worked). Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's surprisingly-intelligent henchmen, are electric eels. Electric. Fried. Get it? Well, the green beans ended up not being fried, so that plan didn't work out, but I thought I'd mention it anyway! Four, French bread. This was added because, when Prince Eric took the HUGE risk of letting Ariel drive (always wondered why he would trust her to drive his vehicle..ahem coach..but wouldn't kiss her or, at least, try again right after falling in the water. Men) he almost gets hit by a flying loaf of the stuff.

You will, also, notice in the finished product picture the dinglehoppers have a prime placement. Ariel and I demonstrate the proper use of the dinglehopper below.

Justice, knowing The Little Mermaid was my favorite, busted out the 3D glasses to make the movie really come to life. Yup, he is quite the "catch".

Had too include this, too, because I am marrying my prince. Prince Fred(ERIC)k! See what I did there?

Justice and I both have saltwater tanks (he got me into it and we got my dad back into it...sorry, not sorry, Mom!). Mine is an "underwater London" theme. I took a couple pictures of my saltwater scene. I have an emerald crab (Thames) that looks like Sebastian (except for the whole green thing), but he didn't want to come out for a picture. Probably thought Chef Louis would be after him next!

Seeing as it is Father's Day tomorrow, I want to call attention to how great of a "Disney dad" King Triton is. He signed his name over Ariel's on Ursula's contract (becoming a weird, gnarled thing), gave her legs so she could be with the love of her life (even though he was a human of all things and this meant that she would leave King Triton. "How much I'm going to miss her" gets me everytime), put her in a blue, sparkly gown so she wouldn't have to wear a sail (the sail must have been too short...even for a soon-to-be married mermaid who ran around in a shell bra most of the movie), and sent her off with a rainbow at her wedding. Props King Triton, props.

This moment in the movie made me remember that this will be my dad and I very soon. I am a HUGE daddy's girl and I know I will cry if I think about this moment a minute longer (right before we go down the aisle...a.k.a. leaving "the nest" officially). However, like Ariel, getting married does not mean that I love my dad any less because I have another man in my life. It just means that my dad loved me first!

**Message to my dad: Thank you for letting me "be free to live my own life" and helping me when that freedom got me into "pickles". I love you, Baba Kubwa (Big Papa in Swahili...see below) and will always be your little girl!**

P.S. You may not be able to tell by the pictures, but I am wearing a blue, Kenya shirt in honor of my dad, the rest of my family, and the Canadian FUMC team, who will be traveling to Kenya for a mission trip tomorrow. Mungu aku barike (God bless you) and I am praying for/wishing I could be there with you!

P.P.S. We loved The Aristocat sandwiches so much that we are making them for the Spurs game tomorrow. Hopefully, they are "finale-fare", if you catch my drift.

Justice's turn to pick and it is...

Coming Soon: Pocahontas!! Yay for pie and another great Disney dad!!