After the race yesterday we went out to eat with my parents and k. While we were waiting for our food, k indicated that she wanted to eat the lemons that D had brought over from the condiment bar. I thought that if we gave her a taste, she would realize that they don’t taste good, and she would wait for our real food. Nope. She took a bite, made a face, and then proceeded to try to eat the whole thing, rind and all.
Long Beach Grand Prix
We left church a little early today to go to the Long Beach Grand Prix. (My parents took care of k for the afternoon). We rode the Metro Blue Line into downtown LB and it dropped us off right at the entrance.
D went last year, but this was my first. Since it was the last Champ Car race, we were able to watch a bit of history in the making. (D tells me the IRL is taking over, but this whole racing world is totally foreign to me).
We came prepapred, with earplugs, water and chips. And 55 spf sunscreen that we had just bought at Costco yesterday. Turns out other people weren’t so prepared and we ended up letting the couple in front of us use some of the sunscreen, as it was already apparent that they were burning. Too bad it was really meant for the face, and not much comes out at one time. Oh well, a little is better than nothing, I guess.
The race lasted two hours. We had grandstand seats right before the start/finish line thanks to Mazda. One lap was a little over a minute, so there wasn’t too much time between cars whizzing by, but they go so fast it all just becomes a blur. Plus, we had earplugs on, so it was hard to talk with D. Also, we didn’t really care who won, so it wasn’t the most exciting thing, but it was interesting to see it live.
Before the race began, there were a couple of skydivers that jumped from an airplane over the crowd. One landed right in front of us. Good thing he had good aim.
This was the car with pole position, but he didn’t finish because of a stall.
I like watching pit crews. They’re amazingly fast, and they get so excited when they’re done, giving high fives, etc. I wonder what they say to each other? Dude, good tire changing!
People were having roof/balcony parties on the buildings around downtown LB.
I took a really short video clip with my camera to give you a better feel for the action. It was really difficult to take a still picture of the cars going by since they were so fast!
We didn’t stay for the drifting competition after the race, but here is one of the guys lining up.
Overall, it was a nice day to spend in the LBC with D.
Goose Festival
Our family outing for the day was the Wayzgoose Festival at UCI. It is the campus open house held every year, with food, games, car show, and music.
Side note: During the week, D has a lot on his mind. Usually about Wed. or Thurs. I start mentioning the activities we have planned for the weekend, which he doesn’t really pay attention to. I had mentioned we were going to Wayzgoose a few times, but I guess he didn’t fully process it. When we arrived at the parking lot he told the attendant that we were there to attend the Goose Festival. The attendant kind of smiled and said, you mean the Wayzgoose? Um, yeah, that’s it.
Anyways, I thought it was cool how the students were very involved in running it. (Unlike Berkeley’s Cal Day, at least when we were there). Reflecting the diverse student body, the food booths had some interesting options. I think Korean BBQ was a bit overrepresented, however. There was a lone Japanese booth, serving spam musubi. D wanted to support the Latino booth, but we ended up going the Asian route…Vietnamese pork sandwich with black milk tea, Filipino chicken skewers and lumpia (everything on the menu was a $1!) and a Korean BBQ skewer plate, complete with kimchi.
k enjoyed the chicken skewers.
There were a lot of booths! It was much better than the other Irvine festival we went to a couple of weeks ago.
There was a presentation by the Santa Ana Zoo. That will be one of our next family outings.
Pigtails!
k’s hair is getting long enough to play with now. Here she is sportin’ some pigtails. I used to hate when my my mom put my hair in pigtails. I think I thought I looked like Yoda, or something. I feel like I should enjoy doing things like this now, before k can complain. She does tend to take the hair bands out, though (she leaves barrettes in longer).
4th Year Anniversary
Today was our 4th year wedding anniversary. D got home early, around 6 p.m. I made D’s favorite home-made meal. Salmon with teriyaki sauce with rice with a side of veggies.
Yesterday I bought some good strawberries at a stand and gave some to my parents. 
Look at the size of that thing! You just can’t find that in the grocery store, though you pay dearly for it.
Today my mom brought over this:
D says we should buy food for my parents more often!
A Celebration @ Morton’s
As D alluded to in our last post, we went out on Saturday night to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary and D’s 2nd work anniversary. We left k with my parents and went to Morton’s by South Coast Plaza to indulge in their Steak & Seafood special for 2 for $99. I had been a few times to the one in downtown LA for work, but D had never been before. The Special comes with salads (we ordered 1 Caesar and 1 Morton’s), seafood appetizers (we ordered Shrimp Alexander and Crabcake), baked potato and vegetable (we had the grilled asparagus with balsamic vinegrette) and filet mignon. The waiter said we could substitute the cut of steak for an additional price, so D ordered the ribeye for $1 more. Oh, and it also comes with desserts (we ordered 1 chocolate souffle, and took a piece of key lime pie to go). Yes, it was a splurge, but it was a meal to remember. The service was really good (I liked our waiter–not snooty, not overly-friendly) and the food was delicious. Probably our best overall dining experience as a couple to date.
Kind of an awkward position to take a photo.
I love Morton’s onion bread–and they give you a whole loaf!
Morton’s Ribeye with Crabcake
There’s always room for dessert!
Two Accomplishments in 2008
I am excited what God had planned for me so far this year. In February, I completed a Half-Marathon in under two hours. And in April I stayed at a company for two years in finance. My next goal is to run a Full Marathon in 4.5 hours. However, I am not planning on running a marathon until Feb 2009.
To celebrate our anniversary and me being at a company for two years we are going to a special restaurant. We have never spent $100 for the two of us at a restaurant. We have spent about $150 at a Luau but that includes a show and food and drinks. In addition, we have spent just over $100 in Napa but that was for four people. So the most we’ve spent is around $75 and we have done that around three times. So tomorrow night we are breaking the barrier. Stay tuned…
Adventures with a Toddler
I’ve decided that k and I need to get out more. I think that before I had this mentality that fun things should be saved for the weekends, when we have D to accompany us. However, I think that k will benefit from weekday outings, and if it is really fun, we can always go again, with D. Today we went to a local park to feed ducks. (I brought along some stale bread). k tried to feed the ducks by attempting to get up close, but they would waddle away from her. She hasn’t mastered throwing yet.
Asics Love
I find it troubling that D has this many pairs of Asics. Granted, the green pair is mine, but is this really necessary? D claims that running is a relatively “cheap” sport, which I guess is true. Still…I don’t really believe he needs a pair every 4-5 months. I recently bought the green Asics because D seemed to be such a believer in them. He really has brand loyalty to Asics, and now I can see why! I think they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. I didn’t even buy the fancy model, either. I figured that wasn’t really necessary since I’m not doing hard core running in them, just the elliptical machine and running errands. 🙂
Play Date
Today I planned a play date with some moms and their kids at Bella Terra. They have a free concert on the first Monday of every month, and every Monday during the summer. This was our first time. Too bad there really wasn’t much music–this week was a guy doing balloons, juggling and a stand-up routine. The older kids seemed to really enjoy it, though. It was also announced that it was the most crowded event so far. We all ate lunch together afterward and k had fun running around on the astro turf a bit. I love that I have time to do things like this with k.