Last weekend we went to Knott’s to check out how they “springified” the park.  There were a lot of faux flowers, but we didn’t end up finding the topiary garden. 

We did watch the new spring show:

Charlie Brown strumming a spatula, a dancer/singer holding oversize marshmallows on a stick next to an inflatable bottle of relish, plus Justin Bieber music.  Yup, that pretty much sums it up.  (P.S. I actually did enjoy it).

It was very crowded so we skipped most of Camp Snoopy and went to the Sky Cabin.  This was our first time together, and there was hardly a line. 

It provided a nice view of the park.

k is just tall enough to go on some of the “big kid” rides now.  (n was really sad he couldn’t go).

I guess D is a “big kid” too!

Afterward we ate dinner at Portillo’s.

That Chicago dog looks sloppy, but it definitely packs a flavor punch.  The Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers was better than I remembered too. 

I read favorable reviews of the strawberry shortcake, so I wanted to try it.  However, when D picked up our order, the cashier asked if he wanted a free chocolate cake shake (of course he said yes), so we ended up taking the strawberry shortcake home for the next day.  It was good, but I wouldn’t have a need to order it again. 

The kids really enjoyed the shake.  It was definitely sweet—I think they just blend up a piece of their chocolate cake, frosting and all, along with milk and ice cream?  It tastes just like you would imagine. 

Last week D and I were provided with two $15 gift certificates to try the newly open Kabuki restaurant at the Spectrum.  (I won by sending my e-mail address for a raffle).  We’ve been to the Kabuki @ Bella Terra so we were familiar with the restaurant.  We ordered the Alaskan roll (CA roll topped with baked salmon), the Large roll (futomaki) and the Rose roll (spicy tuna and shrimp tempura).  We also shared a beef appetizer with shisito peppers.

Service was extra-attentive as you would expect during a grand opening.  The restaurant is not too large.  It will be interesting if the Japanese restaurant right across the way is affected by the competition.  Also, I saw that they closed the Spectrum food court.  It is being replaced by a comedy club—interesting. 

Here’s the swag bag I received.  It was kind of fun going out on a weekday night, which is definitely not the norm for us.  I couldn’t believe how many people were eating out and just out and about.  I guess they were mostly young singles, a world that is now foreign to us.

Yesterday I organized my spice drawer.  Exciting, I know.  It does make me happy to know that one more area of my home, however small, is under control.

The before—utter chaos, not to mention dirty.  Quite embarrassing, really.

The after:

I found the containers at Bed Bath & Beyond for 99 cents each, and was able to use a $5 off of $15 coupon.  I also put my trusty label maker to work.  Who knew that so many spices start with the letter “c”? 

Today, I used my nutmeg for Magic Crust Custard Pie, in celebration of Pi Day (3.14—get it?)  This is about the  easiest pie you could ever make.  You put all of the ingredients in a blender and pour the mixture into a pie pan and bake.  The flour settles to the bottom and makes its own crust.

The kids did not like it, but I did.  It is very homey/comforting.  Plus, I am a big custard fan, and I am not good at making pie crusts, so this was perfect.

When the newspaper started reporting that the admission to ride the balloon at the Great Park would soon be $10, I knew we had to go as a family while it was still free, stat.  I guess there were also rumors of a price increase the last time we went, but this time it is no joke.  We attempted to go last week during the farmer’s market, but that was an utter failure–too hot, too crowded, the market was too far to walk to the balloon, not to mention that the balloon’s reservations were booked through the evening. So, we decided to go first thing this morning, 9:00 a.m., and it was a success!

While we waited for our buzzer to buzz, we rode the carousel a couple of times.  I like how there is a picture of the great balloon on the carousel.

The kids love all of the big open space.  We also brought their bikes so they could ride around.

D’s shoes matched the ground of the waiting area.

Our turn!

We were able to go up the maximum 400 feet this time.

After the balloon ride, the kids rode their bikes and we played with n’s stomp rocket.  Then I tried to take some “mid-air” shots of the kids.

Afterward we stopped by the Spectrum.

On Saturday k attended a birthday party at the Michael’s store in Brea.  As part of the gift, I sewed up tote bags for the twin birthday girls.

We don’t find ourselves in that part of Orange County very much so we decided to take the opportunity to explore downtown Brea a little after the party.  It is a nice little upscale-ish area.  For dinner we ate at Flame Broiler with a BOGO coupon. 

We saw a line of people along the main street and wondered what it was for.  It turned out to be Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, so we decided to see what the fuss was all about.  Ninety minutes later (yes, 1.5 hours!) we were finally seated.  The only other time when we have waited that long for a restaurant was when D and I were in Chicago and decided to go to Rick Bayless’ restaurant without a reservation.  I wanted to give up at around 45 minutes, but by then, you feel like you’ve already invested so much time, you might as well stick it out.  That concept from Econ 101 of “sunk cost” just never made sense to me. 

It was kind of fun to watch the sundaes being made.  This one had 30 scoops of ice cream!

What was maddening was to see a lot of empty tables.  The turnover seemed to be really slow.

D had grabbed a menu while we were in line so we knew exactly what we wanted: Ice Cream Nachos.    

“Think crispy tortilla dish, except we use waffle cone pieces for dipping into mint chip, chocolate malted crunch and vanilla ice cream.  All topped with hot fudge, caramel, blue berries, whip cream, almonds and a cherry. Olé! $8.99”

We told the waitress to hold the almonds, and she asked if it was just a preference or allergies.  When we said allergies, she said she would make a note of it, which I really appreciated.  (We have had an incident with a contaminated ice cream scoop before). 

It was good, but how difficult is it to scoop ice cream on top of waffle cone pieces?  I think the main appeal is the party atmosphere and friendly service.  Everyone just seemed so happy, wearing balloon hats, singing, etc.  I really liked the chocolate malted crunch ice cream, though.  And n REALLY enjoyed the whole thing.  On the way home, he said, “That ice cream was SO GOOD.  This was the best day of my whole entire life.”  That comment right there made the whole experience worth it.     

D took a half day off work on Friday so we went to Knott’s again. 

We’ve become pretty familiar with all of the rides in Camp Snoopy.  The kids can ride the Timberline Twister, a mini roller coaster, by themselves.  There is actually a height maximum of 5 feet 9 inches, which I’ve never come across before.  I’ve been on the ride a couple of times, but I guess D is not supposed to.

k is just tall enough to go on some of the scarier rides such as the giant swing and the dragon swing.  Meanwhile n is stuck going on the carousel, but he does not seem to mind too much. 

One new ride we tried this time was the train.  I was reluctant to before because I remember being traumatized by the real actor-fake hold-up part when I was little.  I prepared the kids, reminding them that it was all pretend.  However, they seem to have tamed it down a lot in the past thirty years.  D says that maybe I was just more impressionable back then, but I’m pretty sure it used to be more “real”. 

It was neat that the train actually originated in the nineteenth century.  Makes me want to take a train trip someday.  D’s dream is to take one across Canada. 

D and I celebrated Valentine’s Day early this year by going out to dinner at the newly opened Kickin’ Crab in Diamond Jamboree.  We enjoyed our two pounds of shrimp, but I personally liked Boilin’ Crab a little better. 

When I had the kids get dressed this morning I didn’t realize they were twins!

I remember l used to love Valentine’s Day in elementary school.  k’s teacher bought bakery boxes for the kids to take all 30(!) of their valentines home in. 

I had fun looking at all of the valentine cards/treats.  Some parents were quite creative.

That’s k’s valentine on the top.  It has a chocolate milk straw with a printable from here.  My sister gave the kids flavored milk straws for Christmas and they were quite the hit, so I thought this idea was perfect. 

For dinner at home I made chicken parmesan with spaghetti.  For dessert we had a berry chocolate cheesecake.

Although I have never been a fan of long-stemmed roses and teddy bears, I do like celebrating this day dedicated to love.

I think that D definitely passed down his silliness to both k and n.  Here is some evidence:

D ran the Surf City Marathon last Sunday.  He was looking through his medals this morning and found his gaudy Disneyland 1/2 Marathon medals.  The kids had fun playing with the bling.

Sunday was the official start of Girl Scout cookie season.  I was not sure how enthusiastic k would be about the whole thing.  Turns out that n is a natural born salesperson!  He actually enjoys asking people if they would like to buy Girl Scout cookies.  k is still working on her sales pitch, but she loves handling the money, giving the boxes to people, and re-stocking inventory.  The play cash register that my parents gave to k for her birthday is perfect for the little store that we have been setting up on our driveway.  D has also done his part in hawking boxes at work.  It truly is a family effort and actually kind of fun!

L and I have been trying to plan out our future vacations with our children in mind. It is crazy to think that we probably only have about 10 big vacations left before k heads off to college. To generate ideas, I started out reading “Frommer’s California with Kids,” a book we had been given. Then L mentioned that there was a “Frommer’s 500 Places to Take you Kids Before They Grow Up”. A book with a list always piques my interest. Then I decided to consult New York Times Best Seller Patricia Schultz. She wrote the book “1,000 Places to Visit Before you Die.” L had this book in her library, so I started flipping through it and my mind raced. Oh the list possibilities! During my research I found out that Patricia had a “1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before you Die” book. I thought, “Oh, no you didn’t!” L was kind enough to borrow it from the library. So I decided to use both of Patricia’s books to help me with my travel list. My travel list not only shows the places I have visited, but also lists the places that I would like to take the kids (highlighted in red). The list helped me figure out great places to visit that are close by, and also increased my wanderlust. D’s 1,000 Places to Visit