Tonight we went to a birthday party for a 2 year old boy. He blew out his own candle–very impressive.

There were a lot of activities for the little ones. I was surprised that k actually wanted to participate!

They fished mini rubber ducks out of a bathtub. (Didn’t get pictures of that one).

k climbed through a tunnel in the playroom.

k also “dunked” the basketball numerous times. I didn’t know that she even knew what to do with a basketball.

Pin the tail on the Backyardigan

Sidewalk chalk

It’s fun to be up high!

I just realized that I neglected to post a picture of the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, so here it is.

Today I baked a sour cream apple pie a la Posie Gets Cozy. Tomorrow I will be baking pumpkin cupcakes with orange glaze for a potluck. It’s fall!

Today k and I visited the pumpkin patch for the first time with my moms’ group. First, there was a short wagon ride to a petting zoo. k wasn’t as scared this time, and the animals were freely roaming around! She still didn’t want to pet them, however, which was fine with me. Instead, she just liked to crouch down by them and observe.

Then, we took another wagon ride to a corn maze, which was more complicated than I thought. I honestly don’t know if I would’ve found our way out if I wasn’t with other people. k did her share of walking, but when she became tired, I realized just how heavy she has become (26 lbs.)

Since she’s under 2 years old, she didn’t get a pumpkin or veggies, but it was time to meet D for lunch, anyway. We’ll probably end up just buying a pumpkin at Sprouts. We stuffed ourselves at the Indian buffet at Clay Oven near D’s work. All you can eat warm naan? Yes, please. (k enjoyed the rice…”mo-rice?”) We barely ate anything for dinner tonight 🙂

We went to this event for the first time on Saturday morning with my sister and brother-in-law (who shall now be referred to as “BIL”). Even though we arrived less than an hour after it started, the parking lot was full, so we had to take a shuttle. On the way there, the shuttle was very crowded with a lot of kids.

The park where it was held (“Bill Barber Park”) was larger than I expected. There were three separate sections of booths, along with three stages for performers. Of course, we were mainly there for the food. D and BIL opted for Korean bbq ($7). I had beef chow fun and some dim sum from Crystal Jade ($3). Sis had sliders from Rubys. D and I also shared some chicken tikka masala and a samosa ($4). BIL tried a “Chinese hamburger”–interesting. D and I also tried 1 green tea and 1 mango mochilato (mochi with gelato inside, $1 each). The green tea tasted just like mochi ice cream, but the mango had a more pronounced fruit flavor. We brought home a few desserts from Layer Cake Bakery also. I wouldn’t say the festival was quite “global” in that Asia was definitely overrepresented…but it is Irvine, after all!

The green tea mochilato was melty and messy to eat!

L had a ultrasound yesterday, and the doctor said that you probably won’t be able to tell the gender at 4 months. So I decided not to attend the ultrasound since I would have had to take a half-day off and I was really busy at work. However, the technician was able to determine with 99% accruracy the gender. So since I wasn’t there, the technician said that she would put the photo in an envelope (with a label of boy or girl) so that we could find out at the same time. L called me from the parking lot of the doctor’s office and told me what happened. However, I told her just to open up the envelope, since I wanted to know right away and I was still at work. L said it’s a boy!

k is slowly adjusting to her new “class” at CBS. I am told she is crying less and does not have to be held as much. Can’t wait until she actually starts enjoying herself and learning things! Meanwhile, her class at Cypress College was cancelled due to insufficient enrollment. Oh well.

On Saturday I went to the JEMS ladies’ luncheon and learned how to make a lighted holiday garland and earrings. I think I was one of the youngest people there…how come it seems a lot of my peers aren’t into crafts? It was fun. Maybe I’ll show my creations on a later post. D and k had a fun day without me, going to HB for a long run and shopping at South Coast Plaza!

At night D and I went to Open Sesame in Belmont Shore, in part to celebrate our birthdays and just have a date night. We ordered an appetizer of fried potatoes (lots of lemon and garlic), falafel combo and beef skewer pita. D also ordered an iced green tea with orange blossom water and mint–very refreshing. We didn’t have to wait because we got there early, plus they opened another Open Sesame (On the Corner), which is, you guessed it, just down the street, on the corner.

Dark picture of the falafel combo.

Today our church had service @ Mile Square Park, with a picnic afterward. It was fun to sit on our blankets and chairs and worship outside. The weather was pretty cool, too, especially under the trees.

Some people brought their dogs, and k was imitating one of them sniffing the grass during service: