Living An Intentional Life
Last weekend we went to a joint brother-sister party for a 3 year old and 6 year old. There were certainly a lot of activities to keep the kids occupied. k really liked the star wand that she received. There was also a pinata, which I guess the kids don’t remember ever doing before.
They took turns hitting the pinata by age group. Since n was one of the youngest, he was one of the first kids to take a whack.
Free-for-all!
At the end of last year we decided to buy annual passes to Knott’s Berry Farm. The pass is good for every day in 2013 plus one free day in 2012 (although you have to pay for parking in 2012, even if you buy the parking pass, which I thought was sneaky). So far we have gone two times and it has been lots of fun. The kids are at a good age to thoroughly enjoy Camp Snoopy, and n is tall enough for all of the rides there. D and I are planning to go on our own for a few date nights to experience all of the roller coasters. n was traumatized by his first go on the Log Ride, I think because we didn’t adequately prepare him for it. The look of sheer terror on his face as captured by the log cam was hilarious. Now it’s closed for refurbishment until May, so maybe by then he will be recovered! The following are pictures combined from both of our visits so far.
I think we’ll make it our goal to have pictures taken with all of the Peanuts gang. We’re off to a good start. D even referred to Peppermint Paddy as “Sir”. 
The first time we went, all of the Christmas decorations were up.
We watched someone make maple lollipops on a bed of ice (didn’t try it, though).
Watched an impressive production of Snoopy on Ice.
And watched a “Winter Wonderland” production at Camp Snoopy.
It was a little drizzly, which was great at keeping the crowds away. We hardly waited in any lines.
It was a lot more crowded this past weekend. However, we didn’t get there until the afternoon, which may explain some of the difference.
New show at Camp Snoopy: Country Hoedown.
The Huff n Puff: Great workout for the kiddos.
Like father, like son.
The first time we went, we were planning to go to Portillo’s. However, since it was well past our normal lunchtime, we heeded the call of Pink’s, which is just outside the gates. We’ve never been to the LA location, so I’m not sure how it compares. They are spendy for hot dogs, but they do not skimp on the portions.
Per our New Year’s Eve tradition, we all managed to sleep on the couch again. I think we were all asleep by 9:30.
Uncle D giving nephew j the dreaded “tickle finger” on New Year’s Eve. Most of our celebrating revolved around eating. Here are just a couple of highlights:
Red Velvet Cake Pie from Marie Callender’s.
Bloomin’ Cheesy Bread—need to get the recipe.
We also had a joint celebration of k’s birthday and my youngest sister last weekend. Both k and n really love playing with their Auntie!
Finally, I wanted to document the fact that n can pretty much sleep anywhere. Sometimes he prefers to sleep on the ground as opposed to his bed, even in his bedroom. On New Year’s Day, he kept insisting he did not want to take a nap. However, while my dad and D were watching a football game, n finally decided he was tired and slept in front of the tv:
Then, last weekend he decided to take a nap on our non-carpeted floor. I urged him to at least move to the rug, but he refused:
On our way home we stopped for lunch at Phil’s BBQ. It’s in a large strip mall, so there is plenty of parking. Again, we were led there by Yelp reviews, 4,646 of them, to be exact! We ordered baby back ribs, an El Toro sandwich (tri-tip) and a side of onion rings. We probably ended up taking about 2/3 of the sandwich home, since breakfast had not been too long before.
The ribs were quite saucy, as you can see. They were nice and meaty.
The batter on the onion rings was a little thick for my liking. Also, I think I prefer a cornmeal batter. I liked the onion rings at Firestone Grill in SLO better.
I don’t believe I’ve ever had deli sliced tri-tip before. It was reminiscent of pastrami, in a way. The smoky flavor was quite strong, much stronger than the ribs.
We had fun in San Diego. It was a very last-minute planned trip, but we ended up with all good picks.
Saturday morning D went on a run in the dark. The night before we agreed that he could run 6:30-7:30 but he ended up running 5:30-6:30. He is nothing if not disciplined.
We went to the Farmer’s Market at 8:00 a.m. We parked at Washington Elementary, which was free for 3 hours. Parking in Little Italy is generally a pain, so that was nice.
The market was about three block long. I always enjoy a good farmer’s market, and this was a good one. We sampled many things, fruits, cheese, chocolate, a green smoothie and lemon butter crepe, among them.
It was difficult to make a decision about what to have for breakfast. We settled on sharing a breakfast panini with black forest ham, chocolate bread stick and canele. I also picked out some satsuma tangerines, my favorite.
I’ve always wanted to try a canele, and I thought it was really good. D wasn’t as impressed…more for me.
We found a nice bench on which to enjoy our goodies. Next we returned to our hotel and walked right out of the lobby into Seaport Village. This is where D’s run started out in the morning.
I wanted to reenact this photo at the Upstart Crow from 2008:
n wanted in on the action too.
Another picture of our hotel. We always enjoy Seaport Village. The weather was nice and the scenery is beautiful. I can see why it is so popular with tourists.
The kids were chomping at the bit to check into our hotel. We originally booked a hotel room several weeks ago but decided at the last minute to try our luck with Priceline. We were rewarded with a room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for $82, which felt like a steal, even with $26 parking.
The hotel is adjacent to Seaport Village and the bay. The view from our room:
The tv was bigger than the one we have at home.
After resting up we walked to the Gaslamp District, technically, the East Village, and ate dinner at j.wok. It has good Yelp reviews, but we are usually skeptical about so-called “Asian fusion” places.
The centerpiece of the dining room is a tree sculpture made of thousands of chopsticks.
Thai pork—D thought it was overly salty, but I liked it. Big portion of meat, and I liked how it was on a bed of mixed greens, almost like a salad. The pickled cucumber side was also a nice contrast.
Pad See Ew—everyone enjoyed this dish, also a good size.
Tilapia with green apple slaw—this was a “small dish” and contained three chunks of greaseless fried tilapia. Also a nice contrast to the tart green apples. There was a sprinkling of peanuts, so we saved this dish for ourselves and told the kids they couldn’t have any. 
They still had plenty of food.
Our view at night.
This was the nicest hotel that D and I have stayed at together. Thank you, Priceline!
Happy New Year, everyone! 2013 will be a year of change for our family, but I am looking forward to it!
After visiting the museums we went to Extraordinary Desserts. I’ve wanted to go there during our past trips to San Diego but we never made it. Friday was the day!
Looking at the display case, I was paralyzed with indecision. Everything looked so good. Our only requirement was “no nuts”, of course. We ended up with a slice of La Bete Noire: Creamy semi-sweet chocolate mousse, vanilla crème brûlée, chocolate ganache, are layered in between dark chocolate cakes and moistened with Madagascar vanilla bean syrup. I almost feel bad revealing that we paid $8.95 for this slice of cake. But, it was probably the best cake I’ve ever had, so that is saying something. D also ordered a cup of coffee, which had distinct macadamia nut flavor. We were planning to sit inside the restaurant, but there was a 20 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon. So, we opted to get our order to go and ate outside, thus avoiding paying tip, at least. We saw tons of flowers being delivered to the restaurant—I think their floral bill must explain a good part of their high prices. After reading the menu, I regretted not ordering the Dulce de Leche cake, as featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate. Oh well, at least I’ll know what to order the next time (if there is ever a next time…I’m kind of thinking this place will be a once in our lifetime type of place—haha).
After our hikes we went to Lucha Libre for an early lunch. We arrived less than ten minutes past eleven o’clock, but there was already a line out the door. I wonder what percentage their business went up after being featured on Man v. Food? I didn’t see that episode, but I used to enjoy that show when we had cable.
The décor is *interesting*; a Mexican wrestling theme. Let’s just say it would fit right in on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley.
This booth must be reserved.
I knew what I wanted to order: two Surfin’ California burritos ($7.25 each). They contain steak, shrimp, avocados, french fries and a special sauce. That is a lot of goodness wrapped in one tortilla!
Bathroom shot…
Next we went to Balboa Park to check out the Natural History Museum and Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. We were able to use our Discovery Science Museum passes to obtain free admission to both—another score!
First up was the Natural History Museum, aka theNAT. The two special exhibits were about chocolate and horses. The kids enjoyed the play area set up with tents.
Isn’t that soft campfire so cute?
Chocolate gift shop.
Cacao tree—the whole exhibit smelled like chocolate!
Right across the way is the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
This museum didn’t take us very long to explore. As D noted, a lot of kids’ museums have the same types of exhibits. I’m sure the IMAX movies are cool, but we didn’t pay extra—I think it may have been too much for the kids anyway. Both museums provided some educational entertainment, but I’m glad we didn’t pay full price for them.
“Let the little children come unto me.” There was a series of scenes depicting Jesus’ life in the Organ Pavilion.
Balboa Park is amazing for what it is. A vast park in the middle of an urban landscape with grand architecture, museums, cafes and open space. Visiting made us daydream about whether the Great Park in Irvine will ever realize its full potential.
For our last hurrah of 2012 we went to San Diego for an overnight trip. Our first stop was Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. This place holds special memories for D and me because it is where D proposed just about 10 years ago. We hadn’t been back since, so it was nice to return with k and n. We were also able to use one of our state park parking passes, which saved us about $10 (normally $15)—score!
There were a lot of people enjoying the nice weather and getting some exercise in the great outdoors. On the advice of the park ranger, we went on the Razor Point trail and Guy Fleming trail, both of which she recommended for kids.
Torrey Pines—the rarest type of pine tree in the United States, according to the sign by the visitor center.
Did you notice k has bangs now?
These are agave, aka century plants, according to the person D asked on the trail. She seemed quite knowledgeable and eager to share on the topic, so we’re trusting she’s correct.
Christmas Eve Breakfast: Raspberry Soup and Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts.
Found this wrapping paper idea, using a Trader Joe’s paper bag, on Pinterest.
The kids didn’t wake up too early Christmas morning. May have been because they were tired from our trip to Knott’s Berry Farm the day before (post coming).
D was a *little* excited about his Johnston & Murphy shoes from his parents-haha.
Dinner was at my parents house; Uncle Kevin made prime rib and popovers. Yum!
