Beyblade & Pokemon

After church we went to a birthday party for a three year old boy. The theme was Beyblade and Pokemon, two things of which I have very little knowledge.


Happy birthday!

The boy's dad is a foodie, so he picked up deep dish pizza from Tony's Little Italy in Placentia. I've wanted to try this place for a while, but never found myself in the Placentia-area. The pizza did indeed live up to the hype, and was extremely filling. My favorite was chicken-artichoke-garlic? I should have taken pictures, but by the time I remembered, n had crawled into my lap for a nap. After eating, I felt like a nap too!

Great Park Pumpkin Harvest

This morning we went to the Great Park, yet again, for another family outing. Admission was free, parking was $10. The event started at 10 a.m., but we arrived about 15 minutes early. That turned out to be a good thing, because we avoided a lot of the crowds that we saw only an hour later. We also came prepared with our wagon--perfect for toting our pumpkins around (each child under 12 was able to pick one for free).


n looks sad because he just woke up from a morning nap


The Great Balloon turns into a jack o'lantern for Halloween.

Going to the event was good motivation for me to make sure the costumes were done early. Tinkerbell & Peter Pan:



There were a lot of activities for the little ones. There was a candy trick or treating area, and a game area with little toy/sticker prizes.


About half the people who commented on n's outfit thought he was Robin Hood. Can anyone tell me what the difference between Robin Hood and Peter Pan would be? I guess he just needs to stick closer to k, so the association can be made. However, k wasn't wearing her wings most of the time, so people were probably confused about her outfit too.

Oktoberfest

I've always been curious about Oktoberfest. Not for the beer, (which is probably the main attraction) but for the food and atmosphere. On Sunday we went to the "Old World" shopping center in Huntington Beach to check it out, since Sundays are "family days". However, we arrived just after 10:30 a.m. and it was pretty much dead. The only store that was open was the European Market. We bought a pretzel (75 cents), berliner (jelly donut)($1) and apple strudel ($2). The dog races weren't until 3 p.m., so we just walked around a bit and called it a day.


Father


Son

(Let's just say the female cut-out was not family-friendly).




Interesting vines


I think this was on the side of a church, which is right in the middle of the shopping center.

San Clemente Camping Trip

This past Friday we went down to San Clemente for a one-night camping trip with some people in our small group. We had reserved three sites, and there were seven adults and eight kids. I had some concerns with who our neighbors would be, after our last trip to San Clemente. However, thankfully, everything turned out fine. n had his best night of sleep during camping so far, waking up only one time. That, in turn, resulted in my best sleep during camping, too! It seemed like everyone had a good time, so hopefully we can make this an annual (at least!) outing for us.

Hey is for Horses

After two years of living here, it is still weird to me that there is a horse trail just across the way from us. There is a sign that says that bicyclists and runners must yield to horses. By my parents' house, they even have buttons for the cross-walk up high, so people can use them while riding horseback.

Oak Glen Half Day Trip

Today was a beautiful fall day to go to Oak Glen for some apple-picking. We had never been before, so we did not quite know what to expect.

It took about 1 hour, 15 minutes from our house to get there. Once you exit the highway, there is plenty of "apple signage" to guide you.


Our first stop was Snow Line Orchard. They are famous for their mini apple cider donuts, so of course we had to try some.

12/$3.60. We arrived just after they opened at 9 a.m., so we avoided the long lines. The donuts were good, warm and fresh out of the fryer, but I could not discern any apple flavor. But for cinnamon sugar donuts, they were a nice snack. We also picked up a bag of small honeycrisp apples for $4 (my favorite variety). They are also known for their apple cider, but I was weary of buying any for the kids since it is only "gently pasteurized". D and I were able to sample the raspberry cider, which I would have liked to have more of.

We made a stop for the bathroom at Riley's (which had nice facilities, by the way). However, we drove next door for our u-pick adventure at Willowbrook Apple Farm.

My research had revealed that this was a nice family-run farm, less commercialized than its neighbors. It is small, but the compactness was perfect for the kids. The only downside is that there is minimal parking along the road, so arrive early (it opens at 10 a.m.).

Apparently, last weekend was really crowded (lines of 40+ people), so most of the apples that were left were higher hanging fruit. This was not a problem thanks to the handy dandy apple pickers that were provided.


D put the kids on his shoulders and they were able to pick some apples by hand, which they got a real kick out of.

This farm only produces one variety, Winesap, from trees that are 100 years old. We chose to pick a 5 lb. bag for $10.95. It is a flat rate bag, and we were able to fit 14 apples inside.

The farm also features a miniature horse, rabbit, and chickens.



Cool tree house


k started whining because "I got dirt on my shoes". Hmm...I think we need to get out of suburbia more often.

For lunch, we we went to Riley's at Los Rios Rancho




We shared a couple of tri-tip sandwiches ($7.95) and brought home a crumb-topped apple pie ($12).


The tri-tip was good...smoky and flavorful, and not too fatty.

While D waited in line for the food (it took a while, even at 11 a.m.!), the kids and I hung out on a bench in front of the band.




It was a fun outing, and it seems like a lot of people go every year. I'm thinking for us maybe it will be an every other year thing, but we'll see. We passed by a few other places I wanted to try, such as Oak Glen Village and Law's coffee shop for a slice of pie a la mode.

Pretend City II

This morning we went to Pretend City. We have only been once before. k and n are at good ages to enjoy this place. We arrived just before 10 a.m., and it was not too crowded. We had two BOGO coupons, so the entrance fee was $5 per person.




This display is in the lobby. When we asked k her favorite part of the museum, she said "spinning the wheel". Really? If that's the case, we don't even have to pay the entrance fee next time; we'll just hang out in the lobby.

However, k and n also had a lot of fun inside the museum. To wit:











(k said her second favorite thing was to control the lights/music for this stage).