LIVING...Isabella turns 4, Disc Golf and Asian Market Fun!

The day finally came that Isabella has been talking about for a whole year.  She loves birthdays and she especially loves HER birthday.  I know that she loves the idea of presents but she really was looking forward to doing something really fun for her birthday.  Unfortunately, she came down with a cold Thursday night that kept us home on Friday.  We ordered pizza and watched a movie and she loved every minute of it.  She is getting her ears pierced on Sunday and can't wait to be able to wear Hello Kitty earrings.  Hello Kitty was the theme for her party.  She loves the store.  I think it's because everything in it is pink and that is her favorite color.  So yes the cake is pink, with pink frosting and pink sprinkles.  YUM!  We ate one slice and the rest is sitting on the table.  We don't eat much cake in our house but she helped me make this one and so we made it just for her special day.

This sticker book is from Grandma Bonny...she loves it!  Thank You!

EYESHADOW!!!  It's very light pink and she was thrilled.

As she took each pony out of the box she lined them up in a row.  We counted each one.  She made it to 10 by herself.  Good job!  Next we will learn 11-20....she loves school.

Meet some of the girls....so cute!

The ponies soon moved into the doll house and life was bliss full once again.

They all fit.  That is a lot of hair to brush but she loves brushing each one.

A few weeks ago Cory, Isabella and I went to an Asian food market.  It was incredible.  When we lived in Oregon they had a market that we loved.  It was big and very well stocked.  This one is much larger and it's filled with so much, almost too much.  In fact the first trip with Isabella we rushed through the aisles.  We took Rye with us today and left Isabella at home with Drake.  I don't think that Rye quite believed us when we talked about it. She was pleasantly surprised and we took the time to read (or try to read) as many of the items as possible.  So much of it was foreign to us.  Especially the fish market.  It was overwhelming to see so many varieties and then to know what they were each used for.  Cory and I have both agreed that we want to take an Asian cooking class and learn how to incorporate some of this into our main stay menu.  I hope that you enjoy the pictures!

This is about half of the vegetable area.  They have fruit and vegetables that we have never seen before or tasted.  That is the hard part about visiting a place like this with out prior knowledge.  Some of the stuff we just won't buy because we are too unfamiliar with and don't want to waste our money if it taste bad.  We did by a dragon fruit and it was like kiwi on the inside (texture and look) but did not have any flavor.

I love this!  The aisles are so colorful!  This is an entire aisle of canned meat.  If it's meat, it has been canned and labelled with a bright colorful sticker.

This is Durian for those who just LOVE this stuff.  LOL They have a huge cooler full of it...we passed!

In the fish section they had fish in giant tubs everywhere along with live fish in tanks.  Again, I will say they had so many varieties it was overwhelming.  I have to think to myself, we live in Dallas...where is all of this fish coming from?

Rye loves dried squid and dehydrated fish...this was her aisle.  Yep, you guessed it....TONS TO CHOOSE FROM.  We did not come home empty handed.

Kimchi was a whole section of the store.  We bought a small amount.  We do like it but did not want to buy something we would not eat.  For the lovers of this food, you can buy this huge container of the stuff.  They had a lady on sight that was making it.  She was fast and new her job well.

That is the lady in the back making it as she worked her stand.  Inside of the store they have vendors that can come in and sell their food.  The samples are a great way to try new foods.

Rye was a good sport and tried anything and everything.  Some things were very hot!  They like their spices in everything.

This is funny!  The las time we went I came home with every type of mushroom you could imagine.  We ate them in everything.  So much so that the kids started saying things like "mushrooms again".  Well, this aisle is one direction of the mushroom selection.  When Rye saw it she said...I now know why we ate so many mushrooms last week.  I had to laugh!!!

Right by the Kimchi you can buy this large container  of shrimp.  There were thousands in this one jar!  Again, I have to say we passed this delicacy. 

Our family eats a lot of sushi.  Almost to the point that we might me "sushi snobs".  Our kids have been eating it since they were about 4 years old and we like to think we know our stuff.  With this said we have been skeptical of eating it in Dallas.  We have tried a few places and it just taste blah, blah, yuck!  Until today!  Outside of the market they have a square with nothing but Asian restaurants; every kind. We randomly picked this Japanese sushi bar and were so happy with our food!

This is one piece of sushi.  It was so good.  The red on top are fish eggs.  We all love how they get lost in your mouth and then when you find them they "POP" on your tongue.  We will be back.

This was our tray of sushi.  Presentation is so important to the cooking and displaying of  their food.  It's an art all in its self.  I had to have a picture before we gobbled it all up.

Rye has got her chop sticks rearing to go!

We decided that we needed something fun to do as a family that involved the outdoors.  We have seen the disc golf parks around us and thought this would be a fun family game.  It was!  We bought two sets of three to start with.  The disc are pricey at $10.00's or more each.  I think we will get one more set and maybe a few of the fairway disc to add to our collection.  I can see I will be doing some ebay shopping this week.  We did not return with the blue one.  He found a new home.  We almost lost the orange one in the river but Drake and Rye rescued it for us.

The map of the course is posted behind us.  It was a little bit tricky deciding where to go next.  The path was not well marked at first.

Eyeing the field and warming up.

Drakes technique was "give my the disc'" and just throw it as hard as possible. It worked for him.

I felt the need to really warm up my muscles with an Egyptian pose and some quick dance moves.  I was willing to try something new...LOL

I practiced and weighed each of the disk to find the right one and when the time came for my big THROW....it landed in the trees about 10 feet in front of me...LOL  I laughed.  The first basket was a par 3, I did it in a par 8...is that considered and elephant? 

The red one is mine.  These trees were everywhere and always in my way.

Rye had amazing form!  After all she does hold the world record on the Kinect  in track and field.  She is a natural.


Get out and experience your neighborhood, city and state!  Find something that brings you joy, teaches you a new skill and live life.  Sometimes we get so busy with life that we forget to slow down long enough to try something new.  I love learning new skills.  It keeps my brain young, my interests peaked and always meeting new people.