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. 

Last week the kids had VBS, but k got sick on Thurs. morning so she missed out on the last two days.  I didn’t think she should go to the Friday evening program so we stayed home and watched the Opening Ceremonies. 

For our London-themed meal we had fish (from Costco) and chips.

We set up our couch for our viewing area.  Red, white and blue pillows and blankets.  I like how the Ikea Manstad turns into one big chaise.  We told the kids they could sleep there on Friday night.

Let the Games begin!

Good thing they fell asleep right before the part with the scary storybook characters/creepy baby.

We also created a medal count board.  It is good for numbers practice. 

The first Olympics I can remember is 1984 when L.A. hosted.  I remember doing coloring sheets with the Eagle mascot.  Hopefully k will have good memories too!  This is n’s first Olympics, which I don’t think he will remember.  It was actually during the Beijing Opening Ceremony party we had for my mom’s birthday that we announced that I was pregnant with n.  I <3 the Olympics!

Well, U*S*A, of course.  However, there are certain individuals who we will REALLY be rooting for @ the 2012 Olympics.

Natalie Coughlin: D’s personal favorite.  We were disappointed she didn’t qualify for more races, but at least she is going.  Also, D just told me she was named #10 of the top ten American Olympians of ALL TIME.  Not too shabby.

Nathan Adrian: My personal favorite.  An Asian American male breaking the stereotypes of Asian American males—yes!  OK, so he’s only half Chinese, but that is a start.  Oh, and Natalie is part Asian too. 

Tyler Clary: Another swimmer, he is my cousin’s husband’s cousin.  That means he’s practically related, right?  Haha.  Anyway, I know my cousin is really excited, and we’ll definitely be cheering him on from our couch.

Jason Lezak: Best known for anchoring that CRAZY 4×100 freestyle relay where he came from behind to win gold (thus enabling Michael Phelps to win 8 gold medals).  However, we like him because he lives in Irvine and we ran into him at Pick Up Stix a while back.  D recognized him, shook his hand and asked if he was training for London.  He said he was, and I guess the training paid off.

Since the kids just finished their swimming lessons, I think swimming is the sport they are most excited to watch too.  I always like watching gymnastics, so I also have to include my favorite gymnast:

Gabby Douglas: So much energy and such a cutie.  Loved her floor exercise routine—she just has that something “extra” that makes her unique.  Also, when she won at the trials, she said, “I give all my glory to God!”, which was so nice to hear.

k and n took two sessions of swimming lessons that ended today.  Here is a video that I made on a whim of their experience.  I realize that the song choice is not the most appropriate, but it just screams “Summer 2012” to me.  Plus, they were playing the song at the pool today, so there is some correlation.  This year, k really made big strides in a short amount of time.  At the start of swim lessons this year she could barely do a back float.  Now, she can take a few breaths while swimming freestyle (although not shown in this video) and she just started to learn the backstroke.  This from the girl that was crying when her teacher dunked her underwater last year.  I remember other parents telling me that it will just “click” and now I can see what they mean.      

We met up with my sister, Uncle K and j at the Great Park for their anniversary celebration.  It was supposed to start at 3 p.m. but we arrive before it opened because we knew it would get crowded.  It was pretty warm, but there was a slight breeze.  We brought the wagon, which I find quite convenient at the Great Park since there is plenty of space to move around (and there’s always a lot of swag to carry).

Our first stop was to look at the air display.

Next the kids planted some sunflower seeds.  No Disney mugs this time, but we ended up giving those away anyway, so the compostable pots were a good idea. 

Next stop: Food trucks.  Supposedly there were 26 of them!  I did miss the free orange sorbet that they gave away another year.

I know I said before that I was over shaved ice, but I couldn’t resist the Tropical Shave Ice truck because I had it before, and I knew it would be good for the kids who were melting in the heat.  I ordered a POG with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

D wanted me to try the Seabirds truck’s jackfruit tacos.  I wasn’t really a fan.  It was just too weird—jackfruit posing as pork..hmm…

Finally, we were able to try a pizza from TJ’s Woodfired Pizza truck.  It was really good, (really liked the crust) but at almost $12, pretty expensive for food truck fare.

After our early dinner, the kids made kites and were able to fly them.  That was their first kite-flying experience, and it was lots of fun!  I was impressed with the flying ability of such a simple kite.

Another great day at the Great Park!

On Saturday, k met her basketball team for Little Hoopsters for the first time.  It is a program for kids going into kindergarten to 2nd grade, so this was the first year k was eligible.  The whole concept of team sports is pretty foreign to D and me.  D played tennis, and I pretty much avoided sports as much as possible as a kid.  I’m hoping k will like it, though, and I even ended up being the team parent (which really only involves setting up the snack schedule and bringing snacks the first week).

k practiced her dribbling all Saturday afternoon.  She said, “Bouncing the ball is so much fun, I don’t even care if I get sweaty.”