Our California Adventure!

About a week and a half ago I (Rod) texted Tanya and asked if she wanted to go to CA for a weekend. She thought it was a joke and asked if I was serious. I heard that you get in free to Disneyland on your birthday and wanted to have a birthday unlike any other (every other year we've been in Lake Powell for my B-day, which is great) but I wanted to do something new. Also we didn't get to go any road trips alone this summer. All the plans just started falling into place and we had so much fun! One last hurrah before we become slaves to school.

Tanya's aunt and uncle Misty and Doug were nice enough to let us stay with them in St. George to break up the drive. We had fun watching Wipeout and Crash Course with them and cackling until late into the night. Their kids are darls and Misty made the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had. They make cinnabon look like crap!

Of course we hit up Hollywood to start out (the Hollwood sign is in the background). It was too hot to celeb-sight for a long time, so we ate at CPK to cool off.

A little closer up

Loves my Britney! I'm smiling but the ground was like a hot skillet on my skin.

My china doll

Johnny Depp's grubby mitts've been here.

Just a couple of Doggs out on the town.

Her other "Rod" - Rod Stewart

When we found out we were going to be in Cali on a Thursday I had to look into getting tickets to America's Best Dance Crew (one of our favorite shows). We have watched every season and I always turn to Tanya and say "imagine how fun it would be to sit in the audience and see it live." I applied for tickets and got them! It was a blast. We couldn't take the camera in but we dressed like classy hip-hop hooligans and we ended up being on the 2nd row with amazing seats. JC Chasez of N'Sync Fame was 2 feet away from Tanya (her tween-aged dreams coming true) and she got to Shake Mario Lopez's hand (AC Slater). Lil' Mama was rockin the bedazzled outfit and it was a great show - such a party!

We stayed with Kari, one of the SuperMoms that we did the reality show pilot with. She lives in Garden City near anaheim and was so nice to let us stay with her. She got us into Disneyland for free and the other supermom Kim met us there too. They were great tour guides and really knew how to work the Disneyland system. This is the Rasmussen family posing in front of the R (California Adventure Tradish).

I highly recommend going to DL on your B-day. They give you this pin and EVERY worker says "Happy Birthday" to you. I think they're contractually obligated, but I was loving it!


Kari's little boy Brendan. We rocked the Toy Story ride.

Runaway train.

We loves roller coasters.

We had never been to Disneyland together. Twas fun.

With the supermoms. Love these ladies.

Our favorite ride EVER!!! Never gets old.

Misty & Doug (Tanya's aunt and uncle) and Kari recommended Crystal Cove as a fun beach. It really was great. We got to frolick in the waves, take a nap, and look for cool shells and ocean life in the tide pools.

My hot wife.

I tried to play in the toilet bowl but the waves were naughty and vicious

We want our lives to be this - all the time.

When we lived in Hawaii we went to Dukes in Waikiki one time and fell in love with it - Hula Pie and Criss-Cut fries that can't be beat! We went to the one in Huntington and reminisced.

Hula pie - better than almost any dessert we've ever had. Packed with macadamia nuts and covered in hot fudge.

Sunset at Huntington

Oh how much we will miss the beach.

Beginning of the End

I wish I had a picture of me on my first day of kindergarten. . . insert giant bangs and buck teeth here. Today was my last first day of school. I am usually okay with the start of a new school year but this summer I have been DREADING it. It's weird because I feel like I should be done because if I hadn't taken a semester off to get married I would be! The only thing keeping me going is the fact that this my last semester ever (unless I later decide to further my education with a Masters Degree or something of that sort but the thought of that right now makes me siiieck).

I think I am going to enjoy most of my classes this semester. I am taking a class that teaches you how to be a group fitness instructor and prepares you to take the test to become certified - something I have always wanted to do. My least favorite class is probably going to be family economics, it was only day one and I wanted to poke my eyes out.

15 more weeks until ultimate freedom. After my last final I may just say a few choice words, throw my books in the shredder, and moon walk out of there. I can do it.

Our Almost Reality TV Moment

Those of you that know us know that Tanya and I are obsessed with Reality T.V. Pretty soon after we started dating we tried out for The Amazing Race. We applied June of last summer, not thinking it would result in anything. They called us back and did some phone interviews and a couple of weeks later invited us to LA for face to face interviews. We bought plane tickets and went, but that's as far as we made it. We are extremely sad we weren't able to be on it.
This last February we got a call from a producer who was putting together a brand new reality show. He got our names from the Amazing Race casting director and wanted us to be in the pilot for his new show. All he told us about the show is that it was like Wipeout but with cars. We knew it would never be on TV and we wouldn't actually win the $50,000 price (since it wasn't real) but we went to get exposure and let the Amazing Race producers (some of whom were the same as the ones doing this pilot) get to know us.
In March they flew us out to LA and put us up in a hotel for 4 days, gave us $100 a day each to buy dinner, and paid us each $300 just for coming. We had such a blast filming this pilot and got to see what a reality show is like behind the scenes. I never thought my best friend and wife Tanya and I would get to drive a car through a plate glass window, through an exploding shed, and into a swimming pool. BEST . . . SPRING . . . BREAK . . . EVER.
Here is a link to the beginning of the pilot - a teaser. If anyone wants to watch the whole thing we have a copy. Just let us know.
P.S. - this show was for CBS but ABC found out about it and wanted to do it first. They got theirs done first and it is picked up and will start on ABC in a couple of weeks (theirs is called Crash Course). Kinda sucks but we had our fun.

Here's the link

Happy 60th STER-DE-DURR!

My dad is turning 60 on Wednesday (I know, he looks 40) and we all wanted him to go sky diving to celebrate. He used to be a Green Baret and has jumped out of planes several times, but never for leisure. They didn't even have a free fall, the parachute would just instantly open. We all went to watch him.

With "Fish," his tandem guy from South Africa. He was in good hands.

His last step on the ground as an alive man? Maybe

Oh, so his parachute DIDN'T WORK! We were all on the ground waiting for them to start coming down and this parachute just comes flapping to the ground without a person on it. We all kind of panicked for a minute, but then we saw him come down on his reserve chute. Fish had to cut the other one away and go for backup. Exciting!

Brenden's reaction when he saw the parachute coming to the ground without "pop pop" on it.

He made it!

Happy Birthday "Pop Pop" - We love you!

We looked in the dictionary under the word "DARLS" and this is what we saw

We found these outfits at The Children's Place and had to buy matchy-matchy.

Enderito in his home state of New Jersey

OK I was going to do a whole post about how darls these little hamburger cookies are, but couldn't justify it. We saw them at Tanya's work BBQ and I couldn't shut up about them. Right when we got home I put one on a pedestal (literally) in our kitchen and it sits there next to our other pride and joy (our goldfish Tyrone). Then Tanya made them for her brother's birthday (she knew his head would explode like mine did when he saw them) and for my Grandma's 80th Birthday (whose head also exploded).

Glowsticks are basically really cheap baby sitters FYI

We're pretty much obsessed with our nephews and they are so fun to hang with.

Park, Island

This past week we went to Island Park, Idaho for the annual Rasmussen side of the family trip. Usually not very many people from our family make it, but this year EVERY SINGLE PERSON was there (even those that live in CA and the east coast). It was so much fun. We stayed in the cabin of a guy who was in the NFL and he had plastered tacky Bears/Steelers stuff (the teams he played for) all over the cabin, but it was very nice and right on the lake. We had a fire every night and the water was pretty much glass 24/7. Here are highlights

Baby Enderito didn't love the life jacket, but when it came off he was just happy to be in the sun.

We went to Yellowstone (Matt and Amy had never been) and it was fun. Just a buffalo traipsing down the road . . . the ushe

'Da kids at some hot pots

We took a picture exactly like this last year - it's now "tradish"

Just admiring a resting buffalo on the plains

At the top of a waterfall. We look frazzled because it was hailing.

We rented a raft and floated (very slowly) down a river. It was nice and relaxing (for those that didn't have to paddle). I had to catch up after stopping for a rope swing!

Fruit by the foot - a childhood treat that you're never too old to eat!

At the front of the boat watching for icebergs

The children beat this cowboy boot pinata until it burst

We took 18 month old Brenden on a tube ride - You've got to start them young if you want them to be good competition for tube wars.