NorCal

It was nice to be up in Northern California where I could discuss the benefits of growing up in Sacramento.
#1 American River. Less than an hour from Class 4 rapids, and an awesome bile trail.
#2 Just over an hour to world renowned Napa Valley
#3 1.5 hours to skiing (less than 2 hours to world-class skiing)

Note on American River Bike Trail:
The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail (or American River Bike Trail) is a paved multi-use pathway that runs between the confluence of the Sacramento River with the American River, just north of downtown Sacramento, CA, and Beal’s Point at Folsom Lake, north of Folsom, CA. The trail is 32 miles long, and is used as a major recreational destination, as well as a commuter artery for cyclists. The trail is considered one of the longest paved purpose-built bike trails in the country.

The trip was a lot of fun since I was able to see family and friends. We just got back, so we will post more later.

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k’s Kitchenette

Here is the play kitchen we bought for k. I did some research and decided on this one because a.) It’s small, which is necessary in our small place; b.) It’s made out of wood; c.) It’s really cute! D put it together on Thursday night. He wanted to wake k up to show it to her, but I put my foot down. k was all smiles when she saw it the next morning, though. She loves to “wash her hands”, and bake things in her “hot” oven.
baking cookies
I am slowly starting to make k some felt food. Chocolate chip cookie…yum!

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Bad Bloggers

We’ve been slacking on the blogging lately, not really sure why. Will try to improve next month.

D and I have been doing a lot of analysis about our marriage this weekend…date night, family small group and marriage “audit” with our pastor. It’s definitely been good for us, but we’re pretty tired.

Had fun celebrating the big 3-0 with Uncle K yesterday. First Class Pizza is yummy and filling.

k has been having fun with her 1.5/2 year birthday present. We’ll post pictures later this week.

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1.5 Years Old!

Hard to believe, but k turned 1.5 on Saturday. She will be getting a half birthday present in the mail next week. I decided not to buy her a birthday present for her 2year birthday, since she will be getting plenty of Christmas presents four days later.

I also have to tell everyone about our Freshia experience today after church. We went to eat at Kyochon chicken (KFC, “korean fried chicken”–haha), located in the food court of Freshia, on Beach, in Stanton. We tried combo A for $14.99 (drink, 8 wings and chicken bulgogi rice, plus a coleslaw type side with both dishes). The wings, which they are known for, were definitely tasty, but a bit small, especially for the price. The chicken bulgogi rice sort of made up for it, since it was more filling. It was pretty spicy, so the plain rice and soda it came with was definitely appreciated.

However, it was Freshia itself that stole the show. Get this–white nectarines (although, on the receipt, it said white peaches) @ 5 lb./99 cents; red leaf lettuce @ 20 heads for 99 cents; and cantaloupe @ 20 lb./99 cents. Crazy, right? We were skeptical, thinking something was wrong. We already ate a nectarine, and it was really good! I should’ve bought more. I’ll report later on the other stuff. We also bought snap peas and asparagus for $1.00/lb, plus chap chae, marinated chicken and marinated beef short ribs for $3.00/lb. We had the chap chae and chicken for dinner tonight and we were pleased. Forget Fresh & Easy…try Freshia! (We blended in so well with the Koreans that people tried to speak to us in Korean–haha).

It’s been HOT around here:
HOT!
mommy & me

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Father’s Day Campout

Last night we tested out our REI Basecamp 4 tent in my parents’ backyard. We learned that a. It takes k a long time to settle down before going to sleep in a tent; b. We should zip up the tent ALL of the way to avoid mosquitoes; and c. We need to buy sleeping mats (we had one air mattress, but k kept rolling off). It was still fun piling up a bunch of blankets and snuggling in the crisp air. We’re looking forward to our first “real” campout next month.

REI Basecamp 4
Aww…a father-daughter moment.

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Good Times

On Friday, my mom, k and I took a walk to the park I used to play at near my parents’ house. k is starting to like the swings now.
swingin'

Towards the end she started nodding off!
sleeping on swing

Today D took care of k from the early morning until 4 p.m. while I was at a womens’ conference at church.

tomboy
This is what happens when D dresses k…she turns into a tomboy!

Afterward we had my parents watch k so D and I could have “date night”. We went to Old Town Seal Beach and ate at Beachwood BBQ. D had the combo plate with ribs and brisket (beans and grilled corn on the cob on the side) and I had a pulled chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries on the side. Of course, we shared everything.
beachwood bbq
I liked the pretzel bun that my sandwich came on and the chicken was nice and smoky.

It was cool how each table had a set of sauces to play with.
sauces
D liked the “spicy” for the brisket and the “vinegar” for the ribs. We ended up finishing everything, but we were definitely satisfied at the end. Overall, it has a casual/stylish vibe…kind of reminded me of the Counter’s ambience. I think D will be making room for this place on his List.

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Bookworm

This post is dedicated to my sister, the librarian, who is celebrating her birthday today. Growing up, we loved reading. During the summers we would create a reading corner and challenge ourselves to re-read all of our paperback “Apple” books (remember those?). We also enjoyed participating in the summer reading programs at the library.

I am glad to say that k is also really into books. However, it’s difficult to keep reading book after book to her. Thankfully, she is slowly starting to be able to look at books by herself sometimes.
reading
And sometimes, more than one at a time!

Happy Birthday, Sis, (aka Sister-in-Law, and Auntie)!

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Cypress PD Open House

Today’s family outing was at the Cypress Police Department’s Open House. We were lured by the free hotdogs, chips and soda, but there was some other cool stuff too.

There was a K-9 demo with a dog that speaks Czech. One of the other officers pretended to be a bad guy and this officer pulled him over and had the dog attack him. Too bad I couldn’t get a picture of the attack.
k-9

jr. firefighter
Jr. Firefighter

blue icee
Sampling a blue icee

segway
D was able to test-ride a Segway.

We saw Commander Chuck Street of KIIS FM fame with his Diet Pepsi helicopter.
helicopter

Finally, we took a tour of the police station. I guess we should’ve asked how long it was beforehand. I thought it would be a ten-minute walk through, but it ended up being a fairly detailed 45 minute rundown of everything from the records office to the shooting range and jail cells. Although it was pretty interesting, k was definitely getting restless.

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