Wokcano is part of a restaurant chain and one just opened up by our house.  The building has been in the works for a long time now, and D would comment that he wanted to go there almost every time we passed by.  I am not sure what appealed to him, but when I saw that there was a coupon for a free entrée on your birthday, I knew we had to go.  D was traveling for business on his birthday and he was supposed to travel on my birthday as well.  As it turns out, he was able to be home for my birthday on Friday.  After I took k to hula practice, we went to dinner just after 7 p.m., which is VERY late for us.

The first thing I noticed upon walking in the restaurant is the noise level.  This is not a place that my parents would like to visit!  There is loud music, making it necessary for everyone to raise their voices in order to carry on a conversation.  The décor is pretty upscale.  It has a “club vibe”, which feels weird in this decidedly surburban big box shopping center.  There were a lot of families, most of whom were quite casual, so we didn’t feel out of place.

Our waiter was an enthusiastic young Asian American guy.  He was helpful in guiding us through the menu.

We made two of our entrees a complete dinner for $4, which adds on a salad, bowl of hot and sour soup or miso soup, and rice.  Since the entrees are priced so high, I would expect this to come with the entrée.  The dressing was good, but there was too much.  I always like hot and sour soup, which worked out since the kids preferred the miso soup.

Black Pepper Beef Mignon (very tender) & Chicken Lo Mein (kids’ favorite).

Grilled Seabass (most expensive dish, used birthday coupon).  This was ok…kind of dry, and not too much flavor.

Even though this picture is grainy, I like it because it conveys the extra happy mood that k was in that night.

D insists that if he had an unlimited amount of money, he would eat here every week.  Since I do not foresee that happening anytime soon, it will probably be a while before our next visit!

When I picked up n from school today he had a sly smile on his face.  He then told me that he lost his tooth!  It had become pretty wiggly the past week, so it was not too surprising.  However, we have been waiting a long time for this day.  In kindergarten and first grade, teachers made a big deal about losing teeth, but n’s teeth were not budging back then.  I thought I was in third grade when I lost my first tooth, which would have been really late, but maybe my memory is not the most accurate.  Because n lost his tooth at school, he was able to get a treasure chest from the nurse to keep his tooth in!

His adult tooth looks huge in comparison to his tiny baby teeth.  He’s growing up!  sniff, sniff.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKtv5M8hUtF/?taken-by=limbylim

I made this tooth fairy bag just a couple of days ago, since I knew the day was coming soon.  Too bad he already knows the tooth fairy story thanks to having an older sister who started losing teeth four years ago.

D turned 40 yesterday, while he was on a business trip in San Diego.  We had a small family celebration the day before.  He was gone for most of the day at the Rams game (also with work), so  the kids and I had a lot of time to buy presents and decorate.

I found the idea on Pinterest to thread baker’s twine with a needle through the balloon ends to make a garland.   It worked out quite nicely.

I won this Ugly Christmas Sweater, which D will be proudly sporting once the weather turns cooler.  We also bought him khaki pants, socks, new water belt bottles and Shot Bloks.  Hopefully we’ll be able to go on a fun vacation to properly celebrate.  D always says he values experiences over things.  Maybe we can make it a joint celebration since I will be turning forty next year!

After Santa Monica we hopped on PCH and made our way to Point Mugu, which is north of Malibu.  Even though the traffic is almost always bad on PCH, it is nice to roll down the windows, let the breeze in, and take in all of the sights.

We checked into our campsite and quickly set up.  I asked everyone if they wanted to hike or go to the beach, and the consensus was beach.  A quick drive across PCH and we were there.

The beach was pretty nice, but there were some sharp stones jutting out of the sand that you had to watch out for.

The last week before school started we took a quick trip Channel Islands National Park.  We left on Sunday after church and had lunch in Santa Monica.  Our first stop was a small shop called Sunny Blue.

Their specialty is omusubi, or rice balls.

As you can see, the store is really tiny inside.

I ordered the Sunny Blue Curry, D had the Kara Tuna, and the kids each had a Tokyo Tori (chicken with sweet and sour sauce).  Normally I would balk at paying $3-4 per rice ball, but I must admit, they were really good.  k even decided that rice balls are her all time favorite food!

n was not to big a fan of the complimentary barley tea, but I thought it was nice and refreshing.

Next we walked around the adjacent farmers market that is held on Sundays.

The longest line was at the Country Kitchen omelette station, so we hopped in line.  The assembly line was actually quite fast, so our was not too long.

You pick your own toppings, and your omelette makes its way down each burner until it is done.

We picked bacon, asparagus and cheddar, and it came with potato chips, which I found a little odd.  It was quite large, but we finished it without a problem.

We picked up a bag of oranges and bread for our dinner and walked back to our car.

I really liked how the paint here matched the succulents.

Doesn’t this look like a neat elementary school?

Cool public art!

We do not make it to Santa Monica very often, so it was a nice stop.  The weather was so pleasant and everyone seemed to be having a good time enjoying their Sunday.

We are starting our second week of school over here…the first time that we have started in August.  For Labor Day we took a quick trip up north to visit D’s family.  We borrowed a new CX-9 and put the radar cruise control to the test on the I-5.  It worked really well!  I always thought this was a feature that cars should have, and the future is now!  You set the speed you want to “cruise” at, and the car will maintain that speed, but slow down if the car in front of you is slower without hitting the pedal or brakes.  I also liked that it taught D what a safe distance between cars is, since I always nag him about tailgating. 🙂

On Sunday we ate lunch at Hurley’s in Yountville.  We were able to meet up with D’s cousin from Singapore, (upper right) whom we have not seen since our wedding!

The kids were also able to hang out with their cousin.  Grandma always buys them fun toys, and this time they played with a straw connector kit.