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.

 

Trip Recap - Part 1

I just spend a few hours going through all my pictures and getting them organized.  I just brewed myself a cup of tea, well if I am being honest I had about 5 cups, and got to work.  I don't think I took as many pictures this time, either that or I lost a memory card :(  I was going to do a two parter, but that would make this post way too long.  So I will break it up into a few posts.  This time I promise to get the whole trip recap up. So without further ado here is part 1 trip recap.

We had an 8 am flight out of SeaTac so I got up at 4:00am (after falling asleep around 11:30 the night before) so I could make sure that I had everything I needed and sit down and have a cup of tea followed by a mimosa or two and clean up the DVR.

Gotta have a Disney one of course

I know probably way to early to drink for most but I HATE flying and the whole stress of it can sometimes get to me so it's kind of nice to have a bit of a de-stresser. I double checked to make sure I had what I needed then I took about an hour to myself.  Then I got the kiddo and hubby up and we were out the door by 5:45.  I am really glad we got out when I did because the airport was packed!!  We have taken early flights like that one and it's usually a breeze to get through security, not so much in this case.  There was a ton of people

 This was the side security line.  The main one was 3x's as long

Luckily we got through pretty quickly and we had about 45 minutes before we boarded.  I usually like at least an hour to an hour and a half but we had already eaten on the way to the airport so it was the perfect amount of time.  We went and got some drinks and magazines then headed to the kiddy play area.  He is still young enough that he enjoys it and it lets him run off some energy before we have to get on a plane for a few hours.  

We flew JetBlue down and we had a nice smooth flight which is always nice when it's just me and the kiddo.  I truly am lucky to have such a great traveler.  He knows exactly what to do and just goes with the flow.  He flipped through his Star Wars Magazine, put a little Lego kit together and then watched a movie on my tablet.  

 We got our bag really quick and then headed over to the cab line.  They took us right away and after a quick drive we were at Paradise Pier.  Since it was way to early to actually get our room we checked our bags and checked in at the front desk.  They said they would text us our room number and we headed into the parks.  

We went straight into Disneyland and checked out some of the merchandise, they had some awesome Diamond Celebration stuff, and then had a quick snack

One of fav's, a Mickey Pretzel and a Raspberry Coke from Coke Corner

Then it was time to hit up some rides, except the lines were soooo long.    We went and got in line to ride Autopia but just as we got to the front it broke down :(  So we were coming up with a game plan when I got the text that the room was ready. 

View from our room.  We were on the 4th floor.  You can see part of Mickey's Fun Wheel

 We were both exhausted, especially me since I was running off of 3 hrs of sleep and had been up for almost 10 hours.  So we decided we would go back to the room and get settled, then have a dip in the pool, and then have dinner at Goofy's Kitchen.   We had a great time.  We had dinner reservations at 5:45 pm and it was just ok.  They had Minnie, Chip, Dale & Pluto but the last time we went they had a ton more characters.  So that was a bit disappointing, but the kiddo loves Pluto so that worth it.  The food is pretty good there for a buffet.  I had Prime Rib, Shrimp, Salad, Rolls, and French Fries, the kiddo had Mac N Cheese, roll, chicken, and a roll.  Then of course he had ice cream for dessert. After dinner though we decided it was going to be an early night so we headed back to the hotel room and went to bed.  

Up next our time in the parks.  I am thinking about doing a room review, but I only took pics of Paradise Pier & not the Disneyland hotel :(

Stressful Times

I have been trying to really keep this blog about happy upbeat things and my travels and running, but I kind of need a moment to "get it out there" so to speak.

So my kiddo is in a dual immersion school, 1/2 English 1/2 Spanish.  We have been in the school for a long time and have always loved it.  My kiddo has had some issues with his handwriting, basically it's terrible.  My hubbies is as well and dyslexia runs on his side of the family.  We had him checked out by the school district (don't even get me started on how dysfunctional that was) and they basically said he has better handwriting than most kids in the school and since he is reading well above his grade level he's fine.  We have been working with him  A LOT on his handwriting and it has gotten better but he still writes like a kindergartener.  We did put him in school kind of early and we have asked every teacher if he should be where he is and they say yes, he should be.  He is top of his class in everything else and loves to learn they tell us.

Well, last year he was doing really well in the Spanish portion and not having any problems.  Fast forward to this year, and apparently he is lost in class and is shutting down during the Spanish portion.  He told us that he hates going to Spanish class because he doesn't understand anything the teacher is saying to him.  We taught him how to say "I don't understand" and "Please explain" in Spanish (since when they are in Spanish class they are only allowed to speak Spanish, no English at all)  The hubby and I do not speak Spanish but my sister is fluent and a Spanish teacher herself.

I feel so lost.  I don't know what to do.  We are trying to schedule a parent teacher conference to see what is really going on and to find solutions to help him.  The school has gone through a lot of changes lately and it seems like it's in constant flux.  I don't want him to fall behind and I want him to excel.  Sometimes I wonder if we did put him in to early.  Being a parent is tough!!!!

Back to real life

We are back from our trip and it went by way to fast.  We had a really good time.  The kiddo and I had 4 days to ourselves then the hubby joined us for another 5.  I was really glad to get the time to spend along with the kiddo.  As a family of 3 we do a lot together which I love, but it's nice to spend time just the two of us.
We did have a slight issue though with the kiddo and his anxiety.  Normally we get to ride a ton of rides, just not some of the scarier rides like Haunted Mansion or California Screaming.  We totally get it so we don't push him on those rides.  This time he wouldn't ride the simple ones like Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story, or Small World.  He was too scared.  When it was just the two of us he went on Buzz and Toy Story with me, but then when our friends got there he refused.  My hubby was really disappointed because we always love riding these rides with the kiddo.  So we did end up getting a sitter for one night so the hubby and I could go on some rides.  The kiddo loved it, we did Pinocchio's Workshop at California Adventure and he got a special place to sit and watch the fireworks.  He asked to go a second night :)  We didn't do it again because we had a ton of stuff planned.  He is asking to go to the one in Disney World when we get there.

I will do a trip recap in the next week.  It just takes me a really long time to go through all the pictures and organize them :)

Now it's back to getting on the work out and healthy eating bandwagon.  While we were walking 7-10 miles a day we were not eating totally healthy.  I managed to gain 4 lbs on the trip, which is pretty usual.  So now we have two months to lose the 4 lbs plus lose another 5 lbs.