Lots of Walking !!

Last weekend we decided to go walk around Fashion Island at Newport Beach to see the super huge Christmas tree and do some shopping. The weather was beautiful. We all went together along with Sarah's grandparents and her cousin. We had a great time and the pictures came out great. The following day we went out for breakfast/Brunch at El Torito in Dana Point. After eating too much food, we went for a walk to enjoy the weather and burn off some of the food we ate.

Sarah's Potluck Performance

Every November at Sarah's school, they host an international potluck where the children perform dances and the parents bring different dishes to share. This year, Sarah had the lead in her classroom's dance performance. Their class's theme was country music song. The song was by Shanaya Twain. She did an awesome job and received lots of compliments. Here are some pics...

3 Posts in 1...

EID EL-FITER
I know that I have been really lazy in posting entries on my blog. I guess sometimes just finding the time to rest prevail over the time I would spend updating my blog. But finally I rested well this weekend and decided to update my blog three entries in one. Let me start with the earlier and oldest event taking place on October 1st. Aside from October 1st being my b-day, it was also Eid day; the day we celebrate ending our fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. It fell on a Wednesday and we all took time off from work and school to spend this joyous day together as a family. First Sarah opened her present, which I might add is an awesome present. She was asking for a DS for the longest time, so we got her a leapster 2 which is a toy just like the DS but only educational and more targeted for her age group; in my days it was called “game & watch.” She loves that game. Then we were off to prayers and mass service at the Anaheim convention center. I bought her a new dress to wear that day. We headed for breakfast following the prayers at the nearest IHOP. Since the day was supper hot, we decided to rest in the afternoon and go out for dinner. We went to our favorite Sushi place. Of course we had work & school the next morning so we couldn’t do so much on that day.












WEDDING
My next post is for a wedding that I attended on Saturday October 11th. Since no kids were allowed, Sarah spent the night at Miriam’s house. She had fun so did we. Below are some pictures from the wedding.



PUMPKIN PATCH
This weekend the 19th of October, we took Sarah and her cousin, Nour, to the pumpkin patch located at the shopping area of Laguna Hills Mall. Sarah and Nour had a blast playing on the rides, petting the animals at the petting zoo, and riding ponies. Sarah loved it so much that we are thinking of taking her back before it ends on October 31st.

My Birthday

I know it is not my b-day yet, but my family wanted to celebrate last Saturday because my parents are going out of town next weekend. I planned for my family to come over for dinner/Iftar that day to try a taste some of my professional cooking skills. They wanted to surprise me by throwing me a birthday party at the same day since all the family was going to be there.

It was not really a surprise for me since Sammy bought the cake and put in my fridge…hehehe. At least they tried and I appreciate them for trying to fit it in when my parents are available. That day we all had such great fun. The kids had a blast together. We had great food, followed by cake and tea. I received so many gifts; they are all wonderful. Sammy surprised me with very nice present that he calibrated with my sister in law, Rere, to get for me. He was so secretive about it and I felt that there was something going on, but I couldn’t guess what it was. Now I have myself a nice Coach purse… So cute…. It was nice surprise !! Thank you all who came that day and participated in celebrating my 21st b-day

Viva Mexico !!

So I finally went to Mexico!! Yep we did this Saturday. It is funny how the whole plan unraveled. This Saturday we were suppose to go to Huntington Beach. The plan changed to San Diego, then finally Mexico. All was decided in less than half an hour and off we went. Not much packing was needed. We just grabbed our passports, hats, and extra sweaters. Our final destination was Rosarito city.

Four hours and we were there, right by the beach. We took a very nice walk followed by an incredible lunch at a Venice restaurant for seafood. The combo plates were huge; it comes with appetizer, salad, soup, and the main dish. I ordered their seafood special which consists of half a medium sized lobster, huge fish filet, Spanish rice, grilled shrimp, and fried huge piece of squid. I finished my whole plate along with the salad, seafood soup, and the Grande shrimp cocktail. Of course I had to try the oysters, crab legs, corn chips, salsa, and homemade tortillas. All this was gobbled down with a 2 icy diet soda. If you were thinking what about my diet? The answer is “diet on Monday.” The weather was incredible. The city is so clean; not like what I expected at all.

On the way back, the line to cross the border was only an hour long, which we didn't really feel because we were trying all different types of foods from the street vendors by the border. Of course I had to go for desert. I tried their fried Churros which came in a bag stuffed of a whole bunch of them (kinda like fries). Ymmm Ymmm Ymmm. Once we were in San Diego, we noticed an outlet and of course we had to go in and see the deals. It was very decent and the prices were very reasonable. The outlet ended our trip and off we went home. We arrived home at 10:00pm then watched the Olympics till we fell asleep at midnight. Nice ending to a beautiful day.

Koko's 2nd B-day

Koko’s b-day turned out to be very nice. All the cousins had a great time. It was a water play day with Cars as the theme. We brought 2 inflatable pools and sprinkler mat and placed them all in my dad’s backyard. It was a hot day, so playing in the water & barbequing were such a perfect idea. Like I said all of us had a great time.

Happy 4th Everyone !!

It was so nice to have 4th of July on a Friday. 2 days of partying and one for resting. It is an Elmalki family tradition to celebrate 4th of July at the state park in Huntington Beach. As every year, we wake up early and be there by 9:00 am. This year we were lazy and arrived at 10:00am which by then the park was already closed. After half an hour of circling PCH, we found a place to park and carried all of our stuff on 2 loads. We brought enough stuff to last us for days. Sarah had a great time with her cousin Nour; as both enjoyed the water, sun, and sand. We left by 5:00pm. Yes, we never stay to see the fireworks. However, later that night we went for Italian ice cream (Gelato) and it was our luck that we got to watch the fireworks from the ice cream store while enjoying the ice cream. It turned out to be a great 4th after all.