This is the sixth year the Anaheim Ducks visited CHOC Children’s to spread a little Christmas cheer to the children and their families. The team passes out Wild Winger Kits and spends time with the patients.
Each year Ducks fans are given the opportunity to donate Wild Winger Kids Club Kits specifically for the patients at CHOC Children’s. This year 800 kits were donated to the Ducks Foundation. It’s truly heartwarming to watch the players — including the Kids’ Club Captain, George Parros — pass out the fun-filled kits to the kids.
Jenelyn and I had the chance to tag along with the team as they toured Orange County’s only children’s hospital. Watch our video below:
The Holidays at Disneyland Resort bring more than just decorations and festive music, the special desserts and sweet offerings are alone worth a special trip to the parks. I had the chance to spend some time with Chef Moises Carranza (Chef Mo) of The Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland and he showed me what tasty treats guests can find at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure; then we make The Paradise Grill’s famous Brownie Skewers.
If you’d like to make the brownie skewer at home with your kids, here is the recipe:
Brownie Skewers from The Paradise Garden Grill Disney California Adventure
Brownies
1 cup all purpose flour
1 / 4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease a 9×9 square pan; set aside.
2. Sift flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat until fluffy, about 30 seconds.
4. Slowly add flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Add chocolate chips, and mix just until combined; do not over mix.
5.) Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool completely, at least 2 hours, before cutting into 9 2-inch squares. Cover and set aside.
For the Skewer
9 medium strawberries
3 8-inch wood skewers
3 teaspoons caramel sauce (heated in microwave for 1 minute at 50% power)
3 teaspoons chocolate sauce
3 teaspoons jimmies
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
Assemble to your taste! Have fun!
In other SWEET Disneyland Resort NEWS: Ghirardelli’s is coming to Disney California Adventure!
I knew something good must be coming along to replace the recently closed Mission Tortilla Factory at Disney California Adventure. I had heard rumors of Ghirardelli, but nothing was announced until Thursday when Disney release the news along with more details on what the new “Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop” will offer.
Ghiradelli’s is set to open in late spring 2012 in conjunction with the expansions of DCA and the long-anticipated launch of Cars Land. It will fit nicely in DCA’s Pacific Wharf, making it feel even more walk through San Francisco’s famed wharf area, the home of Ghirardelli chocolates.
I know your next questions. I know what you’re going to ask: Yes, each quest will receive a sample chocolate square when they tour Ghiradelli’s at Disney California Adventure. Sheesh! You’re so predictable!
Disney on Ice is coming to Citizens Bank Arena with a brand new show–Toy Story 3.
All of your favorite characters will be on the ice with a few new faces from Toy Story 3, including my personal favorites, Barbie and Ken.
It’s a tradition in our family to head to the nearby Honda Center for Disney on Ice every holiday season, but this year I’m giving away our tickets to one lucky reader at OC Family and also at IE Family for the Citizens Bank Arena. I want other families to bundle-up and experience the two-act show filled with Disney music, lights, creative costumes and fantastic skating that makes up every Disney on Ice performance.
Just leave a comment here and I’ll pick a winner of a family four-pack (via Random.org) for Opening Night on Dec. 28th, 7:30 pm. Please make sure you can attend before you enter the contest.
For more information on the show, you can go to the Disney on Ice web site.
Joy! It’s elusive. I can count on one hand how many times in my life I’ve felt pure joy. Sure…happiness, giddiness, glee, they come around more often than joy. So when you feel it, it’s a special day. If you can capture it, you’re a true talent. Given that criteria, my friend and colleague, Noel from Bosh Images is a true talent.
I asked Noel to shoot some photos of my brother’s and my kids as a birthday gift for our mom. But, the thing about Noel is she doesn’t just shoot photos, she is able to pull out so much from her subjects that her photos feel alive and, okay this is going to sound schmaltzy, but they feel like you’re getting a big giant hug from the subjects.
Sure these are my kids and my nephews, so naturally I think they are beautiful. But, Noel is able to harness joy in all of her photos for all of her clients.
You might recognize Noel’s knack for capturing just the right moment, just the right mood, just the right smile. She is the exclusive cover photographer for OC Family Magazine.
We’re so very lucky to have her on our team. Her photos reflect the local flare and sparkly joy of childhood that we try to mirror in the pages of the magazine.
You can find out more about Noel’s company including rates and contact information here, Bosh Images. You can officially become a fan on her Facebook Page.
If you’re an Instagram fan, you can follow her amazing stream of photos, search “iMoments.”
About fifteen minutes before this breathtaking sunset, I stood next to three people at the bottom of a small hill in Laguna Beach. It was an older couple–same age as my parents, about sixty-five–and their adult daughter. The daughter was explaining to them how far the walk would be to get to the beach. “Just up this little hill and to the right,” she urged them. “There are benches up there where you can relax and watch the sunset,” she suggested as she polished the lens of her camera with her sweatshirt.
The older woman clutched her cardigan sweater at the neck and looked toward the beach through squinting eyes. She was thinking about the walk–weighing the effort made to the reward. The man didn’t look up at all and he quickly said, “I think we should go wait in the car.” The older woman looked down at the ground and nodded in agreement.
“Just up this small hill. It’s not even a hill really,” said the daughter, pointing toward it again in an attempt to get her dad to look at it. “No, just give us the keys and we’ll wait in the car–you go,” he said, as he helped his wife put her arms through the sleeves of her sweater.
The daughter, who seemed accustomed to this decision, dug around in her purse and handed him her car keys. She didn’t say anything to them after that, just turned quickly toward the darkening horizon and started up the hill with a gait full of reproach. I watched the couple walk slowly toward the parking lot. It was an effort for them to walk, even at a slow pace. Yes, it was an effort.
As they walked they didn’t say a word to each other. He opened up the door to the mini van and helped his wife in the back seat. Then he settled into the passenger side and there they sat until the sky was completely dark and their daughter returned. I told my husband the story later in the car home.
I wondered how many times in their life they decided not to try–not even make an attempt up the small hill. Is that why they were so frail at such a young age? I don’t know them, maybe some medical tragedy has come on them both. But, I got the feeling as I stood there observing the scene–their unwillingness to even consider walking, their daughter’s quick surrender, their solemn cloud–that theirs was a lifetime of deciding to sit in the car.
While my husband and I talked about the couple in the car on the way home, he broke away and said to the kids in the back seat who weren’t paying a lick of attention to our conversation, “You know how Mommy and Daddy are always making you guys try something new? That’s really important.” Our daughter nodded while she continued coloring and our son stopped playing with the shells in his hands, looked up and said, “Are we going to do something new right now?”
