Living An Intentional Life
I have to give credit to our troop leader for finding unique field trips for k’s Daisy troop. Last week they went to the Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo Mall. They used a paint program on the laptop to draw pictures and printed one of them out. They also played a dance game on the XBox One.
On Saturday, k was at El Dorado Park all day for a Community Campout. She had a lot of fun playing games, tying knots, and checking out the older girls’ campsites.
Today we went to the Huntington Beach Sister City Cultural Festival in Central Park. We arrived about ten minutes early, but apparently that was not early enough!
There was already a loooong line for the infamous Original Ramen Burger.
Undeterred and determined, we had D stand in the line while the kids and I wandered the festival. There were several booths for kids, including the one where k and n made the fish kites above. We also heard some taiko drumming and watched some Japanese dance performances.
We supported Fugetsu-Do, which is based in Little Tokyo.
We were also curious to try a Samurai Burrito. They are basically really big sushi rolls wrapped in nori or soy paper.
The kids absolutely loved the Rockin’ Daruma roll which had shrimp tempura inside (along with lot of other ingredients). It was a little spendy though, at $10.
I also stood in a long line for okonomiyaki with cheese.
Interesting concept, but our least favorite of the day. Half of it is still in our refrigerator. The price was fair at $5.
Finally, D made it to the front of the line, after an hour and a half of waiting—crazy, I know. Turns out they were trying to turn out 1,000 ramen burgers on this one small grill, as their other grill was giving them problems. D seemed to be enjoying chatting to the people next to him in line, so I did not feel too bad. 
Was it worth it? Well, it definitely had a rich umami flavor. The noodles were nice and soft, but somehow stayed intact. The price was fair, at $8. I don’t think we will ever wait in line for it again, but it is one hamburger we won’t forget anytime soon!
There was even a small group of cherry blossom trees in bloom to add to the atmosphere.
Last weekend, k had the opportunity to volunteer with her Girl Scout troop at the Second Harvest Incredible Edible Farm at the Great Park in Irvine.
The girls were assigned to gleaning the green onions first, and then oranges.
The green onions were hard work!
The oranges were much easier. They even let us take a couple of oranges home. They were nice and juicy!
On n’s actual birthday, we celebrated as a family, at home. We tried to duplicate the ice cream nachos from Farrell’s that he loved so much last year.
For his birthday party, he invited a small group of friends and we went to BrewBakers in Huntington Beach for a root beer and pretzel party.
The place is quite small, and there was another large party scheduled right before us. There was too much “down time” for my liking, but it all worked out in the end. Here the kids are rolling out their pretzels.
Next came the brewing of the root beer!
They had the kids play “kick the keg”.
Next we were shown how to bottle the root beer.
Finally, we sang Happy Birthday and ate skateboard-themed cupcakes that I made for the occasion.
We let the kids enjoy some of the root beer at home. It was really good, probably the best I have had. The flavor had a lot of depth. I’m still having a hard time accepting that n is really five years old!
After hiking Skull Rock, we drove to Hidden Valley and ate our sandwiches from Park Rock Café. There were plenty of picnic benches surrounding the parking lot.
This was the turkey sandwich on cranberry bread. For some reason, we really liked the ranch dressing that came with the accompanying side salad. Maybe it was because we were in Hidden Valley. 
Afterwards, we did the Hidden Valley trail, which was another nice, easy walk.
Some climbers were preparing for their ascent.
We named some of the rocks. Above: “Whale Rock”. Below: “Kiss Rock”.
Afterwards we returned to the Visitor Center so that the kids could turn in their junior ranger workbooks and receive their badge.
Our final stop on the way home was Hadley’s for the famous date shake.
It was a sweet way to end our trip, and the trip home was thankfully much shorter than the way there.
We slept fairly well during the night. It was not too cold. However, D and I are realizing that we really should invest in a couple more sleeping pads (we have been making do with two).
D, n and I made an 85 Degrees run the day before while k was in school. That is what we had for breakfast. The consensus was brioche—thumbs up; rose cheese bread—thumbs down.
We packed up and went to the Visitors Center to pick up the kids’ junior ranger booklets. We also picked up sandwiches at the adjacent Park Rock Café for lunch later on.
Next we drove to Skull Rock and did a short hike.
The weather during the day was actually much colder than I expected. The wind really added a chill factor, although it did warm up later on in the afternoon.
This is why it’s called Skull Rock.
On Friday afternoon we drove to Joshua Tree. Not surprisingly, we hit traffic, so what should have been a two hour trip ended up being a three hour trip.
The Indian Cove campsite is one of only two campsites in Joshua Tree that takes reservations. This was the most “primitive” campsite that we’ve been to so far, since there were no flush toilets—only pit toilets. They were actually not that bad though—they’re just regular shaped toilets that do not flush.
We were in campsite #69. The site itself was pretty small (#70 looked a little bigger). However, we were surrounded by magnificent rocks. The kids had us say a prayer that the rocks would not roll down on top of us while we were sleeping.
We were fortunate to be able to borrow a CX-9 for our adventure. It was so nice to have the extra storage space in the back!
After setting up camp, we drove and parked to the nearby Indian Cove trailhead. We did a short .6 mile loop before the sun set.
I loved the wildflowers springing up in such unlikely places.
Back at the campsite, we ate a simple dinner of cup o’ noodles.
Today n turns 5! We’re looking forward to celebrating with Panda Express (his choice). Right now, k and n are swimming with D since it pretty much seems like summer right now.
We had a busy weekend. D took Friday off so he could watch k’s performance. Right after k got out from school, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park for an overnight camping trip. I brought the camcorder along and put together this short movie. Please excuse the shakiness—I made myself sick just trying to put the clips together! I will include more detail in later posts.
k was chosen to have a small speaking part for the performance her grade put on for friends and relatives. I know it is not easy speaking in front of a large group with a mic—we are proud of her!
Ever since we went to Ikea in December for k’s birthday party, n has been waiting for it to be March so we could go to his. k’s party was quite crowded—tons of kids, not much room to move. It turned out that n’s party was almost empty in comparison—there were just four birthday kids! We had an entire table to ourselves, and there was no need for Petals the Clown to speed through tons of kids for the face painting. The whole thing lasted about an hour—half of the time we spent at k’s party.
Different cake this time—strawberry cream with chocolate frosting. Still very good.
This is what happens when there’s not many people at the party—Petals the Clown gives each kid extra balloons to take home since she has no need for them in “Clown Town”, where she lives.