LimByLim

An Autumn Morning in Las Vegas

November 22, 2011 No Comments

D woke up at 5 a.m. on Saturday and tried to work out at the Luxor gym. However, it didn’t open until 6 a.m.–doh. After he returned, n had a bloody nose, I think from the dry air/altitude. It was a bad one…the worst I’ve ever dealt with, and a bit scary. Thankfully, we were still in the hotel room, with ready access to tissue.

At around 8:30 a.m., we walked down the Strip. We brought along two strollers, even though k usually walks. I knew there would just be way too much walking for her, and I was right. We also found out that there are many intersections that do not allow pedestrians, so we had to take a countless number of elevators to go over various pedestrian bridges.

The air was crisp, and the sidewalks were pretty empty, except for joggers.

k was confused when we said this was New York.

I think this is part of City Center.

Mastro’s Ocean Club Restaurant

MGM

Vacation

Las Vegas, [With] Baby

November 21, 2011 No Comments

OK, not really with a baby, but with two young children. This past weekend we went to Vegas as a family getaway. This was the third state k and n have been to (California, obviously, and Hawaii are the other two). It has been a long time since either D or I had been there, so we thought it would be fun to check out some of the more recent developments. We realize that Vegas is not necessarily thought of as a place suitable for children, but it’s not like we were out clubbing. I felt like people were giving us weird looks when we were pushing k and n in strollers down the strip, but maybe I was just being self-conscious. Or maybe they were really giving us weird looks, but that’s ok. Pushing a kid in a stroller is a sure-fire way of people not trying to pass out club fliers at every street corner.

We left around 12:15 and arrived around 4:15. We stayed at the Luxor, in the pyramid. The inclinator elevators are strange…would’ve been cooler if they were glass, and you could see where you were going.

It is kind of weird how you cannot tell what time it is inside of a casino.

After check-in and dropping off our stuff, we made our way to Mandalay Place, which is connected to the Luxor. D wanted to eat at Burger Bar, started by Top Chef fave Hubert Keller.

Angus Burger with cheddar

Salmon Burger

We also shared a side of skinny fries and zucchini fries. This was enough for all of us. Since we arrived early, around 5 p.m., we had a booth with its own t.v. screen (football was on). The burger and salmon were good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Paul’s Place still has the best zucchini fries, IMHO. However, I think D did end up putting the burger on his list. I think it was more for the experience.

After that, we walked around Mandalay Bay. The high-end restaurants were very impressive-looking. Unfortunately, I dropped n’s argyle sweater that he was supposed to wear for Christmas somewhere along the way and we were unable to find it when we back-tracked. I even called lost and found the next day, to no avail. It wasn’t expensive (it was from Target, last year), but it was so cute, and I just hate losing things. Oh well, as my mom likes to say.

Crafts

Pinterest Pillow

November 17, 2011 1 Comment

Pinterest has become one of my new favorite websites. Surfing the web, I come across so many ideas, so it’s good to have them all in one place. It’s also fun to see what is inspiring my friends, too. I’m hoping more of my friends join… (hint hint).

Unfortunately, I have way more ideas than time. However, I did make time to make this last week:

I found the pattern here.

I like how it turned out. And no, none of D’s boxers were used in the making of the pillow.

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A Very Princess Party

November 16, 2011 No Comments

On Saturday k went to a princess party at Wowzville. I don’t really remember going through a princess stage, but k is certainly in it.

The party was for two sisters, who sat in the two princess chairs, of course.

Next was a mini movie in the adjacent princess room. The girls dressed up and each had a pink or purple bean bag to sit on.

That night, I overheard k telling n about the party. She told him that “there was this room, with beautiful butterflies; and they were REAL”. So cute. (To her defense, the butterflies were life-like, and they did flutter their wings every so often). She did know, however, that the twinkling lights were not fairies as claimed by the woman in the movie.

Princess k

Coloring the castle

The afternoon ended with eating of the princess cake!

D and n stayed at home. I’m sure n would’ve said, “Ew…too girl-y” (that’s one of his favorite phrases these days).

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Early Thanksgiving

November 15, 2011 No Comments

On Sunday our church had an appreciation lunch for those who volunteer for the children’s ministry. We had deep-fried turkey, which was probably the best turkey I have ever had…very moist and flavorful.

We learned that n really likes cranberry sauce-jello and k really likes asparagus.

D enjoyed his turkey leg.

Not surprisingly, these cute turkeys were a big hit with all of the kids. (Just had to be careful to remove the peanut butter cup for k and n).

Running

Dino Dash

November 7, 2011 1 Comment

Good thing we all had an extra hour of sleep last night because we woke up early this morning to cheer D on at Tustin’s Dino Dash. D ran the 10k in 50:12, a personal record (although now he is determined to break 50 minutes!) He was 10th in his age category. This race was nice because it was so close, and there was plenty of free parking.

It started sprinkling right when the race started, but it didn’t last too long. k was cold, so she wore D’s shirt.

There’s Dino!

At the finish line.

I think the last race I went to with D was his first one, the Disney 1/2 marathon. I was pregnant with k, so it’s been a while. Even though I complain about D’s running schedule, I’m glad that he is keeping healthy and that he follows through with his goals.

Celebrations

So long October, Hello November

November 2, 2011 1 Comment

Yesterday I took k to her Halloween party at pre-school.

The kids trick-or-treat at the adjacent office. Pre-schoolers are so funny. The teacher asked, what to do we say when we get the candy? And this boy started saying, “Trick or treat…smell my feet…” During grace, another boy said “Thank you for the food…thank you for mommies and daddies…thank you for Jesus…and thank you for cabinets.”

At night we went to the Harvest Festival at our church.

However, the only good picture I have of the night is in front our house. D was still at work, so my mom came along to help. I think my mom has some better pictures on her camera. Halloween on a Monday is not too fun, in my opinion. Plus, there was traffic, two candy buckets, two cards to be stamped, a wand and a sword to keep track of, and I wasn’t feeling too well. When we got home, I brushed the kids’ teeth, gave out a few pieces of candy, took some Nyquil, and collapsed in my bed.

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Beyblade & Pokemon

October 26, 2011 No Comments

After church we went to a birthday party for a three year old boy. The theme was Beyblade and Pokemon, two things of which I have very little knowledge.

Happy birthday!

The boy’s dad is a foodie, so he picked up deep dish pizza from Tony’s Little Italy in Placentia. I’ve wanted to try this place for a while, but never found myself in the Placentia-area. The pizza did indeed live up to the hype, and was extremely filling. My favorite was chicken-artichoke-garlic? I should have taken pictures, but by the time I remembered, n had crawled into my lap for a nap. After eating, I felt like a nap too!

Family Field Trips

Great Park Pumpkin Harvest

October 23, 2011 2 Comments

This morning we went to the Great Park, yet again, for another family outing. Admission was free, parking was $10. The event started at 10 a.m., but we arrived about 15 minutes early. That turned out to be a good thing, because we avoided a lot of the crowds that we saw only an hour later. We also came prepared with our wagon–perfect for toting our pumpkins around (each child under 12 was able to pick one for free).

n looks sad because he just woke up from a morning nap

The Great Balloon turns into a jack o’lantern for Halloween.

Going to the event was good motivation for me to make sure the costumes were done early. Tinkerbell & Peter Pan:

There were a lot of activities for the little ones. There was a candy trick or treating area, and a game area with little toy/sticker prizes.

About half the people who commented on n’s outfit thought he was Robin Hood. Can anyone tell me what the difference between Robin Hood and Peter Pan would be? I guess he just needs to stick closer to k, so the association can be made. However, k wasn’t wearing her wings most of the time, so people were probably confused about her outfit too.

Family Field Trips

Oktoberfest

October 18, 2011 No Comments

I’ve always been curious about Oktoberfest. Not for the beer, (which is probably the main attraction) but for the food and atmosphere. On Sunday we went to the “Old World” shopping center in Huntington Beach to check it out, since Sundays are “family days”. However, we arrived just after 10:30 a.m. and it was pretty much dead. The only store that was open was the European Market. We bought a pretzel (75 cents), berliner (jelly donut)($1) and apple strudel ($2). The dog races weren’t until 3 p.m., so we just walked around a bit and called it a day.

Father