k turned 8 today. Each birthday of hers feels a little harder to accept. On Amazon, one of the age divisions for toys is “8-13 years old”. That would make her a tween, but she does not act like a tween, so we will hold off on that label for as long as possible!
Today we dropped of n at a karate birthday party at Zen Dojos in San Juan Capistrano.

While we were waiting, we walked around the historic district and park a bit. I took the opportunity to take some “This is 8” pictures.

So, k officially started her first basketball season. She seems to really be enjoying it so far. I think the coaches/teammates are the perfect fit for her. We have been to two games, and they’re pretty exciting! k scored two baskets during the second game, including one shot that tied the game with a minute to go. Unfortunately, the other team scored at the last second–oh well. Score is not officially kept at this age level, anyway. We have also come to realize that although k is tall for her age, there are some REALLY tall second grade girls out there!

Notice n sitting in on the post-game de-briefing. He also enjoyed some of the extra team snacks!

We were fortunate to be able to attend two Christmas concerts this year. The first one was at Salvation Army Church, which we attended with my parents. The Salvation Army band played, and the choir sang. There was also a play portion, which was The Gift of the Magi. k really looks forward to this production every year.

The other performance was The Magic of Christmas, featuring The Young Americans. My dad won tickets from the OC Register and let us use them. It was in La Mirada, and it was on a weeknight, so traffic was pretty bad. However, this concert was definitely worth it! The singers/dancers had so much energy and lots of talent. The sets and costumes all added to the “magic”. Too bad we had to leave during intermission, as it was a school night, after all. Someone even followed us out into the parking lot to make sure we knew there were two acts! 🙂 There were traditional songs, as well as some new ones. My personal favorite was the “Boy Bands Holiday Medley”. Photography was not allowed during the performance, so I had to settle for some pre-show pics:

I thought we would have to miss Santa’s visit to our community pool this year due to k’s basketball game. Luckily, we made it just in time. Neither child could name one single thing that they wanted when Santa asked.

We had a nice, low-key Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house. We ate relatively early, so I had time to hit a couple of stores afterward. Does that make me a bad person? I felt a little guilty, but it was way better than waking up super early the next morning.

This is how n eats his pumpkin pie–haha.

My mom and grandma!

I made a corn salad, brussel sprout salad and sweet potato soup. My mom has perfected the turkey. I’m really not sure what I will do when the day comes that I have to make it!

A new chocolate factory called ChocXO recently opened in Irvine. We went to the open house to check it out.



It’s kind of hard to believe that this claim is true!

There was a menu of chocolates, and each person was allowed to pick three pieces. There was also hot chocolate, made with “real” chocolate.
We did not stay for the front of the house tour, but there were large windows where you could see all of the equipment. I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the kids, but I think they (at least n) would be too scared to see the movie!

I was able to volunteer in n’s class for their Thanksgiving celebration. They had chicken nuggets, corn on the cob, juice and pumpkin pie (which the class made at school the day before). It was really cute.


n’s friend wanted me to take a picture of them. 🙂


They also decorated picture frames. I think we’ll be laughing about this pilgrim picture for years to come!

D running the half marathon as opposed to the full marathon last year, was a much better experience for the both of us. It meant that we were able to eat dinner together after the race, and there was still food left!


Risotto made to order!

Note the small cup of the famed frozen hot chocolate. I think I will try to replicate this at home for the kids.



The next morning D woke up bright and early and was ready for breakfast! We grabbed breakfast sandwiches from Earl of Sandwich.

Then it was back on the road to pick up the kids from school!

**The reason for our lack of blogging is that we are having difficulties with our laptop computer. This is my first post written on a Mac.

Before the race, we went to the VIP tent. I was not too impressed with the appetizer spread. It was just “OK”.

I was quite excited to see Mario Lopez, while D was excited to see Meb Keflezighi.
Macklemore provided the pre-race entertainment. He replaced Snoop Dogg at the last minute. Not really a fan, but he brought some upbeat energy.

The best VIP perk for D is not having to wait in these lines for the port-a potties.
Instead, he was able to use these “deluxe” portable bathrooms, with no lines!
Before the race started, I walked down the middle of the Strip, back to our hotel room. It was so nice not to have to fight the crowds on the sidewalk, nor go up and down all of the escalators just to cross the street.

One nice thing about staying at the reasonably-priced Bally’s is that it is connected to the more-expensive Paris Hotel. 

This beautiful glass ceiling is above the walkway connecting the two hotels.

I took a picture of this Italian restaurant in the Paris Hotel because D ate at this restaurant when he was on his business trip.  I had never heard of this chain before.  It is known for its meatballs.

We mad breakfast the biggest meal of our day, which is what you are supposed to do when you run a race at night.  We ate at Mon Ami Gabi, which has a lovely patio right on the Strip in front of the Paris Hotel, across the street from the Bellagio.  There were heat lamps, so we ate outside.

We had the croque madame and bananas foster waffle (with fresh whipped cream not pictured).  We thoroughly enjoyed our food, and it was just nice to be outside and soak in the atmosphere.

Afterward, we took a stroll across the street to check out the Bellagio.  It is always fun to see the seasonal decorations. 

Penguin display—LOVE!

We also stopped to look at the Jean Philippe Patisserie.

The multi-tiered chocolate fountain was mesmerizing.

The desserts were works of art!

There was a long line of people wrapping around the store, which I joined like a lemming.  However, after waiting for around fifteen minutes (and not moving very much), I realized that there was not a certain thing that I “had to” get, not to mention the fact that we had just finished a large breakfast.  So, we left without buying anything, but it was still fun to look!