Finally – the spring break post! The Friday before spring break, we went to see Zachary and his classmates sing patriotic songs out on the turf. Afterwards, we joined Alex and his family for dinner at Chicago Fire.
And Saturday was Calie’s first real dentist appointment … she did great… no cavities! Zachary did well too, but unfortunately one of his permanent teeth was coming in behind 2 baby teeth. Since we were driving to Anaheim right after the appointment, we scheduled his extractions for the following weekend.
Day 1 (Saturday): We initially reserved the Disney Theme Home from Sunday-Friday, but since the house was available earlier, the owner asked if we would like to stay an extra day. Uh … YES! We got to Anaheim around 6pm. The home was amazing! Everything was decked out in Disney décor. There was a playroom with arts/crafts, a Wii systems, cars, Disney dolls, play kitchen, and rock band area with karaoke machine. In the kids’ rooms, they had their own TV and dress-up clothes. There were was a wall of candy (eat as much as you want), a huge gumball machine (owner left 4 quarters for the kids), and a tote of gifts. Zachary got a plush Mickey Mouse and light saber, Calie received a Cinderella doll and lunch box. Both kids got a note pad and pen, as well as 6 sticker filled Easter eggs. All based on their favorite Disney characters – how thoughtful!
The kids got dressed up for Downtown Disney, where we had dinner at Naples. The kids usually like pizza, but they didn’t care for the margherita at Naples so we took back lots of leftovers (yay for having a kitchen). We walked out of the restaurant just as fireworks were starting. What a great start to our vacation! And best of all, since we had an extra day, there was no rush to prepare for an epic theme park day … we crashed when we got home because we could unpack at our leisure the following day.
Day 2 (Sunday): On our ‘bonus’ day, the kids played at the house. There was so much for them to do, that a few times when I asked the kids if they wanted to play a game with me, they said, ”Not now, maybe later.” I spent part of the afternoon, lying out by the pool reading celebrity gossip magazines. It was nice not being needed for awhile!
That evening, we went to Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner. Totally worth it. Of all the character dinings, I recommend this one the most. We met a lot of characters … which made for great photos ops without standing in line at the theme park. We did NOT see Mickey, but the kids didn’t care. Calie was afraid of most characters, with the odd exception of Minnie Mouse (“Oh, she is sooo pretty. She has a pretty dress.”)
Since Zachary’s birthday was this month, Pluto presented him with a chocolate cupcake. The food was quite good; my favorite was prime rib and Yukon mashed potatoes. And yes, I did try the peanut butter and jelly pizza!
Day 3 (Monday): First day at the theme parks! Since Disneyland opens an hour earlier than California Adventures, we went there first. We woke up bright an early and stood with the crowd for the rope drop – it reminded me of a 5k race. As we walked down Main Street, the band struck up a peppy tune and Calie gasped,”That’s my favorite song!” She was so excited! First stop was Indiana Jones, a new ride for Zachary, as last year, he wasn’t tall enough. We used the rider swap option so that both James and I could go on the ride while the other waited with Calie. Then it was off to California Adventures. First stop there … Toy Story Mania! Great ride. And the lines were SO short! Almost every ride was a walk-on or under a 10 minute wait. The only exception was Soaring Over California … which was worth the 35 minute wait, especially since Zachary could go twice (once with each parent using the rider swap ticket.)
JP was also visiting Disney, so he met up with us for Tower of Terror, Monsters Inc. rides, and the Muppets 3D show. By the end of the day, we did every ride and show we could (Zach is still too short for the big California Screamin roller coaster) except the Disney Junior show and the Animation building walk through.
We had dinner at Wine Country Trattoria, which gave us VIP viewing of the World of Color. The entrees were pretty good … I enjoyed my lamb shank in pinot noir sauce and James’ beef tenderloin was delicious as well. The kids’ meal (pasta) was pretty blah though. I’m glad Calie (under 3) was free because it was a struggle to get both kids to finish the one dish, and I don’t blame them. (I know what you are thinking. Yes, I tried a bite of everyone’s food!) Before World of Color started, we checked out ElecTRONica, which was basically the Hollywood Backlot area transformed into a TRON themed dance club. We didn’t stay too long, as it was loud and not too entertaining for the kids. Instead, we headed to our VIP section for World of Color early to secure a good spot.
World of Color was amazing! I wasn’t a huge fan of projecting images on water (same trick I’ve seen from Fantasmic), but I loved the use of brightly colored light to make the water look like glittery paint. It was like Bellagio fountains, but much better and in color. Unfortunately, Calie missed most of it. Despite going to the earlier show (9pm), she was way too exhausted and couldn’t keep her eyes open past a few minutes.
Day 4 (Tuesday): We let the kids sleep in the next day since they had such a long day yesterday. We still ended up getting to Disneyland within 30 minutes of opening. We ran to our favorite rides, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and Space Mountain. I was very reluctant to stand in long lines, knowing we still had our early entrance day ticket, so we opted to wait on the Matterhorn, Nemo submarine, and basically all Fantasyland and Toontown rides. Since we had extra time with the 4-day pass, we went on a few “lower priority” rides I’d never been on … the canoe ride, a trip to Tom Sawyer’s Island, and a sailboat cruise.
We had dinner reservations at Blue Bayou, the restaurant overlooking the Pirates of Caribbean ride. Good meal … a refreshing salad with gorgonzola cheese, followed by crab cakes. Kids also enjoyed their cheesy pasta and traded their sides of carrot sticks and fruit with each other (I’ll give you one guess who ate the carrots and who ate the fruit! My kids are too predictable and in a culinary rut!)
Day 5 (Wednesday): We started the day with the Nemo submarine ride at Disneyland, and then headed to California Adventure for lunch at Arial’s Grotto. I would have to say Arial’s Grotto was the least favorite of my Disney sit down meals. The food is best described as average wedding food. A choice of tri-tip, fish, or chicken over rice pilaf and steamed vegetables. The dessert was the best part of the meal, and included a white chocolate conch seashell. They did not have Rapunzul! Her appearance alone would have made the meal worth it, as the line to meet her at Disneyland was over 90 minutes. At least Calie did meet her favorite princess, Cinderella! (Maybe it was a good thing she hasn’t seen the movie ‘Tangled’ yet.)
I would not recommend Arial’s Grotto unless you have a child who is obsessed by princesses. And if you do go, I suggest asking for a non-booth seat. We were seated in a booth, and it was a bit annoying getting out for photos. After lunch, since we were already at California Adventures, we went through the Animator’s building and watched the Disney Junior show. We had originally decided not to do the Grizzly Run as it was a bit chilly, but since we brought ponchos in case it started raining (it didn’t), we made a last minute decision to go for it! Whoo-hoo!
Day 6 (Thursday): On our last theme park day, we used our early entrance ticket to get into the park at 7am. With hardly any lines at all, we went on The Matterhorn, all the Fantasyland rides, and the Toontown rides, Calie was so excited to ride her first ever rollercoaster in Toontown (“I AM big enough!”) She raised her hands like everyone else at the begining of the ride, but after the first drop, clung on for dear life!
James’ friend Christy’s family drove up from San Diego to meet us. It was their kids’ first time at Disneyland so we went on all the major attractions again. We had lunch while watching the Jedi training program. Despite wanting a complete break from work, I was in the middle of hiring, so I had to check work email periodically. Since it was down to compensation, I wasn’t able to pass off the task to any of my staff members. I made my final offer in line at the Buzz Lightyear ride, and just hoped for the best.
We knew we had really ‘done it all’, when we went into the Innovations building … a walk-through that never made it on either James’ or my list in all the times we’ve been to Disneyland. They really need to update the displays, because quite a few of the ‘innovations’ are now commonplace, even outdated.
We ended the day with Fantasmic followed by the nightly fireworks. We arrived late, so terrible view for me, okay view for James, and excellent view for kids sitting on shoulders.
I didn’t mind since I’ve seen both shows multiple times before, and this time, Calie stayed awake until the very end.
Day 7 (Friday): Our last day! The kids played at the house while James and I packed. We pulled out of the driveway and got back on 1-5 a little after 11am. With only a lunch stop at McDonalds (kid burned off some energy running around the play structure) and a dinner to-go stop at Starbucks, we reached home about the kids’ regular bedtime. As we pulled into the driveway, Calie teared up and said,”This is not Disneyland. Go back!” She braced herself against her carseat and refused to get out of the car until we reminded her that there was an egg hunt the following morning.
The vacation flew by! I could not believe a week went by so quickly. I think it’s because it went so smoothly. This was our first vacation without lugging a diaper bag in many years. We used Fast Passes and iPhone apps to minimize wait times, and had reservations at some nicer restaurants to break up the day. There were no meltdowns, the weather was good (60-70s), and we got to experience everything we wanted to. Wow! J (And the offer I was working on was accepted … got the good news on the drive back … yay!)
Saturday morning, we headed to the Folsom Eggstravaganza for their annual carnival and egg hunt. Calie did extremely well, being a 2.5 year old in the 0-2 field, and Zach fared better than expected with the 7-10 crowd. Lots of candy, and *8* coupons for free corn dogs. (Time for a work team builder lunch?) Afterwards, we drove to Sam/Melissa’s house for their annual brunch and egg dyeing playdate. This was extremely timely, as we had no food at home. They made a great spinach quiche, butter lettuce salad, hummus dip, and put out a smoked salmon spread – yum! Thanks for hosting!
Easter Sunday, my friend Tabitha organized a potluck playdate at the park. Each family brought a dozen eggs per child to hide around the pavilion. It was very windy, but the kids had a fun time, and the food was really good. Especially the homemade barbecued Tandori chicken and tea eggs! We spent the rest of the day just relaxing around the house and playing in the backyard.
Monday, I took the day off from work to take Zach to the dentist. He did great! One tooth came out right away (it was already very wiggly, and we probably could have pulled it ourselves) but he said he could feel the other one twist out. What a trooper – I was sitting there, nervous and scared for him! Afterwards, we ran some errands, then had lunch and played a round of Battleship before heading out for a 3 mile walk to pick Calie up from school. And there we have it … Spring break 2011. Now back to work so we can pay for our next vacation!
In the afternoon, I went to watch Sandy and Melissa at their ballroom showcase … each of them showed off 4 dances. What an great show, a cumulation of almost 6 months of hard work. I have no idea how they keep track of all the steps - Bravo!
