Wednesday, June 11

National Doughnut Day

June found M. and I back in the LBC to visit the Wilsons and meet Baby Audrey. One morning, Brian and I were up early with the kids, and we saw on the news that it was National Doughnut Day. I didn't even KNOW that there WAS a National Doughnut Day! Of course, I didn't need any better justification to go get some doughnuts, so we packed the kids in the car in their pajamas and took off to Krispy Kreme to get our free doughnuts!


Yay! Krispy Kreme!

Decisions, decisions...

A balanced and nutritious breakfast!

We LOVE Doughnut Day!

Sunday, June 1

My Favorite Band in the WORLD!

My birthday trip to Berkeley with Micaela to see R.E.M. Back in May. Yes, I'm catching up.

Navigating Berkeley can be difficult unless you spot a car to follow...

Opening act...EURIPIDES!

SO excited!

My expansive seat space.

You can never have too many Michael Stipes.

Matilda's First Camping Trip

On Memorial Day we went on a short trip to Auburn to camp with my friend Hannah after her rafting trip. I wasn't sure if Matilda would be too into camping, but she loved it! Daddy was a little less enthused about the amount of dirt M. wanted to spread all over herself.

"This is MY log! Get your own!"

Relaxing with Auntie Hannah


Enjoying the view...of dirt.

Thursday, May 29

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of SUCK!

So this entry has been sitting on my blog, unposted, since, well, my birthday. The reason for my extreme procrastination is that I originally intended to write a review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to go along with it, but every time I even thought about the movie, all I could do was weep silent tears of intense disappointment. You think I am exaggerating here, but I actually sat in my house, after everyone had left my birthday party, CRYING because I hated the movie SO MUCH!

Perhaps I better explain my birthday party for those of you who weren't there. At midnight, on MY BIRTHDAY, the new Indiana Jones film opened. When I found out about this, I felt that it must be Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas's way of personally rewarding me for a lifetime of devotion. It was immediately obvious to me what had to be done...I had to have an Indiana Jones birthday party. The party, of course, would end with all of us attending the midnight showing of the film in our awesome costumes. My friends, being the great sports that they are, all went along with it. Thus, the greatest party ever conceived took place, with one minor drawback--THE MOVIE!

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was, for me, an even greater crime than the Star Wars prequels. At least those films did little to mar the memory of the original trilogy, being set in a different time with mostly different characters. I just wrote them off as being more aimed towards a new generation of kids...let the kids have the new films, I will stick to the old. But this film, this so-called Indiana Jones film, has forever undermined my love of the character, the filmmakers, and all of the actors. I don't think I will ever be able to watch the original trilogy again with the same loving eye. For that, I want Spielberg and Lucas to PAY!

The reason that I am finally able to speak of this tragedy is that with the looming release of the DVD, I feel the need to warn anybody who didn't have the misfortune of already seeing this film...DON'T DO IT! Let that dog lie! Just pretend that the fourth movie doesn't exist! That's certainly what I am trying to do! And this morning, one of my favorite bloggers, Puntabulous, posted a link to a brilliant review of the film that articulates nearly everything I hated about the movie. It is long, but very funny and right on target. For all of you who have asked me over the past several months, "What didn't you like about the movie?"...read it and know.

Still, my party was great, and, as you can tell by now, the costumes were incredible. Hopefully I can allow the memory of the party to live on while the memory of the movie fades away until all I remember is a TRILOGY called Indiana Jones, AND NOTHING ELSE!

And now a quiz for all you Indie fans out there:




Match the costume with the picture!

a)Marion Ravenwood
b) Colonel Vogel
c) Classic Indie (x2)
d) Adolf Hitler
e) Elsa Schneider
f) Willie Scott (Shanghai)
g) Jock the Seaplane Pilot
h) Kazim of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword
i) Nightclub Indie (Shanghai)
j) Indie's "Love You" Student (x2)
k) Short Round
l) Professor Indie
m) Willie Scott (India) (x2)











Friday, May 9

I Scream, You Scream...

Today M. had her first ice cream cone.

What you don't see here is how M. used her napkin to very carefully wipe up all her ice cream dribbles and clean her mouth between each and every bite.

That's my kid!

Thursday, May 8

...in which Tracy Becomes Certain that Dorkiness is Genetic...

"Oh boy, it's game night! Daddy, do I need a d10 or a d20 to make this check?"


"You need to shake a die a LOT if you want a good roll!"



"Oh my God! A natural 20!"


"I just can't believe how good I am at D&D!"

Thursday, May 1

Joie de Vivre

Wednesday, April 30

...in which Tracy Begins Wondering if OCD is Genetic...

Tuesday, April 22

Earth Day Blossoms

In honor of Earth Day this year, I present the photos I took while walking to our local Earth Day celebration. It's days like this that remind me to get out of the car more often, even if it is just to see the flowers in my neighbors' yards.

Have a very green day!









Tuesday, April 1

A Numbers Game

M. may not love English words, but she loves counting. Thus it was that when Grandpa Gary visited us this week, he got to read 8 Little Monkeys 18 times. Because those dumb-ass monkeys never learn to stop bouncing on the freakin' bed!

Monday, March 31

Eastertime in the LBC

Easter in Long Beach. There were eggs...


And adorable babies to hunt the eggs...


And Easter brunch at Parker's Lighthouse...


And merry-go-round rides in Shoreline Village.







Thank you Easter Bunny!

Thursday, March 13

Matilda, Version 1.5

Today M. turned one and a half. I'm not one of those parents who throws a party or gives presents for my child's half-birthday--I hope a friend would beat me senseless if I was--but in many ways this day seemed like more of a milestone than her one-year birthday. She is more a toddler now than a baby, more of a little person than a little beastie I have to care for. We celebrated by throwing away all of her pacifiers and getting shots at the doctor--woo-hoo! She has not yet decided to speak English, although she is very fluent and expressive in Matilda-ese. She read aloud to the pediatrician from Dr. Seuss while he examined her. I couldn't resist the great light in the doctor's office, so I took the opportunity to shoot some half-birthday portraits.

Happy half-birthday, Matilda!





Wednesday, March 12

Bestiality and the Toy Industry

A while back, my friend Tammy sent me a photo she saw in the paper of a new toy from the New York Toy Fair. She thought it would make me laugh...

And I did laugh...after I got up off the floor from the apoplectic fit that the sight of this monstrosity threw me into.

I laughed because all I could think was, "It's a Whorse."

I guess they've gone through every permutation of Bratz and now they have to start sexualizing animals since all the little girl dolls are good and slutted up.

Lord help us.

Tuesday, March 11

A Very Belated Birth Story

Here is a prize for all of you loyal readers. I have, only 18 months late, completed Matilda's birth story. You can read it here. I started the post on her first birthday and only completed it today. So, if you are so inclined, you can read it. I know a lot of you have heard this story before, but it's a good one and worth reading. I will warn you, though, that it is very, very long and not for the queasy.

The Long, Dark Winter of My Blog is Over

So here's the thing. I HATE this time of year. From New Year's Day to Easter just, well, sucks. The weather is horrible. TV is horrible. No decent movies are playing. Valentine's Day happens. There is NOTHING to do but sit in the house and pray for Spring. During these horrible few months, my creativity is sapped. I don't want to scrapbook, I don't want to write, and I certainly don't want to blog. But my fans, all seven of you, demand that I come back to the keyboard. OK fine. After Daylight Savings Time, my spirits are a lifting a bit, and I feel my need to create slowly coming back. Plus, we've had a long spurt of Global-Warming-Is-Really-Happening weather. So I'm gonna get warmed up by posting some pictures of the world's cutest baby, and then I'll go think about what I'm going to post tomorrow.

I LOVE the swings! Love 'em, love 'em, LOVE 'EM!

I LOVE my brother! Love 'im, love 'im, love 'im!

I LOVE my sunglasses! Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!

This post is dedicated to those people who ride my ass about not updating my blog: Lorna, Mom, Micaela, Doug, Meredith, Kat, and Tammy.