Olympics Viewing Festivities

Last week the kids had VBS, but k got sick on Thurs. morning so she missed out on the last two days.  I didn’t think she should go to the Friday evening program so we stayed home and watched the Opening Ceremonies. 

For our London-themed meal we had fish (from Costco) and chips.

We set up our couch for our viewing area.  Red, white and blue pillows and blankets.  I like how the Ikea Manstad turns into one big chaise.  We told the kids they could sleep there on Friday night.

Let the Games begin!

Good thing they fell asleep right before the part with the scary storybook characters/creepy baby.

We also created a medal count board.  It is good for numbers practice. 

The first Olympics I can remember is 1984 when L.A. hosted.  I remember doing coloring sheets with the Eagle mascot.  Hopefully k will have good memories too!  This is n’s first Olympics, which I don’t think he will remember.  It was actually during the Beijing Opening Ceremony party we had for my mom’s birthday that we announced that I was pregnant with n.  I <3 the Olympics!

Who We’re Rooting For in London…

Well, U*S*A, of course.  However, there are certain individuals who we will REALLY be rooting for @ the 2012 Olympics.

Natalie Coughlin: D’s personal favorite.  We were disappointed she didn’t qualify for more races, but at least she is going.  Also, D just told me she was named #10 of the top ten American Olympians of ALL TIME.  Not too shabby.

Nathan Adrian: My personal favorite.  An Asian American male breaking the stereotypes of Asian American males—yes!  OK, so he’s only half Chinese, but that is a start.  Oh, and Natalie is part Asian too. 

Tyler Clary: Another swimmer, he is my cousin’s husband’s cousin.  That means he’s practically related, right?  Haha.  Anyway, I know my cousin is really excited, and we’ll definitely be cheering him on from our couch.

Jason Lezak: Best known for anchoring that CRAZY 4x100 freestyle relay where he came from behind to win gold (thus enabling Michael Phelps to win 8 gold medals).  However, we like him because he lives in Irvine and we ran into him at Pick Up Stix a while back.  D recognized him, shook his hand and asked if he was training for London.  He said he was, and I guess the training paid off.

Since the kids just finished their swimming lessons, I think swimming is the sport they are most excited to watch too.  I always like watching gymnastics, so I also have to include my favorite gymnast:

    

Gabby Douglas: So much energy and such a cutie.  Loved her floor exercise routine—she just has that something “extra” that makes her unique.  Also, when she won at the trials, she said, “I give all my glory to God!”, which was so nice to hear.

Date Night @ The Boiling Crab

D and I are very strategic when deciding where to go for our date nights.  We try to eat go to restaurants the kids would not necessarily enjoy and/or would be less enjoyable if they were with us.  I would say The Boiling Crab meets both of these criteria.  We went to the one in the South Coast/Santa Ana area which is new and spacious—no wait at 5 p.m. (I’ve heard there are really long waits at the Garden Grove locations).

We ordered 1 lb. of shrimp (whole shebang-style, medium) for $8.99.  I thought that was a really good deal considering that shrimp is so expensive at the supermarket.  The waitress plops a plastic bag on your butcher paper-covered table and you can go to town—no plates or cutlery here.  Peel the shrimp, give it a squeeze of lime juice, dip it back in the bag to soak up more sauce—yum!

The messy aftermath.

We also ordered a basket of fried catfish and fries.  It is a large portion—this picture was taken after we had already eaten two pieces.  We ended up taking some leftovers home.  I liked the light cornmeal batter.  This was $9.99, in case anyone is interested.

We also ordered a cob of corn to add to our shrimp bag—we need our veggies, right?
As you can see in the background, the atmosphere is Bubba-Gumpish.  A nice big sink in the middle of the restaurant would be nice.  The tiny wet naps they gave us at the end just didn’t cut it.  Since we had leftovers, we didn’t want to extend our date night too much longer.  We made a quick stop into Barnes & Noble to look for some sort of Olympics guide/magazine, but they weren’t in stock yet!  Meanwhile, we’ve been preparing for our Olympics-watching festivities, but more on that later. 

Swim Lessons @ Woollett

k and n took two sessions of swimming lessons that ended today.  Here is a video that I made on a whim of their experience.  I realize that the song choice is not the most appropriate, but it just screams "Summer 2012" to me.  Plus, they were playing the song at the pool today, so there is some correlation.  This year, k really made big strides in a short amount of time.  At the start of swim lessons this year she could barely do a back float.  Now, she can take a few breaths while swimming freestyle (although not shown in this video) and she just started to learn the backstroke.  This from the girl that was crying when her teacher dunked her underwater last year.  I remember other parents telling me that it will just "click" and now I can see what they mean.      

Great Park Celebration

We met up with my sister, Uncle K and j at the Great Park for their anniversary celebration.  It was supposed to start at 3 p.m. but we arrive before it opened because we knew it would get crowded.  It was pretty warm, but there was a slight breeze.  We brought the wagon, which I find quite convenient at the Great Park since there is plenty of space to move around (and there’s always a lot of swag to carry).

Our first stop was to look at the air display.

Next the kids planted some sunflower seeds.  No Disney mugs this time, but we ended up giving those away anyway, so the compostable pots were a good idea. 

Next stop: Food trucks.  Supposedly there were 26 of them!  I did miss the free orange sorbet that they gave away another year.

I know I said before that I was over shaved ice, but I couldn’t resist the Tropical Shave Ice truck because I had it before, and I knew it would be good for the kids who were melting in the heat.  I ordered a POG with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

D wanted me to try the Seabirds truck’s jackfruit tacos.  I wasn’t really a fan.  It was just too weird—jackfruit posing as pork..hmm…

Finally, we were able to try a pizza from TJ’s Woodfired Pizza truck.  It was really good, (really liked the crust) but at almost $12, pretty expensive for food truck fare.

After our early dinner, the kids made kites and were able to fly them.  That was their first kite-flying experience, and it was lots of fun!  I was impressed with the flying ability of such a simple kite.

Another great day at the Great Park!

k’s First Basketball Practice

On Saturday, k met her basketball team for Little Hoopsters for the first time.  It is a program for kids going into kindergarten to 2nd grade, so this was the first year k was eligible.  The whole concept of team sports is pretty foreign to D and me.  D played tennis, and I pretty much avoided sports as much as possible as a kid.  I’m hoping k will like it, though, and I even ended up being the team parent (which really only involves setting up the snack schedule and bringing snacks the first week).

k practiced her dribbling all Saturday afternoon.  She said, “Bouncing the ball is so much fun, I don’t even care if I get sweaty.” 

Splash! La Mirada Aquatic Center

D took a day off on Friday so we went to Splash! La Mirada Aquatic Center.  It was overcast with even a few sprinkles.  I thought that might keep the crowds away, but it seemed like several field trips were there, so it was still pretty crowded.  We did find a $2 off admission coupon on the internet, but it was still a little pricey in my opinion.  D managed to go on all of the big slides (I was only brave enough to go on one).  However, we spent a lot of time on the lazy river with the kids on the inner tubes.  k and n also enjoyed the smaller slides.  (I did not like the big pirate bucket that periodically dumped tons of water on the people waiting for the slides.  You just have to time it right to avoid it).  They also had fun being in the “regular” pool with their life jackets and their new-found buoyancy (I liked it because the water was so warm!)  We brought our lunch and ate it in the car, and then went back in for more fun.  We also rented an electronic locker for $5 that malfunctioned (one of the managers had to use the master key to open it up).  Ever since living in Southern California, D has wanted to go to Raging Waters.  I think we should wait a few years until the kids are older, but this park was a good stand-in for now.    One thing I did miss, however, was a wave pool.  That used to be my favorite attraction at Wild Rivers.  I think k and n would really like that.

Afterward we stopped in Starbucks to try their new Refreshers drink that they were giving away.  It’s supposed to use green coffee, or something like that, and contain more caffeine than regular coffee.  However, I found the taste to be too medicinal, and not very refreshing.

   

For dinner we went to Chick-Fil-A to take advantage of their dress like a cow day.  k and n cut out the spots by themselves and received a free kid’s meal for their efforts.  D and I just printed out an “Eat More Chik’n” sign, taped it to our shirts, and we were able to get free chicken sandwiches—nice. 

Free food=family fun for this family.

World’s Smartest Dog & Red Robin Soft Opening

On Saturday we returned to the Discovery Science Museum just to see the dog show.  There was a stage set up in the parking lot with bleachers.  Also, it was so crowded that D ended up having to park at Main Place! 

The most impressive trick was when two kids from the audience picked a block with a number on it, the blocks were thrown into a pile of other blocks with numbers, the trainer told the dog the number that was picked, and the dog picked out the block with the number from the pile.  According to the trainer, this dog has performed for the king of Morocco—wow.
At night we went to the new Red Robin that is opening at the District (the one in the Marketplace shut down).  As a Red Robin Royalty member I was able to get an invite to the sneak preview where each person could get a drink and entrée and each party could share a mocktail (i.e. shake) for free!

We rarely order drinks at restaurants, so this was a real treat for us.  I can’t believe that Red Robin only serves whole milk.  This isn’t the midwest, you know.

We upgraded to parmesan garlic fries just because we could.  The kids liked the mac and cheese and mandarin orange slices.

k is so tan now from all of her swim lessons.

Of course, n enjoyed the mint brownie shake.  One of D’s co-workers also took advantage of the deal and we ended up being seated at the table right next to his.  It’s funny because the last time we saw his family out and about was at the Marketplace Red Robin—RIP.  I hope something good replaces it. 

Family Reunion @ Buca Di Beppo

My second cousin was in town last week to visit Disneyland with her family, so she organized a family dinner.  I’m not sure if it qualifies as a “reunion” as that implies we’ve all met each other before.  I only have two cousins, but apparently I have a lot of second cousins that I’ve never met.  It was fun to meet two of them for the first time, and k had fun hanging out with her third cousin again.  D was even able to share the List, which is always a good conversation piece. 

A Quiet 4th of July

Since the 4th of July was on a Wednesday, I didn’t feel like braving the crowds and staying out late to watch fireworks.  Instead we swam, rode bikes, and had a bbq in the backyard.  D perfected his turkey burger grilling skills.  For dessert in the afternoon we went to Mochilato in Irvine.

We had a junior size Mochilato Way shaved ice.  I told them to go light on the red beans, but I don’t think they listened.  Like Sno-Biggie, it was just ok and kind of expensive ($8).  For that amount I expect a bigger scoop of gelato in the middle.  We were more excited that they also serve Beard Papa cream puffs.

At night we went to the top of Citrus Ranch Park.  It turned out we were not the only ones with the same idea.  It was cool that you could see fireworks all along the coast, but it was so far away and not too impressive.  I thought we would be able to see the Tustin High fireworks pretty well, but that was not the case.  Oh well, at least we tried.  One tip: don’t stand in the areas with plants unless you want to be sprayed with water when the sprinkler system turns on.  That didn’t happen to us, but we saw it happen to many others. 

A Beautiful Baby Shower

Last weekend my mom and I attended a baby shower for my second cousin on my dad’s side.  It was at Il Fornaio in Pasadena.  It was the fanciest baby shower I have ever attended!  It was quite evident that there was a lot of thought and preparation that went into planning the event.

We are so happy and excited for the arrival of baby Reese (I think that is the spelling?) who will be making her debut next month!

A Visit To My Hometown

Seal Beach is the place I consider my “hometown”.  I lived there from the age of four until I graduated from high school (as well as the years post-law school until I got married).  Last Friday, D was able to take a half day off of work so we went to Bolsa Chica/Seal Beach to hang out.
Our first stop was the wetlands.  We were only able to see a few birds.  Springtime is probably better for bird watching.
 


Yes, n got a hair cut.

Next we went to Bolsa Chica State Beach for our last use of our state park pass (D used it to go running one last time at Crystal Cove the next day).

Next we went to Sno-Biggie, a fairly new store in Seal Beach that sells “New Orleans” style shaved ice.  It was OK—I used my entertainment book coupon, of course!

Then we strolled down Main Street.  Had to take a picture of n by his name.  We also made the mandatory stop at the shell store which was pretty crowded.  Some of the stores come and go, but the biggest change to me is that there are now three asian restaurants: Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese.  That was not the case back in the day.  I was also able to pick up the latest copy of the Seal Beach Journal.  I always get a kick out of reading the police log.  It’s nice to see that someone reporting a game of “ding dong ditch ‘em” still gets space in the paper.

For dinner we ate at Thai Siam, off of Main Street, mainly because of my coupon.  It too was just ok.  But, the day itself was a lot of fun.  I wonder if k and n will bring their families back to our part of OC with fond memories.