The Olympics have been very exciting and interesting TV watching; however it has been bad for my sleep.

Cal Swimming has come through with 10 medals.

Women’s Swimming

Natalie Coughlin (USA) – 100 Backstroke (Gold), 400 Free Relay (Silver), 200 Individual Medley (Bronze), 800 Free Relay (Bronze), 100 Freestyle (Bronze),
400 Medley Relay (Silver)
Sara Isakovic (Slovenia) – 200 Freestyle (Silver)
Emily Silver (USA) – 400 Free Relay (Silver)

Men’s Swimming
Nathan Adrian (USA) – 400 Free Relay (Gold)
Milorad Cavic (Serbia) – 100 Butterfly (Silver)

Indiana University did not have any swimming medals, so Cal surpassed them in overall Olympic swimming medals. Cal 61 vs IU 60. Spitz (IU), Biondi (Cal), and Coughlin (Cal) each have 11 medals.

Here is the rundown of the things we ate during our trip to Sacramento. We stopped at the Gorman McDonald’s for breakfast, but it was SO crowded. Carl’s Jr. had no line, so we ended up over there. Egg McMuffins are good, but not worth waiting in lines for. I think next time we’ll try to make it to Tejon before stopping for breakfast. For lunch we had a BBQ at D’s brother’s house as mentioned before: hamburgers and chicken, corn on the cob, chips, grapes and cherries. Yum!

For dinner we ate at Buca di Beppo–chicken marsala and frutti di mare (linguini with seafood), the Lim family favorites. Both breakfasts were at the hotel we were staying at, Larkspur Landing. There was a nice assortment of cereal, bagels, yogurt, juice, and k’s favorite–hardboiled eggs. It was also nice that our room had a full size refrigerator! D appreciated how the kitchen was stocked with paper towels. I wish my studio in SF had been as nice as that one.

For lunch we ate at Lemon Grass Noodle Bar, located inside La Bou restaurant. It was a nice, yet casual place for Vietnamese food. I opted for the chicken bun (as usual) and D had a lemongrass pork chop. I wish they had one of these restaurants in Orange County!

Finally, the big finale was dinner at Taro’s, a Japanese restaurant in Arden Fair Mall. D’s dad spotted the sushi platters, so we chose “c” since it came with nigiri and rolls. After that was devoured, D’s brother ordered many other favorites, including the “puff daddy” and “lick my chops” lamb chops, sashimi and curry. The lamb chops were spicy and SO good…and I’m not even much of a lamb person. k ordered the kid’s meal (teriyaki chicken and 3 piece nigiri) and it came with Botan rice candy–cute.

Despite all of that food, D wanted dessert, so he headed over to the self-serve yogurt place across the way. It was the first place of this nature that did not seem “asian” that I have seen. I forgot the name of the place, but it was good.

On the way home, we stopped at In-n-Out. I had my first “animal-style” hamburger. It was very good, but didn’t seem THAT different. I guess the pickles were new and I enjoyed the grilled onions.

It was a delicious weekend!

This post has been delayed because we all got sick this past week. It really knocked us out, but I think we’re on the upswing.

We left early Friday morning for our trip up to D’s hometown. k did pretty well this time around. She was healthy, so we didn’t have some of the issues we had to deal with last time. It was also easier since we could keep her occupied with food, and a portable DVD player. I also bought this board with sticky foam cut-outs which she seemed to enjoy. (I was looking for Colorforms, but couldn’t find them. I think the foam was easier for her little hands to deal with, anyway).

k had fun putting the foam stickers on her Sigg, too.

We arrived at D’s brother’s house just in time for a nice BBQ. I was so happy that it wasn’t scorching hot. It was actually quite pleasant in the shade. D’s friend since high school came over in the afternoon with his family and the kids had fun playing with all of cousin S’ toys.



k claimed her cousin’s chair as her own. We need to work on the concept of sharing with her!

Uncle D

This tree is just across the street from D’s brother’s house. Kind of scary, isn’t it? D said it reminded him of the Chronicles of Narnia. My first thought was the Wizard of Oz.

Saturday D’s sister led us on a mini-hike along the American River.

Then, we played in a nearby park.

We met up with Janelle for lunch and caught up (she’s moving back to the Bay Area, yay!) k took a nap back at the hotel. Afterward we headed out to Arden Fair Mall (indoors, air-conditioning, yes!) and ate dinner with everyone. I’ll save the foodie comments for another post.

Look at what Grandma bought me at Barnes & Noble!

We ate breakfast with D’s parents the next morning in the hotel and headed back down South. It was a quick trip, but it was nice to see everyone, especially since D’s brother’s family will be moving to London soon, so we won’t be able to see them for a while.

As many of you know, I follow Cal football and Indiana Basketball. This keeps me busy from August to April. However I have nothing to follow during the summer. I try to get myself interested in baseball but just can’t. So I decided I will follow Cal and IU swimmers (alumni or students) that compete in the Olympics. Cal alum have medaled 51 times in the Summer Olympics for swimming and IU has medaled 60 times. Also Mark Spitz (IU) and Matt Biondi (Cal) are the most decorated male swimmers (11 each). Also Natalie Coughlin medaled 5 times in 2004 and has qualified for 3 individual events in Beijing. There are a few other Cal alumni swimming in the Olypics in Beijing and at least one IU swimmer. I will definitely be rooting for them this summer and every odd year there are world championships that I will try to follow. I do enjoy swimming however I haven’t been swimming since I am training for a marathon.

It is good that I will be able to follow the Olympics because Cal football and IU basketball probably won’t be good this year. Good meaning Rose or Holiday bowl for Cal and Sweet Sixteen for IU.

Please bear with my singing skills…

It was nice to be up in Northern California where I could discuss the benefits of growing up in Sacramento.
#1 American River. Less than an hour from Class 4 rapids, and an awesome bile trail.
#2 Just over an hour to world renowned Napa Valley
#3 1.5 hours to skiing (less than 2 hours to world-class skiing)

Note on American River Bike Trail:
The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail (or American River Bike Trail) is a paved multi-use pathway that runs between the confluence of the Sacramento River with the American River, just north of downtown Sacramento, CA, and Beal’s Point at Folsom Lake, north of Folsom, CA. The trail is 32 miles long, and is used as a major recreational destination, as well as a commuter artery for cyclists. The trail is considered one of the longest paved purpose-built bike trails in the country.

The trip was a lot of fun since I was able to see family and friends. We just got back, so we will post more later.

We’ve been slacking on the blogging lately, not really sure why. Will try to improve next month.

D and I have been doing a lot of analysis about our marriage this weekend…date night, family small group and marriage “audit” with our pastor. It’s definitely been good for us, but we’re pretty tired.

Had fun celebrating the big 3-0 with Uncle K yesterday. First Class Pizza is yummy and filling.

k has been having fun with her 1.5/2 year birthday present. We’ll post pictures later this week.

This post is dedicated to my sister, the librarian, who is celebrating her birthday today. Growing up, we loved reading. During the summers we would create a reading corner and challenge ourselves to re-read all of our paperback “Apple” books (remember those?). We also enjoyed participating in the summer reading programs at the library.

I am glad to say that k is also really into books. However, it’s difficult to keep reading book after book to her. Thankfully, she is slowly starting to be able to look at books by herself sometimes.

And sometimes, more than one at a time!

Happy Birthday, Sis, (aka Sister-in-Law, and Auntie)!

D was gone on a business trip all last week. He came home on Friday. I had to laugh when I saw his suitcase:

I had bought this Hello Kitty luggage tag in Kona last year. I asked D why he didn’t take it off before his trip and he said he was just too lazy. I guess he is really secure in his manlihood!

Here are the highlights of our lovely three day weekend.

Sat.: D ran over sixteen miles, a personal record. He can elaborate on that one if he wants. We went to a graduation party for two Talbot grad students.

Cake by King’s Hawaiian. Food by Ono Ono–yum! Plus, we took home a ton of leftovers; actually, 6.6 lbs–hehe. D went to a CSULB v. CSUF baseball game with some Mazda guys.

Sun.: Church. D did laundry and ironed shirts, yes!

Mon.: Harbor House in Sunset Beach for breakfast.

Blueberry pancakes and Denver omelet. I think the waitress was laughing at me taking a picture. We figured out that k’s favorite meal is breakfast, since she LOVES eggs.

Went to Huntington Beach, but only for a bit since it was overcast and we didn’t bring enough quarters for parking.

Went to Downtown Disney, and just walked around for a bit. Sorry, no pictures!