k didn’t have school today, so D and I took the day off and made it a “family day”.  We needed to use our free Santa Ana Zoo coupons before they expire at the end of the month, so that’s where we went.  It’s been a while since we’ve been, and I noticed some upgrades: new signage, new garden areas, etc.

The smallest type of monkey in the world.  Adults weigh 6 oz.

They had a lot of Halloween decorations, which made it nice and festive.  I suggest they remove the Big Lots price tag, though.

There was a cool sundial.  Stand on the correct month and your shadow tells the time.  It was just before 11 a.m.—pretty accurate.

Afterward we went to lunch at Benihana with my birthday gift certificate.  I think this was my first time, and I was not too impressed.  The food was just lackluster.  Granted, we were in the regular “lounge” area so we did not have the teppan experience.  I found it interesting that there seemed to be a mix of Caucasian people and Japanese Japanese people.  We also ran into people we know from church.

Once again, n fell asleep in the car and he kept on sleeping while we ordered.  We woke him up when our main entrees came.

It was a fun way to break up the week.  Two more days until the weekend! 

Really not enjoying this weather.  I cannot wait for it to get cooler! 

Some random ramblings…We tried the Quinoa and Arugula salad from CPK for free.  This is a nice freebie because you don’t have to purchase anything and it is good for take-out.  I thought it was pretty good; it made me want to cook with quinoa at home.

D and I went out for date night at Lucca with my birthday BOGO.  The pasta dishes we ordered were cooked perfectly al dente. 

Asparagus and Fried Egg: Very rich a little too oily, but we split both, so it was not too overwhelming.

Amatriciana: Served piping hot and definitely spicy with a hint of sweetness. 

For dessert (also gratis): a deconstructed s’more.  Cute, but the marshmallow was too sweet for us.  The kids would’ve loved it.  I would definitely recommend signing up for their birthday club. 

I pretended to take a picture of D, but I was really taking a picture of the waitstaff going over the specials and taste testing several dishes.

I also noted that there was a bar for disabled people.  Never saw that before.  (Looks like it serves mainly as a storage space, though).

Lucca is located near the “nice part” of Irvine.  We had to take a picture of this high rollin’ truck.  Wow. 

We made it through our first season of Little Hoopsters.  Our Saturday mornings are once again ours—yay.  k definitely improved her b-ball skillz, but she’s still working on actually wanting to get the ball in a game setting. 

Defense!

Their team name was Red Flaming Hot Cheetos, thus the bag-mascot.

Everyone was presented a trophy at the closing ceremony.

Pretty fancy, eh?  It kind of overpowers her summer library reading trophy-haha.

This week was a big milestone for our family.  k’s first day of kindergarten and n’s first day of preschool!  Both kids really enjoy their new schools so far.  n slept for twelve hours (unusual for him) and woke up singing the “Good Morning” song they sing at preschool the morning after his first day. 

k’s teacher let the parents come into the classroom the first day in the beginning to take pictures.  D was able to go to her orientation the day before school started, so that was nice. 

k’s self-portrait from her first day.  Note the pink shoes!

We are looking forward to seeing both kids learning and growing this year.   

n had his first day of preschool today and k starts kindergarten tomorrow—oh my.  Let me wrap up our summer happenings.
Ate free pizzas from Blaze, a new restaurant by UCI.  We were impressed!  It is like Chipotle/Subway in that you tell the person at the counter what toppings you want.


Completed our Sanrio Yogurtland spoon collection.  We really like these new popping mango boba thingies.  They are not chewy, but burst juice when you eat them.

Went to the Harvest Crusade at Angels Stadium.  Saw David Crowder, Gungor and Third Day; listened to Greg Laurie on the radio broadcast on the way home.


Went to the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach (not to be confused with the Sawdust Festival) with free tickets D won at the OC Fair.  Nice place to bring a picnic and listen to smooth jazz, if that’s your thing.

 
Looked outside when I heard the kids in our neighbor screaming at the top of their lungs, “Double Rainbow!!!”

What does it mean?

We are back from our “last summer hurrah” vacation.  Where did we go?  Here’s a clue:

But before I recount our adventures, here’s a few more photos from D’s cousin’s visit from the week before.

The Olympics + the heat wave have made me lazy and unproductive.  However, we did get out of the house this weekend.  After k’s basketball practice we met up with D’s cousin and his wife at the OC Mart Mix.  We grabbed lunch at the food trucks at the farmer’s market.  They also wanted to try Portola Coffee Lab.

They brought us some goodies from Proof bakery in LA.  How thoughtful, and so very yummy.

On Sunday we went to the fair.  We took advantage of the early bird special—arrive before 11 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday, and admission is only $2.

We tried some new things this year: fried zucchini, turkey leg and corn on the cob.  The last two were good, the zucchini, not so much.  No one can beat Paul’s Place’s fried zucchini.

Even in the morning, it was just too hot out.  We even let the kids try some of our cola from the Pepsi Next Challenge.  (D chose Coke and I chose Pepsi Next).

The art gallery was nice and cool.  This was a crazy knitted house.

k drew two pictures of books she read and we turned them in for 3 free ride tickets.  We bought one more ticket and all rode the ferris wheel together.  Worth $5, but would not have been worth $20!

When we got home, I just wanted to relax next to the fan.  n kept himself busy and was unusually quiet.  Turns out he was making this masterpiece:

I definitely enjoyed rooting for the USA and Cal Olympians in London.  In the end, the USA and Cal Olympians did great.  Canada did OK.

FINAL RESULTS:
USA: 46 gold, 29 silver, 29 bronze (104 total)
Most total and gold medals of all nations in 2012

Canada: 1 gold, 5 silver, 12 bronze (18 total)
Tied Canada’s Beijing 2008 medal total; however had less gold

Cal: 11 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze (17 total)
Tied for most medals by Cal athletes with Beijing 2008 Olympics.  More than doubled Beijing 2008 gold medals

The big news was that Dana Vollmer and Nathan Adrian made my Sports List: Cal Olympics section.  They now have 4 Olympic medals each.  Along with Natalie Coughlin, Cal swimming has had a great run since 2004.

See attached…
Sports List

So, I guess we took a bit of a blogging break.  We’ll blame it on the Olympics.  Last Friday we went to Del Mar Racetrack because D was able to get box tickets from his work.  The traffic was bad, as expected, so it took about two hours on the way down. 

The weather was nice, not too hot and we were in the shade.  We saw 6/8 races.  We brought some food and also ordered a couple of things (the box seats have table service).  We tried the California chicken sandwich and garlic fries.

The food was pretty good—nothing too spectacular, especially given the price.  There was an announcement that designated drivers could get a bracelet to receive unlimited free soft drinks, so I told D that he was our designated driver.

Afterward we went to see the horses up close.

On Friday nights there are free concerts after the races.  There are some interesting groups in this season’s lineup—Cake, Ben Harper, Offspring, etc.  However, our night was Steel Pulse.  Haven’t heard of them?  Neither had we, so we didn’t stick around.  Overall it was a fun outing, but we probably won’t go again since we’re not into gambling, which is the whole point.  Even with the free tickets, it was $10 for parking, $12 for admission for D and me, pricey food plus 3 hours of driving.