Is it just me...

Ok....it might just be me....

But didn't we see this movie...
but it was called this:

I feel like I've seen that premise done somewhere else....

I dunno, maybe it's just me.

Good Times

This is what I am eating tonight:

I love sugar flavored frozen water...it takes me back to these days:

My grandparents never kept up with the latests or greatest cool desserts that were out there for kids but the one thing they always had in their freezer were Otter Pops. Yes that is Amber23Marie, her brother Joe, and me with our grandpa....who now lives in Mexico :(

I miss being a kid and i miss those summers in Bear Valley.

Fun Weekend

We had a really fun weekend. Shall we start at the beginning?

We got off work on Friday and the first thing we did is take the kids to the dog park. Get the wiggles out of them. Cute but very fuzzy action shot of the two of them running towards me. They see me whip out the camera and the hogs come a'racin'. They love to have their pictures made.

Saturday was a big day in my family. Although no one in my immediate family has gone to UCLA my parents are huge supporters of the football program and the school. They've been season ticket holders since the 1970's. In fact, they started back when USC and UCLA shared a field at the Colisium. Over the years they became bigger donors and therefore got better seats. I was raised in the late 80's early 90's. Well, the 90's was the decade of dominance for the UCLA football Bruins. We beat SC for 9 years in a row, they have yet to do the same...(close though!). I'm a die hard Bruin.

Anyways, Saturday was spring practice. We were really looking forward to this until we found out that the 2 starting quarterbacks are both out for the season. UGH!!! We have a new coach this season too, Rick Neuheisel. He is promising but so was Dorrell. The special thing about Saturday was this was the first time ever that they allowed the season ticket holders/donors to come into the stadium and see what new tickets were available (people who pulled out of their tickets) We've put in requests for upgrades for YEARS but never was able to. So finally we had our chance.

The whole experience was pretty cool. We got to go into the visitor's locker room where they told us how the whole thing was going to play out. We would have 10 minutes to get to our seats and then another 10 minutes to decide whether to switch or not. It was very intense. My family and I developed a strategy and decided how we were going to play our cards once we got out onto the field. They led us onto the field, brand new sod....gorgeous and then the time started.

**Note, there are two sides to the Rose Bowl. Press box side and then the Team Side. We sit on the press box side and I wouldn't trade it for the world. During day games, we get the shade about 1 hour into the game, the other side sometimes never sees shade....not worth it.**
So as soon as we got out there, we realized that there was going to be no improvement. I have to say we have amazing tickets already. We are about 1 yard from the 50 and 44 rows up. But we are in the middle of an aisle and it's just a pain sometimes. Plus we wanted to add two more seats to our group of 6 already. It just wasn't going to happen. So sad.
The whole thing was worth it though to be able to walk around the field. I've walked on it before during the 4Th of July and other events like that. But when it was decked out with the UCLA in the middle and the goal posts blue and gold, it was special for us.

We were also celebrating my dad's birthday so after the scrimmage we went to dinner with him. Nothing fancy, not worth mentioning except that he loved his gifts from us.

Sunday was so hot. We decided to take one of the boats out for a ride but for the first time, we were going to bring the pups. At first they weren't sure about the whole thing, then Tess realized it was water on the outside and then I could barely keep her in. We had to zip up the windows. Good thing we took out the electric boat out. But it was fun and so relaxing.

This weekend we were supposed to go to a wedding, however we just recieved word then it has been postponed....yikes!

Back to School!

Tucker started school this past Sunday. He got a late start compared to Tess because of his whole cherry eye ordeal but it seemed like it was finally the right time. Tucker is a rescue. While I don't believe 100% that he was abused, I'm certain that he wasn't socialized with. The whole story behind Tucker is that a friend of ours lived next door to a backyard breeder of cocker spaniels. With times as they are, they declared bankruptcy and were skipping town in the middle of the night. Tucker was the only puppy they couldn't sell and so they were just dropping him off at the pound. My friend told them she would take him. She couldn't keep him so she asked me to take him or she would take him to a rescue. I said we'd take him but told Mr. Bumblebee we would NOT keep him. Ya, well....didn't work out like that. So now our biggest goal is to get him to stop running away from every human who wants to pet him.

Here he is in his first class...he was so nervous the whole time he didn't do any of the tricks...he'll learn soon though....

My New Favorite Thing

I didn't get the nickname Betty Crocker from my friends for no reason. I love to bake. It is like therapy for me. I guess maybe it is a external justification for me when I've had a bad day. Anyways, I stumbled across this recipe from Bakerella's blog and I had to try it. It was really easy but very time consuming. I definetly know what I am going to do differently for next time but I was pretty impressed with my first try.

9-by-13-inch Cake (flavor of your choice)
2 cups of Creamcheese or Buttercream frosting
1 package chocolate coating bark
1 package white coating bark or pink candy melts
Sprinkles, for garnish
Candy-coated chocolates, such as M&M's, for garnish
Directions
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Trim about 1/2 inch from the perimeter of the cake. Working in batches, crumble cake into the bowl of a food processor; process until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl and add frosting; blend together using the back of a spoon, until well combined, 5 to 10 minutes.
Roll mixture into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch balls; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with parchment-paper-lined aluminum foil. Transfer to refrigerator until chilled, about 2 hours or to a freezer for about 10 minutes.
Begin to shape balls into cupcakes by rolling balls first into logs. Fit logs into a 1 1/4-by-3/4-inch flower-shaped cookie cutter. Push cake mixture into the cutter halfway so that some of the cake mixture extends beyond the top of the cutter. Shape extended cake mixture into a cupcake-shaped top. Push cake from cutter to remove. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Transfer to freezer until chilled, 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Remove cupcakes from freezer and dip the bottom of each cupcake into the chocolate; transfer, bottom-side up, to prepared baking sheet. To make lollipops, insert a lollipop stick into the bottom of each cupcake. Let chocolate set, 15 to 20 minutes.
Melt white chocolate or pink candy melts in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the chocolate and place right-side up on prepared baking sheet or stick lollipop sticks into a Styrofoam square. Place a candy-coated chocolate in the center of each and top with sprinkles. Let dry completely.

Enjoy

A long long time ago...

It has been forever since I last blogged. I have just had so much going on. With this being the last stretch of the semester, I've had a lot of tests and papers due. However I'm back!

So there is a lot of pictures I have so I'll do a quick recap of some of the blogs that never were.

I had a rough day at work one day, decided I need a hot soak bath. Told Mr. Bumblebee I'd be unavailable for an hour or so and to keep the dogs occupied. Well about 5 minutes into my hot bath, I hear the door slowly open. Around from the corner, I see Tess' little face pop out. About .5 seconds later she was in the tub with me. (Such a water baby)

She chased bubbles for about 1o minutes and then I kicked her out.

Yes, there was another trip to Disneyland. Here are the highlights:

In line for Peter Pan: We discovered this tasty goodness, brace yourself. It is a granny smith apple dipped in carmel, white chocolate, cinnamon and brown sugar combo, then finally dipped in pie crust...it's called an Apple Pie.

New Disneyland ducks appearing all over the park...so cute!
This is how Tucker has been rolling...what a life.

Please ignore the ugly sofa, it gets replaces next month with this:

That is it for now. More posting later.