28
Apr, 2012

Bob Barker and I are both, definitely, California girls. Today it is sunny and almost 90 degrees and on a day like this, Bob Barker likes nothing better than to sprawl out on the toasty driveway and soak in the sun. If there’s a human around, she will ask for a tummy rub to complete the perfect scenario.

What a life.

We hope you’re having a great day too!

xo Amy & BB

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Bob Barker • California • chihuahuas • dogs • SoCal • sun • sun bathing • tummy rub

11
Sep, 2011

OK – So I started writing this last week and am just now getting around to posting it… so imagine it’s Monday, September 5…

Stacy and I have been friends since 7th grade. Like over 20 years. Wild. Through umpteen moves and life changes, we have managed to remain friends. This weekend, she and her two boys (Brendan, 9 and Keenan, soon to be 5) made the mini van trek all the way from Tucson to visit. Being true Southern Californians, we took them to the beach on Saturday and The Happiest Place On Earth on Sunday.


Malibu was beautiful with impressive surf rolling in all the way from New Zealand, putting on a fantastic water show. The weather was perfect and the kids would have frolicked in the sand all day if we had let them. Grilled burgers and dogs on our patio that night for dinner.


The next morning took us down to Anaheim. Our visitors had never been to Disneyland, so it was a real treat to see them experience “Disney Magic” for the first time. Aubrey, now 4 years old and having been to Disneyland exactly three other times, is an old pro. She told me this morning she would like to go every day. Ha! Better book another tv show then, kid.

I’ve been to Disneyland 5 other times before yesterday (Excluding the time my family drove there circa 1976 and it was closed. Couldn’t make that shit up.) and each time I experience something new. There is so much to do and see, and depending on who you are with, it can be totally different each time.


Firsts for me this time were:
– Mr Toad’s Wild Ride
– Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
– Ate at the new Paradise Garden quick serve restaurant – surprisingly AWESOME! The chicken kabobs were delicious!
– Saw Captain EO – shamon! Hee hee!


The main crazy of the day was that the Disneyland Half Marathon was that morning and many of the roads into the park, resort, etc were closed off, so it took us about an hour of driving around and around and around the park in bumper to bumper traffic before we were able to get to where we were supposed to be. But it was smooth sailing after that.

All day, Stacy and I kept freaking out about the fact that were were at Disneyland…with our KIDS! WHAT?! How did that happen? It feels like it was just yesterday that we were wearing stirrup pants, forgetting our locker combinations and taking off our shirts for that awkward scoliosis test. OK, maybe not YESTERDAY, but where do the days, the years go? And how did we turn into adults with children tall enough to ride most of the rides at Disneyland? Yikes!


Time certainly does fly, but it sure is fun with good friends and having Aubrey allows me to experience life and SoCal in a whole different way. I probably wouldn’t have built a sand castle and caught sand crabs at the beach and I definitely wouldn’t have bought and tasted cotton candy at Disneyland. She reminds me to enjoy the simple things and to savor the sweetness that is all around us. Lucky me.

I was recently talking to a good friend about balance in life. Career, relationships, parenting, health. There are only so many hours in the day and in the past, most of my hours were spent on career. I said I felt that Aubrey came into my life to give me better balance. I’m not sure I’ve figured out the balance yet – or really, I’m not sure I ever will – it’s more like I just try to squeeze more into each day so I can do it all, but this weekend with friends, with family, with children, with Mickey Mouse… it was a good step back from our busy lives and a nice break for fun together. I hope you all find the time to let fun and joy in your lives. If you’re not sure how to do it, just ask yourself, “What would Aubrey do?” 

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Aubrey Anderson-Emmons • Disneyland • SoCal

29
Jun, 2009

(Disclaimer: I can't figure out why the color of my text is showing up grey. Has something to do with the copy and pasted stuff 
at the end, but I can't fix it and I'm sick of trying! I hope you can read it ok!)

Aubrey and I took a beach day on June 27! The weather here in SoCal was stunning and it was perfect for Aubrey's first time 
in the ocean. Aubrey has been to "the beach" many times here in SoCal, but usually just to walk or play in the sand or at the 
playgrounds. This day was the first time she played in the water and I wasn't sure how she would like it. She has a tendency 
to be a little hesitant in new situations, but if I push her, just enough, she almost always loves ANYTHING. I think it's all 
just part of being two years old. 
 

 
After settling on our blanket (this followed a great disaster in the public beach bathroom which I'll share on LAMomsBlog.com, 
soon) and a picnic lunch of sandwiches, Pirate's Booty, cookies, raisins and juice, I asked her if she wanted to go in the water 
and she said "no". Being the good mother that I am, I responded by picking her up, walking her down to the water's edge and 
putting her down. Luckily, she went nuts for it. This video is of her first moments with her toes in the Pacific. 
 

 
After this video was taken she couldn't get enough and I couldn't stop her from running, full speed, into the waves. It was a day 
of new experiences and discovery for Aubrey and a day of much needed peace and escape for me. It was truly one of the most 
joyful days of my life.
 

 
The afternoon reminded me of one of my favorite poems, by the great e.e. cummings. I hope you enjoy it too:
 

 
maggie and milly and molly and may
 

 
maggie and milly and molly and may 
went down to the beach (to play one day)  
 
and maggie discovered a shell that sang 
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and  
 
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;  
 
molly was chased by a horrible thing 
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and  
 
may came home with a smooth round stone 
as small as a world and as large as alone.  
 
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me) 
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
 

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Tags: Amy Anderson • beach • comedian • e.e. cummings • SoCal • toddlers • Topanga Beach