National Parks, Vacation

Joshua Tree: Hidden Valley & Hadley’s

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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.

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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.  Smile  Afterwards, we did the Hidden Valley trail, which was another nice, easy walk.

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Some climbers were preparing for their ascent.

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We named some of the rocks.  Above: “Whale Rock”.  Below: “Kiss Rock”.

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Afterwards we returned to the Visitor Center so that the kids could turn in their junior ranger workbooks and receive their badge.

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Our final stop on the way home was Hadley’s for the famous date shake.

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It was a sweet way to end our trip, and the trip home was thankfully much shorter than the way there.

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National Parks, Vacation

Joshua Tree: Skull Rock

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This is why it’s called Skull Rock.

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Camping, National Parks, Vacation

Camping & Hiking @ Indian Cove

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I loved the wildflowers springing up in such unlikely places.

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Back at the campsite, we ate a simple dinner of cup o’ noodles.

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National Parks, Vacation

Joshua Tree National Park: The Movie

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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.

 

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n

A Laid Back IKEA Birthday Party

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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. 

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Different cake this time—strawberry cream with chocolate frosting.  Still very good.

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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. 

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Restaurant Reviews

TK Noodle & Grill

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Last weekend we ventured to another new restaurant in Irvine—Thuan Kieu Noodle & Grill.  Apparently the original locations are in Garden Grove and Westminster.  D and I really enjoy Vietnamese food.  Don’t laugh, but one of our go-to restaurants at our old home in Anaheim was called Pho Today.  We were happy to find out that tasty Vietnamese food is now available very close by again.

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We ordered two Daily Specials ($6.50), which consists of chicken, rice or noodles, and egg rolls.  It was a good thing we ordered one with rice and one with noodles because I totally forgot that Vietnamese bun (rice noodles) is usually accompanied by peanuts.  I love the crunch and the contrast of the cool noodles/vegetables with the warm chicken and egg rolls.  The kids preferred the rice anyway, so it all worked out.  D and I also shared the rare beef pho.  It was also very good, but not enough noodles for us.  We ended up putting some of the noodles from the chicken dish in the soup.

Welcome to Irvine, TK Noodle! 

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House

Hello Succulents!

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I may have lost my blogging mojo, but I have plans to get back on the train.  We will start “simple”, which seems to be n’s favorite word these days.  “It’s simple Mommy, it’s simple.”

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n helped me make this terrarium with succulents.  It really was quite simple.  I have had the one in the forefront for a couple of years now, which I bought at the UCI farmers market.  The two in the back were recently purchased at Home Depot.  The one in the back left is a Red-Headed Irishman and the one in the back right is called Bunny Ears.  The Red-Headed Irishman is a tricky one to handle because its spikes are so sharp!  The Bunny Ears is so soft, but after touching it and having n touch it, I read the label which warned against touching it—oops.  We put gravel on the bottom and added cactus soil.  The final touch was to add smooth polished rocks that we bought in Bryce as a souvenir.

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Restaurant Reviews

Irvine Railroad & Doner G

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On Sunday afternoon we went to Irvine Regional Park’s birthday celebration and rode the train for $2 each (usually $5 each).  There was quite a crowd.

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The ride was not very long, but there was a nice little narration that talked about some points of interest.  I do not think it would have been worth $20, but $8 was an ok value.

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We ate a picnic lunch and then looked for a good place for the kids to ride bikes.  Not really seeing any, we decided to stop at the playground.  k and n kept themselves busy for a looong time, pumping by themselves.  This was the first time that n kept himself going for such a good period, so it was cause for celebration.

For dinner, we tried a new place called Doner G, which serves Turkish and Mediterranean food.

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We ordered a beef plate and chicken pita.  We used a coupon from the Irvine Crossroads Shopping Center website for a free side of hummus.  Everything tasted really good, even though the kids were skeptical when we said we were eating Mediterranean food.  D nods his head when he likes his food, and there was a lot of head nodding during this meal.  The people eating there seemed to be a lot of different ethnicities.  The service was friendly and fast.  I feel like there are so many restaurants to try, but we get in a rut of relying on a few places that are close by and cheap.  It was nice to try something new. 

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Uncategorized

Sochi Winter Olympics

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This was my attempt at having the kids help decorate for the Winter Olympics.  I was never able to pull together a Russian feast, but we did have a “sleepover” to watch the Opening Ceremony.  It seems like there has been a lot of disappointment for the U.S. this year.  There hasn’t been too many *wow* moments so far.  However, it has been a lot of fun watching the games with the kids.  For some reason, both of the kids really wanted to watch curling.  We finally watched some tonight, and it was quite entertaining.  They also enjoy the biathlon (the shooting part).  D has been teaching them to root against Russia and Germany—haha.  We do like the 15 year old Russian figure skater though—when she spins, it is jaw-dropping.   

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