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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!

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?”

Like most Orange County natives, I feel a special connection to Disneyland. Some of my most vivid and precious childhood memories are linked to visits to the park with my family. As a kid, even driving by Disneyland and spying the tippy-top of the Matterhorn from the station wagon window could make my young heart leap.

That well of warm memories and strong sentimental emotions are exactly what Disneyland Resort is hoping to tap into when guests visit the newly remodeled Disneyland Hotel. The two-year renovation not only has brought modern luxuries and more efficient design elements to the 55-year-old property, but it also delivers something unexpected—nostalgia.

“There’s a lot of history here for families and bringing the history and memories together in one place is something only Disney can do,” said Tony Bruno, Vice President, Hotels and Downtown Disney, for the Disneyland Resort. “Those elements were important to us in the redesign.”

My family and I live only minutes from the Disneyland Resort and visit the park often. But I was downright excited to stay at the Disneyland Hotel (something I hadn’t done since I was 8 years old) and share some of my memories with my kids—the koi pond, the Dancing Waters Show—and create some new ones with them. It was a “staycation” for us, Disney style!

The first wallop of nostalgia came when we walked through the totally revamped pool and courtyard area between the three towers. The dramatic centerpiece of the hotel is a replica of the original Disneyland sign that now sits atop the water slides. You remember it: flags waving high above boxed letters spelling out “Disneyland.” The 10 year old inside me squealed in delight when I saw it and so did the 10 year old standing next to me, my daughter. The entire water slide structure is reminiscent of the original Monorail Station at Disneyland, with the actual slides made to look like the Mark I, the very first Monorail that debuted in the park in 1959.

“We wanted to relate to the nostalgic Disneyland wherever we could,” John Mauro, Development Manager, Walt Disney Imagineering, told me on a tour through the property.

Even in the smallest details, the resort has clever dashes of Disney spattered everywhere. In a nod to the old ticketing system at Disneyland, the pools are named the “D” Ticket and “E” Ticket pools. The tiles of each pool are colored to match the color of that pool’s ticket—yellow for “D” Ticket and green for “E” Ticket. Even the lounge chairs are covered in fabric that looks like the zigzag embossing of the old Disneyland ticket books.

“Fans of Disney look for that kind of detail,” said Mauro. “We really raised the bar in this hotel renovation…everything has a Disney touch.” Nowhere at the resort is the Disney touch more cleverly employed than with the “Good Night Kiss,” a technological wonder built into the headboard of every standard room bed in the hotel. My kids were thrilled to see Sleeping Beauty Castle light up with twinkling stars and fireworks on the beautifully carved wooden headboard, but when the song “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” began to play in music-box style—they shrieked with laughter. They must have made that magic happen 50 times during our one-night stay. We all fell asleep with the words dancing around in our heads: “A dream is a which your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep…”

All standard rooms—with either two queen beds or one king—have been completely renovated with modern touches like flat screen TVs, cell phone and computer plug-ins and Wi-Fi. Although the headboard is the centerpiece and the real “magic” of the décor, look for nostalgic dabs of Disney in the rooms, like black and white photos of Walt Disney.

The Disneyland Hotel sits at the far end of Downtown Disney and beyond all the downtown excitement await both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. I was surprised that even though all the action was near us—we viewed the fireworks show from our room (if you are lucky enough this, make sure to tune in to the soundtrack of the show on the room’s tv)—it felt like we were staying at an exclusive resort, away from the fray and pull of the crowds.

I don’t know if it was the nostalgic charm of the newly remodeled Disneyland Hotel coupled with its abounding modern luxuries, but our staycation there felt at once homey—friendly and warm—and like a true getaway. “We knew we wanted to make The Disneyland Hotel special for that mom, that dad, their kids…something that would get them excited,” Mauro said. They have succeeded. Disney has created a hotel that will delight every member of the family as together they create memories to treasure for years to come.

****

Pick up the September IE Family for the full story on our stay at The Disneyland Hotel and don’t forget to check out my Disney blog, Disneyland Locals.

It’s not so much spending time with them. I like that part of summer. It’s the constant bickering that has me tittering on the fence of a nervous breakdown. I am not exaggerating when I say, they will fight about anything…An.Y.Thing. To call each of them a contrarian would be putting it very mild. They’re like uber, hyper, deluxe contrarians.

Just as an example, these are the top five things my kids vehemently (with great passion and certainty) fought about this week. Almost all arguing takes place in the car. Why is that?

1.) Whether or not it is legal to own a domesticated monkey in the city of Irvine.

Result: There was nothing on Wikipedia about it, so Emily simply vowed to have her own monkey by the time she turned twelve and that would “just show” Ben. (I secretly looked it up and no, you can’t have a monkey in Irvine. TG.)

2.) What’s inside a zombie. Emily insisted it was a dead person, but Ben was sure it was brown gushing liquid.

Result: They asked every person they saw for two days what was inside a zombie. Every person had their own opinion. Contents of a zombie still under vigorous debate.

3.) If Ben was actually staring at Emily OR staring at his invisible friend who was sitting IN BETWEEN the two of them in the car.

Result: While they were arguing about the whereabouts of Ben’s invisible friend, he flew out the car window. End of argument.

4.) If there is such thing as a Dogfish. Ben was adamant that, yes, just like a Catfish there is a Dogfish. Emily said there are only Catfish and the only reason they are called Catfish is because they have whiskers. (Which started a whole new debate about which animals have whiskers and which don’t. Result: Ducks don’t have whiskers, but they would like them.)

Result: After sighting credible resources, two other seven-year-old boys and Sponge Bob, Ben ended with the vow that HE would soon get his own Dogfish and that would “just show” Emily. Emily called the whole thing “absurd.” Though the writer in me was very happy she used the perfect word in the right context, the mom in me told them both to stop talking to each other the rest of the car ride.

5.) Who is a faster runner, Emily or Ben.  This is a reacquiring argument. It’s perennial. It’s their go-to argument when they don’t have the energy.

Result: Although the logical result should be a race to determine who is the fastest, they never decide to put it to the test. Instead, they argue back and forth, “I am.”  ”No, I am.” “No, I am…” It usually takes some sort of dramatic move on my part to shake them from their bickering stupor. *Slam* I hit the middle console with the palm of my hand and then calmly say into their stunned eyes, “Alight, that’s quite enough.”

Back to school. Bring it on.

Other Friday Fives by moi:

Five Notes of a Hopelessly Unskilled Housewife

Five Things I Ate Immediately Following My Vow to Eat Healthier

Five Ways to Annoy Your Kids Using ’80s Music

The Cast of Phineas and Ferb with The Three Disneyland Moms

Phineas and Ferb. Just say the name of the Emmy Award-winning animated show and anyone who’s seen it can’t help but smile. The Disney Channel show has slowly crept into the hearts of families over the last four years and has firmly taken its place as the reigning king of cartoons in most TV-watching households that has at least one kid.

As a mom, I appreciate the clever, inventive step brothers Phineas and Ferb. “Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today,” starts off each new mind-blowing invention created by the duo and I love it. Kids that “find something to do” on their own are like a moms dream come true.

Even though they drive their tattling sister Candice nuts with their antics, they never intend to. And how happy am I that a character whose whole life revolves around narcing on her brothers, never wins? Very happy.

Like most families, Phineas and Ferb have a pet, but unlike most families theirs is a undercover spy platypus–Perry. Then there are their friends Baljeet, Buffard von Stomm, and all the Fireside Girls, including the adorable Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, who all join them in their adventures.

My Tweet on the day the Phineas and Ferb Movie aired on Disney Channel

This weekend at D23 Expo I had a chance to chat with three of the characters from the show. Which you think would make me the coolest mom *ever* in my kids’ eyes. No. That’s just never going to happen if it didn’t happen with Phineas and Ferb, arguably their favorite show. We literally planned our summer around the release of the movie–Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension.

When I showed them the video above and pointed out that was their mom talking to Phineas, they just shrugged their shoulders and asked if I got them a poster. Yeah, coolness is just not an option for a mom.

Enjoy the video.

*****

Phineas and Ferb Across the 2nd Dimension is coming out on DVD August 23. It includes the movie, eight deleted scenes, Perry-oke (not sure what that is, but really want to fine out), bonus episode “Attack of the 50-Foot Sister,” and a Platypus Kit. My kids are panting.

The Disney Channel also offers some games, videos and interactive activities online at Phineas and Ferb The Movies’ site, here. I know what you’re doing today…

My column from this month's IE Family

I know the topics of  “Grandparents spoil their grandkids” and “Why do my kids get the foods I never got as a kid?” have been examined to death, but this is a little different, because in this instance, frankly, it’s happening to me!

In my family growing up, my mom filled the kitchen with the healthiest food the ’70s had to offer: Roman Meal bread (instead of Wonder Bread), grape juice from concentrate (instead of soda), Red “Delicious” Apples (instead of fruit cups), Triskets (instead of chips), and, the worst travesty of all, Laura Scudder’s Peanut Butter (instead of, you know, peanut butter). Laura Scudder’s is the kind that has the oil sitting on the top that you have to stir in like some kind of cruel science experiment.  It’s thick and pasty and there is zero chance of not ripping your bread to pieces when spreading it.

My mom has even admitted that she used to put wheat germ in our brownies as a “fiber booster.” What kind of twisted … All this was done in the name of eating healthy, and to this day I think I have pretty good eating habits because of it. I’m grateful to her for her efforts, and even though as a kid it seemed like my friends were eating Pop Tarts, Pop Rocks and Sugar Pops for breakfast, I knew she did it because she loved us.

So, I just want to know, who is this woman pushing the Pringles on my kids and what has she done with my mom? My mom has taken on legendary spoiling status among our friends.  We get requests to tell the same stories over and over again. Like once, after seeing Disney on Ice at The Honda Center my mom bought Emily, my daughter, cotton candy on the way out the door after a whole parade of special treats during the show.  When I protested, my mom shrugged it off and justified it saying cotton candy was “mostly air.” Mostly Air!  She’s a legend.

This is the sort of thing only a grandmother who is completely head over heels in love with her grandchild would say.
Which leads me to my husband and my stance on the whole subject — my own personal feeling of injustice aside — we think it’s wonderful.  Our kids are lucky to have a grandma and gramps who love them and spoil them rotten. So many of my friends have lost one or both of their parents already, or their kids’ grandparents can’t be bothered with them, or they live too far away to see them.

It’s not like they have no control at all. My parents require our kids treat them and each other with respect.  They make them say “please” and “thank you” and they look after them like hawks, but they just can’t help but be spoiled by them — and that’s OK.

That our kids have grandparents that fill them with sugar, let them jump up and down on the couch, and hold frequent shopper cards at every toy in town is all counted as a blessing in our minds. All we ask is for at least one day of “Grandma-detox” before having to take them to school, piano lessons, or basically having to bring our kids out in public.

People who aren’t from California might not understand our obsession with flip flops. We love our flip flops. We wear them everywhere and devote ourselves to our favorite brands with fervor other parts of the country save for Nascar or, I don’t know, maybe reading books.

Our family’s flip flop of choice is Rainbow Sandals.  We are devoted to those sturdy old standbys. If you haven’t made the trip with your kids to the outlet, you are missing out on a slice of Orange County history and 25% off all sandals in stock. Simple and comfortable; these sandals last…and last…and last.

Rainbows have been around since 1974 when a surfer named “Sparky” started making them out of his Laguna Beach  garage. I’m sure no one really took “Sparky” and his whole “Flip Flop business idea” seriously back in ’74. But now his company makes over 1,000 Rainbows in brightly colored buildings behind their San Clemente Outlet. Thirty seven years later the brand is recognized as one of the leading manufactures of  the flip flop in the world.

A trip to the outlet is an annual activity for my family. Each kid gets to pick out two pair of Rainbows–which will be worn almost exclusively all summer. “Where are my Rainbows?” is a question I hear at LEAST three or four times a day in the summer–and to which I always reply, “Exactly where you left them.” (A mandatory deep sigh follows with  optional eye roll.)

Plan on spending some time at the outlet when you visit. They offer free popcorn and stickers to the kids and have three ginormous Rainbow Sandals in front for the kids to sign and make jokes about the size of their Dad’s feet (but maybe that’s just our family since Larry sports a size 16).

One of my favorite things about the outlet is the old, thrashed flip flops they’ve displayed on the beach-shack-like walls; most with handwritten letters detailing where those sandals have been in their lives. It’s like a flip flop museum really, and, again, that is something maybe only a Californian can appreciate.

Rainbow Outlet is open to the public during the summer Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pmSat 10-4:30.

It’s located 326 Calle de los Molinos in San Clemente (at the Denny’s exit)