Saturday morning we went with D’s parents to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Neither D nor I had ever been there. Fortunately, we were able to use our Entertainment Book coupon to receive 50% off admission. That alone more than paid for the book, which I bought for $15.
At first, k was tired and didn’t want to leave her stroller and blanket. Eventually, she became more interested. She seemed most impressed by the diving birds, seals, and the small colorful coral reef fish.
So pretty!
Shark Lagoon
D said this shark reminded him of a Stealth Bomber
Petting a stingray
Lorakeet
We had lunch at Parker’s Lighthouse in nearby Shoreline Village. It has a nice view of the harbor. Unfortunately, I took this picture with a view of the parking lot.
On the way home we stopped by the Japanese Garden at CSULB. We couldn’t go in because there was a wedding going on. Too bad. D snuck this peek, though.
Tonight we had chicken taquitos with guacamole, chips, beans and vegetables. k ate a little bit of everything!
We are recovering from a busy weekend with D’s parents. They flew in on Thursday night and I dropped them off at the airport this morning. It was nice that they could see how much k has changed since Christmas.
D took Friday off and took them to Fashion Island. (I was at my moms’ group). They ate at Cafe R & D, which I hear was good. The restaurant gave k an apple sliced up like french fries. I would have liked to see that. D also took them to Pinkberry, to get the full Southern California experience, ha.
I met up with them Friday afternoon. We went to Huntington Beach for dinner at Duke’s, at the foot of the pier. The fish was excellent and the coconut shrimp was very tasty. We also relived our honeymoon experience by getting the hula pie. (We had gone to the Duke’s in Honolulu and the waiter gave us an embarrassingly huge piece. Strangers came up to us and made comments. Not cool.)
Afterward we took a quick stroll down Main Street. I took a quick peek in the store my cousin works at to see if she was there. I didn’t see her, but D told me to go inside, so I asked one of the employees about her and she was in the back. I think she was pretty surprised to see us, including k, who was much smaller when we last saw her. I bet no one would ever guess that we’re first cousins. 🙂
Looking at that last picture of “princess k”, I decided that k was in need of a haircut. I gave her bangs a trim, which she seemed to enjoy. Maybe because she can see now. Her hair was fine when pulled back with a barrette or band, but she usually took it out. A little short, but it’s cute on her, I think.
For dinner yesterday we went to McCormick & Schmick’s at the Garden Walk in Anaheim. (Yes, we had a gift certificate). So far, there are only restaurants open. Before dinner we checked out the Stadium lofts, just for fun. Should be interesting to see how that area continues to develop.
D and k are now regularly running together (k is in the jogging stroller) on Sat. mornings. It is nice because it gives them quality time together, while I have time to go to the gym, do errands, or clean. D just purchased a water bottle belt. Nice. I can’t say that running is one of the more attractive sports.
Afterward we had our first family small group meeting. It was fun and we’re looking forward to seeing how it develops.
It was hot out this weekend! D and k hung out on the balcony, which I tried to make more inviting now that it is warm out.
At night we went to my friend Lisa’s 30th birthday party. There were a lot of kids, hence the pinata. I think k enjoyed watching people swing at it.
After the race yesterday we went out to eat with my parents and k. While we were waiting for our food, k indicated that she wanted to eat the lemons that D had brought over from the condiment bar. I thought that if we gave her a taste, she would realize that they don’t taste good, and she would wait for our real food. Nope. She took a bite, made a face, and then proceeded to try to eat the whole thing, rind and all.
We left church a little early today to go to the Long Beach Grand Prix. (My parents took care of k for the afternoon). We rode the Metro Blue Line into downtown LB and it dropped us off right at the entrance.
D went last year, but this was my first. Since it was the last Champ Car race, we were able to watch a bit of history in the making. (D tells me the IRL is taking over, but this whole racing world is totally foreign to me).
We came prepapred, with earplugs, water and chips. And 55 spf sunscreen that we had just bought at Costco yesterday. Turns out other people weren’t so prepared and we ended up letting the couple in front of us use some of the sunscreen, as it was already apparent that they were burning. Too bad it was really meant for the face, and not much comes out at one time. Oh well, a little is better than nothing, I guess.
The race lasted two hours. We had grandstand seats right before the start/finish line thanks to Mazda. One lap was a little over a minute, so there wasn’t too much time between cars whizzing by, but they go so fast it all just becomes a blur. Plus, we had earplugs on, so it was hard to talk with D. Also, we didn’t really care who won, so it wasn’t the most exciting thing, but it was interesting to see it live.
Before the race began, there were a couple of skydivers that jumped from an airplane over the crowd. One landed right in front of us. Good thing he had good aim.
This was the car with pole position, but he didn’t finish because of a stall.
I like watching pit crews. They’re amazingly fast, and they get so excited when they’re done, giving high fives, etc. I wonder what they say to each other? Dude, good tire changing!
People were having roof/balcony parties on the buildings around downtown LB.
I took a really short video clip with my camera to give you a better feel for the action. It was really difficult to take a still picture of the cars going by since they were so fast!
We didn’t stay for the drifting competition after the race, but here is one of the guys lining up.
Overall, it was a nice day to spend in the LBC with D.
Our family outing for the day was the Wayzgoose Festival at UCI. It is the campus open house held every year, with food, games, car show, and music.
Side note: During the week, D has a lot on his mind. Usually about Wed. or Thurs. I start mentioning the activities we have planned for the weekend, which he doesn’t really pay attention to. I had mentioned we were going to Wayzgoose a few times, but I guess he didn’t fully process it. When we arrived at the parking lot he told the attendant that we were there to attend the Goose Festival. The attendant kind of smiled and said, you mean the Wayzgoose? Um, yeah, that’s it.
Anyways, I thought it was cool how the students were very involved in running it. (Unlike Berkeley’s Cal Day, at least when we were there). Reflecting the diverse student body, the food booths had some interesting options. I think Korean BBQ was a bit overrepresented, however. There was a lone Japanese booth, serving spam musubi. D wanted to support the Latino booth, but we ended up going the Asian route…Vietnamese pork sandwich with black milk tea, Filipino chicken skewers and lumpia (everything on the menu was a $1!) and a Korean BBQ skewer plate, complete with kimchi.
k enjoyed the chicken skewers.
There were a lot of booths! It was much better than the other Irvine festival we went to a couple of weeks ago.
There was a presentation by the Santa Ana Zoo. That will be one of our next family outings.
k’s hair is getting long enough to play with now. Here she is sportin’ some pigtails. I used to hate when my my mom put my hair in pigtails. I think I thought I looked like Yoda, or something. I feel like I should enjoy doing things like this now, before k can complain. She does tend to take the hair bands out, though (she leaves barrettes in longer).
Today was our 4th year wedding anniversary. D got home early, around 6 p.m. I made D’s favorite home-made meal. Salmon with teriyaki sauce with rice with a side of veggies.
Yesterday I bought some good strawberries at a stand and gave some to my parents. Look at the size of that thing! You just can’t find that in the grocery store, though you pay dearly for it.
Today my mom brought over this: D says we should buy food for my parents more often!
