Epiphanies

So we watched some news show that was reporting on how male models were in a store to assist women in buying clothes for the men in their life by trying out the clothes for them.  They showed men with their shirts off.  C saw them and went “ew”.  I asked him why.  He said he didn’t like seeing their “hairy nibbles”.  ROFL.

We saw the Radio City Rockettes at the OC Performing arts center in Costa Mesa.  It was pretty cool and festive.  Definitely had xmas spirit.  People were dressed up in red outfits – was cute.  Think the kids really enjoyed it as well as my MIL.  J slept through half of it and he enjoyed the other half.  I was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t give us any trouble at all.

We ate lunch at Mitsuwa’s after that.  They had these New Year’s mochi things that I was tempted to buy just to try out since it was a Japanese traditional thing but I didn’t.  I’ve been trying to be really good about not impulse buying since we’re buying a new house.  I need to refrain.  Of course, I went to Target and that all went down the crapper.

Took the Metrolink with Lisa and Pamela and all the kids to San Juan Capistrano. It cost me about $20 for the train tickets – for me, and B. C was free. Zoomars was fun for the kids because they liked chasing the guinea pigs and putting them in baskets. Buying carrots for the kids to feed the animals was great for the kids. They loved feeding the rabbits, llamas, mini donkeys and emus. Those emus were like velociraptors. They really snapped their necks towards us – was a bit scary. The kids didn’t want to do the pony ride nor the train ride. Oh well. Metrolink was a pretty nice train, multiple levels. I had trouble finding parking though at the station. I had to follow someone around finally in order to get a spot. That was highly stressful when you have a timetable to follow. We ate at Ruby’s later and the kids all had milkshakes and fries. Healthy I know.

Went to the company picnic at William Mason Park.  The idea was great, the execution less than stellar.  If you are going to throw a bbq, make sure it has good food at the very least.  Hot dogs, corn, hamburgers and chicken is the lamest bbq menu you can possibly have for a company picnic.  This is how you show your employees appreciation?  They had some game booths but ran out of stuffed animals relatively quickly.  They should have had a kid only section because it was unfair that adults could play.  The booths were too simple for adults.  The emcees were probably the only hi point.  They got the crowd going with bingo, party games and such.  B won a chess set, a boogie board and two stuffed animals  (one which he won for C).  It was fun meeting Dh’s coworkers though.  I especially liked meeting Robert and his wife Ling because they were super nice and I’ve heard so much about them since we moved out here.

I jumped the gun and fed J organic whole grain rice cereal by earth’s best. Pediatricians say not to feed babies solids before 6 months but I don’t really know if I believe in that. I held off until 5 1/2 but that’s ok.

B had his munchkin performance in the The Land of Oz at school on friday the 15th. I couldn’t go because they don’t allow kids under 4. My in-laws took C to see B in it. It was chaos the night before though. B was all upset that he didn’t have the required jazz shoes so he and I ran all over Spectrum looking for jazz shoes. Miss L threatened the kids by telling them they wouldn’t be in the play if they didn’t have all the elements of their costume. She’s a real piece of work. Anyway, no one knew what jazz shoes were (including me). I figured they were really just ballet shoes for men but I wasn’t sure. Anyway, B thought they looked most like these Kenneth Cole dress shoes. I knew he was probably wrong but he was so insistent so I bought them ($54 – ouch). Needless to say, he didn’t use them in the performance. She allowed him to use black socks. I returned them to Nordstrom’s and they took it back soooo easily. I love these higher end stores.

Dh returned from his London business trip on the evening of the 16th. I was so happy to see him back. It’s pretty lonely without him. The in laws were great while he was away. They came over every day to cook dinner for us. That’s really key when you have an infant that won’t let you put him down for long. Anything I cook has to be prepped within 5 minutes or less. I think that’s the most difficult part of this third kid. I don’t remember having this problem with the other two.

We had an uneventful Father’s day. B made Dh a framed clay portrait. C made Dh a personalized cup and a painted tool belt (we did this at the park with my mom’s club friends). Then we took everyone, including my in laws, to IHOP (their suggestion). Guess they’re sick of the long lines for yum cha. Afterwards we headed to Spectrum and hung out there. We played Great States for family fun night. Was kind of too simple. I think we have to modify how we play this game. For Dh and I we didn’t look but it still was too simple. I think B needs more challenge. For C we just made him do the ‘Find’ cards. I will have to think on how to make this game more fun. It’s definitely more educational but I think it won’t be useful unless we make it more fun. Anyway, my MIL left for a wedding in NY on monday and monday night I went to hang out with my girlfriends.

We went to Roman Cucina. It was pretty good and the host was really charming and cute. It was just 4 of us that night. I split a fettucini primavera with Bh. Delish. It also happened to be martini night. Can’t get better than that. $5 martinis with an entree. I got a white chocolate martini, K got blue ice, and M and Bh both got key lime. We went into ConRev later (sex shop). Didn’t know they existed in OC.

Today, we went to see B perform in his 3rd grade play “Alien Geography”. His line was “Salem Oregon”. It was a cute production. Much more enjoyable than his ACE productions although my in laws said this year it was much better. I guess part of why I felt better was that you felt that all the parts were evenly spread out and to qualified people and NOT nepotism.

We ended tonight at Maizuru. It was pretty good and filling. I didn’t like the sashimi though. It was too cold, like it was just thawed out. That part wasn’t that enjoyable. I also had the fried oysters. I could only eat two and gave the rest away. Dh said it was the nature of the beast. After a few oysters, you just kind of don’t want to eat anymore. We reminisced a lot with the kids today. We realized B has been through a lot of strange things. Some of them:

1. Fell when he was 10 days old (ER)
2. Jaundice (ER)
3. Tylenol scare (ER)
4. Tick latched onto his scalp (via petting a wild dog in Italy).
5. Injured his toe playing baseball with his auntie
6. Ran into a fence and injured a corner of his eye at the Spectrum (ER)
7. Bitten in the back by a neighbor’s dog

C has only been through one trauma: he broke his leg jumping off a box when he was less than 2.

On another note, think I’m losing my milk so it’s just as well that I quit around now.  J is biting and he now has two teeth on his lower front.  Hurts like hell.