Happy New Years Eve

Happy New Years Eve everyone.  I hope you are all having a fun time surrounded by people you love.  Tonight for us we are going to grill up some steak, have a glass of wine (or two)  watch some of the specials on TV and then bang on some pots and pans and midnight (this is a tradition from hubbies family)
I can't believe that it has been a year since I started doing this blog.  I know it isn't much and I am not even sure if I have many (if any followers) but I have really enjoyed doing it and finding my voice.  I am really excited to start doing vlogs next year.

I don't know about you guys but my 2015 was kind of a rough year.  My training didn't go as well as I wanted, I got really sick a lot,  I have had some minor family issues (not with hubby he is fantastic and I don't know how I lucked out to be married to such an amazing man!!!!), there were just a lot of things that didn't seem to go our way, and I didn't really accomplish all my resolutions, which can be found here

There were some of them that I did really good like spending quality time with the family and learning yoga.

There are some things I did ok on like getting my life a bit more organized, eating healthier, learning make up (I still have a way to go, but at least I don't feel so overwhelmed and terrified anymore)

Then there are lots of items I just kind of failed at, like remodeling the bathroom and cleaning the garage, running at least once a month, getting a PR on a race, letting go of anger, and just getting healthy as a whole.

I am not sad to say goodbye to 2015 I am really looking forward to a fresh start and a fresh outlook which *fingers crossed* I can accomplish next year.

I hope everyone has a safe and fantastic New Years Eve *raising my glass* here is to an amazing 2016.

Our Christmas

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I know that we did.

We always do Christmas Eve at our house with just the three of us.  We did a roast and watched Christmas Story.  Then we went outside to see if we could see Rudolph and Santa's sleigh.  It was really cloudy so we had no luck.  Then we read a few stories out of our Disney Christmas book and went to bed.

Then we got up about 6:30 and did presents with the three of us  Santa brought the kiddo Madden '16 and some Lego Star Wars Micro machines, then mom and dad got him Skylanders Super Chargers, Star Wars Monopoly and Star Wars Battleship.

 The hubby got lift tickets to Crystal Mountain, paddle board rentals, lots of candy in his stocking, sheets, & Call of Duty, the kiddo got him Star Wars Trivia Game and Disney Infinity Force Awakens.

Then we headed over to my Mom's house to do presents and breakfast with her.  We brought the dogs along with us and of course they decided to roll in some poop in my mom's backyard so the hubby had to give them a bath, that was fun..  Other than having to clean off the dogs we had a nice relaxing time at my Mom's.


Then we headed over to hubby's Grandma's house.  We did presents with them and then my Mom came over and we did Christmas dinner.  We played some games had some super yummy dessert cake from Baskin Robbins, my favorite cake other than my own homemade ones.  One of my favorite things to do is to play games on Christmas with the family.

It was a Polar Bear with World Class Chocolate

 

The hubby got me the truffles, tea and coloring book in my stocking, and the bottom row of Lush bombs, and video editing software.  Yay, I can start doing youtube videos.  The kiddo got me Clue (my all time favorite game.  I used to play this all the time when I was younger) and the top row of Lush bombs.  My mom got me the Costco Cash card, and my grandma got me the Sephora gift card and then an Ombre eyeshadow.  The Ombre eyeshadow is beautiful, but I am a bit nervous because I have no idea how to use it lol.  So any tips would be great.

What is your favorite thing about Christmas?  What did you guys get?

Happy Week of Christmas

I can't believe that Christmas is on Friday!!!  This is my favorite time of the year and it has just seemed to fly by.  Even with having started our Christmas Celebration in early November with being and Disney World.

Our Christmas Tree

I have realized that I really need a new camera.  I took about 70 pictures and this is the best one I could get :(

I am really lucky to be able to have this whole week off to spend with the kiddo.  I have never really had a "staycation" before so this will be nice.  We are going to do some baking, watch some Christmas movies, I'm going to get caught up on chores and then finish up my Christmas shopping.  I had a plan for what I was getting the hubby, he wanted a certain type of running shoes but I have not been able to find them in his size so now it's back to the drawing board.  What is everyone getting their spouse?  I have a few ideas but I'm not really feeling them lol.

I hope everyone has an awesome week.

Me lately

So I realize that I need to finish up the trip recap from August so I am very sorry that I haven't done that.  I think for our most resent trip I am just going to do a quick overview we were only there for a few days and crammed a lot in there and I didn't really journal while I was gone.

I wanted to talk a bit about what has been going on with me lately and some plans for the future.  Reading that sounds kind of ominous doesn't it lol.  This year I have been the sickest that I think I have ever been.  I have fought sinus infection after sinus infection, flu's, regular colds and two rounds of strep throat, including right now.  That is why I was a few days late on posting the winner of the give away.

I have accomplished a lot this year, but where I have seriously been lacking is in the health department.  We have been doing this thing where we get ready for a race so for a month we eat really healthy then it all goes to crap.  Then the next race comes up and then we eat healthy again, etc etc.  My diet is terrible.  Until about 3 months ago I would drink 3-4 cans of soda a day, and that was on a good day.  If I wanted a chocolate bar I bought one.  We would eat out a lot.  We used the excuse of, we are busy and the kiddo has basketball practice, or swimming, or cross country, I had to work late etc etc.  I think it really dawned on me this last go round of strep recently.  I have been sick since October and not getting any better.  I had been on a couple of different meds to clean up an array of ailments that were making me feel anxious (which for me is never good), nauseous, irritable, etc.  This strep really knocked me on my butt and made me do serious thinking.

I decided no more excuses.  I have lost about 10 lbs the last two weeks of being sick so I decided to use that as kind of a launching forward point.  The hubby and I cleaned out the pantry and the fridge, which actually don't have a lot of junk in them surprisingly.  Our biggest problem is cooking and snacking healthy.  We have made a menu for this week and on Friday will sit down and go through next weeks.  We have been eating a lot of chicken and just started doing some salmon.  I am a VERY picky eater and am not a major fan of seafood, other than salmon and a few ways shrimp is cooked. So I am going to have to learn a few new recipes and just make myself eat it for my health.  If you guys have good one please pass them along.

The hubby was talking about doing a detox diet, but after doing some research we found that you should never do one for the first time before a long run.  So until our race in January we are going to do what I am calling the 90/10 diet.  90% healthy foods and 10% everything else.  Like for example we have one meal planned that is taco's.  We are going to substitute out the junk like the fried tortilla shells.  Then once we get back from the race we are going to do the Whole 30.  The hubby has a few friends who tried it and really liked it and felt it got them on the right track.  I don't think I am going to be one of those people who only buys 100% organic vegan, I don't think I can ever give up meat, or baking with real butter or sugar I just need to get myself back into the healthy mindset I had years ago.  I know I can do it if I really put forth the effort.  I am in no way judging anyone for there choices, every person is different and needs to make the choices that they feel are best for themselves and their families.  So come join me on my journey.  I promise this blog won't turn into an exclusive healthy deep feelings blog :)  I have a few Christmas posts coming up and I have our trip in January to Disneyland that I will be preparing for.  We also have some house stuff coming up next year  I am working on getting a blog schedule for the upcoming year and working on my Instagram and twitter as well.  I know I love seeing pictures people post on Instagram.

If you stuck around this long thank you, I didn't mean this to turn into a long mushy post so thank you.  I promise the next one will be much more upbeat.

Have a great night.

Winner

Sorry I am a couple of days late with this, I will explain in another blog post.  But I wanted to announce the winner.  So the winner of Mickey Mouse is Nick.
I have just sent you an email to get your shipping info.

To the other few (very few lol) people who emailed me I promise I won't share or sell any of your information.  Thanks to the people who did enter.

I will be doing another give away when I come back from my trip to Disneyland in January.  Any ideas on what people are interested would be good.

Give Away*CLOSED*

Sorry I have been MIA lately.  I have been dealing with some health stuff, again.  Hopefully I can nip all this in the bud and move forward with training and getting life back on track.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I got a little something in Disney World and I am going to give it away.  This will be open until Sunday December 6th.  I figured a week was a decent amount of time (hopefully)  In order to be eligible you have to go over to my instagram here, pick one of your favorite pictures, then email me at lifetravelrunrepeat@gmail.com and let me know which one is your favorite.  You will get an extra entry by commenting on this post and by following me on instagram & commenting on your favorite picture with the hashtag #winmickey

You probably want to know what the give away is so drumroll please.........

It's a stuffed Mickey 

On the 6th I will put all the names in a hat and have the kiddo pick one. 

Quick Check In

I wanted to do a quick check in to say we did it!!!  The 5K was awesome and the kiddo did great, the half marathon is another story.  They ended up cutting the race in half and we only did 6.8 miles due to a weather delay :(  I will do a recap soon.

I am going to do a give away in the next few days.  I will provide you with all the details soon.  I am just really busy getting back into the swing of things and I am still trying to kick this sinus infection I have so I have been calling it an early night a lot lately so my blog has been lacking sorry.

Only a few more days

I wanted to check in and just let you guys know I probably won't be doing another blog post until we get back from our trip.  I was hoping to do a packing post and an updated carry on post as well as finishing up my trip recaps,  but I am not sure if I am going to get a chance to do it before we go.  We have been so busy the past two weeks.

I am planning on doing a give away while I am on the trip so watch my Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook during the trip:

Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

I plan on updating them a lot more this trip.

I'm a bit nervous for the races though because I am still fighting this sinus infection, so I don't think I will PR but as long as I finish both of them I will be happy.

I can't believe the trip is almost here, I am so excited!!!

Trip Recap Day 5

Today was the day that we were switching from Paradise Pier to the Disneyland Hotel and hubby was going to come join us.  I set my alarm for 5:30 am so I could call hubby to make sure he was up and ready to head to the airport.  When I called him he had been up for a while because he was so excited to come join us :)  He was already headed up to the airport and had just stopped by Starbucks for a coffee.  After I talked to him for a bit I went back to sleep until around 7:30.  I got up and called hubby again just as he was boarding the plane.

 I jumped in the shower and then started packing up.  Totally not like me to pack up last minute but since we were just switching hotels it wasn't like I had to pack smart, I just had to make everything fit in one of our 4 suitcases & 2 backpacks.  I managed to get it done in about 15 minutes, I think an all time personal record.  It wasn't pretty but it worked.  The kiddo was up at this point so I poured us some cereal and we watched Dumbo on TV.  Hubby called us about 10:45 to let us know he had landed and was getting into his cab.  So we grabbed all our bags and headed over to the Disneyland Hotel.  I am not going to lie, it was a very interesting walk and felt a bit like it would never end.  It really isn't that far of a walk but with 2 big suitcases, two carry on's and two backpacks it was an adventure.  The kiddo was a pretty good sport, but he was ready to just be there.

The pink line shows our route

We got there and just hung out at the front of the hotel until hubby got there.  We were so happy to see him!!!!

We got checked in really quickly and they gave us our room number and said they would text us when the room was ready.  So we checked our bags and then headed into the parks.

We had reservations at Carnation Cafe again so we headed over there.  What can I say it is one of our favorite restaurants.

How can you not get the fried pickles

The amazing shrimp salad.

We headed over to the rockets and then we we got a call from the hotel saying that a different room was ready for us so we could come and get new keys and the new room number.  

So we headed back to the hotel and got our new room keys and number.  When we got in the room I was actually really disappointed.  Don't get me wrong the hotel and rooms are really nice and I love staying here.  We had decided to splurge this time and get a deluxe room which I thought would be bigger than what we got.  The room was still really nice, just much smaller than I was expecting and smaller than Paradise Pier.  I didn't take any pictures of the room which I wish I had.  I promise when we go in January I will.  I am still trying to get used to taking pictures for the blog.  I am just not ready to put our faces out there so I don't really have a lot of pictures without us.  I noticed that I did take more when it was just the kiddo and I.  I think we did a lot more though once everyone joined us so that may be it.

Anyway, the hubby and I had booked the kiddo at the Pinnochio's Workshop for the night and since hubby had been up really early he took a nap and the kiddo and I went to the pool for a bit.  I cannot say how much I LOVE the Disneyland Hotel pool.  It is amazing.  They have two pools, two waterslides, and a little kid area with small waterslides.  It really is a lot of fun.  

We headed back up to the room just as hubby was waking up and got ready to go.  We headed over and dropped the kiddo off and then head to our dinner reservation at Wine Country Trattoria.  This is hubby's second favorite restaurant.  I didn't take any pictures but I can tell you it was yummy.  I had the Shrimp Scampi & hubby had Alla Vongola.  Then it was time to hit up the rides the kiddo won't ride.  We rode Soarin, California Screamin two times, then we headed over to Disneyland and we rode Star Tours, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder, and Splash Mountain-twice.  When we were waiting in line for the Matterhorn they were doing the fireworks and when we got to the openings they were doing the grand finale and it was so amazing.  Super romantic to get to share it with the hubby.  We couldn't have timed it better.  The upgrades they did to the Matterhorn were pretty awesome too.  Still a super jerky ride, but much improved.

The fireworks in line from the Matterhorn

After our second go around on Splash Mountain we went and picked up the kiddo.  He had a blast!!  They had a special viewing area for the kids to watch the fireworks from, they had a Mad Tea party, he got to play games and watch a movie.   I cannot say enough about how wonderful the babysitting is at both Disneyland & Disneyworld.  The Cast Members obviously love kids and love what they do.  Thank you to the wonderful cast members who take such good care of the kiddo.  He is really sad that we didn't book one for him when we go to Disneyworld.  

Then we headed back to the hotel for a nice sleep.

Kiddo's Disney Tag

This is the kiddo here, and this is what I answered:


1- Favorite Character-Luke/Pluto
2-Favorite Princess - Snow White
3-Favorite Heroine - Leia
4-Favorite Prince - Charming
5- Favorite Hero-Iron Man
6-Favorite Animal - Pluto
7-Favorite Sidekick - Robin Hood in Disney Infinity 3.0
8- Favorite Villain - Darth Vader
9- Favorite Original Character - Pluto
10 - Favorite Love Song - You'll be in my Heart
11-Favorite Song-Heffalumps & Woozles
12-Favorite Villain Song- Be Prepared
13-Least Favorite Song-I don't have one
14-Favorite Kiss- It's to awkward to answer
15 - First Movie I Saw - Snow White
16-Favorite Classic - Robin Hood
17-Songs that is always stuck in your head-Heffalumps & Woozles
18-Favorite Pixar Film-Cars
19-Least Favorite Pixar Film-I don't have on they are all really good
20-Favorite Sequel-Cars 2
21-Overrated Movie-They are all really good.
22-Underrated Movie-Planes
23-Movie that makes you laugh-Cars
24-Movie that makes you Cry-Inside Out
25-The saddest Scene from your favorite movie-When Luke is struck by the Sith Lightning
26-Saddest Death-Clone Troopers
27-Favorite Quote-When Francesco is away from home he misses his mama
28-Favorite Theme Park-Disneyland
29-Favorite Theme Attraction-Silly Symphony Swings
30-Favorite Theme Park Show-Fantasmic

I hope you enjoy.  What are your favorites?  If you want to share them go ahead and do the Disney Tag.

Disney Tag - Me

So the Disney tag has been making it's way around the internet and the kiddo asked if he and I could do it for my blog so I figured why not.  Since I am up and can't sleep I figured I would do mine now and then tomorrow or the next day we would do his.  Ok timer is set, go:

1- Favorite Character-Emma Swan/Mickey
2-Favorite Princess - Jasmine
3-Favorite Heroine - Emma Swan
4-Favorite Prince - Aladdin
5- Favorite Hero-Killian/Kristoff
6-Favorite Animal - Maximus
7-Favorite Sidekick - Genie or Mushu
8- Favorite Villain - Regina
9- Favorite Original Character - Mickey
10 - Favorite Love Song - A Whole New World
11-Favorite Song-Never Had a Friend Like Me
12-Favorite Villain Song-Pour Unfortunate Souls
13-Least Favorite Song-Feed the Birds
14-Favorite Kiss-Emma & Hook
15 - First Movie I Saw - 101 Dalmatians, but the movie stopped playing halfway through, my first full Disney Movie was Babes in Toyland
16-Favorite Classic - Robin Hood & Trick or Treat(cartoon short)
17-Songs that is always stuck in your head-Boo to You
18-Favorite Pixar Film-Brave/Inside Out
19-Least Favorite Pixar Film-Bugs Life
20-Favorite Sequel-Toy Story 2
21-Overrated Movie-Maleficent
22-Underrated Movie-Enchanted
23-Movie that makes you laugh-Aladdin
24-Movie that makes you Cry-Up
25-The saddest Scene from your favorite movie-Baby Mine - Dumbo.  Not my favorite movie but it hurts me to see and always makes me cry
26-Saddest Death-Ellie
27-Favorite Quote-All your dreams can come true if you just have the courage to pursue them/I will always find you.
28-Favorite Theme Park-Disneyland
29-Favorite Theme Attraction-California Screamin/Expedition Everest/Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris
30-Favorite Theme Park Show-Paint the Night

Some of these were so hard to pick just one so I cheated a bit.  I wasn't sure if Once Upon a Time counted but I made an executive decision that it did in my case.  It took me 5 min 45 seconds so just a bit over not to bad for being a bit tired :)

Training catch up

The hubby and I had been doing really well on our training when we got back at the start of last month, but the past few weeks not so much.
About a week and a half ago I got sick, again with another sinus infection.  This one knocked me on my butt!!!  I spent about 4 days just sleeping.  I am still suffering from it right now, and just want it to go away!!!  While they have been treating me for the sinus infection they also discovered that my anemia has come come.  So not only am I dealing with the cold but also super low iron levels.  Joy of Joy.

So I took a bit of time off of training but started up again this week.  I did two 30 minute runs this week as well as the long run for the week yesterday.  I did 11 miles and managed to keep a 15:04 pace.  Not my best pace, but I'm trying to be ok with it because it is still better than I have to have to finish the half and it does feel like I have an elephant.  Hopefully the meds will work there magic and I will be ready to do a much better time on my 14 mile run next Saturday.

The kiddo has been doing really well on his training.  He is running cross country at school so he has practices three days a week and then his meets on the weekend.  We do have to get a few three milers in with him during the week.  I think we are going to do those on Wednesdays.  I will let you know how he does on his first one.

Trip Recap Day 4

I am definitely noticing a theme as I write these recaps.  We rested a lot which is not normal for us.  We usually are up at 6 and out the door by 7.  We always like to beat the crowds.  I think because we had so much time this trip I knew we would be able to get everything i that we wanted to so we just relaxed.

We slept in until about 8 then got ready and headed into Disneyland.  We did the Rockets a couple of times, Autopia, went to Toontown, met with Pluto, then we decided we were hungry.  Since we hadn't had breakfast and we didn't have any reservations the kiddo asked if we could do McDonalds.  So we headed out of the parks and walked down Harbour Blvd to get a very early lunch.

We had a nice relaxing lunch and then I decided that since we had walked off resort we might as well go to the CVS down the road to get some staples.  I am really glad we went.  I got us some water, milk, snacks, and me some eye makeup remover and curlers (curling irons do not work for me so I decided to try out some foam curlers which worked great!!!)   More and more as we go to Disneyland we don't get a car so it was really nice to know how much stuff was available within walking distance for us to stock up.  Next time I will wait for hubby to come though, the water was heavy :)

Since this was our last day at Paradise Pier and our last day just the two of us I asked the kiddo what he wanted to do.  He said he wanted to do the pool, then go watch the Soundsational Parade.  So we headed into the pool for about an hour then went back to Disneyland.  We got there a bit early and got some pretty good seats.

The Disneyland Band came out before the parade to entertain us.  When they played Star Wars the kiddo jumped up and started singing and dancing

Kiddo's favorite part

After the parade the kiddo asked if we could try to catch the Pixar parade in California Adventure.  Since we didn't have any plans or reservations I figured sure why not.  So we headed over there with more than enough time.

We were super hungry at this point so I decided why not stop at one of my favorite quick service spots, Mendocino Terrace.

You can never go wrong with Cheese

The kiddo and I shared a Cheese Platter which was fantastic as ever. It's funny cause the kiddo & I are very picky eaters but we both love a wide variety of cheese.

We went and rode Silly Symphony Swings twice and then Toy Story and decided it was time to head back to the hotel.  Since we had to check out the next day and move to the Disneyland Hotel we packed up and then went into the pool for a late night swim.  We were going to watch the fireworks from the hotel roof top but the kiddo was tired and was kind of getting whiny so I decided it was time to go to bed. 

Trip Recap Day 3

So we decided that today was going to be the day that we did the early morning at California Adventure.  We got up at 6:15 and left the room at 6:50 we were doing good no problem getting there by 7:00 for magic morning..  Well as we walked through the doors into the lobby of Grand Californian I looked at the sigh, turned out Magic Morning wasn't until 8:00 am.  Good one on my part.  So we sat and watched the old Disney cartoons in the lobby then got in line.

One thing I love about magic mornings is how peaceful the park is.  There aren't a lot of lines or people.  It's just a relaxing time.  The kiddo and I strolled hand in hand through Grizzly Peak over to Cars Land.  We rode Mater four times, then did Toy Story three times, and the Silly Symphony Swings two times.

 Then we went and got Churro bites at the Cozy Cone, our favorite spot to get Churro's

The park was getting busier so we decided to head to Off the Page and do some shopping.  We came at the perfect time and got to watch the Red Trolley News Boys, one of the kiddo's favorite shows.

After we watched the show we did some shopping, I bought myself the Aladdin record and then we headed over to Carthay Circle for lunch.

I got an Ernest's Daiquiri

Yummy Bread

View from our seats

Carthay Angus Burger

Terrible picture of Orecchiette Pasta

Close up view of the ceiling, it's based off of Snow White

I loved my food, the kiddo not so much.  He is very picky and he likes his pasta thin.  This was one of the best burgers I have had in a really long time.  I would highly recommend the lunch to anyone.  

Then we headed back to Disneyland and rode the rockets, Buzz Lightyear, met a few characters, rode Autopia, and just hung out. 

Mine, Mine, Mine

Then we decided it was time to head back to the hotel, have a snack of Chocolate covered pretzels, go swimming and take a nap.  That was one of the really nice things about going for as long as we did, we got a lot of rest which we don't normally get during a trip to Disney.  The kiddo and I really love the Paint the Night parade so we decided we would go watch it again.  We got there a bit over an hour early and it was packed!!!!  We walked all the way down past the Matterhorn and there was not a spot to be found.  The kiddo was getting really worried, so we headed back down Main Street.  We were really lucky and this really nice young couple let us sit with them so the kiddo could watch the parade.They were so nice. 

We had yet to see the fireworks, and I had heard that it was awesome to watch it from Main Street so we had perfect seats to just jump into the middle once the parade was over.  I personally don't think Main Street is the best spot.  I had to hold the kiddo up the whole time and it was so hot.  Plus you were having to look at too many different spots, the castle, the shops, above the shops, etc.  If you have multiple days to see the fireworks, it's worth it, but if you have just one night watch them in front of the castle.   After the fireworks we decided it was time to go back to the hotel, but I was so hungry!!  One of my favorite things to get is slice of pizza at Naples, but everyone else had the same idea, so I ended up getting a pizza pretzel at Wetzels, which was just ok, not the same as a slice of pizza.  Then we headed back to hotel for bed time.

Trip Recap Part 2

I had the best intentions to get up early and do early morning at the parks, but when my alarm went off at 6:45 there was no way we were getting up :)  After stumbling around half asleep I shut the alarm off and just let us snuggle ourselves back under the covers and get some much needed sleep.
We woke up around 8:30 and decided to head down to the arcade in the hotel since they had the Star Wars game the kiddo really likes to play.  The hubby and I always enjoy going to arcades as well.  So while the kiddo was trying to destroy the Death Star I decided to race Bowser on Mario Kart.  We had breakfast reservations at Surf's Up in our hotel so after the kiddo defeated the Empire we went and got an autograph book and headed to breakfast.

Waiting to be called in

Surf's Up is a character buffet that the kiddo had been asking to go for a while so we decided to try it out.  I have mixed feelings on it.  You walk in and get to meet Mickey in his lifeguard costume then they take you to your table and you get to get your food.  The food was ok.  They had an decent selection but it's a typical breakfast buffet.  We saw Daisy right away but then we had to wait 20 minutes for another Character came out, Minnie.  We were done eating by this point but the reason we came was for Pluto so we were not leaving until we saw him. It took another 15 minutes but worth every minute of the wait!!!!  Stitch was also there, and him and Pluto were hilarious.  I think Stitch is now the kiddo's second favorite character.  We spent a fair amount of time with them and the kiddo loved it.

                                   

They did a little dance party with Stitch and the kiddo got right up there and danced with him, he had so much fun.  My recommendation would be if you have at least an hour to spare it's worth it if people in your party want some quality time with the characters.

We decided it was hot and time for a swim so what better way to cool off than the pool.  So we swam for about 2 hours then headed back to the room to get ready for the parks.  We had reservations at Cafe Orleans at 4:00 so we headed in and went straight there.  We got to sit outside near the Rivers of America.

Our View

My Three-Cheese Monte Cristo

 

Kiddo's Mac N Cheese.  He ate all his veggies first

Our Pommes Fries

I really enjoy coming here because the food is so yummy.  Only downside, total diet buster meal.  I highly recommend stopping here at least once.    We were so stuffed after that meal.  We headed over to California Adventure and took a few spins on Mater followed by Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. We found out the kiddo's Spirit Animal is a wolf and mine is an Otter.  The lines were really long and I guess for a Sunday night that was to be expected.  So we walked through all the shops in California Adventure and then headed back over to Disneyland and walked through the shops there.  Sometimes it's just nice to be in the parks with the kiddo.  Walking hand in hand singing and dancing together.  We are creating memories we will share forever.

We had dinner reservations at Carnation Cafe at 8:20.  I had planned it that way because I wanted to see the Paint the Night parade and not have to scout out a seat. When you check in they always ask inside, outside or first available, so we picked outside.  We got a pretty good seat to watch it, the only problem, I was still stuffed.  I was going to power through though.  I mean this is one of my favorite restaurants!!

Fried Pickles, AMAZING

Kiddo's make your own PB&J

My amazing shrimp salad.  I took over half of it back with me

Kitty

Mac

It was really nice to have a relaxing spot to watch the parade, and let me tell you this parade is so AMAZING.  I have always loved the shows, parades, and fireworks.  I have very fond memories of watching the electric parade with my dad, but this one WOW.  It makes me happy just thinking about it.  The kiddo and I are singing the song right now.  This is a must do.  So after watching the parade we decided it was time to head back to the hotel and get some sleep for early morning the next day.