Vacation Day 10: Toy Story 3 and Long Beach

Yes, I realize we can see Toy Story 3 anywhere, but we just couldn't wait until we came home.  This time we didn't try to see it somewhere famous like Hollywood Blvd or Downtown Disney (there's an AMC theatre there).   We went to a random AMC theatre much like the ones in Canada.  In fact, I'd speculate that the ones in Canada are trying to look like California.  Anyway, pretty good movie, particularly the intro.

Later we went to Long Beach, because the internet said it had the warmest beach in LA.  Finally a real swim in the ocean!  It was kind of like swimming in Lake Ontario, only salty, and with palm trees as a backdrop.  I'm hoping to get a lot more ocean beach days out of this trip.  We were there for almost two hours, and William didn't want to leave so he refused to rinse the sand off himself (when I washed him off he knelt down in the sand in defiance) so he drove home all sandy.  We took a dip in the hotel pool to clean up.

Later on, Adam had a craving for a buffet-style restaurant.  So we typed "Buffet" into the GPS.  The first place we found had a bunch of angry people standing around demanding refunds.  Next we drove somewhere that was closed down. Finally we ended up in Korea Town, where we ate at a BBQ Buffet.  Most of the food consisted of raw meat that you cook yourself using a grill in the middle of your table.  Kind of cool, but not the most kid friendly idea.  Jadzia turned the grill on herself because the high chair was placed in front of the controls.  Oops!  I actually quite liked the food, but I think Adam was looking for a more traditional buffet.  He approved of their soft serve ice cream machine though.  William enjoyed the sushi and Jello.

Mom's Birthday Buffet

Today is my Mom's birthday so the whole family went to the Red Maple Buffet (which serves chinese food, go figure). Jadzia made a gigantic mess under her chair from "trying" the food a little too enthusiastically, while William enjoyed choosing pork perogies, fish, fruit, and large quantities of jello. I sat across from my good friend Eireann, who is pregnant with my future niece or nephew. She's 14 weeks along, so they are officially telling people (although most of us already knew, we just weren't permitted to broadcast it on the internet).

Favourite foods of the evening: salmon, chicken on a stick, pork perogie-like thing, fried shrimp, ice cream on a waffle.

Disappointing foods: onion rings, nut pie, sticky rice.

I didn't have any wrapping paper but Mom's present (a pedometer) was just small enough to be wrapped in one of Jadzia's diapers (much to my amusement). I always make my own card, and I like to have a subtle hint about the present. This time, I printed a picture of my Mom reading to William and Hunter, with a pic of Jadzia on the back of the card. I tried to get William to give me my hint.

Me: What should we put on this card?
William: A car.
Me: Where should I draw the car?
William: In front of William and Hunter and Omi.
Me (after drawing the car): Now what should we make Omi say? Something about walking?
William: Go on the road!
Omi's speech bubble: Go on the road.
Me: Now what should William say? Something about walking?
William: Right there! Right there! Right there!
Me: I'll write it right there, but what should it say?
William: Right there! Right there! Right there!
William's speech bubble: Right there! Right there! Right there!
Me: What should Hunter say?
William: Something about walking!
Hunter's speech bubble: Something about walking!
Me: What should Jadzia say?
William: Something about crying!

Okay, so the card made no sense, but the process was fun, and the present hint was subtle enough for my liking.

Everyone enjoyed the birthday dinner but, though we had many buffet desserts, we lacked a birthday cake. I did have a fortune cookie though: "Someone is looking up to you. Don't let them down."