Cinco de Mayo 10k

Last week, I ran my third 10k. It started right by my work and it raised money for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. Kiptyn and Tenley from the Bachelor and Bachelorette were there to cheer us on. I felt I was better prepared for the race than last fall's 10k; however I actually ran it 7 seconds slower. I am not sure what went wrong, maybe it was nutrition. After the race I felt dizzy and I cramped up so bad that I fell to the sidewalk and writhed in pain for a couple of minutes while people walked by me. Someone did offer me water, but I already had water and just needed a rest. But in the end it was worth it as I am keeping fit.

A Bilingual Wedding

On Saturday D and I left the kids with my sister and BIL (Yay, they’re back from Japan!) and went to a wedding for the pastor of the Japanese-speaking congregation at our church. 

I think this was the first wedding that I’ve been to that had orange as the “theme” color.  It was a refreshing change.  The ceremony was conducted in both Japanese and English.  Of course, D and I were lost during the Japanese parts, but the people who spoke Japanese seemed to be getting a good chuckle from some of the Japanese-speaking pastor’s message.

I loved the favors—so cute! 

Inside: Mini Japanese chocolates!

I was most curious about the “Hot Cake--butter & maple” flavor.  I tried it and sure enough, that is exactly what it tasted like.  Congratulations to the newlywed couple! 

New Sofa

At the beginning of the year, D set a budget for “home improvement”.  Well, the year is not even half way over, but with the flooring and our new sofa, we have reached our max.  My future home improvement dreams will have to wait until next year (which is OK, because I think it is better to do it over time).

Apparently, n doesn’t enjoy shopping for furniture. 

Here is our old sofa, a hand me down from my parents that has seen better days.  Salvation Army will be picking it up next week.  It served us well.  I spent many hours on that sofa, especially in our old condo, when k was just born.  I overheard k telling n that the sofa was “really old, like we had it since she was a baby”.  Haha…it’s a lot older than that!

The new sofa.  Crossing our fingers that the kids don’t wreck it!

Dora & Diego @ Discovery Science Center

I am happy to report that our camera has been fixed.  Having the Canon repair center located in Irvine is very handy.  Thanks to my Dad for telling us to look into our credit card’s extended warranty policy.

On Saturday we purchased an annual family pass to the Discovery Science Center.  What sold me is that it can be used for a number of other museums if you live more than 90 miles away.  Since we are planning to visit some in Northern California this year, the pass is definitely worth it.  There are different rotating exhibits throughout the year.  Right now, there is a Dora & Diego exhibit.

The kids had fun on the climbing walls.

The big kid had fun too:

D tried out the “bed of nails”.  He said it hurt his feet.

I liked how with the pass, you don’t feel bad not spending too much time in one visit.  We will definitely be back!

Snow Canyon Park & St. George

After eating our Hawaiian lunch we went to Snow Canyon State Park, which is not too far from St. George. There is a sand dune area that is like a giant sandbox. Unfortunately, it was too hot to be enjoyable. (It felt weird that just the day before we were hiking in snow!) D did manage to find a little bush that provided some shade so we played for a little bit. The sand was so fine it felt like silk. Although the top layer was hot, just an inch below it was quite cool. We drove around the rest of the park and stopped for some rock climbing. To cool ourselves down we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard in St. George. We had an oreo concrete (like a DQ blizzard) and something with bumbleberry but I can't remember the name. I *think* n liked it! ;) Could not resist taking a picture of this sign. For dinner we ate at Smashburger. I was happy because I hadn't been able to use a coupon the entire vacation until now. I had registered online and received a BOGO coupon! The hamburger meat tasted fresh, rather than processed and the smashfries were sprinkled with rosemary, olive oil and garlic. I wonder if this chain will be in Southern California soon. This concludes our Utah trip recap. On the way home, k got carsick (again) so I'm really going to make sure she takes Dramamine for all our long road trips from now on. Also, our camera stopped working less than a week after we returned. Thankfully, I was able to get all of our pictures off the camera before it died. It is in the "shop" now, and the repairs should be paid for by our credit card company. I am reluctant to borrow my parents' camera because last time I did that, I broke their camera too! So for now, our blogging will be taking a (hopefully) short hiatus.

Bryce-->Kolob Canyon-->St. George

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and it was actually quite good: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, and mini danishes. The kids liked the hot chocolate machine and pretended it was their "coffee". We drove back into the park, but D had to take a picture by the sign first: We hiked from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point and back which is one mile round trip. The path was nice and paved. This is the part of Bryce I remember most from my own childhood family vacation. Doesn't that hoodoo look like it could break off at any moment? Thor's Hammer Our last night was spent in St. George. On the way there we stopped at Kolob Canyon, which is a less-visited part of Zion National Park. We made it to St. George in time for lunch. We ended up at Honolulu Grill. It seemed to be quite popular with the locals. Who knew St. Georgians like Hawaiian food so much? The food tasted very "homey". For example, the teriyaki sauce tasted like it was from scratch, not a bottle. D liked how there was an option to have cucumber salad instead of mac salad and thinks that all plate lunch restaurants should have this option. **Please excuse the formatting of this post. Blogger was "updated" and I'm not sure what is going on.

Easter in Bryce Canyon

During our drive from Zion to Bryce we confirmed that k is prone to carsickness, and that we should always have her take Dramamine as a precautionary measure on road trips. She was not doing too well, so we stopped at a small cafe in Hatch. I gave her some Sierra Mist and it worked like magic!

We entered Bryce Canyon National Park and drove on the scenic drive all the way to the end to Rainbow Point.


There we ate our sandwiches on some picnic tables (caprese and roast beef). Next we hiked the Bristlecone Loop Trail. There were a few patches of snow in the beginning, but we did not let that deter us. We kept going, and there was even more snow. I wanted to turn back at that point, but D was determined. We made the 1 mile roundtrip with many stops to carry the kids over snow patches/ice. If the Riverside Walk in Zion was the longest 2 miles I have ever hiked, this was definitely the longest mile I have hiked.






It wasn't until I looked at this picture later that I realized how far n is leaning over the edge!






We drove back along the scenic route, stopping at the Natural Bridge and Bryce Point.






Then we went back to the Visitor's Center where I stamped by National Park passport and we watched a short film about Bryce.

Although it was past 3 p.m. by this time, when we tried to check into our hotel, we were told that that the room was not ready (check-in was officially 4 p.m.). We killed some time by going across the street to fill up on gas and go to Ruby's General Store. D noted that the town just outside of Bryce is much more hokey/kitschy than Zion. D stayed in the car while n took a nap. Meanwhile, k and I filled a bag with polished stones as a souvenir from the general store. After some more hassle, we finally checked into our hotel room. Since we hadn't showered in a couple of days, this is just what we needed.

Waiting in the lobby...



Watching Netflix on Kindle Fire.


"Clean Remote" with a disposable cover. I think there was some sort of study that determined that the remote control is one of the dirtiest things in a hotel room--ew.

After washing up/relaxing we went to Bryce Canyon Pines restaurant.


I ordered the hot turkey sandwich (Thanksgiving on Easter!)


D ordered a chicken sandwich with ham and cheese (yes, there is chicken underneath all of that cheese)


The kids shared our entrees with us and then we all shared a slice of blueberry banana cream pie.


Although there is not much choice in Bryce, restaurant-wise, we enjoyed this meal.

We went back to the hotel and enjoyed sleeping in beds. After camping in such cold temperatures, the hotel room actually felt too warm!