Rites of Passage

As a native Southern Californian, the first trip to Disneyland is a huge rite of passage. Never a question of if you'll go, only a question of when. And although my sister and nearly all of my mommy friends seem to hold annual passes to the Magic Kingdom, enjoying the park for a couple of hours here or a late afternoon there, I always liked the idea of keeping the big D as something special. A rare treat to look forward to maybe once a year, if that.

So we weren't planning on taking Abs until she was at least three, but my mom surprised us and got tickets for my birthday this year. And it's so funny because I started to tear up a bit when she did. Just the thought of taking my own little one for the first time kinda got me inexplicably misty. So we set a date to go, began talking it up to the babe and headed on down Harbor Boulevard.

Wanting to make her first trip extra special we started the day off at Goofy's Kitchen, where Disney characters come to your table and dance the Twist with diners. At first she was a little overwhelmed coming face to face with these larger than life furry creatures, and understandably so. But soon enough she was in the groove and dancing the frug with Alice in Wonderland.

Go with your instincts, girl.

Then it was off to the park to meet up with my sister, mom and Kailey. First stop was to get Abby her very own pair of those iconic mouse ears. Again, just one of those classic moments.

Brad gets in on the act.

My mom also insisted on getting Abby's silhouette done. She still has my sister and mine from when we were the girls' age and wanted to continue this little family tradition, which I just love. And even though the woman who cut the silhouette was a total crotch, she did a great job.

The rest of the day was spent chasing down big game for autographs (we scored with the Big Mouse first thing), standing in line for kiddy rides (which were all a little darker and creepier than I remembered) and exploring the park. I was really worried that we might have a melt down and have to go home mid-trip, but Abs was a total trooper and had a fantastic time. I really couldn't have asked for more to make this first trip to Disneyland any better.

Abby gets Mickey's John Hancock

Girl talk

Pixie Hollow

Starstruck by Tinkerbell

Chip and Dale's Tree House

Tomorrow Land

Toon Town

Abby surprises Brad with a passionate smooch.

Magic's not just for little kids.

Exhausted but totally satisfied. Sweet dreams.

Tiger Season

Reason #27 why I love this man:

Impromptu Safari Hunt with the babe.

Be ve-e-e-wy quiet. I'm hunting tigers.

The mighty huntress spies her prey!

There he is!

Apparently it's open season on tigers. Don't tell PETA.

Birthday Cake

My husband recently turned 45 and I knew my old softy would like nothing better for his birthday than a home made card and birthday cake decorated by his little girl. One cooled box cake later and Abby was in sprinkle heaven!

Upon assessing her options - confetti, nonpareils, jimmies, hearts, candy covered sunflower seeds - she jumped head first into creating this confectionary masterpiece. She quickly deemed frosting the first layer to be a chore because she was eager to just get to the good part: the decorating. And you know, although her technique may have been a bit unorthodox, it definitely got the job done.

Quality control

Painstakingly pressing each pink pearl deep into the gooey frosting proved to not cover enough ground fast enough, so she moved on to dumping fistfuls of heart shaped sprinkles into a tidy pile in the middle of the first layer (mmm... crunchy candy-centered surprise, anyone?).

Check out the intensity

With the second layer on, and even more flair applied, I noticed the cake had begun to develop a deep crack down the middle. I can only assume this was due to the tremendous weight of all those unevenly distributed sprinkles. (But I have to say, the more she added the better it looked.)

The artist at work

The finished product

And what did the birthday boy think of his cake? Surprise, surprise - he loved it! Happy Birthday, Brad!

Happy Campers

Load up the car and bust out the marshmallows! It's time for the Rudy's Annual Camping Trip!

This year we went back to Ocean Mesa near Santa Barbara for some fabulous, hardly-roughing-it camping. This site is phenomenal - great grounds, fully stocked snack shack under grapevine covered pergolas, pool, massage room, immaculate bathrooms and showers. This place rules.

And the location is kinda perfect, too. Gorgeous beaches just down the road (where Brad literally swam with dolphins!), close enough to charming little towns like Los Olivos and Solvang for day trips, and tons of local wineries to explore. Let the fun begin!

We were meeting my sister's family and our good friends the Dobsons at camp, but we had to make one little stop before we got there - McConnell's ice cream shop. My husband (then boyfriend) and I took our first trip together to Santa Barbara (at an even posher campsite - El Capitan) where we first stopped at McConnell's for a little frozen treat. Brad suggested we take the babe with us on a detour down Memory Lane for a leg stretch and an ice cream break. I like the way this man thinks!

Abby enjoying the tiniest ice cream cone ever.

We checked in and set up camp quickly, even though the winds were stirring up pretty heavy. They kids enjoyed farting around in the dirt, running in and out of all the different tents, and sitting around the old campfire.

Campfire girls

But all of this was just a preamble to the main event: S'MORES! Abby'd never roasted a marshmallow before, but she took to it like a pro. Well, I guess technically she didn't roast her own, but she took to eating them like a pro.

"Try it, Daddy!"

I had one of those perfect Hollywood movie moments with the girls at bed time. Both of them were in the tent curled up with me, one under each arm. We were snuggled beneath a mountain of sleeping bags and blankets while I attempted to read Snow White to them. I say attempted because of the countless interruptions, asides and nonsequeters from the peanut gallery. It was all pretty cute and I absolutely ate up the bouts of giggly silliness and subsequent wrestling matches that followed. (My sister has since reported that Kailey is still talking about Snow White in the tent with Angela. Not gonna lie - warms my heart a little bit.)

The second day was hot as hell and we wanted to get out of the shadeless campsite. The Dobsons followed us into town for a delicious lunch in picturesque Los Olivos at the Wine Merchant Cafe.

Now this is camping!

Next stop the ostrich farm. It takes all of five minutes to walk through this rinky dink operation, but I just can't resist the opportunity to feed these prehistoric buzzards.

Sweet Jeebus, are these creatures ugly.

Brave girl

Down the road is the most amazing gardening center ever. Just crawling with funky tin sculptures and garden tchotchkes and fabulous blooms all around. We never buy anything when we go there, but always threaten to return sans child to haul home an SUV-full of plants and a random sheet metal boar or two. One of these days we'll make good on it.

My golden goddess

Shrek, Fiona and Donkey

The rest of the day was spent trying to keep cool at the pool that second afternoon. And after a few rounds of margaritas and another night of ooey-gooey marshmallowy goodness, this camper was ready to hit the sack.

The next morning as we were busy packing up and heading for home, we had an unexpected guest in our campsite. Up the trail, who should come traipsing in but Brent, our next door neighbor from back in Long Beach! It was the most jarring sensation to be away from home and out of your element and then see a character from your "real life" make an entrance. He happened to have a business meeting up this way and thought he'd surprise us. Mission accomplished!

We bid farewell to Ocean Mesa (and Brent) and headed home dirty, tired and totally happy. Can't wait for next year to do it all again.

My happy campers.

Splashin Around

Aaaah! Summer's in full swing and we are totally making the most of the glorious summer weather. Abs has a best friend named Hailey (or "Hails" as Abby calls her). They met in Gymboree, but really it was because her mom and I kept crossing paths in random places all around town that their fate as besties was sealed. They've been friends for over a year now and, considering they're two, that's like forever.

Today we took the girls (and buddies Thomas and Julia) to a new place to play in Stanton - Harry Dotson Park. It was uh-mazing! Tons of playground equipment. But not just your typical run of the mill monkey bars and swing sets. Oh, no. We're talking real rock wall boulders, an enormous pirate ship for climbing and sliding, and a kick ass water-fun section for splashing and keeping cool. There's also tons of shaded picnic tables for parents to watch the kids from and best of all it's FREE! The perfect way to while away a summer afternoon.

The ship - pretty awesome, right?

Climbing . . .

. . . climbing . . .

... and more climbing.

Matching swimsuits. Yup - we're those moms.

Splashin' around.

Banana break!

Flower children

Thomas says, "D'oh! Girls!"