Last week D was in Baja, building houses with our church.  I thought the kids might drive me crazy, but it was not too bad.  Just when I needed a break, the kids’ previously scheduled sleepover at my parents’ house occurred.  I am so, so thankful for having them close by and willing to watch k and n whenever needed!  In addition, k had her first “official” sleepover with her girl scout troop at the Long Beach Aquarium!

I was a bit nervous about how she would do on her own, but she did just fine.  This trip was paid for with part of the money that the troop earned selling cookies.  What a neat experience for the girls.

Since n and I were on our own for the night, I treated him to McDonalds for a happy meal.  That made him happy (and yes, his hands do look freakishly large in this picture).

After D came home from Baja, we went to my parents’ house to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

Since my mom likes root beer, my sister made a root beer cake, made with root beer and root beer extract—yum!

On Saturday we met up with D’s cousin and his wife who were visiting from Northern California.  Since they were visiting Anaheim to see the Angels play the Red Sox, we suggested meeting at the Anaheim Packing House.  We went in the afternoon, after k and n’s basketball practice.  The building itself was smaller than I had imagined.  We were able to find street parking, but it was pretty packed.  If we go again, it will definitely be in the morning.  I could not believe how long the line was for Popbar…is it really worth all of the hype? 

It was difficult to find seating for six people to have a conversation.  The kids were tired and antsy, so that did not help.

I like this trend of food halls…there are so many options.  A good meeting place is Han’s Ice Cream, since it is off to the side, and not too crowded.  We tried a scoop of orange chocolate chip ice cream for $3.50.  Their scoops are generous, but the orange flavor was quite subtle.

It was not really time for lunch or dinner, but we also tried the classic poutine from The Kroft ($7).

I have always been curious about poutine—french fries with gravy and cheese curds.  It was good, definitely something you want to share.  I read that another location is supposed to open in another food hall at the District soon.  It will be interesting if these places will be a passing fad or stick around long term.     

It seems that I have been neglecting our blog lately.  One positive is that our house is slowly benefiting from a deep clean which began at the start of summer.  I’m hoping the downstairs will be done before school starts!  One fun outing D and I had last week was watching a free sneak preview of “The Hundred Foot Journey” at Irvine Spectrum.  It has been quite a while since D and I have seen a non-kid movie in the theater.  I enjoyed the characters/story/scenery, and surprisingly, D liked it too.  It would be a good movie to wait to see on DVD, in the comfort of your home…maybe with some take-out Indian food!

On Friday night we went to a pool party and potluck with our small group, whom we have not met with in a while.  The kids had a blast in the pool, which is not surprising.  It is amazing to see how comfortable k is in the water now.  I’m still in that nervous stage with n, though.

The kids loved this raft!  We arrived earlier than everyone else, so they had it to themselves for a long time. 

Chillin’ in the hot tub. 

Yesterday we went to the OC Fair, mainly because I won tickets to see the Fresh Beat Band, which included free admission to the OC Fair.  Unfortunately, D was not able to take off of work early, so he met us there (he rode the OC Metrolink Express bus).  We went earlier in the afternoon because we wanted to take advantage of the $2 Taste deals they have at various booths on Fridays from 12-4 p.m.  I really liked this concept because it allowed us to try way more things without spending too much (food is really expensive at the fair!)

We started out with a semi-healthy choice: half a grilled corn on the cob.  n said he didn’t want it, but once he tried it, he liked it!  k has always been a corn on the cob girl.  We ordered it dipped in butter, and we sprayed some lemon juice on it and sprinkled on some parmesan cheese.  I think a full cob is usually $4.75, so the “taste” is not that great of a deal, but it did allow for us to just have a taste, which is the whole point.

We never pass up an opportunity to take a picture with cut-out faces…

…or with walking, bespectacled ice cream cones!

Next we had a “taste” of Tasti Chips, which are fresh fried potato chips.  I thought this was a nice portion size, and definitely worth $2.  We sprinkled some seasoned salt on these chips hot out of the fryer.  The kids were surprised the chips actually tasted like real potato—hah.

Look at k eyeing those Tasti Chips!

The kids filled out forms to show they read two books in order to receive three free ride tickets each.  This is a really good deal, since each ride usually costs between $3-$6 per rider.  We redeemed the first three tickets by riding the sky ride that stretches across the fair high above the treetops.  The kids were pretty scared on this ride (the minimum age is 5, so n just made it).  Savings: $12.

I was so afraid n’s flip flops would fall off!

These stilt-walker guys were kind of scary.

Next up—two deep fried Oreos from Chicken Charlie’s.  These were surprisingly good.  The Oreo gets soft and cakey and the batter tastes like a donut.  I thought $2 was a fair price for these and two between the three of us was enough to satisfy my curiosity.

We also had a taste of two drinks: mini lemonade slushie and mini orange julius.  The orange julius is the better choice.  It was a little larger than the tiny lemonade slushie, and had more of an icy consistency.  The lemonade slushie turned into lemonade after about 1.5 minutes.  The guy ahead of me ordered two tastes of orange julius, but for that price you should probably just order a regular size for about 75 cents more!

By this time, we were trying to beat the clock as it was nearing 4 p.m.  I wanted to eat something more substantial so we would have to eat less for dinner.  We went with 1/2 of a “mile-long” hot dog.  The picture showed a hot dog extending far beyond the bun, but our half was just as long as the bun.  The half ended up being the size of a regular hot dog, if not a little smaller, since it was skinny.  However, this was a decent deal, since the full size was something like $6.50!  The bun was also a step us from cheap hot dog buns from the grocery store.  The kids surprised me by letting me add some finely chopped onion at the condiment stand. 

Our final taste of the night was six piping hot mini cinnamon sugar donuts.  I also thought this was a nice deal, since I would not have wanted to order a baker’s dozen (which is a reasonable $5).

Next, we visited the animals.

It was pretty warm, but there was a breeze.

After D came, he bought a slice of pizza and we caught some of the Chinese acrobat act.

Then we used our other ride tickets on the dragon ride (think Teacups).  Savings: $9.

Despite our snacking we still needed something for dinner.  Looking for some non-fried food, we opted for this teriyaki chicken bowl for $8.  Too bad there was not a chicken-veggie option.  It was passable, (Flame Broiler is way better), but it was a good amount and enough to satiate our appetites before the concert. 

Well, we made it through four days of Girl Scout Camp.  Since I was volunteering, n was able to attend as well.  It was hot, and tiring, but also fun at the same time.  The theme for the camp was musical theater.  Our unit was called “Music Man”, and now I want to go watch some musical movies.

The girl with the green face had makeup applied as part of the theater makeup demonstration.

n and his boys’ unit.  I was not too sure how he would do with all of those older boys, but he was fine.  His camp name was “Hoopster”.  He really hit it off with “Captain’s” son, who was nine years old.

I really wanted to know what they were talking about. 

This song leader amazed me.  I do not understand how she could still have a voice after singing at the top of her lungs for four days for five rotations. 

One of the rotations was “Speaker”.  This improv group was impressive, since I know that is something I would never be able to do.

Maybe k or n will have this music director as a teacher at their future high school.

Water game where they had to pass a container of water with hooks.  Quote of the day from one of the girls: “This game would be a lot more challenging if this [water] was hot lava”.  Another funny quote when I asked another girl if she enjoyed playing freeze tag during free time.  “Yeah!  No one tagged me.  I think it was because of a combination of my speed and stamina.”   Haha!

There were also community projects, including making seed balls for the Irvine Conservancy.

I will talk about our hats/swaps in another post, but that was a lot of fun as well.

I’m thinking I will have to volunteer again next year, since n had so much fun!

Tonight we went to a concert at Mike Ward park in Irvine, which is near the Woodbridge Lake.  The city of Irvine puts on a series of concerts every summer, but this is the first time that we have made it.  We brought a picnic dinner consisting of Subway sandwiches (1/2 off, thanks to a coupon in the mail).  We brought chairs and blankets to sit on.  Since there is basically no shade, we should have also brought an umbrella.  (They ask you to take down the umbrellas once the performance starts).  Luckily, we ran into a family we know that had a huge EZ up, so we were able to “borrow” some shade.  We also ran into two families from k’s girl scout troop.

There were some kids activities set up before the concert started.  The kids made musical medals, consisting of paper plates with beans stapled inside to make noise.

We also had time to cross the bridge to see the lake.

Contemplating how deep the water is.

Enjoying a drink from the “Water Monster”.

Conductor Carl St. Clair teaching the kids how to conduct with straws.

This is how n likes to eat Oreos.

Irvine Mayor Steve Choi declared July 27 to be “St. Clair Day”.  This will be Mr. St. Clair’s 25th year conducting the Pacific Symphony.  We only made it through the first three songs because there was so much talking beforehand. 

Conductor k.

There was an opera singer for the Carmen songs.  I my new zoom!

Interesting sky on the way home.

It brings joy to my heart when I see k and n playing together and really enjoying each other’s companionship.  Lately, they have had a renewed interest in playing with their “babies” and our play food/kitchen.  D and I had a good laugh when we came across this feeding setup.

This is one of the most busy weeks of our summer: VBS.  I am an assistant teacher for first grade, and the kids are in the K and 2nd grade classes.  The theme is Son Treasure Island.

Here are the crafts from today.

k’s craft (top) & n’s craft (bottom).  There are rotations throughout the morning: Classroom, Assembly, Crafts, Storytelling (small groups), Snacks, Rec, Missions, Assembly, Classroom.  It is a packed schedule!  I hope we make it through this week without any meltdowns.  Next week is girl scout camp!

As mentioned earlier, we stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield on the way home from Napa.  We were without a camera, so this will be purely narrative.

The kids started to get excited when the GPS told us to turn onto “Jelly Belly Way”.  Outside of the factory, there were various vehicles wrapped in bright Jelly Belly ads.  The first tour started at 9 a.m., and we were able to join the first group of the day.  The tour was free, and quite interesting.  I always like to see how things are made.  Our tour guide Brianna was quite energetic and added fun to the experience.  At the different stops we were handed various samples of jelly bellies in different stages, and watched informational videos.  No pictures were allowed during the tour, so at least I didn’t miss out on that picture taking opportunity.  They have quite a few Jelly Belly portraits, which are mosaics made of Jelly Bellies, including the famous one of Ronald Reagan.  At the end, we were each given a mini bag of Jelly Bellies, which was a nice treat! 

After the tour, the gift shop is a must stop.  There is a tasting station where you can ask for three different flavors at a time (and get back in line if you want to try more).  They had a lot of unusual flavors, including the Harry Potter ones, which included Barf, Pencil Shavings, and Canned Dog Food.  (We weren’t curious enough to try them).  We did however, buy some bags of Belly Flops, which are the jelly beans that do not meet the uniform standard.  (Whoever thought of bagging them and selling them as Belly Flops is a marketing genius!)  They also had a promotion of Buy 3, Get 2 Free.  We could not pass up this deal, so we ended up buying some to give away as presents. 

All in all, I am glad we made the stop.  It was a little out of our way, and forced us to deal with rush hour traffic on the way home in LA, but it was worth it.  Again, k and n said it was “more fun than they thought it would be”, which either means it was lots of fun, or they just do not have high expectations of our outings.