A HOT Sunday

I am NOT enjoying this heat wave we are having...fall weather please return. On Sunday we had two outdoor events to attend: 1. Church service/Picnic at Mile Square Park and 2. OC Japan Fair.

Having church at the park was a nice change of pace. We brought our blankets and chairs and made sure to sit under some trees. Unfortunately, the sun shifted so that we were not completely shaded. Some might say it is distracting to have church outdoors, but if the distraction is God's creation, I don't really see a problem with it, especially since it is only once every couple of years.




Cookie pop! (She didn't eat the whole thing...n and I had some bites, too!)

We didn't stay for all of the games after lunch because it was just too darn hot and we were all really tired. We pretty much just crashed when we got home (actually, both kids crashed in the car on the way home). However, we had free tickets to the OC Japan Fair at the Great Park, so we went there around 4 p.m. for an early dinner. We ended up seeing people from church, some of whom went straight from the picnic! Craziness. We just found a couple of chairs in the shade, D sat with the kids, and I braved the heat to buy the food. I ended up with yaki soba ($5), spam musubi (2 for $3), beef teriyaki sticks (2 for $4) and a red bean pancake ($1.50). I thought the spam musubi was really good, maybe the best I've had. I liked how they put the big crisp sheet of nori on to order, so it didn't get soggy. k liked it too. D liked the beef the best. The yaki soba was just "eh". Surprisingly, n liked the red bean pancake! I think he thought the inside was chocolate, so he had a puzzled look at first, but he kept on eating it.





We also received three free boxes of tofu, so I guess I'll have to come up with some recipes. This event would have been much more enjoyable if it weren't so blazing hot. It improved from the year before...bigger venue and more booths. It is also interesting to see those non-Japanese japanophiles, like the girl dressed up as Sailor Moon.

Another Chinese-Japanese Marriage

Saturday night we went to a wedding reception for a couple who, just like us, consists of a Japanese American girl and Chinese American guy. We were noting how this combo seems very common these days. Anyway, they had Chinese lion dancers at the start of the reception and the bride changed into a kimono.


I like creative attention to detail: tangerine place card holders that said what table we were at.







Prime rib w/horseradish sauce


Chocolate Mousse Cake

I couldn't get a picture of the bride and groom together.

Bride


Groom

There were some "small world" connections too. Someone D knew from Sacramento recognized him from 16 years ago, so that was kind of funny. My second cousin on my Dad's side was there because he knows the groom. Plus there were relatives from my mom's side as well.

We were pretty tired and had to pick up the kids, so we left before my favorite part of receptions, the slide show. (We didn't even make it to the ceremony since my parents couldn't watch the kids as they were at the ceremony). We had a good time, though, it was like our "date night", and we wish all of the best to the new couple.

Birthday Freebies

It's been a while since we've updated. We celebrated n's 1.5 birthday and D's birthday. We've been busy redeeming all of our free birthday goodies (just sign up online):

*Free Starbucks drink (any size, any drink)
*Free Veggie Grill entree
*Free Jerry's Signature dog
*Free IHOP Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity
*Free Baskin-Robbins scoop
*Free Coldstone Like-It (1 add-in)
*Free Red Robin burger (you can also get a chicken sandwich, or salad if you prefer, but we didn't get free ice cream sundaes or the song this time; it is nice how they let us redeem both coupons at once since our birthdays are within 14 days of each other)
*Free cream cheese wontons from Pickup Stix
*Free Premium shake from Del Taco (person at the drive-in didn't seem too pleased about us redeeming the coupon, but she was the only one so far)
*Free reuseable tote from Container Store

Still planning to redeem free meal at Rubio's and free Big O Cookie from Pat & Oscar's.

Play Houses @ the Spectrum

Last night we went to Irvine Spectrum to redeem our two free birthday meal coupons at Veggie Grill (sometimes it is nice having birthdays 11 days apart). It was our first time, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. (We smuggled in a Chick Fil A sandwich for the kids, which we also received for free by posting a "My first Chick Fil A story on facebook). Anyway, the texture of the "meat" was a little off, but it tasted good, so we were happy. It is kind of expensive without a coupon, so I can't quite recommend it.

Thai "chik'n" salad and Santa Fe crispy chicken sandwich.

Afterward we walked around and came across these cute play houses that are up for sale for charity:

The "UP" house


I would love to have a place like this to relax in on a nice cool morning or evening.


My favorite of the bunch. I wonder how much these things go for??

Avoiding a Two Hour Wait

Our last night in Napa we were going to try to go to Mustard Grill (we had been for lunch before, but never for dinner). However, they don't take reservations, and when we arrived at 4:40(!) they said there was just no way because they were booked, and the wait would be two hours! Craziness. So, we drove back towards D's parents house to a cute neighborhood restaurant called Fume(accent on the 'e'), which we had also been to before. I'm not sure why this restaurant isn't more popular, except that it is kind of hidden off the highway. The service was excellent, and it is kid-friendly, even though it is still upscale. They have a kid's menu, and the kitchen kindly split both the entree and dessert for k and n (it was plenty of food for each of them). The highlight for k and was definitely the ice cream sundae.




Note n wearing much of his entree (pasta sauce) on his shirt.

I had the cajun prawn pasta and D had the roast chicken. D put the chicken on his list. My pasta was delicious, but VERY rich...had to share it around the table.

We left just after 7:30 the next morning. From D's parents driveway we could see several hot air balloons taking off. That is something I would like to do. Someday.




Testing the zoom feature.

Muir Woods N.M.

On Sunday we went out to breakfast at a place called Boonfly Cafe. I had read good things about it a while back so I was excited to try it out. It has a cute, unassuming facade and is located just off the road to Sonoma.

Everyone raves about the homemade donuts, so we had to try:

Nice and warm, yum!

D ordered the green eggs and ham and I had the breakfast flatbread.





"Hmm...what should I get? Decisions, decisions."

k & n had fun on the porch swing outside.


Afterward D's parents went back home and we drove on to Muir Woods National Monument. The road was pretty twisty and the park was kind of crowded, but it was nice to be able to "hike" on a paved trail with the kids in strollers. We went as far as the paved road could take us, about 1.5 miles total. The redwood trees are so tall that it is perpetually cool on the trail (a little too cool for D, who did not bring a jacket!)









We had seen the Muir Woods cafe mentioned by Tyler Florence on the Best Thing I Ever Ate. I think it was a show about the best "unexpected" food...he really liked the grilled cheese and tomato soup. So, that's what we shared for lunch. We also bought a kid's meal which came with a turkey sandwich and the tomato soup.


I was more impressed with the soup than the grilled cheese. It also came with some of the freshest, sweetest peas in the pod I've ever tasted.

Back at home k and n had fun playing catch and riding a scooter with Grandpa and Grandma. n was particularly fond of this helmet, so we brought it home with us. (Now he doesn't have to wear k's pink flower helmet at home).

Eating, Shopping and Eating

After D went for his morning run, we drove over to Yountville for a morning stroll. I had fun trying out my new camera. We went to the French Laundry garden and then to Bouchon Bakery.









Having fun with the Macro setting :)





Chocolate Cherry Scone


Our brown-haired boy


Afterward we left the kids with the grandparents and hit the Napa outlets. We had a mini shopping spree and justified ourselves by buying our own birthday presents--haha. Shopping is so much more productive without the kids, but maybe that is a dangerous thing.

We met D's brother and his family back at the house and then we all had lunch at Mini Mango, a new Thai restaurant in downtown Napa. Everything was very flavorful and it made D's list. They even made pad see ew for k, which was not listed on the menu.

Our kids skipped their naps and had fun playing with their aunts, uncle and cousin. For dinner, D's dad fired up the BBQ to grill chicken and steak. Uncle S even made a cinnamon cake for dessert!



The weather was perfect for relaxing in the backyard.

First Day in the Bay

Just returned from visiting D's family in Napa. We left early Friday morning. Our first foodie stop was in Oakland for Bakesale Betty. We tried one fried chicken sandwich, one slushie lemonade and one strawberry shortcake. Well, 2000+ Yelp fans were not wrong! Our plan was to eat lunch in two parts, but this satisfied all of us until dinner (we did have Jamba Juice later, though).

As expected, the line was out the door, down the block, but the wait didn't seem too bad. Maybe because I was being entertained by listening to the two guys behind me that struck up a conversation about the merits of using 00 flour for homemade pizza dough v. Trader Joe's pre-made dough and thinking, "only in the Bay Area". Plus, the people watching was pretty interesting. It's fun to see how people express themselves through their clothing. It gets kind of boring in Orange County. Back to the food, the slaw on the sandwich was too spicy for k and n since it had a slight jalapeno kick. The lemonade was quite tart, which I like, and the shortcake was quite large, but a little on the dry side for my taste.

We then drove on to Berkeley. The last time we had been there was three years ago, so this was n's first time. We realized that Telegraph/Sproul Plaza is not too stroller-friendly when school is in session! D bought his requisite 2010 Cal football t-shirt, because apparently he doesn't have enough.

We stopped to watch the Women's a capella group (can't remember what their group is called).


Took a picture by the bear statue:


Three years ago:


We walked around campus looking for new construction, but didn't see anything too different (later on we saw construction at the law school and West side of campus when we were driving around). However, I was struck by how much these trees have grown since we were there over ten years ago. They used to trim them so much every year and they were so bare and gnarly. Look at them now:


D is most excited by the renovation of Memorial Stadium, which is in progress.

There's fencing all around, but we turned in just to take a quick look. Here's hoping for a good season so D can wear his new shirt with pride.

We made it to Grandpa and Grandma's house by around 3 p.m. and had dinner at their home. n is still difficult to travel with. k had a couple of short meltdowns, but n just doesn't like being in the carseat and does not get tired of letting us know!