The best things in life are free

Alex has brought out the kid in us. We've gone to places we typically would not, like this free event at Piecemakers Friday night.
Piecemakers is a country crafts store in Costa Mesa. This particular evening, they had a small outdoor holiday crafts fair complete with Santa, pony rides, petting zoo and entertainment. The whole place glittered with Christmas lights and decor. We don't really like country crafts, however, this was a great place for finding unique items and gifts.

A morning walk at HB Central Park

Before we ate a big meal for Thanksgiving, we decided that we would go for a walk at Huntington Beach Central Park.

Park Bench Cafe is one of our favorite places to eat outdoors when the weather is nice.

David and Alex admiring the ducks.

The Nix boys celebrating David's birthday.

85 Degrees Cafe

After reading Edwin Goei's review in OC Weekly, we decided to check out the new 85 Degrees C Cafe and Bakery in Irvine. It is in the new Diamond Jamboree Center on Alton and Jamboree. Even on a Tuesday night, the place was packed, full of primarily college kids from nearby UCI.

The pastry and baked goods section is self-serve. You grab a tray and tongs and select what you want. We tried the Taro bun, Caesar the Great, a Calamari loaf (which doesn't have calamari but rather chicken or garlic and the bread is black from the squid ink) and 2 cake slices. We ate the Taro bun which was amazing. Light and fluffy like a croissant without the greasiness and a slightly sweet Taro paste filling. Delish. We saved the rest for munching on at home.


Alex dancing in front of the pastry bar


Taro Bun


Caesar the Great

Holiday Time in Brooklyn

A little holiday cheer from Dan Zanes & Friends:

Mission Inn and the Festival of Lights

Last night we took a trip out to Riverside to visit the historic Mission Inn and see their annual Festival of Lights. We had heard about how beautiful the Mission Inn is, but never had the enthusiasm to make the hour or so drive their. Well, Armilyn's uncle Jun told her how beautiful the Festival of Lights is, so we decided to take a chance. So glad we did.

The place is amazing! The Mission Inn was inspired by the California Missions and other architecture from the Spanish Colonial period. To me it's a cross between a mission and Hearst Castle. There are around 3.5 million lights used in the Festival of Lights and they are strung all through the gardens, courtyards, and exterior. As it was just the second night of the Festival, it was very crowded.


The entrance to the Mission Inn

In the lobby next to the 20 foot tree

So we spend about an hour looking around the Inn and the adjacent shopping plaza and then decide to leave. We are almost at the car, wondering what to do for dinner. We decide to go back and try one of the local restaurants, the Tamale Factory. I get the food and Armilyn and Alex sit out on the patio. Alex does his kid thing of not sitting and instead getting up and walking around, which attracts the attention of Rose, a lady sitting at a nearby table. Rose says Alex reminds her of her grandson, who was a ringbearer at a family wedding Rose attended yesterday at the Mission Inn. Turns out Rose had been staying at the Inn for the past 3 days for a wedding. Her husband was tired, but she wanted to go out and see the sights. We invited her to join us, which kind of upset Alex, who was thinking, "who is this stranger?" But he eventually warmed up to Rose.

Long story short, Rose loves horse-drawn carriages and there were a bunch operating in the area around the Inn. She offered to take us on a carriage ride. We eventually agreed as these rides weren't cheap, but Rose insisted.

Alex and I on our fancy carriage

Rose and Armilyn on the carriage

After the lovely ride, we went back inside the Inn to get some dessert. Since Rose was a guest at the hotel, she was able to get us access to the courtyard restaurant and we also got to go upstairs to see the exterior of the wedding chapel. Armilyn saw the place and immediately decided that this is where we will renew our vows next year.


Alex and Armilyn outside the chapel

Panorama view of the chapel courtyard. Click to expand
We had a wonderful dessert and a fantastic time with Rose.

post by David

The Speed of Alex

Alex is the type of kid who is pretty much on-the-go all the time. Constant drumming or singing always come from his direction. So on Thanksgiving we took a walk in HB's Central Park. It had rained the night before, but the playground slides had dried off, mostly. He got a little wet in the butt and that slowed him down considerably. But that didn't stop him from going down the slide a second time. He is very serious about his sliding, as you can see from this video. This is at FULL speed, I didn't do anything to this video:



post by David

Santa pics & David's Birthday

Happy Birthday David! Nov. 28


This picture was taken at the Derby in LA in 1995.

For David's birthday, we went to Zinc Cafe with Miki, T-kay and the kids and afterwards to Roger's Gardens for Santa pictures. A tradition we started when Alex was born - This is our fifth year!