Yeah. That's So Raven.

Well, so much for my well planned Sunday afternoon pool party. Appreciate me, Choosers . . .because today, instead of taking you on a two part journey filled with anticipation and squeals of dismay, delight, and drama, I'm splaying it ALL out for you. Here and now. All 85 -pared-down-to-12 pictures worth of the saga that took over my day. And my best laid plans. :D

I've been wanting to do this for some time ~ take a picnic lunch poolside after Sunday fellowship, and enjoy an afternoon with the children and any company, frolicking in the water for hours. I'd finally made an executive decision to Just. Do. It. for pete's sake! and gathered the initial supplies to make it happen. That is, all except for the bucket of fried chicken. Determining that to ease my time in the kitchen, I'd pick some up from KFC, or perhaps Wal-mart.

At the last minute, I toted the entire fam, plus Aubrey's friend Cami into the "city gates" (a loving nickname for WM) for the said such chicken.

We didn't even make it past the foyer.

Aubrey eye-spied, loomin' large, a massive banner hanging across the walkway. It read:

RAVEN-SYMONE` DVD SIGNING: 3:00 PM AUGUST 10!

Suddenly, emotional choas broke out in unprecedented form.

"Mom! Mom! PUH-lease! Can we stay? Can we stay, huh? Can we?? PUH-lease?!?!?" And, for those of you with children, you can fully imagine the press that I was subject to for the next, oh . . .THREE hours, even after I'd fully stated my position that we go home, eat, and return.

So, we did just that. No picnic. No swim. No fun for Mom. Just a constant ramping up of teenaged anticipation, complete with declarations of just what, exactly, was going to be discussed, once the teen-with-stars-in-her-eyes approached the star-with-pen-in-hand.

We arrived thirty minutes early, to a line that snaked out of the Garden Center and almost onto the parking lot. Egads.

A DVD purchase snafu ensued, but I'll spare you the gruesome details of my numerous treks across the Wal-Mart storehouse of goods to secure the *proper* DVD for signing. Trust me, you are glad I am doing this. :D

FINALLY, proper product in hand, I joined the fibrillating girls to wait.



Oh, my, the wait. It seemed interminiable. Hot. Full of teenaged angst and antics. Here, a picture of said such angst:

Aubrey, demanding an instant photo-shoot, plops herself down on the stack of patio chairs. I comply by taking out my camera.



However, the young man in front of us decided to move at *just* the right moment, thereby walking in front of the lens. As you can see, Aubrey is now disgruntled at his *obvious* lack of judgment:

As a matter of fact, I do believe those are daggers in her eyes. Or at the very least, a proclamation of: "RAWR!"

Cami was the easier going of the two. She took every blessed sweaty moment in stride with quite the pleasant attitude.

But, as you can see, Aubrey continued her dramatic flair of angst. It's all in the eyebrowns, people. All in the eyebrows:

At the juncture in which we moved out of the Garden Center staging area, into the air conditioned garden supplies staging area, everyone's ability to cope shifted a bit. It was much easier to tolerate the teenaged anticipatory antics.

About this time, Israel, who had relulctantly tagged along, showed up, deciding he was interested after all . . .but, mind you . . .not because he was in any way shape or form supporting Disney, their cast of characters, or (in his mind) their music [insert gag-me reflex here, on his behalf]. Of couse, as the mother, I was fully aware that in his deepest heart of hearts, he was intrigued. But, don't tell him I knew. He has a reputation to protect, and he wouldn't appreciate me spilling the beans!

We finally arrived at Gatekeeper #1. Her job was to check receipts, and approve initial entry:

Then we met Gatekeepr #2. His job was to send the children one direction, and the parent/camera the other direction.

Cami and Aubrey met Raven, exchanged pleasantries (which, of course, included *none* of the aforementioned day-dreamed conversations!), and posed for a pic.

Meanwhile, Gatekeeper #2 has been trying to figure out just how, exactly, Israel fits into this whole family gathering. Finally, he sends Israel, (dvd-less) to the table with Raven, who is finishing her signing of Cami's product.

That's when it happened.

The amazing moment that forever sealed The Day I Met Raven Symone` in the memory of two teenaged girls and one teenaged boy.

Raven did a double take when Israel approached her.

Looking up at him; returning to the dvd; and looking up again quickly, with an expression of awe.

Then, she said it.

"Dude! You're CUTE!"

Words of immortal import.

Evidently (I missed it because I'd been shuffled behind the photographer with the bright pink hair) Israel flashed her his infamous smile at this comment in reply.

To which I am certain Raven thought to herself, "Be still my beating heart!", as I, his mother think, every time I watch that smile wash over him.

I'm not certain that this event challenged Israel to suddenly come forward with his secret enjoyment of all things Disney. But it certainly made for a day worth marking as *much* better than the pool party Momma planned!