Yesterday k had the day off from school so we did a mini getaway.  At first I thought about going to Julian, but since it is kind of far for a day trip, we made it into an overnight trip by camping in Anza Borrego State Park. 

Our first stop was San Ysabel, which is just outside of Julian, for lunch.  We went to Dudley’s Famous Bakery for sandwiches.  We ordered one of their specials, which was roast beef on jalapeno cheddar bread and one custom turkey/ham/cheddar for the kids, $7.99 each.  Luckily, we just beat two tour buses that made a stop.  There were plenty of tables to eat at, so that was nice. 

It was windy, as you can tell.

The meat to bread ratio in the roast beef sandwich was too high for my liking.  It was tasty, though.  The kids’ sandwich was just a normal sandwich, and since it was the same price, I would go for one of their specials.

Yes, we brought our own chips and drinks because we’re frugal like that.

Just across the parking lot is an outlet of Julian Pie Company.  I had read this location is bigger than the one in Julian, and less crowded, so we made this our second stop.  We shared a slice of dutch apple pie (warmed up) with cinnamon ice cream.

I guess you can’t really see the pie under the ice cream, but trust us, it was good.

Next stop: Julian & Anza Borrego

After church we stopped by the Discovery Museum.  We stopped at one station with a craft that I didn’t quite understand.  The volunteer was trying to explain it but I didn’t really get it.  It’s just a popsicle stick with an eraser cap on either end with a string tied around one end. 

D sort of saw someone playing with it so we tried it out at home. 

Cool, right?  Just make sure there’s plenty of room so you don’t whack someone in the head.

This morning we met up with cousin j at the Great Park for the annual Halloween event.  It was a good motivation for me to make sure I didn’t procrastinate in getting the kids’ costumes ready.  It also makes the effort of costumes more worth it since they are able to use them for more than one day. 

The weather was overcast with a few sprinkles that luckily did not turn into anything more. 

We enjoyed the trick or treating, carnival games, craft stations and pumpkin patch.  The best part is that there is only a $10 parking fee and then everything is free.  D always likes telling the friendly A Phi O volunteers that we were in A Phi O back in the day. 

Just realized I didn’t take a picture of n where you can see his “wings”.  I’ll have to remember to take another picture on Halloween.

What a serious, but cute hamburger!

These are the pumpkins the kids picked.  n insisted that he wanted a small one, which ended up being a good thing since we ended up hauling so much stuff around in our wagon.

Right after the OCFA Open House we went to an event being held in the REI parking lot which I heard about through an e-mail.  I earned some points with D because the focus of the event was skiing—free issues of SKI magazine and Park City bottle openers.  The kids were happy because there was shave ice. 

Corner Bakery also provided iced tea, lemonade, sandwiches, fruit and sweets.  There was also a face painter and balloon artist, but we only did the photo booth.

Love finding fun, free events!

We’ve been to a couple of police department open houses before, but on Saturday we went to our first fire station open house.  We arrived early, but there were already a lot of people.  It is quite the popular event!

The campus is quite large.  I was always curious about the eternal flame statute I can see when driving by.  It is a 9/11 memorial.

Better angle.

The kids got to meet Sparky.  Smokey the Bear also made an appearance.

The garage was open for touring.  They also had fire engine rides, but the line was too long.  Maybe next year.  I was hoping for a tour of the living quarters, but I don’t think one was available.  We also collected a lot of swag-literature, pens, pot holder, etc. and enjoyed the free hot dogs, chips and water.

My mom showed the kids how to make scarecrow cookies.  They were a big hit, and very cute.

Yesterday before church k decided to cut n’s bangs without telling anyone.  It was bound to happen at some point, I guess. 

Both D and I turned another year older last month.  We are now both officially in our mid-30’s.  For my birthday, I asked for a shelf from Container Store—my family of origin chipped in along with D.  Funny how I used to want clothes/make-up and now I would rather have things that help me organize my house. 

We had a smaller bookcase before, but since we use this area as our “landing pad”, I thought a bigger space would serve our needs better.

I could not resist this tissue box from Target’s Up & Up line.  So cute for fall.  Next to it is a Glade Expressions air freshener I received from Bzz Agent.  The scent is Fuji Apple and I really like the fragrance.  My mom said it smells like a boutique.  I don’t usually like air freshener scents, but this one is slightly sweet and spicy, and is also good for fall.  Ah, fall, my favorite season.  So glad that the weather is starting to cool down.  

My brother gave me the book “Born to Run” for my birthday.  I didn’t know what to expect.  But when I started to read it, I stopped reading the other book that I was reading at the time, because “Born to Run” was so riveting.  It is actually rare that I read a book at all, so reading two books at once is very rare for me.  But once I started to read “Born to Run”, I looked forward to reading the book at night.  I wonder if I had read more as a kid, I would have done better on the SATs.
Anyway, the book helped propel the barefoot shoe craze, and brought light to the reclusive Tarahumara tribe in the Copper Canyons in Mexico.  It was entertaining, but also instructive.  I made some changes since reading the book.  I try to keep my back straight, land on the mid-foot of my feet instead of my heel, and try to keep my strides short.  I also am planning to move full time to my lighter race shoes.  I usually run in the Asics 2100 series and race in the Asics DS Trainers.  However, I am planning on running full time in the trainers. 
However, most importantly, after reading the book, I remembered why I love running so much.  I sometimes get caught up in just trying to improve my time, and training gets boring and tiring.  However, I appreciate the blessing God has given me to allow me to run without major injury and to run in a beautiful country.