Beach Break Cafe & San Onofre

After a full night's sleep in Carlsbad, we packed up and headed north to Oceanside. We had breakfast at Beach Break Cafe. I was looking forward to banana crunch french toast. Unfortunately, we found out that is has walnuts, so we didn't order it. I ordered strawberry french toast instead.


We also ordered the "ABC" Avocado Bacon Cheese Omelette.

Coffee cake came as a choice for a side.


This was enough food for all of us. Everything was good, but nothing really had that "wow" factor. I'm thinking it is that banana crunch french toast that has pushed their Yelp rating so high!

The bathroom is also very cute. There are murals painted everywhere, including the toilet seat cover holder:


Our final stop was San Onofre State Beach. We like this beach for the kids because of the short distance between the parking lot and the sand. There were a lot of surfers out that day, but not too many waves.

IHOP Pancake Day

A friend told us about IHOP's national pancake day. I wasn't planning to go originally, but D wasn't going to be home when we ate dinner, so I thought why not? We received 3 free short stacks of pancakes (which each consist of 3 pancakes). That's a lot of pancakage. At first I felt weird about going to a sit down restaurant and only ordering free items, but the waitress was very nice and I noticed a lot of tables doing the same. Also, we left a tip and a donation for the Children's Miracle Network, so it was for a good cause.


I would also like to note that we celebrated National Banana Bread day on February 23:

Camping Lite @ South Carlsbad State Beach

A while back we made reservations to go camping at South Carlsbad State Beach to extend our second Legoland trip into a mini-vacation. We weren't sure what the weather would be like in late February, but it turned out just fine.

D has become quite the expert on setting up our tent since he's had so much practice.


We reserved a campsite overlooking the ocean. It was kind of expensive--$50, plus a reservation fee. But, cheaper than a hotel, right?


The view was nice, although obstructed by the necessary wire fence (there is a high, steep drop off to the beach). Over the fence, this was our view:







I think these are brown pelicans? Small groups passed directly overhead every few minutes.

This was camping lite because for dinner we went to a restaurant called El Caribe in Carlsbad.

We shared a salmon burrito and grilled shrimp burrito which came chock full of spinach and other vegetables. The food tasted very healthy and fresh. I particularly liked the shrimp burrito (k did too). D really liked the salsas from the bar. They added a nice layer of flavor, especially the sweet and spicy one.

For picky n, we ordered a kids' cheese quesadilla.

Despite that face, he ate his food too. We also bought a milk at a cafe a couple doors down.

Back at the campsite, our dreams of s'mores were not to be because D was unable to get a fire going. We had bought the wood at the camp store, and it just didn't seem to want to ignite. We'll blame it on the wood. The kids still enjoyed their chocolate squares on graham crackers though.

Overall, I enjoyed staying at this campground. There were a lot of RVs and families, and everyone seemed very respectful. The bathrooms were the nicest I've come across as far as camping goes. The sound of the crashing waves lulled us to sleep (for 10 hours!) and also acted as a natural sound barrier so noise from our neighbors was minimal.

Legoland: What a Difference 2 Months Makes

The Legoland tickets we bought back in December were good for two admissions within 90 days of each other. The first time we went, n was over the 34 inch mark, but not by much. Surprisingly, for a theme park geared towards younger kids, the number of rides for 34 inchers is pretty limited. This time, we measured him at home without shoes and he seemed to be just below the 36 inch mark, so I was not sure if he would make the cut off for the 36 inch rides. Fortunately, he was just tall enough, so we were able to go on a new group of rides. Pretty good, since he is still free until his 3rd birthday, which is next month. The kids' favorite was Captain Cranky's Challenge, which n actually went on last time with D. k was not brave enough, but I guess two months has helped her along, too! We were also able to enjoy a mini roller coaster, Coastersaurus.

It was also much less crowded this time, since last time we went during Christmas break. There were virtually no lines except for a really long line (almost an hour) for Sky Cruiser. However, we waited in line right after lunch, so it was probably good to let our food digest.


I liked how there were some details I noticed that I did not pay attention to last time:

Like these bison planters

and this photo op:


This guy's job was to wade in the water to help boats that were stuck in the Skipper School ride.

It is actually pretty easy to get turned around in the boat since there is no track. This happened to me while I was trying to take this picture of D and k and n was left to steer.


Here's a picture of the kid-sized sinks in the bathroom which I think I mentioned last time.

From Recently Updated

We were able to do everything we wanted to do in five hours (10-3). I told D that we would probably only go one more time, and that would be when n is tall enough to go on all the rides. Not sure when that will be!

Happy Fat Tuesday

Painting our kitchen/family room has basically taken over my life, so there has not been too many other activities going on.

We celebrated Fat Tuesday today with apple pancakes and chicken mango sausage for dinner.

I must admit, this picture does not look too appetizing, but n finished his entire dinner. That doesn't happen too often around these parts.



At Trader Joe's today, I triumphantly found the elusive Speculoos Cookie Butter!

I was looking for it around the holidays, but they had run out. We tried it on toast and the kids like it. It is probably the closest our peanut-free household has come to peanut butter (still need to try sunflower seed butter).

Happy V Day

I know Valentine's Day commercializes love, but it is still fun to celebrate. At preschool, k handed out treat bags that included these cute Hello Kitty magnets I found at Target:

I bought D a package of tube socks because he was always complaining that he didn't have any. Am I not romantic? D brought home a potted orchid because he knows that I don't like expensive cut bouquets. Hopefully I can keep it alive for a while.

For dinner we had heart-shaped quesadillas.


Last weekend we had plans to go to Pizzeria Mozza for our Valentine's date. However, that did not work out, so we ended up at Roma D'Italia. The atmosphere was cozy and cute, with strung white lights, red and white checked tablecloths and a huge swordfish mounted on the wall. Definitely a nice, not too stuffy date place.


D was in the mood for shrimp, so he had the Shrimp Calabrese over linguini. There was a good number of plump shrimp, and the sauce was light and flavorful.

I ordered Eggplant Sorrentino.

Monstrosity is the word that comes to mind when I look at this picture. It was definitely rich, and a bit too salty. Also, the pasta that it came with was too al dente. I took the leftovers home, and we split a piece of tiramisu. D was excited about being able to have a newcomer to replace "Buca di Beppo--Indianapolis" in the Italian category of his list. He's received a lot of slack from a lot of people about that one.

Foodie Finds

First, a little catch up on our food holiday celebrations. The list I have been going by can be found here.

February 8: National Molasses Bar Day.

Didn't remember to take a picture until they were almost all gone. I never knew what a molasses bar was before looking it up for the holiday. I guess it is a southern thing.

February 13: National Tortellini Day. I like how following the holidays helps me decide what to have for dinner. I tend to get in a rut.


Over the weekend we went to Huntington, our favorite state beach. Before going to the beach, we made a couple of foodie stops nearby. First was The Donuttery. Don't you like that name? This was from a tip D received from a friend of a friend (J--you can thank Max for us). Nice variety of flavors, including blueberry, strawberry and pumpkin. Baker's dozen for $7.


Next was a Mr. Pickle sandwich on dutch crunch bread from a new place called Mr. Pickle.


This warm sandwich was so good! Chicken, bacon, avocado, jack cheese, red onion, garlic sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, of course. ($8 inc. tax). The dutch crunch had the perfect texture. D said it had to be one of his top 3 sandwiches, yet somehow it did not make his list! Not sure how that happened. I might even like it better than Earl of Sandwich (which I've been tipped off is coming to Downtown Disney, I might add!)

The weather was nice at the beach considering it is February.


I actually prefer going to the beach off-season because no one else is there.


Except for the seagulls...

More National Food Holidays

February 3: National Carrot Cake Day. Made a carrot cake for D to bring to a potluck at work.


February 6: National Frozen Yogurt Day. Went to Yogurtland and waited in line for 15 minutes for free frozen yogurt/toppings.


February 7: National Fettuccine Alfredo Day. Made "Spaghetti Alfredo" as I did not have any fettuccine on hand.

Fake Wood Never Looked So Good

I stole D's facebook line for the title of this post. We had a busy weekend. I went to a Sally Clarkson motherhood conference. It was a great time for renewal and encouragement. While I was gone, we had new flooring put in our downstairs living areas. I was nervous about the color we chose, but I like how it turned out. First, I will show some "before" pictures. The carpet is old, but it was in fairly good shape when we bought our place in 2009. I remember not wanting to replace the carpet when we first moved because n was still crawling on the floor.

Fast forward 2.5 years of hard living with two little ones...Despite the Rug Doctor and various other cleaning attempts, there were certain sections that we just could not do anything about.









Here are a couple of "after" photos.





Actually, I think it looks better in person, because you can see more of the subtle detail that the camera does not capture. I would highly recommend the company that did the work, so if anyone needs a recommendation in Orange County, let me know.

Putting in the new flooring makes me want to paint our walls even more! I guess that will be our next project.