We had a fun first weekend of summer vacation.

It has become a tradition for me to save up some my winnings (and buy some additional small gifts) to give to the kids after their last day of school.  This should help keep them occupied!

Our last day of school coincided with Flip Flop day at Tropical Smoothie Café.  If you wear flip flops (or “slippers” as JAs like to say) to the store, you get a free smoothie.  Since flip flops are k and n’s preferred footwear, this is very easy for us to do.  We did make a small donation to Camp Sunshine, as well.

On Saturday we took a trip to downtown L.A. to visit The Broad museum.  I had made free reservations months in advance, crossing my fingers that nothing would come up in the meantime.  Luckily, that afternoon was still open for us.  We parked just across the street at the Walt Disney Concert Hall to save a few dollars, and because I had never checked it out before.  I used to pass this building when I went to court and was always curious about it.  The Frank Gehry-design is quite striking and a nice addition to the area.

As we came out of the parking structure, we saw this interesting cloud sculpture.  All I could think about is how it looks like a giant dust magnet that would be really difficult to clean.

We also poked around the rooftop garden area.

I thought this fountain kind of clashed with the building, but to each his own.  Hopefully we will be able to attend a concert here one day!

The circus is back in town!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVLlmeNn_fP/?taken-by=derek.cal

I won ringside seats, so we went last Saturday.  We went last year also, but D was not able to go since he was travelling for work.  This year we were able to stay for the whole show since it was not a school night.  I thought they did a good job of changing up the show; it did not seem repetitive even though there were some common elements.  It was also not as stuffy as last year, so that was nice.

As you can see, the venue is pretty small, so I do not think there were any “bad” seats in the house.

We were close enough to see some of the “behind the scenes” preparation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVLwrTWHEyV/?taken-by=derek.cal

The main clown was back.  His juggling skills are astounding!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVN_5N4HdPY/?taken-by=derek.cal

The trapeze was directly over our heads.  My neck was getting sore!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVOL6MPHGhC/?taken-by=derek.cal

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVOMQyun58k/?taken-by=derek.cal

These guys are crazy!

Only one more day of school, and I can hardly wait.  Summer vacation has taken on a whole new meaning now that I am working at k and n’s school!

Last month k played the violin with her class in a mini-recital.  They had one trimester each of keyboard, voice and violin.  It is nice to see that some sort of music education is still being offered in school.

k was disappointed that the teacher did not let them use the bow during the performance; they only “plucked”.  Maybe next year!

Before May slips away, I guess better post about Mother’s Day.

As you can see, we ate well!

We had reservations, which I highly recommend.  It is nice that Costco sells discounted gift cards, too.  D and my dad planned it, but D is terrible at keeping things surprises.  I am so grateful for my mom and to be a mom to k and n!

Last month n’s Cub Scout den had a field to Fullerton Arboretum on the Cal State Fullerton campus.

We split up into two groups and went on a tour led by volunteers.

Broccoli!

Artichokes!

There were turtles and a koi fish in the pond.

Afterwards we stopped by Mr. Katsu, which is just down the street.  Love that cute mustachioed cat character!

The restaurant is quite small.  We placed our order to go.

We shared an original pork tonkatsu sandwich (and brought some home for D).  This was SO good!  n said it was the best sandwich ever, which is high praise from someone who usually does not care too much about food.  We will have to return to try the potato puffs.

After camping for two nights, it was a relief to be back in a hotel with hot showers and soft beds.  We spent our final night at Towneplace Suites in Henderson, which we had stayed at before.  It is a nice stopping point without having to deal with all of the Vegas craziness.

After washing up we treated ourselves to dinner at Sushi Café.  Ahh Asian food, how we missed you so!  The shrimp tempura monster roll was yummy (basically a sushi burrito).

I’m 99% sure this place is run by Koreans.  When we first arrived there was no one else there, but by the time we left they were having difficulty keeping up with their customers, a lot of whom were for take-out/delivery.

For dessert we went to Hi-Coffee Café.  We picked up a mango bar and guava cake and brought it back to our room to enjoy with the complimentary coffee and hot chocolate from the hotel.  Both were delicious!