'Spy Kids 2' Premiere

Robert Rodriguez’s second installment in the Spy Kids series is for kids, about kids, and made by kids (okay, adult-sized kids), and Sunday’s premiere of Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams fed on that same sensibility. The packed house was teeming with kiddies (and parents, looking just as giddy). Following the film, which the filmmaker described as a big-budget “home movie,” Rodriguez (left) invited his pint-sized stars onstage, including Alexa Vega (center) and Daryl Sabara (right), plus new spy kids Emily Osment and Matthew O’Leary. Co-stars Bill Paxton and Danny Trejo joined the gang in giving away props from the film, like the supercool Machete Elastic Wonder. Afterward, the audience hit either the Congress Avenue carnival (with a dunking booth that offered the chance to take a shot at the likes of Texas Monthly’s Evan Smith and the Chronicle’s Nick Barbaro) or the afterparty at the Inter-Continental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. The buffet included a kid-appropriate spread of mac ‘n’ cheese, chicken strips, and chocolate milk. Mom and Dad were stuck with brie … and not a few longing looks at the sundae bar.