Given that my second cousin had twin girls a mere six weeks prior, I was surprised to receive an invitation to her daughter’s third birthday party.  I know that I would not have the energy to leave the house, much less plan a birthday bash!

There was a stuff your own stuffed animal station.

D and I both were able to hold one of the babies.  So tiny and precious!  I think they slept throughout the entire party!

There was a fantastic cake, as usual.

k and n had lots of fun at their third cousin’s party!

n is all concentration when working on his Legos!  And yes, that is a living room that has WHITE walls in the background.  It only took D and I about six weeks, but our high-ceilinged living room is no longer band-aid color! 

The ice sculpture exhibit was cool, pun intended. 

We found our friend’s photograph in the gallery.

Charlie’s Chicken plate o’ fried food.

The kids read books for free ride tickets.  I like this ride because it saves you some walking.

I don’t feel the need to go to the fair every year, but we had free tickets, so why not?  We also parked at Experian for free and rode the shuttle.  It was very convenient—highly recommend it. 

Last month we celebrated my mom’s birthday at a park in Irvine.  My brother-in-law made yakitori, roasted peppers and rice balls.  We brought lemon pie.  My mom is such a blessing to me, and the kids love their Zaza dearly! 

I needed a couple of more weeks of vacation, but alas, school has started.  No fancy Pinterest signs for us, just our trusty IKEA whiteboard. 

It is funny how n and k dressed alike.  I don’t think it was on purpose, but they don’t mind. 

k is half-way done with elementary school.  How can that be? 

We had Back to School Night the night before school started, which was a new thing.  k has not been sick one day this summer, but after we returned from Back to School Night, she had a fever!  Later at night she had a stomachache and her fever was worse.  I was having nightmares of her missing her first day.  Thankfully, some children’s Tylenol did the trick and she felt better this morning. 

Last month we went to the Grand Opening of Ugly Pie Co., yet another pizza assembly line joint.  The pizzas were good, but the regular prices seemed kind of steep in comparison to Pieology and Blaze.  They were a bargain when we went, $4? (can’t remember, it was too long ago!)  We took our pizzas to a Baker Ranch community event where they had a free concert, drinks, popcorn and slices of pie.  Yep, it was a classic Friday night for the Lim’s!

Last month k’s girl scout troop took a tour of the Yakult factory in Fountain Valley and n and I were able to tag along.  It was quite fascinating and informative.  We were able to see a lot of the factory in operation, which was exciting.  I love automated processes, so this tour was right up my alley!  I am always reluctant to buy Yakult because of the high sugar content, so I wrote on my feedback form that I would prefer a product that tastes more sour, with less sugar. 

Summer is almost over and I just finished blogging about the trip we took the first week for summer.  Oops.  Well, let me rewind to July 4th.

We ate dinner with my parents the day before July 4th.  My mom made these cool-looking red-white-and blue drinks.  Next year I want to make red-white-and blue ice cubes.  Let’s see if I remember!

On July 4th we went to the Irvine Police Department firework show at Irvine High School.  We were ill-prepared and should have brought the umbrella and more drinks/snacks.  Mazda was a sponsor, so D accepted a plaque on Mazda’s behalf.  n fell asleep during the firework show again! 

It is always a treat when our hotel offers free hot breakfast!  This was the best breakfast of our whole trip!

Mini waffles…how cute.

After breakfast we drove to Henderson, Nevada.

We were so fortunate to be in the air-conditioned car.

We then went straight to the air-conditioned lobby, to our air-conditioned room.

For dinner we went to Buddha Belly Deli, a Yelp find.

We had the Chicken Katsu Club and Char Siu Pork Roll, with furikake chips.  The portions were quite large and everything was delicious!  Beware that the coleslaw has nuts, though (not listed on the menu).

On our way home, we spent a night in Salt Lake City.  We arrived during lunchtime so we went to City Creek Center.  It is a nice shopping center with a retractable roof.  The air conditioning was appreciated, yet there was still an “outdoor” feel.

We split a couple of sandwiches at Bocata, which is located in the food court.  The freshly baked pita pocket bread was so good!  The kids were not too fond of the fillings, so they just had Chick-Fil-A.

There was a cool river running through the mall, with live fish!

After lunch we walked around Temple Square a little bit, but it was warm so we did not last long.

We checked into the Fairfield Inn Suites, which was our nicest place to stay during our entire trip.  Thank you Marriott Rewards!

Our n can still sleep anywhere!

For dinner, we ate at Oh Mai.  It was a cute Vietnamese-American place, and the food was really good, with large portions.  It was a bit warm and stuffy, though. 

I did not realize that Utah is the “Beehive” state. 

After dinner, we stopped by the hotel lobby and grabbed our free coffee and cookies.  I think this is also when we watched a few too many episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.