Swimsuits all day long

When I think of my childhood summers, they are full of memories of cousins, living in swimsuits, eating hotdogs and Cheetos, having sleepovers, and watching "rad" movies. I'm glad Maddie will have wonderfully similar memories of her childhood summers too.

Father's Day

Making dinner to celebrate my dad and Josh on Father's Day

There are certain things that dads do. It's a part of their job description. One of them is teaching how to ride a bike.

Another one is fixing broken things when they come to visit. I know my dad complains that I always make him fix something when he comes over to visit, but I'm pretty sure that he loves it. Deep down. Very, very deep down. It means I still depend on him and need him in my life. If nothing more, than to just fix the sound on my DVD player.

Turning 30 is a Big Deal

So....I decided that turning 30 is a big deal, and therefore I threw myself a birthday party since I haven't had one since I turned 16. I invited some of my closest girlfriends and we had a very fabulous dinner at the Melting Pot to celebrate my last night in my 20s. It was so much fun, and it made me realize I really need to make more of an effort with my girlfriends because I love spending time with them and I really suck as a "fun, go out to lunch & dinner and hang out" friend sometimes.

This is me on my last night of being in my 20s. You know what? It doesn't bother me one lick. I like 30. Josh didn't have a problem turning 30 either, so we decided that maybe it's because we are exactly where we thought we would be at 30 and are happy to be here.

Anyone who has known me for more than 5 minutes knows I love myself some cheese!

My Maddie girl wanted to be part of the celebration too, so she and her cousin made me a birthday cake and cupcakes. There is nothing better than Funfetti made from the heart.

And Josh did an extra special job of spoiling me rotten. The highlight of him spoiling me? Ridiculously good seats to the U2 concert in Anaheim. It was magical.

Boys' Time

If Josh could design a perfect 24 hour guys' trip, it would include his best friends on a trip to San Francisco, chili in a breadbowl,

....a Giants Game,




....and a U2 Concert.



Sounds about right....

"Fluffy" - our pet turtle

And who said turtles aren't fun and interactive pets. :o)

The Happiest Place(s) On Earth

Newport Beach is my happy place. Whenever I have needed my body/mind/heart/soul to heal, I go there with my Maddie Stinker Pants and my Josh Bop Lover Buns and we all sit on the beach, and then everyone is happy.






And we go to Disneyland too, cause that is another happy place. Tell me how cool this is: We got in the extra long line for Splash Mountain, which is Maddie's favorite ride (and which I loathe). And these two adorable boys came up and said they had a paper that would let them skip to the front of the line and they wanted to let us skip to the front with them. I was like, "What? Us? Why?" They said "You just looked like nice people." It was so awesome.....




And we stayed up for the late night Disney fireworks for the first time with Maddie. Let's just say as soon as the fireworks ended, she was passed out in her Daddy's arms.

Music To My Ears

Maddie's First Piano Recital - She was nervous, but played a duet with her Grandma Linda/Piano Teacher flawlessly.






Josh's Gig - Do you see a particular resemblance between Maddie playing an instrument and Josh playing an instrument? Aren't they the cutest?





I am Josh's biggest groupie. Maddie always gets bored at her Dad's concerts, but at least she didn't fall asleep this time.