Birthday Celebrations Part 2

In my family, birthday celebrations get spread out over about a month. For exmple, the week I was home after finals and went shopping at Kohl's with my mom, that was the official start to my birthday month. Likely some event or outing that happens in mid July, will also be counted for my birthday. It's kinda fun that way.

Anyway, since Tad works starting in the afternoons Thurs-Mon, he agreed to take me home Thurs afternoon. Before coming up to PQ though we cashed in some of my birthday coupons. We shared lunch at Joe's Crab Shack (they gave me a zebra print cowboy hat to wear, it was interesting) and shared an icecream from Baskin Robbin's.

Tad dropped me off and visited a little with my mom before heading off for work. About an hour later, my cousin Michelle and her sister Kim's little girls Jordan and Madison arrived. I helped the girls make melty bead designs, and then it was swim time. Swimming pools are so much more exciting with little kids in them. I watched Jordan do about half a dozen summersaults and then tossed diving rings for her. Kim and the girls' dad Doug arrived just in time for dinner.

I got up bright and early on Friday to go to the train station. My mom dropped me off a little earlier than I neede to be there, so I had plenty of time to sit and people watch. My ride was uneventful (as some train rides can be very eventful). I sat next to two older ladies who were both going to visit family in the San Bernadino area.

I arrived in Fullerton pretty much on schedule and Valencia spotted Becky immediately after deboarding the train. Lunch was a special treat, we went to The Olde Ship, a very cute English pub not far from the train station in Fullerton. I had heard of this place on multiple occasions while a student at Biola, but had never been. Becky had been one time, and thus thought it would be fun to go again. The large group of people at the bar watching the World Cup definitely added to the atmosphere, as did our sweetheart of an English lady waitress.

We took a bit of time deciding what to have, but eventually Becky settled on the Dungeness crab cakes and I decided on the chicken curry. The food was excellent, and we spent quite a bit of time chatting and catching up. Quote of the day "Is there a capital of the Yukon? Are there even cities in the Yukon?" "Maybe, if you count trading posts and railway crossraods as cities. The rest is well..." "Nothing and snow." "Exactly! I've seen Balto, I know what it's like up there!"

After lunch we went to Becky's (kind of) townhouse. Becky is going to be living there in the fall for her second year of grad school, but is saving money by living with family in Rancho Cucmonga for the summer. For these couple weekends while she was playing in the pit orchestra at Biola, her roommates agreed to let her stay over. (Rancho Cucamonga is a good hour from Biola). I dropped my stuff off in the townhouse living room, and then Becky suggested we go for a walk outside. It was certainly a gorgeous day for a walk. We walked around the landscaped areas of the townhouse complex (which I hadn't seen before), walked around the La Mirada Veteran's Park, and then walked around the block.

We spent about another hour upstairs in Becky's room talking and cooling off, and then watched a couple episodes of friends before dinner. For a second year in a row, we picked Red Robin for our birthday dinner. Krista, Dorothy, and Melissa (another roommate of Becky's and Dorothy's) joined us to celebrate. I had a coupon for a free burger, and since Becky and I had had a large, late lunch, we split a bbq burger as well as a mint brownie shake. yum! Red Robin is definitely one of my favorite restaurants. After having our free icecream Sundaes, Becky and Dorothy took off to get ready for call time.

I rode with Krista to campus and we sat and talked by the fountain until it was time for the show, Cats, put on by Biola Youth Theater. Cats is an interesting show, there is only a very loose plot line; most of the show is individual songs about different cats. I did not know this going in, and spent the first act waiting for the plot to start. The cast gave a great performance though, the singing was good, and the dancing was amazing. I do believe the dancing was my favorite part :)

Krista came back to Becky's to hang out for a bit after the show. Becky opened her birthday gift from me, and we did some more chatting =) Saturday morning both of us slept in. When we did get up, Becky made us oatmeal. I packed my stuff up after breakfast and went to lunch (i get hungry very shortly after breakfast, lol) at Wendy's with Dorothy and Krista. Krista drove me back to Fullerton where I just caught my train. Unfortunately, there was track work being done this weekend, so I had to get off the train in Irvine and take a bus back to San Diego. Quote of the day: Conductor "If you are going to San Diego, you need to get off the train in Irvine and board a motorcoach...motorcoach being amtrak's word for 'bus'" lol

The bus ride went fine, long because of traffic, but decent enough. My dad and Steve picked me up from the station, and the rest of my weekend was spent relaxing at home.