Memorial Day & Medieval Times

We had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend hanging close to home. In addition to celebrating j's birthday, we went to Yogurtland's secret free day on Saturday. D's co-worker N tipped us off since he knows we're always up for free food. As soon as D received the text message, we were putting on our shoes and loading up the car!
The other highlight of our weekend was a trip to Medieval Times in Buena Park. I won two adult tickets, so it was a pretty good deal. Even though I grew up in Orange County, I had never been. I remember seeing tons of commercials back in the day and was always curious about what when on inside the castle which is visible from Beach Blvd. We decided to keep it a secret and did not tell the kids where we were going until we arrived. D's only clue to them was "Make sure you're wearing clean underwear!" Haha! The operator told me to arrive one hour early, so we arrived one hour and twenty minutes early, Lim-style. It turns out this was not really necessary, so we just explored the holding room and courtyard.

We witnessed a few "knighting" ceremonies before the show. This is done for people who purchase special packages to celebrate life events. Mostly it was people celebrating birthdays, but there was one girl who was celebrating "being potty-trained" and another was for a boy "for going to high school". I could not help but bust up laughing, especially when it was announced in a "royal" voice!

The seating was quite tight. My tip would be to go to the restroom before the show because there really was no way for anyone to get out without evacuating the entire row. However, do not wait until the prior show gets out, because then the line is really long!

The food was pretty decent considering that they have to serve so many people all at once. The kids really liked the garlic bread. The "baby dragon" was a large 1/2 chicken portion. The white meat was dry, but the dark meat was nice and moist. I liked the hot apple turnover for dessert, too!

The fun part is eating with your hands since no utensils are provided!

We cheered for the Yellow Knight, but alas, he did not win.

There was a falconer...

…fancy horse tricks…

{This girl reminded me of Lo from "Laguna Beach/The Hills".}
…and fighting, of course!


Yes, it was somewhat cheesy, but it was also fun to wear a paper crown, eat with our hands and cheer along with the crowd.

j's 5th Birthday

Happy 5th birthday to our nephew/cousin, j. We celebrated last weekend, complete with a baseball glove cake made by my mom.

Bring Your Family To Work Day

On Friday, I picked up n a half hour before school let out to bring him to Mazda's Bring Your Family to Work Day. There was a TK burger truck and Archie's ice cream. Some employees also brought cars to show off in the parking lot. It was a nice way to kick off our Memorial Day weekend.

Sweet Taste of Victory

n's soccer team had their last game of the season on Saturday, which they won in a shut-out. I must say, it is a bit of a relief not to have to go to practices two times a week anymore. However, n told us he wants to play again in the fall, so we already signed him up. One weekend of rest, and then on to k's basketball summer league!

Milestone Birthday

We actually celebrated my dad's birthday last weekend, in a combined celebration with Mother's Day. We had Mexican food and pineapple upside down cake, two of his favorites. I'm so appreciative of him as my dad, and that our kids love him as their grandpa!

Rain, Rain, Please Stay!

Since we are in a drought, the rain sounds like such a welcome relief. I just wish there was more of it! We baked chocolate chip cookies and the kids arranged their babies with "stadium seating" so they could watch Berenstain Bears together.

Taco Bell Biscuit Taco

Last week we went to Taco Bell at 7 a.m. to try Taco Bell's biscuit taco for free. To be honest, it was not very good. The biscuit was thick and crumbly and just did not work as a taco. The amount of sausage was ok, but the bacon was quite measly. I am really not sure how this passed through the product development testing. It was kind of fun to go out for breakfast on a weekday, however.

11 Years of Marriage

This is a belated post, but D and I celebrated eleven years of marriage last month. Our friend who was at the wedding and videotaped our rehearsal and ceremony, had the VHS transferred to DVD and sent it to us as an anniversary present! The kids watched some of it and made a lot of funny comments. For our anniversary dinner, we went to Mick's Karma Bar. Not fancy, but it was good! We also stopped by 85 degrees and picked up a mango pudding along with some other goodies.

Soka University International Festival

After cheering on n at his soccer game, we went to the annual International Fair at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. I obtained a free parking pass from OC Register (otherwise it is $10). Admission is free. I've always been curious about this university that is founded on "Buddhist principles".

The campus is dominated by a HUGE fountain feature in the middle. It is quite impressive. There are signs that say not go in the water, but I saw plenty of people dipping their feet.

There were several booths selling food and other items. We had already eaten lunch, and it was too early for dinner, so we just bought boba tea and a shaved ice. I had a good laugh at the booth selling stretch jeans--"One size fits all!"

One of the highlights was going to the Performing Arts Center. We were able to see two acts. The first was Instant Radio of Soka University. They performed "Beat It" and "Uptown Funk".

The second was Mei-Ling Lee Chinese Dance Group. I enjoyed this, and the kids were able to see a glimpse of the Chinese side of their heritage. :)

I liked how the performances were continuous throughout the day, and you could come and go as you pleased.
We had the kids collect stamps in a mini passport at various booths throughout the festival. I thought they would just get a mini mascot prize. However, when we turned in our completed passport, the people at the booth seemed surprised that we had finished it. The kids received the mascot and shared a gift basked donated by the City of Aliso Viejo Environmental Services (aka trash pick-up). This was a nice surprise!

The contents were actually not too exciting (dog waste baggies, anyone?), but there was a light-up yo-yo, which was a highlight. They were also quite happy about the bookmark with all of the presidents of the United States. I also wanted to note that n was wearing a shirt that he had decorated earlier that day at the Superhero-themed birthday party he attended. He drew Thor and a bunch of hammers!

ChocXO Tour

Last Saturday, D took n to a birthday party while I took k to ChocXO to take a tour and win free OC Fair tickets. We had gone to the grand opening event a few months back, but were not able to take the tour at that time. On the tour, we learned about the farm-to-factory process and tasted a liquid chocolate shot at the end. We also took home a few samples.

Celebration Dinner @ In-N-Out

This morning, D ran the OC half-marathon and set a PR: 1:46:17. As has become tradition, the whole family celebrated by going to In-N-Out for dinner! D even treated himself to a chocolate shake.