We’ve been to a couple of police department open houses before, but on Saturday we went to our first fire station open house.  We arrived early, but there were already a lot of people.  It is quite the popular event!

The campus is quite large.  I was always curious about the eternal flame statute I can see when driving by.  It is a 9/11 memorial.

Better angle.

The kids got to meet Sparky.  Smokey the Bear also made an appearance.

The garage was open for touring.  They also had fire engine rides, but the line was too long.  Maybe next year.  I was hoping for a tour of the living quarters, but I don’t think one was available.  We also collected a lot of swag-literature, pens, pot holder, etc. and enjoyed the free hot dogs, chips and water.

My mom showed the kids how to make scarecrow cookies.  They were a big hit, and very cute.

Yesterday before church k decided to cut n’s bangs without telling anyone.  It was bound to happen at some point, I guess. 

Both D and I turned another year older last month.  We are now both officially in our mid-30’s.  For my birthday, I asked for a shelf from Container Store—my family of origin chipped in along with D.  Funny how I used to want clothes/make-up and now I would rather have things that help me organize my house. 

We had a smaller bookcase before, but since we use this area as our “landing pad”, I thought a bigger space would serve our needs better.

I could not resist this tissue box from Target’s Up & Up line.  So cute for fall.  Next to it is a Glade Expressions air freshener I received from Bzz Agent.  The scent is Fuji Apple and I really like the fragrance.  My mom said it smells like a boutique.  I don’t usually like air freshener scents, but this one is slightly sweet and spicy, and is also good for fall.  Ah, fall, my favorite season.  So glad that the weather is starting to cool down.  

My brother gave me the book “Born to Run” for my birthday.  I didn’t know what to expect.  But when I started to read it, I stopped reading the other book that I was reading at the time, because “Born to Run” was so riveting.  It is actually rare that I read a book at all, so reading two books at once is very rare for me.  But once I started to read “Born to Run”, I looked forward to reading the book at night.  I wonder if I had read more as a kid, I would have done better on the SATs.
Anyway, the book helped propel the barefoot shoe craze, and brought light to the reclusive Tarahumara tribe in the Copper Canyons in Mexico.  It was entertaining, but also instructive.  I made some changes since reading the book.  I try to keep my back straight, land on the mid-foot of my feet instead of my heel, and try to keep my strides short.  I also am planning to move full time to my lighter race shoes.  I usually run in the Asics 2100 series and race in the Asics DS Trainers.  However, I am planning on running full time in the trainers. 
However, most importantly, after reading the book, I remembered why I love running so much.  I sometimes get caught up in just trying to improve my time, and training gets boring and tiring.  However, I appreciate the blessing God has given me to allow me to run without major injury and to run in a beautiful country.

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.