Last week, seemingly out of the blue, k asked, “Did you know that before I was born, life was unfair?”  Puzzled, I asked her what she meant.  She said that in school she learned that some kids could not go to the schools that they wanted to go to.  I put two and two together, and asked if she also learned about certain people having to sit in the back of the bus and using separate drinking fountains.  She said “yes”, so I guess Kindergarten is when lessons about social injustice are first introduced.  I don’t think we had really talked about it as a family before, so it was a good jumping off point.  I chose not to go into how, in many ways, life still is not fair.  She will learn soon enough, I am sure.  On Monday, D showed k the “I have a dream” speech on the internet.  How nice to have such resources at our fingertips.

On Saturday k went to a Girl Scout Cookie Rally at UCI.  (She will officially begin selling cookies on Sunday.  We are supposed to sell 135 boxes!)  On Sunday we went to Huntington State beach after church.  We made a picnic out of food we picked up from a Super Mex Groupon.  The fish tacos were surprisingly good—a nice sized piece of grilled fish.  D thought they were better than Wahoo’s.

These seagulls were exceptionally smart.  They, along with a huge flock of friends, waited patiently while we ate and followed D to the trashcan.

Both D and k had Monday off so we went to Knott’s or “KBF” as we have started calling it. It was crowded and a tad too warm, so we weren’t able to go on too many rides. 

We stood in a long line for the stage coach.  Unfortunately, we were assigned the inside of the coach, so a lot of the “thrill” was lost.  One of our fellow passengers, a young girl, spent 90% of the time looking at her dad’s iphone, which I thought was sad. 

It is hard to believe this was a major mode of transportation back in the day.  I guess we take our cars for granted. 

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:

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!

Life has been busy, hence the lack of blogging.  However, D did note that this year was record-breaking in terms of number of posts, so that is an accomplishment. 

Last Saturday we hosted a Hello Kitty-themed birthday party for k, along with 11 of her friends from church and school.  It was fun, but tiring.  Our house is just starting to recover from all of the merriment.  Ah, the joys of having a birthday in December!

One of the activities was to have the girls decorate graham cracker gingerbread houses.  I pre-assembled the houses beforehand.  (Hint: microwave the graham crackers for about 12 seconds to soften up before cutting.  One more hint: make a few extra because there are bound to be cave-ins/accidents). 

We also made bracelets and HK tattoos:

For lunch we had Chick Fil A nuggets and tater tots.  My mom made cupcakes with HK lip gloss rings I found at Party City.

On k’s actual birthday we took a few pictures before she went to school.

On another note, every year I try to plan advent activities for every day of December leading up to Christmas.  Every year I inevitably run out of steam/creativity and do not fill up the entire month.  Tonight, I promised the kids that I would try to do better next year, and k said, “You mean when I’m 7?”  That comment made D and me so sad, because although true, it seems impossible…we really do need to cherish these passing years. 

One of the reasons I wanted to get the Discovery Science Museum pass is because I have always wanted to see the Science of Gingerbread exhibit.  Usually there is a giant inflatable gingerbread man on top of the museum during the exhibit, but it is not there this year.  However, the exhibit is still going on, so we went on Sunday to check it out. 

There is a gingerbread house contest and I was surprised at how many entries were displayed.

Where does the science come in?  One of the friendly employees guided k and n through a quiz about ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  They glued some of each spice.  When you smell them all together it was supposed to smell like gingerbread.

Of course, they were more interested in decorating a cookie.

There was also a visit with Santa…

…and Bob the Builder.

There is an interactive grocery store on the second floor, which I don’t think I’ve documented before.

And no trip to the DSC would be complete without lying on the bed of nails!

Happy 12.12.12!  Last weekend was busy.  k had a Daisy event in the morning.  Then she had a birthday party for one of her classmates.

Then we drove straight to our church’s Christmas dinner/program.

n kept his shirt down this time.  Good thing, since he was front and center.

Electric candles for the kids…

Real candles for the adults.  (Photo: GT)

So I signed up for the L.A. Marathon! I decided to pay for the race by skipping eating out for all of December and January. In order to do that I wanted to make sure I ate good tasty food. So I told L that I would make soup. I saw a Smoky Black Bean Stew in Runner’s World that I was going to make. L being an awesome wife, bought the ingredients and made the soup. It was INSANE! It was spicy and I loved the tomatoes! Yum!! Here is what it looks like.

Runners World: Easy, One-Pot Postrun Meal

Sometimes less is more, and that is how I feel about my new sports list. Here I just focus on Cal and IU football and basketball post season results e.g. bowl games and NCAA tournaments. — Rose Bowl or the 2nd place team bowls. — NCAA Tournament Championship, Final Four or Sweet Sixteen. In additon, the best alumni in NFL and NBA — Passing, Rushing, Receiving. — Points, Assists, Rebounds.