Last night was the most fun Book Club ever! (And coincidentally I hosted). I fixed a big salad and a bunch of easy appetizers. We dined out on the deck under the striped umbrella. We were all dolled up and looked marvelous, I might add. We had sparkling lemonade with frozen berry sparkling water ice cubes in wine glasses, followed by some chilled French Rosé. Excellente, bien sur! I provided ridiculously cute children for entertainment. Then, when dessert time rolled around, Kendra abruptly stood up and quite rudely announced “Well, I’m leaving. Bye.” I followed suit and said something to the effect of “yes, me too…and you should all come. It’s time for dessert…and it’s not here.” Three of our ladies – Kelly, Molly and Adrienne all turn 30 this summer/fall, so we surprised them with drinks and chocolate fondue for dessert at the Melting Pot. It was so fun! They were completely befuddled when Kendra abruptly got up to leave and had no idea where we were going. We got them each a magazine subscription for their interests – for Molly, entertainment; Adrienne is a crafty gal; and Kelly is our International traveler.

We may not travel to the exotic places like Kelly, but it doesn’t get much more exciting that Ontario, California, now does it? We head to So-Cal at the butt-crack of dawn. Why do we always schedule flights for 6am? Come 4am tomorrow – we’ll whisk the boys from their slumber and head to the airport. First trip with two kiddos – oye; should be interesting. Thankfully the flight is only 2 ½ hours long.

We just got the coolest baby item ever to make the trip even better -- the Ergo Baby. It's a front pack carrier, backpack or hip sling. It's totally comfortable and works really well for bigger kids (up to 40pounds). I don’t know how I survived life for the last 3 ½ years without the Ergo Baby (infomercial to follow, I’m sure). We're also going with one stroller and the good 'ol toddler leash.

Now, the toddler leash…this is something that I’ve been against since I once saw a woman “walking her kid” at the park. She really was walking her child like one walks a dog. She would pause while the kid explored something off the path; then ready to move on, she’d give the leash a little tug to indicate it was time to go. I vowed then and there that I would never do something as cruel as leashing my child. That was before my parents gave us one a couple of nights before we went to California exactly two years ago. (Matthew was one month shy of two). Even as we graciously received the gift of parental-inflicted child torture, I knew we’d never actually use it but promised to pack it in the diaper bag “just incase” (fat chance, I thought). The second we landed in LAX airport, I was pulling open that toddler leash package like a crazy lady. We got comments everywhere we used it – Knotts Berry Amusement Park, Disneyland, SeaWorld – that it was such a smart thing to have. Several people asked where I’d gotten it (hoping that they could buy one right then and there) – including one security guard who said that helping find lost toddlers was a daily occurrence and he wished all parents would be as smart. (OK, thanks Mom and Dad). I even ran into a woman with triplet two year old boys who was trying desperately to keep their leashes untangled.

We’re heading on our trip prepared with toddler leash, Ergo baby backpack, stroller, and la piece de resistance: bright matching outfits for the boys. Disneyland day one – they’ll be in bright orange striped t-shirts; Disneyland day two – the same striped shirt in bright green. For the Fiesta party at the Engaged Encounter Convention, they’ll be sporting matching Hawaiian shirts and navy shorts. They also have matching blue striped shirts and matching navy blue t-shirts featuring a red bulldozer that says “Move it”…or maybe it’s “Push it” (whatever). The point is, we’ve become one of those families. (I have to draw the line somewhere though. Mike will not be in a matchy match match’ems striped polo shirt and I don’t have matching jumper dresses made from the same fabric. Come on, I’m not that bad…besides I didn’t seen any at the store).