Disneyland Day 1

Our first day at Disneyland started early...I actually was up all night long with excitement so by the time my 5:30 alarm went off I was itching to get out of bed. Our tickets included one early entry morning (and since I'm crazy and wanted to be one of the first people in the park) we got to Disneyland at 6:30 am so that we could get in at 7. Our kids are up early, so I wanted to make the most of our early entry. SUCH a good decision. We were the first people to ride Peter Pan, Dumbo, Mr. Toad's, the carousel and Pinnochio--and that was all done in 20 minutes-ish. We ended up going on 8 rides in an hour, and we were already lined up for Nemo's Submarine (with Space Mountain fastpass in hand) when 8 am rolled around. It was perfect!

 The boys in front of the castle. T was way too thrilled to be in his seat!

 I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this picture. This is us on our first ride at Disneyland (Peter Pan) at 7:05 am. Talmage's face is priceless...I think he was a little freaked out about what his parents got him into!

T and Daddy on Dumbo...Evie was mostly my riding buddy. He's become quite the Momma's boy lately (even more than before if you can believe it).

 Our family on the carousel. Talmage and his cheesy picture faces...oh man that kid!

Talmage wanted to spin 100 mph! We ended up going again later (just Mommy and T) so we could spin fast, fast, fast!

Evie's favorite rides were the ones he could sit on my lap. If he sat on my lap, he loved the ride. If he had to sit next to me instead of on me, he would cry and claw me until the ride started (he always loved the rides when they were moving) but then he'd continue to claw me until I picked him up when the ride finished.

Nemo's submarine is cool. Disney has done such a good job re-vamping this ride. The Nemo parts are so awesome. Everett was still as can be through the whole ride just looking out the window. 

A 3 year old with a drivers license = whiplash for Mom. Dear Autopia, you really think he's big enough to drive? My neck doesn't! Love, Mom

 Talmage's favorite ride by far was the Buzz Astro Blasters. I've gotta admit, it was super fun. You get to shoot targets with your laser gun and it calculates your points. James is a better shot than me, hands down.

 This little guy was so tuckered out. He fell asleep to Michael Jackson rocking out in Captain EO!

Everett's favorite ride was It's a Small World. During the whole boat ride he would point to various things in the room and say, "Whoa! Wow! Whoa!" James and I were cracking up.

After a few more rides (Space Mountain twice, Star Tours, Astro Blasters and all things Storybook) we went home for naps. It was an early morning and we knew it was going to be a late night so we wanted the boys to be rested. We made it back to the park in time for the parade which was so cute. I loved Princess Tiana and Peter Pan. They were adorable!

Other memorable first day things:

• The Jungle Cruise hilariousness, having to leave the Tiki Room with a screaming Everett, dinner at the Golden Horseshoe.
• Talmage had been telling us all day long how he gets to do XX because he's 3, or gets to do that because he's 3. After riding Thunder Mountain Railroad he said, "I only get to ride that one time because Evie's one!"
• Riding Splash Mountain with Talmage. After the ride he said, "I was not very brave in dat ride. Dose big hills scared me a wot, a wot!" He was brave, by the way.
• One of our first rides of the day was Mr. Toads and T was super scared during one part when we "drove" into a tunnel. For the rest of the day on every ride Talmage would ask, "Is there a tunnel in dis ride?" (Sound familiar Mom? Supposedly I did this same thing when I was his age except I was traumatized by the hippos on the Jungle Cruise).
• Front row seats and a dropped jaw by T at Fantasmic. Watching fireworks over the castle while walking around...perfect ending!
• The boys crashing as.soon.as. their heads hit the pillow! 

 

 

Goofy's Kitchen

 

After settling into the hotel and watching a little bit of the Disney channel (a treat since I deprive my chillin's of TV!) we set off to Downtown Disney and Goofy's Kitchen. Our Disneyland package was AMAZING!!! I seriously couldn't give Costco better ratings for everything their package offered. We were able to get a HUGE package for less than I could find just tickets to the park and a hotel room. If you're going to Disneyland, book through Costco! Goofy's kitchen was part of our package and it was maybe one of the funnest parts of our whole trip. I'm so, so, so glad we did it!

We passed by the gates of Disneyland on our way to Downtown Disney, and we almost tried to break in! I'm kind of a 3-year-old in a mom's body so I was beyond excited (like butterflies, can't sleep, jumping and dancing sporadically excited!)

We tried on hats and played with toys at the BIGGEST Disney store I've ever seen. It was huge!!! T was in heaven and kept running from one thing to the next--trying this on, playing with that, telling me about everything he "needs!"

We made reservations for 5 pm (opening time) and it was the best decision ever. We were able to walk right in and we were there when Chef Goofy came out to greet the guests. I can't begin to explain how cute it was to see T see Goofy for the first time. He ran all the way across the room and was hysterically laughing/squealing/screaming with excitement. He was going a million mph and asking Goofy every question in the book. He noticed everything about him and said, "Wow Goofy, you got some buttons..." I think he also called him Goofy Goof a time or two. Cute! It made me cry.

Our fam with the Goof-man himself. They have a photographer taking pictures, but I always asked them to take a picture with my camera as well.

Everett was SO scared of all the characters. He cried through most of dinner and anytime a new character came up he started reaching for me with big tears streaming down his face. Talmage, on the other hand, was in Disney heaven!!!

After being seated at the table, characters started coming out to greet the guests. Since we were the first ones in the place, we had TONS of time to spend with them. Talmage danced with Pluto for SO long. T is at the perfect age for a trip like this because there is so much magic in seeing these characters for him--they are real to him and it was SO super magical.

I was so excited by the characters too! T was jumping up and down, I was jumping up and down, Evie was screaming and saying "mama" and James was trying to calm us all down (mostly Evie). Yep...basically how it went down all night long!

Dale and T played together for a long time. T gave Dale a kiss on the nose and this was Dale returning the favor ;)

Dale tried to make friends with Evie by loving on his blanket. Evie didn't scream the whole time he was there so I think Dale was successful!

The funniest moment of the night was when Snow White came to our table. As mentioned, Talmage had been bouncing off the walls with excitement with each new character...but not when poor Snow White came to our table. He looked at her, looked down and said with a grumpy voice, "I don't know your movie!" She tried to make conversation with him but Talmage would seriously not even look at her. He kept telling me, "I don't know who she is!" I guess she was a little too real for him and he's right, we haven't seen her movie. She left our table with one bit of advice, "Be careful when you eat that apple!"

When Minnie came by, T was back to his happy, huggy self. She is just so cute, don't you think? We also saw Gepetto and the fairy Godmother but I didn't get pics of them. It was such a fun night--good food (and the biggest dessert table you've ever seen!), lots of magic and one super pumped little boy.

A Visit from Grandma and Bruce

Before we left Los Angeles, and after another visit to the ER for this incredibly cute and sicky little boy, we had a visit from Grandma and Bruce. Evie's great now, PS, and one hospital bear richer!

Grandma had multiple treats for the boys and Talmage was always SO excited when he saw bright colored paper in her bag! She gave the boys some amazing new toys that they have loved playing with.

While they were visiting, we tried out a cute bakery called Sweet E's. They specialize in mini cupcakes and every last detail in that store was cute. So, so cute. I'm definitely still a Sprinkles girl, but Sweet E's was cute!

Grandma and Bruce took us to this delish BBQ place at the Grove, and it was actually Jim's first visit to our favorite place so we gave him the full experience--live music, dancing and a trolly ride!

I found out that the Santa Monica Playhouse had a free performance on the Saturday of their visit and since I'm never one to turn down a free and awesome children's event, we went. It was AWESOME. Short enough for kids, witty enough for kids and just a little bit silly. Speaking of silly...T's face?

El Chollo = Yummy Goodness!!! Their guacamole was super good and homemade at the table and it made me so happy. And their green chili tamales--to die for yum. Please go if you live in LA!

This is where Talmage spent almost all of his time when we were at restaurants with Grandma and Bruce. He'd always start next to me and before we knew it he would climb under the table and squeeze his way between them. So cute!

Thanks Grandma and Bruce for the visit and all the fun!

all in just 10 weeks

This summer...

 

We went to 10 museums (Zimmer, Skirball, Natural History, Wells Fargo, Hammer, California Science Center, La Brea Tarpits, The Getty, The Griffith Observatory, Peterson Auto Museum)

 

We consumed 100 otter pops.

 

We saw 18 celebrities (Mario Lopez, Kourtney Kardashian, Maria Menonous, Kevin and Danielle Jonas, Kelli Pickler, Jerry Mathers, Steven Spielberg, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Jon Voight, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Tyler Hilton, Gloriana).

 

We tried an old LA favorite (Tito's tacos) and a new LA favorite (800 degrees pizza).  

 

We were on one TV show (Extra).

 

We were very impressed with cupcakes at Sprinkles and less so with cake at Sweet Lady Jane's.

 

We went to one movie premier (Savages).

 

We ate chili dogs at two restaurants claiming to have the best hot dogs in LA (Carney's and Pink's).

 

We saw many-a-free concert (including Kelli Pickler, Tyler Hilton, Gloriana and lots of kiddie stars!)

 

We toured UCLA, got kicked out of a Home Depot junior event and watched a parade in the Palisades.

 

We ate at 3 of the top 5 burger joints in Los Angeles (Umami Burger, Hole in the Wall, Apple Pan). 

 

We went sailing in the ocean, saw a movie at Grahman's Chinese Theatre and went to the LA Zoo.

 

We saw a ridiculous number of kids shows (Heebie Jeebie, Wild Animals, Scott's Marionettes, Twinkles the Clown).

 

We tried out many different beaches until we found the perfect spot--Santa Monica lifeguard shack 26--where we spent 1 or 2 days a week splashing in the waves. On the other days, we swam our heart out in the apartment pool.  

 

We ate ice cream at Diddy Riese, Blockhead and Sprinkles, and had froyo at Yogurtland and Milky's. 

 

We celebrated Evie's first birthday and a Father's day for the Dad-Man.

 

We visited the ER twice (UCLA and Cedar Sinai).

 

And as if our 10 week summer in Los Angeles was not already the best ever, we ended with a magical week in

DISNEYLAND!!!

 

Can't wait to tell you all about it. So fun. So so fun. 

 

This will definitely go down in coolest summer history!   

Extra!

We spent a few amazing hours at The Grove on Thursday, and all three of us walked away super happy.

We started at Extra! where we saw Maria Monounos interview Kevin and Danielle Jonas. Maria is so pretty and the braid in her hair was amazing (I wish you could see it in the pic). I really need to learn how to do it. I pretty much don't know anything about the Jo-bros, but there were tons of teenage girls flocking him so it must have been a pretty big deal to see him ;)

We walked down the mall and decided to take advantage of a Jamba Juice back-to-school special--16 oz. Jamba for $1. The boys and I were so happy. Yum! Immediately after taking these pictures T and I had a smiling practice session--that boy and his fake smiles!

Then we went to a kiddie concert. T was dancing around like a crazy man near the stage and there was a cute, short, round kid that seriously was following EVERYTHING he did. He even came and sat next to us for a little while. The funniest thing was when he ran up to his mom and said, "Mom. This is my best friend, Big Kid!" Yep, he named T Big Kid and called him that for the rest of the concert. Turns out they are only 3 weeks apart in age, but T was probably a foot taller...seriously!

Everett spent the whole concert flirting with the woman sitting next to me. She is a recent New York City transplant who just opened a food truck in L.A., so we had LOTS to talk about!

After the concert, we went back to Extra! just so I could get a little peak at Mario Lopez! His face is so flawless he almost doesn't look real--seriously not a pore! He was really friendly and joked in between takes. A few minutes after I took this picture the producers had me, Ev and T go stand behind Mario for his intro to the show. Mario came out, rubbed T's head and said, "Hey buddy, how are you doing?" I think I was beaming! Slater touched my kid's head ;)

Since this was our last trip to The Grove for the summer, I gave in to T's requests and we rode the trolley--twice. He was SO happy and wanted to have a seat all to himself--Mr. Independent. What a fun day at The Grove. I'm going to miss this place.