Living An Intentional Life
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.
Aww…a father-daughter moment.
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. 
Towards the end she started nodding off!
Today D took care of k from the early morning until 4 p.m. while I was at a womens’ conference at church.
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. 
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. 
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.
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.
And sometimes, more than one at a time!
Happy Birthday, Sis, (aka Sister-in-Law, and Auntie)!
D was gone on a business trip all last week. He came home on Friday. I had to laugh when I saw his suitcase:
I had bought this Hello Kitty luggage tag in Kona last year. I asked D why he didn’t take it off before his trip and he said he was just too lazy. I guess he is really secure in his manlihood!
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.
Jr. Firefighter
Sampling a blue icee
D was able to test-ride a Segway.
We saw Commander Chuck Street of KIIS FM fame with his Diet Pepsi 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.
Here are the highlights of our lovely three day weekend.
Sat.: D ran over sixteen miles, a personal record. He can elaborate on that one if he wants. We went to a graduation party for two Talbot grad students. 
Cake by King’s Hawaiian. Food by Ono Ono–yum! Plus, we took home a ton of leftovers; actually, 6.6 lbs–hehe. D went to a CSULB v. CSUF baseball game with some Mazda guys.
Sun.: Church. D did laundry and ironed shirts, yes!
Mon.: Harbor House in Sunset Beach for breakfast. 
Blueberry pancakes and Denver omelet. I think the waitress was laughing at me taking a picture. We figured out that k’s favorite meal is breakfast, since she LOVES eggs.
Went to Huntington Beach, but only for a bit since it was overcast and we didn’t bring enough quarters for parking. 
Went to Downtown Disney, and just walked around for a bit. Sorry, no pictures!
On Thursday k and I picked up two of my friends from high school and we went to Taste of Seal Beach at McGaugh Elementary, my alma mater. I thought I might see someone from my past, but instead we ran into k’s pediatrician. I guess he has a son that goes there. That was random. The tickets were $10, and various local restaurants had samples to taste:
320 Main
Beachwood BBQ
Blackboard Bistro
Bogart’s Coffee
Cold Stone Creamery
El Burrito Junior
Finbars
Hennessey’s
Islands
Jamba Juice
Mahé Restaurant
Marie Callender’s
McDonald’s
Naples Ribs
O’Malley’s
Patti Bakes
Panda Palace
Pick Up Stix
Rubio’s
Starbucks
Taco Surf
Tropical Juice
Walt’s Wharf
Woody’s Diner
Yucatan Grill
Z Pizza
The standouts to me were Yucatan Grill (I think it was chicken?, rice and plantains) and Beachwood BBQ (mini pulled pork sandwiches). It seemed like too many restaurants did regular mini sandwiches, which weren’t too memorable. My friends really liked the clam chowder from Walt’s Wharf, but I’m not a clam chowder person. It was also weird that O’Malley’s had a really spicy chili (just like the Irish do it?) k liked the cheese pizza from Z Pizza and the pasta from Finbar’s.
Sorry this doesn’t look too appetizing. This is half way through our first plate of food. We went for one more round of “main” course tastings plus a little dessert.
The one complaint I have is that you had to get all of your food before leaving the gym. Since the plates were on the small side, I wanted to do two rounds, but there was nowhere to sit inside! So we had to awkwardly stand and eat. Then, when we went outside for the coffee/dessert, it had been raining, so all of the tables were wet. I guess that wasn’t their fault, but still…it seems like there could have been a better set-up.
The gym seemed smaller than I remembered:
This was the tree where I was punished for not picking up two pieces of trash before going to recess. I don’t remember the exact details, but I remember there was some sort of miscommunication and that I did not purposely break the rule. I was so embarrassed, because only the “bad” kids had to sit there. One of the teacher’s aides was surprised to see me there and asked what happened–I think she felt sorry for me. Oh, the trauma.
On Thursday, k and I went to visit D at work. After making the rounds at his office, we went to Fukada for lunch. It is a popular place, so we knew that we should get there early. It opens at 11:30; we arrived at 11:21. Of course, there was a line of at least a dozen people already, spilling into the parking lot. My expectations were duly raised. At 11:30, the doors opened, and there was a rush to get a table. No actual pushing and shoving, mind you, but enough to make me feel a little tense.
Fukada is known for their noodle/rice lunch combinations for $8.95. I had the cold soba with mountain vegetables and oyako don (with brown rice). D had hot udon with tempura flakes and crunchy roll. I also talked him into getting the cold iced green tea after reading Yelp reviews. It was the greenest green tea I’ve ever seen or tasted. I should’ve taken a picture of it. Just picture swamp juice. Actually, there is a picture on Yelp.
Everything was good, although I guess I’m not one to get too excited about noodles. I don’t think my palate is refined enough to distinguish the very best. The decor was fresh and modern and I liked how they brought special tableware for k to eat off of. If I was a Yelper I would give it four stars. Since there were many more people waiting after the first round of seating, I felt very rushed. The service was almost too efficient…the waiter brought the check about five minutes after we received our food!
I always forget to put a bib on k and her clothes pay the price.
k doesn’t really have a security blanket or stuffed animal. However, she has, as of late, become attached to her pedometer. It’s funny, because she always takes off her barrettes and hats and shoes, but she’ll wear the pedometer all day. She even wants to put it back on after she takes a bath. If you’re curious, k logs just under 8,000 steps a day.
We returned to Bella Terra again last Saturday night. It has become our official go-to place when we want to get out of the house. It has all of the essentials: Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, restaurants, and entertainment. We ate across the street (again!), this time on the other side of Michaels, at Mitasie. I had read a favorable review in the OC Register, plus I had an Entertainment book coupon, so we gave it a go. Again, it was empty, save one person who came in for a take-out menu. We tried the spring rolls, lemongrass chicken and beef vermicelli. I always end up getting vermicelli dishes…they are so refreshing!
Sorry about the smudged lens on all of these recent pictures. I’ll have to be sure to clean it!
Afterward we listened to #9, a Beatles cover band. You’ve got to give them extra credit for wearing wigs (and even more credit to the guy who grew his real hair to match). k wasn’t as into the band this time, not sure why. Maybe she was just tired from our zoo outing.