The Flowers Explore - Orangeland RV Park, Redondo Beach, and more - Pt 2 - 2022/06/08-22

Wow, we had done a whole lot of things in our 2 weeks in Anaheim! Disneyland with the grandparents, meeting up with friends, volleyball, a chalk festival. It's been packed! Let's wrap this one up. 

Even though we're staying in Anaheim at the Orangeland RV park, we have driven to Redondo Beach so many times! Any time I could, I joined my friends in the gym to play volleyball at lunchtime. Back when we lived here, I tried to do this as often as I could. 

While we're back in the South Bay, we are trying to visit all our favorite restaurants and Al Noor is high up on the list. They make a Chicken Tikka Masala that is unlike any we've ever tried. They do something special to it, and I've never been able to replicate it when trying to make it myself.  

And Aunt Rita and the rest of the Michigan family loves it too. We enjoyed our lunch at a park in the warm California sunshine, and sent pictures to family to make them jealous. 

Rita offered to watch the kids for Theresa and I so that we could have a date night. The RV park has a very small playground, but the kids had fun running around. 

We watched Top Gun in the theaters and thought it was an awesome throwback to a movie we loved. 

Back in Redondo, of course we wanted to stop by our old house. What have the new owners done to it? It looks largely the same. It still has the large tree in the backyard and palm trees in the front. I do see a raised vegetable garden now in the front yard, but that's about it. Hope they're loving it! 

We'd walk to a nearby self-serve frozen yogurt place whenever the urge struck, so the kids were happy we decided to stop by one day. 

They have the original Dole Whip, and let me assure you, this one did not have a void of disappointment in the middle. It is solid all the way through. 

And if we are in the South Bay, and it happens to be Wednesday, of course we're going to head to the beach. 

Because the Wednesday Beach Volleyball group is there!

Theresa and I miss playing regular volleyball since we're on the road. 

And I love getting to play with one of my favorite partners, Alysa. Back in the day, we would play 2 on 2 on the winners court and wouldn't come off for the whole evening!

And the kids found their friend again and had a fun time playing in the sand. 

The next day was Thursday, so what does that mean? Thursday Lunchtime Volleyball! Perfect! Theresa came to join us in the gym this time. She wasn't busy watching the kids because...

Rita volunteered to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese while we were there! 

The kids had a lot of fun playing unlimited games for the hour. 

And instead of eating at Chuck E Cheese, we instead all met up to go to our favorite Korean restaurant. 

The Old Time Noodle House in Gardena was a regular thing for us. Theresa and I might leave work and have lunch there once a week, and then the family would all eat there together once on a weekend. After a few years of doing that, we were recognized by everyone there, and they'd know our order before we sat down. 

So I was thrilled to see that the owner happened to be working there when we stopped by and even after a couple years, she still recognized us! 

And the food there is just as good as before. Delicious dumpling ramen, spicy grilled pork, fried dumplings. 

And when Alli was little, she would eat bowl after bowl of the dongchimi (pickled radish). The servers were always impressed.  

In the evenings, if we weren't doing anything else, we'd go pick oranges. 

That's a full sink!

Which we'd then juice. Fresh orange juice tastes the best. 

Another regular thing for us before the pandemic was pizza Sundays. We'd get it from Georgio's Pizza nearby, again often enough that they knew who we were. 

And we'd regularly grab 2 large pizzas and head over to our friends Sarah and Mike to enjoy them together. 

The kids loved playing with their kids. 

And they've both gotten so big since we last saw them! 

Sarah and Mike also have a lemon tree that just won't stop making hundreds of lemons and they invited me, like many times before, to pick a few to take home. Now we'll have lemonade to go with our orange juice! 

And speaking of, it's Rita's last night here. What should we do? Why not go pick a few more oranges. 

Just barely can't reach it. 

Maybe if they swap. 

Success!

Some of those oranges can be quite stubborn. 

Lots of oranges makes lots of juice. We all made those Orange Creamsicle Milkshakes the kids loved so much before, and they were as tasty as ever. 

The next day it was time for Aunt Rita to leave. It's been great having you out to visit! 

What should we do with our last day here? Drive back to Redondo to play volleyball one more time? Absolutely! The kids sat on the bleachers and played on their iPads while we got sweaty. 

And there's just one more restaurant that we've been craving that we haven't stopped at. 

El Amigo makes the best street tacos we've had. 

Full of carnitas and topped with cilantro and onion. Add a little of their homemade hot sauce and you've got a real winner. 

Time to leave! But first, a couple oranges for the road. 

Southern California it's been a blast! Time to move on!