Are strawberries actually lady bugs?

A quick, cute story. I received an email from a parent of one of my child's classmates today inquiring if my son did not like strawberries? I said no he doesn't and then asked why?

She told me that she had brought strawberries for snack and that he said "please don't put any on my plate. I don't like them." I laughed that my son had said that. The mom then said that her son did not eat strawberries until last month because until that point he thought they were ladybugs! Funny.

Panera Bread Non Profit Restaurant

Panera Bread announced something I thought was just amazing - a non profit restaurant concept with a corporate social responsibility concept. The pilot restaurant, St. Louis Bread Co., offers consumers the chance to pay what they want for a meal. Yes, pay what you want. The CEO says this is a concept based on community kitchens where consumers set the price. The pilot restaurant is run by a non-profit foundation. If it sustains financially, it will expand across the U.S. Here is more on the story, but in the meantime, I applaud Panera Bread - and hope people do not take this as license to get free food, but rather see it as an amazing opportunity to make a difference in an incredibly easy way - just show up and eat and pay the regular price. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37213165/?gt1=43001

Wordless Wednesday

Here's my version of Wordless Wednesday. Some random photos that I thought I would share.

I was at the park with my boy and we saw this lady walking down the path and we heard some squawking. It is hard to see, but if you look at the backpack the lady is wearing, there is a small bird, probably a parrot in there. There's a first for everything. I was working down by the 710 fwy in Long Beach a couple weeks ago and I was stuck in traffic. When I finally drove by the accident, I saw the problem. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the truck driver lost his mobile home on the turn. Imagine making the call to your boss after that happens. "Hey boss, you'll never believe what just happened, and no I wasn't speeding!" I still don't understand how this accident occurred, because with that turn, the load should have fallen in the other direction.

Fast Company's "10 Most Addictive Sounds in the World"

In this month's issue of Fast Company it reports the top "addictive sound" is a baby's giggle. We agree because we LOVE it when our baby laughs. It's the best sound in the world!

Ducky Derby Fun

Have you ever been to a Ducky Derby? Well, if you haven't, you absolutely should. During the summer, various cities host Ducky Derbies - day long events typically tied to charities where you bid on a plastic ducky -each with a number on the bottom to help identify each duck from the other - which are then floated down the river. The first Ducky to cross the finish line wins. Go online and check it out, but here are some dates and locales....

Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena, CA hosts it's 1st Annual “Red, White & Blue Rubber Ducky Race” this weekend.

Annual Ducky Derby Festival in Aspen, Colorado in April.

Tacoma's Annual Derby Festival just happened last week.

Go online and see where it'll be next or even better, buy some at the 99 cent store or Target and host your own - in the pool, in the river, etc.

Lost finale

Did you watch it? My wife and I did and didn't want it to end. Neither my wife nor I were trekkies. We didn't follow Twin Peaks. We never obsessed over particular shows. However, we really enjoyed watching each episode together and chatting about it after. It was a smart program that made you think about things and question others. And it was simply fun for us. My wife always had a million questions and I acted as if I knew the answers. Lots of fun!!

Pasadena POPs at City Hall, featuring Conductors Darth Vader and the Target DOG

Oh, what a night! The Pasadena POPS held a free open air concert last night at Pasadena City Hall. Sound a little stuffy? This is Pasadena... Although the night was unexpectedly cold - about 60 degrees - my wife and son and I set up two chairs and blankets, ready to cozy up for a sophisticated, cultural evening of music and fun. The event featured the hottest trend in the LA food scene - gourmet food trucks. My family ate gourmet grass-fed hamburgers with rosemary and garlic organic french fries from the Green Truck while sitting in front of the gorgeous City Hall. Local children's fun spot and museum, Kidspace, was on site providing activities for the little ones. Mayor Bill Bogaard (who we have a special place in our heart for because we have photos of him with our three year-old) opened the show in a two minute speech (that's why we like him so much, he gives short speeches) before turning it over to the POPS conductor Rachel Worby who lead the orchestra in an uplifting array of songs from some great musicals and Hollywood films.

Guests appearances were made by the Target dog, who lead the orchestra as they played Henry Mancini's theme from the "Pink Panther." Another fun moment of the night - one that made all the Gen Xers in attendance put down their cheese and crackers (okay, some put down their burritos or hot dogs) - was when the Star Wars theme began to play. A personal appearance by Darth Vader walking through the crowd scared the little ones a bit, but Xers ate it up when he took the conductor's stand and lead the orchestra in the Darth Vader theme. Before ending the night with God Bless America, the Symphony announced their move from Descanso Gardens to the Rose Bowl with the first performance scheduled for June 19th. It was a wonderful evening out for our family, but more importantly, it was nice to be able to show our three year-old, a lover of music, a symphony and demonstrate how musicians play together to make beautiful sounds. When we arrived home, our three year-old grabbed a stick and handed my wife a guitar and said "mama, I'm a conductor. let's play." That was awesome. I should also note that it was our three year old's first experience in a porta-potty, but that's for another day.