Aunt Jane!

Thoughts of the Day

On Sunday, Jane, Jason, and Nevia came down to visit and hang out at the beach for lunch and some fun in the sun! We found a cute little burger place called The Shwack Beach Grill.  We ordered some take out and headed to the beach to meet up with the family.  The state beach was located right across from hotel, so every morning we were able to walk out onto our patio and hear and see the waves.  I love that sound of waves crashing on the shore. 

We were a little off schedule for some reason and didn't back up the kids swimsuits, so they played in their clothes for a bit. Aunt Jane made Lydia a lovely dress to wear back to the hotel since she was soaked from the crashing waves.

We played for a bit at the hotel and then got cleaned up for dinner.  We ended up driving over to San Clemente and found a quiet little brick oven pizzeria.  They had very yummy specialty pizzas (gluten-free crust even) and Michael was able to prepare his own pizza.  Great choice, thanks to Yelp and Uncle Jason!

 Of course Aunt Jane and her family was top on the priority list to see as much as we could next to Mickey and his friends.  We had the chance to visit Aunt Jane again on Friday while she was working at the Children's Pool in La Jolla, CA.  Lydia had about 20 questions and them some about Jane's job and the seals.  Michael and Noah watched the seals pop their heads up in the cove and the males flip their tales around in the water.  We saw a bunch of ground squirrels and tons of seagulls and other birds.  Noah loves birds and was all about pointing them out and walking towards them.  After visiting Jane for a bit, we decided to go to Ikea before we headed to their house for dinner. Mom's new favorite place to pick up cheap and fun stuff for the house plus J. had never been in one before! Another first for us on this vacation. J. was overwhelmed to say the least by how big the store was and all the stuff, but he was impressed by the prices and over quality of the furniture for the value.  We found what we were looking for and headed out (we didn't go upstairs though, the kids were tired and I didn't know there were designed rooms/areas up there!).  It was a fun experience for all of us.  Next we headed over to Aunt Jane's and Uncle Jason's for some grub and well needed play time. 

Uncle Jason introduced the kids to the salt gun, a killing fly contraption!

The kids had fun hanging out with each other and playing with the balls in the water table. 

Nevia and Noah worked on some gardening.

 We tried to be good and take some pictures but it proved difficult to get everyone sitting and smiling in one shot.  Here's how they turned out:

Not to shabby since there were 2 kiddos under 2! Thanks Uncle Jason and Aunt Jane for having us for dinner, we loved seeing you guys like always. We already miss you guys (:

Beach Day

What: Building Sand Castles

Where: Doheny State Beach

Who: The Whole Family!

Thoughts of the Day

We had a great time relaxing on the beach today after 3 very long days at Disneyland and California Adventure.  Michael and Lydia spent the entire time building a sand castle.  The waves would knock it down, and they would build it right back up never giving up or moving from that spot! It was great to see them playing so nicely together.

Noah liked exploring the beach. J took him down by the water for a bit and he was excited about the waves coming in and out.  He wasn't very pleased to walk in the sand by himself.  He loved watching the seagulls flying and walking around on the beach.  He eventually got comfortable enough to sit in the sand and dig around.  He found some shells, taste tested the sand, and made sure it got all over him, Mom, and Dad. How do you teach a kid not to throw sand when it's everywhere and he is smiling and squealing watching it go everywhere?  I think we could've spent the night at the beach, it was very relaxing and just what we needed at that point in our trip.

Look Mommy, I found a shell!

What's with this sand?

I love it here!

Such a handsome guy

And that's a wrap, the kids are all ready to pack it up and get home!  They said next time they come to San Diego they want to go surfing! How cool is that, guess we will be looking for some kid surf lessons for our next adventures!

Vacation At Last Part 2

Disney's California Adventure(DCA) was really amazing and seemed quite larger than Disneyland itself.  We followed our Touring Plan once again and only found ourselves waiting in line for 40 minutes at the end of the day (Toy Story Mania which we had skipped early because one of the munchkins had fallen asleep). DCA had it's magic hours for hotel guests only this morning, and since we stayed at the Disneyland hotel last night, we got to go in early.  We arrived super early at the security gate somehow and were the second family waiting! The family happened to be from Iowa, go figure!! Lol. As we waited the line was super long, longer than we had seen the days before.  Once through security, we found ourselves first in line at one of the gates.  An employee started talking to us and told us she would like us to be the honorary guests of the day, also known as the "first family" into the park.  The kids got to do the countdown that opened the gates to the public and then we were off.  I thought people were running at Disneyland, well people were sprinting at DCA to get to the Radiator Springs Racecar ride. We kept up with everyone and followed them to Cars Land. Once again we were held off with a rope and eventually herded like cattle into a single file line down to the ride. As we looked back the line was so long we couldn't even see the end, it curved back towards the main street. Crazy how crowds and lines form so fast!! Daddy, Lydia, and Michael went first and had a blast (we were able to do the parent swap on this ride thankfully so when it was my turn I maybe waited 5 minutes.  The attendant did let me take both kids but said technically the swap is only for one other guest, I truly had forgotten about that technicality). The ride was really fun and we were amazed by how the attraction looked, you really felt like you were a part of the movie, riding through the town and the mountains.

While they rode, Noah and I went on Luigi's tires which is similar to being on an air hockey table and you are the puck.  It wasn't as easy as it looked at first to get the tire to move around, but it was unique.  After that Noah and I explored a bit and got to see Mater, Lightning McQueen, and even Red. Red smiled, sprayed some water from his firehose, and even posed for a picture.  This morning we actually didn't eat breakfast since we stayed at the hotel, while I was on Radiator Springs racers J got us some food at Flo's.  Eggs and sausage with a muffin, it worked out really well.  Everyone was full and ready to hit up some more rides.

Cars Land was a hit and we had completed all those rides very quickly because there were no lines. The Tractors made me laugh, they look so silly and goofy just like in the movie.

 

After Cars Land, we headed straight for a "bug's land", this was an interesting part of our day.  Once again no lines at all, so the kids rode a few things over and over. They said they liked Francis' Ladybug Boogie the best.

Next, we were off to see a 3D movie, "It's Tough to Be a Bug." Even thinking about this moment makes me a tad sad.  They have warnings before you go in saying bugs may be real looking and frighten young children, so of course I was worried about Noah, however Noah wasn't the one we should've been worried about.  If you have ever seen the movie, you know that the evil grasshopper is a little scary and intense at times. We got through those parts with no problems but then all of sudden it gets dark in the theater and gigantic spiders with red markings start dropping from the ceiling. Michael completely freaks out and starts yelling, "I want to go home!" and he is in tears.  J. quickly takes him out of the show to calm him down.  He thought they were black widows and since he gets so involved in what he watches he forget that it was all fake. I felt awful afterwards but like most kids he is pretty resilient and was over it quickly (as long as we didn't go back).

My oldest little bug

We followed the touring plan and finished it pretty early.  We had a nice lunch and got some extra time to rest and stroll around.  We saw a few more shows here at DCA than at Disneyland and watched the Pixar parade.  At the last minute we decided to go on the Hollywood of Terror, Michael said no at first but then decided he would try it.  J. went on it by himself and then I took the kids while Noah was asleep.  Michael was pretty nervous but Lydia was ready to go.  She squealed with excitement and was a little disappointed it didn't go faster and last longer. She has no fear and loved all the thrill rides! Michael is a tad more cautious but loved all of it too.  Here is a picture of us on the ride (back right corner, I'm wearing red, Michael has a hand up, and Lyd is looking at me:

We had a great time and were absolutely exhausted by the end of the 3 days.  Here are some more of our favorite picks from DCA:

 To see more pictures of Disneyland and DCA, check out our web album: https://plus.google.com/photos/114135352485225750088/albums/5901416035705601969

Hope that link works--haven't done this before (:

Vacation At Last

Pre-Vacation Planning

We decided this year to use our timeshare in Dana Point, CA and adventure to the "Happiest Place on Earth!" Well that was exciting, yet overwhelming and a little scary for me at the same time.  I have read a ton on saving money by getting tickets at certain places, bringing in snacks, etc, etc.  www.mousessavers.com is awesome for all of that!! 

I was truly worried about managing the kids through the loud crowds, figuring out what we were going to ride and when, what their energy would be like, and then the most dreadful part, standing in 45-60 mins lines just to ride Dumbo around in a circle for like 3 minutes! I decided to put that part aside until I had the right mindset because this is suppose to be an awesome vacation, and we don't need "Mom" ruining it before we even go.  In the meantime, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had just been to Disneyland 2 months ago and started sharing some great tips and information.  They actually let us borrow their tour guide book they had bought: the Unofficial Guide, Disneyland 2013 by Bob Sehlinger, Seth Kubersky & Len Testa.

If I had known, that little book was going to save us hours of time and truly make our vacation special, I would have given them each a Noah "squeeze" (Noah loves big squeezes/hugs). The book is laid out very well, keeps the information simple and to the point in regards to restaurants, hotels, and even the rides.  The golden pages are the "touring plans."  The plans literally lay out your day. The authors have studied how the crowds move through the park and have create ideal plans for you to follow to help eliminate wait times.  Now everyone has different styles when traveling and has their own pet peeves or whatever.  J. and I like to have a plan but are flexible if things happen to change.  We both knew we had to have some structure to our days if we wanted to have fun with 3 young kids and get our moneys worth (not our focus but it was a thought). 

As a family, we each wrote down a goal/idea of what we wanted to do in Disneyland, we wanted to do as much as we could but it was important for J. and I to see what the kids were thinking too.  Michael wanted to go on some water rides, Lydia wanted to see the princesses and get autographs, Noah wanted to see Mickey Mouse, Mommy wanted to see the Disney, Jr show and go on Space Mountain, and Daddy wanted to kiss Mom in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle (ya know, through everything I read, I assumed it was Cinderella's castle until we got there and somebody passing by mentioned it was Sleeping Beauty's!! Whoops, shh don't tell Lydia).

 To make a long story, short the guide gave us a touring plan when traveling with small children and going to Disneyland for 2 days along with a separate 1 day plan for California Adventure.  One of the great parts of the schedule is that we were pretty much done with the plan each day around 2:00 which gave us plenty of time to do other things or go back on rides.  It was also really easy to switch out rides, like the carousel (kids weren't excited, we have one in Vegas) for other rides that were in that same area. 

What we didn't realize at first was how early we would be getting up each day to get to the park the extra 40 minutes that was suggested and make our 20-25 minute drive. Day 1 Mom and Dad were up at 4:30! I remember we looked at each other and said are we crazy and then laughed, priceless moment.  The first day we got there early and made it through the security checkpoint with no lines and then made it to the gates.  We were second in line at our gate.  I'm not kidding maybe 10-15 minutes later the line was huge by the security gate and each park gate. The fact that we didn't have to mess with those lines first thing with 3 very excited children was a bonus right off the bat!

When you go in for the first day, it takes a tad longer they take your picture with each ticket and you have to sign them so that slowed us down a tad, Mom was a little anxious too!  Once we were inside the park, the excitement began.  We saw people running and laughing to get in line for rides, literally Moms and Dads were running with their strollers to Fantasyland, music is playing, all the little houses on Main Street were so cute! Disney knows how to get you as soon as you walk in! 

We were off to Adventureland to ride Indiana Jones. At this point the park is open but the rides aren't just yet.  So we stood in line at the entrance of Adventureland (lines at this point weren't an issue because kids were still kind of sleepy so they got some rest in the stroller, we brought the double) talked with the employee holding the rope, yes a rope to hold all of us back until she got the okay! She actually has a vacation home here in Henderson, small world.  Anyways, we did the traditional count down at Disneyland and we were free to go.  They obviously have had issues with people running and others getting trampled because it was made very clear to NOT run or you will be escorted off the property (they had lots of security guards).  Finally we get in and walk quickly to the ride.  Once again in a matter of minutes there was a huge line for the ride.  Michael, Lydia, and I went first and hit a little road bump.  We got to the beginning of the line and Lydia ended up being 2 inches to short.  Many of lines are deceiving, they wind around and around inside out of sight from the outside of the ride, so we had to make the very long walk all the way back down to Dad ):  However, Disney has a policy that allows parents to wait in line once and then swap places and wait in a short line to get back on.  You are allowed to take one other guest with you, however they were very nice and let both kids go with us.  The ride was one of our favorites, even though Michael thought he was going to die, and asked me why I tried to kill him on the first ride of the day (the boulder rolls down like it's going to flatten you, and Michael ducked and got worried).  We went on over 20 rides/attractions that day not counting the times the kids rode some twice in a row.  We didn't feel rushed or stressed in any way.  We reminded the kids we were following a schedule just like school and that help them understand that we had to keep moving. The longest we waited in line that day was about 15 minutes.  At the end of the day, the kids favorite ride was Splash Mountain and the parade which we just happened to see twice.

Day 2 at Disneyland, we got a later start but not by much since Disneyland had it's extra magic hours where the park opens early.  It's amazing how low the crowd index is in the first 2 hours the park opens.  I still can't believe how many people don't come into the park until 11-12:00 pm and then are forced to stand in lines! Day 2 included more rides in Fantasyland which was awesome to do early because the day before we walked through that area about mid morning, and it was nuts. Hundreds of strollers and kids running around, gives me a headache just thinking about.  I think one of my favorite parts was watching Michael go on Casey, Jr. Train ride all by himself.  The other 2 kids were sleeping and Dad was getting lunch.  There were only 2 people in line, so I told Michael to run over there and try it as I watched nearby.  He was a little nervous but did just fine by himself! He is growing up so fast!  Other favorite rides of the day were the teacups, Peter Pan, and Space Mountain.

 So over the course of 2 days with a family of 5 and probably about 22-24 hours in the park, here is what we accomplished (free of stress and tears):

Indiana Jones Adventure, Jungle Cruise, Tarazan's Treehouse, Pirates of the Carribean, Disneyland Railroad, Splash Mountain, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Fantasy Faire-Royal Hall, Fantasy Faire Theater, Pinnochio's Daring Journey, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, Casey Jr Circus Train, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Mad Tea Party, Alice in Wonderland, Pixie Hollow, Storybook Land Canal boats, It's a Small World, Donald's Boat, Gadget's Go Coaster, Chip-n-Dale Treehouse, Mickey's House, Minnie's House, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Autopia, Space Mountain, Captain EO, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, lowering of the flag and salute to our military, and Mickey's Soundsational Parade. We also saw some fireworks from our hotel (we stayed at the Disneyland hotel for one night).  We enjoyed lunches at Toontown dining and Village Haus.

Some helpful tips that will we for sure do again:

1. Touring plan

2. Get there early (apply sunscreen in line!)

3. Bring snacks, juice boxes, and refillable water bottles (let the kids pack the snacks and give each a separate bag. Subway puts kids meals in reusable bags, so we brought those with and it worked very well).

4. Eat breakfast outside of the park

5. Eat lunch just before the rush of lunch, 11:15 worked out for us

6. Use one Photopass card for your entire time visiting Disneyland, then look at pictures online when you get home

7. Use your cell to take a picture of the picture Disney posts of you and your family on rides. Worth it to look at but we never put those pictures up.

8. Have fun!

My Little Monkey

Thoughts of the Day

Our last post was about Noah's endless energy, so I thought it appropriate to post pictures of some of the mischief he is getting into these days.  He is a climber to say the least....

Stud muffin in his sister's sunglasses

A whiz on the Ipad

No more crib, heading for a toddler bed sooner than Mom and Dad thought

Making his own chairs, good exercise though!

Washing his feet

Exploring the counters

Endless Energy

What: Tot Class 

Where: My Gym

Who: Noah and Mommy  

Thoughts of the Day

First, I'm embarrassed to even put this blurry picture up, but Noah makes it cute! Noah has had A LOT of energy this summer, so we signed him up for a class to meet some friends and burn some energy.  He is a funny little guy.  He loves to run and play at home with his siblings and is very chatty, however when he is out he is very timid and shy.  This was his first class and it took him almost the entire hour to warm up. Noah wanted nothing to do with the staff their but was flirting and smiling at the other Moms. He is a little peanut. Rating 2 out of 3 stars, only because of the cost.  They require you to sign up for 90 days and automatic payments.

I loved the swings!

Ice Sculpting in the Desert

What: Science Experiment
Where:  Front yard
Who: Michael, Lydia, and Mommy

Thoughts of the Day

Who doesn't love to play with water on a hot summer day!?! Well we took it a step further and made a huge ice block, "glacier."  We picked out some animals, mammals, reptiles that we thought would be found during the Ice Ages.  We had to freeze them in layers in order to make it into a huge ice block, so it took some time to prepare but so worth it.  The kids found their kid size hammers and goggles (safety first, wish I had had a pair-ice was flying everywhere). 

They had over a hour of enjoyment OUTSIDE for once chipping away at the animals and then getting creative making sculptures out of the chunks.  We even had some fun watching how fast the chunks melted in the sun.  Bailey also joined in on the fun. Great memories made today! 

 

 We all rated this activity 3 out of 3 stars.  Next time they want to freeze letters, so they can spell their names (teachers in the making, got to love it!).