Disney's California Adventure

By SEDONA DING

When I went to bed last night, I had no idea what a fun day today would be. But then again, neither did my parents, at first. They realized late last night that they had to use their Disney "2fer" tickets at California Adventure park by June 29, and well, the only day they could make it happen was today!

So, voila! Here we are California Adventure!

We didn't have that much time waiting on a Tuesday afternoon in the many short lines, in this case our first serious ride: Mickey's Fun (ferris) Wheel.

Maven wasn't scared at all. She was looking down and trying to escape from the hatch almost the entire time.

Maven showed her true California-girl self ... as if surfing is easy!

I went twice on this rocket ride, first with Mommy and then with Daddy in Rocket No. 3. Where's my mouth? Anyway, while I was on the rocket ride ...

... Maven was scooting around, bending down and helping herself to snacks stored in the bottom area of the stroller.

There is a really fun section of California Adventure called "A Bug's Land" that was perfect for pint-sized people such as me.

The whole family went on Flik's Flyer and Francis' Ladybug Boogie. The ladybugs spinning like teacups on a spinning platform was my favorite because it was "bumpy." But Daddy said the spinning made him nauseous.

Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies ... I was torn on whether I wanted to bump other cars. Daddy suggested I try it and decide, and I agreed. I tried it and told him: "No, no. Just drive." I did very well holding the wheel steady so we could circle the outer area smoothly.

After we met Minnie Mouse outside, we ended with maybe my favorite event, Playhouse Disney Live. My favorite characters from "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," "Handy Manny" and "Little Einsteins" were live on stage, starting with Mickey Mouse popping out of the floor. It was incredible. You can see me in brown, standing up and participating while Donald is on stage. He was the one I told Daddy that I wanted to see most!

Thanks, Daddy & Mommy, for a fun time (even though I did ask at the end why Dora wasn't there)!

June has been fun and filled

By MAGGIE WANG

Yes, there has been a lack of updates this month but it's not for a lack of doing anything eventful. It has actually been a packed month with lots of playdates and parties, although mostly without Kevin and/or camera documentation.

The day after Disneyland, 5/31: Kevin and I brought the girls to Janna Immel's 5th birthday party at My Gym (sorry, no pics).

Tuesday, 6/2: My friends Kathy & Bruce -- who are even better friends since they became my clients! -- came over with their boys Zack and Luke to have sushi together and show us what a disaster area one's house becomes with boys running around! It is entirely possible that Zack and Luke felt right at home because Kathy is already planning for them to marry Sedona and Maven!

Saturday, 6/6: Whitney and I brought the girls to the Palos Verdes Festival (sorry, no pics) while our husbands worked. The girls had a fabulous time on a canoe and bee ride.

Sunday, 6/7: We started the day at twins Bosch and Charlie's party at Robert E. Ryan Park before heading over to Siena's super-cool bowling party (again, no pics of either party). It was Sedona's first time bowling.

While Kevin was in Orlando for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Lakers' NBA Finals, my parents came to help out ... and there is pic of that!

My parents brought yummy lamb chops, which our meat-lover Maven enjoyed to the bone!

The week of June 8th was the last week of Mommy & Me class (for Maven).

Here is a picture of Maven's class at Tot Lot in Manhattan Beach. Who's that kid lurking on the side, slipping into our group photo?! It's party-crasher Sedona Ding, who did sort of hesitantly amble up into the photo of this class wherein she didn't belong.

We have met lots of nice and fun people in this class but particularly Jenni Tucker and her daughters Hailey and Landry.

Landry and Maven are about 7 weeks apart, but Landry's parents are very tall!

Sedona and Hailey are 6 months apart.

Hailey is currently at Manhattan Montessori, which is the school Sedona will be attending in the fall. It's coming pretty soon!

Jenni's husband is a firefighter, so he is often gone from his family overnight. Jenni and I can bond when the hubbies are gone. She and her kids came over on Saturday, 6/13, for some face painting, fun bouncing and Thai food.

Wednesday, 6/11: The Watts family (Raychel is Sedona's pal) seemed to feel sorry for me with Kevin out of town, and we had a great dinner together.

Sunday, 6/14: We had an impromptu playdate with Raychel, her little sis Charlotte and Riley. All the girls piled into the bathtub, and we did snap some photos that probably aren't ideal for posting here.

We basically occupied a lot of our free time with playdates at parks and friends' homes. It finally started to subside last week with the Lakers winning the championship in Orlando on Sunday, 6/21, and ending the season. Go, Lakers!

Kevin's first day off to start the offseason was Saturday (6/27), which was packed day. It started with twins Natalie & Bryce's birthday party at the Southern California Live Steamer train followed by a family Father's Day celebration at Kristen & Mitch's house (and bummer, we forgot the camera). Sedona didn't have her preferred "ladybug" floatie, so she was a little timid but nevertheless wound up wanting to stay in their swimming pool long after everyone else had had enough. Maven showed no fear in there, apparently believing she could swim with no problem.

On actual Father's Day Sunday, Kevin spent time with his daughters while I worked all day. Then they joined me at Yamato for sushi dinner with my family. Sedona was thrilled to end her day with some of Kevin's almond milk tea with boba and some of my mom's Pinkberry.

This month has been filled with a lot of fun and hard work -- but it's also the start of an exciting summer.

And given it is Father's Day this month, I want to give a shout-out to my daughters' amazing daddy. I tell him this, but I think it should be documented that he is truly a great dad. He is super engaging and present in our girls' lives. They totally love and adore him. I thought he would be a great father, but he has completely exceeded my expectations.

I believe a woman ultimately chooses her husband based on the love, support and strength that her father gives her -- to which I say thank you to my daddy for showing me the love I deserve from a man ... so I then wound up with Kevin. And I can rest assured that my girls will be adored by their future husbands based on their father's love.

"Happy Birthday, Daddy! Now take me to Disneyland!"

By SEDONA DING

Let me start by thanking the Lakers for winning the Western Conference finals in six games so that Daddy could take me to Disneyland on his birthday Saturday!

Disney has a promotion where people get in FREE on their birthdays ... and then Maven and I are not yet 3 years old so we are FREE. That makes the trip very cost-effective when we only had to pay $69 for Mommy (and she gets two trips for that; same as Daddy got).

While Daddy was on the plane coming home from Denver in the early morning, Mommy decorated me to wish Daddy a happy birthday!

Can you believe he is 38?! Daddy said that while he was on the plane home, he was reflecting on his 38 years, and he feels proud of his accomplishments, including us! Isn't that sweet?!

Here are his primary accomplishments!!! We just walked into the park and here they go and stop me to pose in front of the flowers. I did as I was told, but I wanted to know where to find "Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto." I see them all regularly on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon show and know all their names.

Oh, Tigger! I know him from reading some Winnie the Pooh books. But up close, I'm a bit afraid of these life-size creatures, which I'm told is quite common.

Daddy and Maven huddled while waiting for the carousel. It was one of my favorites! I loved going up and down, up and down!

Then Daddy and I went on the Dumbo ride of flying elephants, and even the waiting was exciting as Daddy asked me which Dumbo we would try to get. They all had different colored hats and blankets on them. I changed my mind many, many times but settled on pink.

We got the pink one! Good job, Daddy. And here we are flying!!!

Orange County resident Austin Lev came to the park to meet us, and given I'm the unofficial big sis, I thought I'd fix up his hair to be a little more stylish. Or maybe I was just rubbing his head for no good reason. Either way!

YAY! Finally after all those rides and quite some time waiting (when Maven pretty much drained Mommy's and Daddy's last ounces of energy  by trying to scurry every which way by wandering out of line), I got to meet Mickey Mouse! Daddy had talked to me in advance, and I'd told him I wouldn't be scared, but I was. So later that night, several times I said out of the blue to Daddy that I had met Mickey Mouse, but I was "a little scared." Daddy said it was OK and it would be better next time.

We finally end the day at Autotopia (based on recommendation from my friend T.L.), and I absolutely LOVED it!!!

What an exhausting day! Daddy was functioning on 1 1/2 hours and Mommy on four hours of sleep. But who cares about them? (I did let them stop in Garden Grove on the way home for crawfish anyway.) I had a great time!

Thanks and happy birthday, Daddy! Let's go to Disneyland for your birthday every year!