Father's Day Champagne Sunday Brunch

One of the things that Mike wanted to do to celebrate his Father’s Day was eat at the “Champagne Sunday Brunch” at our hotel (The Eden Resorts & Suites). He had read so many great reviews online about the food that it seemed like a good idea. Wrong! It was a GREAT idea! The Champagne Sunday Brunch is like entering brunch world. Everything you could possibly imagine to eat for brunch was in the room. At first I was annoyed that we had to make reservations for brunch the day before, but when I saw how amazing the brunch spread was I totally understood. First of all, the room is beautiful. For a minute you feel like you are walking into someone’s wedding reception. The staff is dressed in formal attire, lots of lights are hanging from the ceiling, piano music is playing, there’s a large fountain, and there are many stations filled with food!

When you walk into the room you are seated by the hostess at a table where your waiter comes and gets your drink orders. Then it’s off to the brunch smorgasbord! I literally had to keep reminding Aidan that he should pick 4 things to go on his plate, because after he was done he could always come back and get more. Aidan had a lot fun going back and forth from the buffet. As we ate brunch we commented at how many stations there were in the room: pastries, pasta, fruits & cheeses, desserts, beef carving, pancakes & waffles, omelet, breads & muffins, etc… It was truly a jaw-dropping array of food. What a way to celebrate Father’s Day!

Day Out with Thomas the Train

On the last day of our Father’s Day Pennsylvania trip we went to the Strasburg Railroad to ride Thomas the Train, and then we went back to our hotel to have brunch at the famous “Champagne Sunday Brunch”. Since Caleb really likes trains, Mike and I were excited to take him to the Strasburg Railroad. When you buy a ticket to ride Thomas the Train it tells you on the ticket that you should arrive 1 hour before your ride. Arriving 1 hour ahead of time is a good idea if you want to park and see some of the other things the Strasburg Railroad has to offer before your ride (food tents, other fun railroad rides, pictures with Thomas the Train, etc…) But if you prefer to ride first then sightsee after, like we did, you could arrive half an hour before your ride time and still make it. We arrived at the Strasburg Railroad in the late morning and I was surprised and thrilled to see a long line-up of food tents there. I love trying out food from food tents! We quickly got our pictures with Thomas the Train and then headed over to the Mini Fried Donuts tent. There was nothing better that morning than fresh, hot cinnamon & sugar mini donuts with hazelnut coffee. Yummmm! We then got in line to ride on Thomas the Train. The kids really enjoyed riding the train. However, if we were to visit again, I would not buy the overpriced tickets for riding Thomas the train and purchase instead a regular train ticket. Our boys enjoyed waving to Thomas pass by on the railroad track more than riding him. Once they were on the train, they couldn’t see Thomas anymore and thus it just became a regular train ride. When our train ride was over we headed over to another food tent to buy some smoothies and an Italian Sausage. It was so good that I stopped sharing with Mike and bought one of my own. Next we did a few rides and then visited the gift shop to buy some souvenirs. It was a fun morning, and we would have stayed longer (definitely to try out some more food tents) but we needed to make our brunch reservation at the Champagne Buffet and save some room in our stomachs.

Dutch Wonderland

In June, we decided celebrate Father’s Day by taking Mike on a quick weekend trip to Pennsylvania. We planned on going to Dutch Wonderland on the first day and then the Strasburg Rail Road to ride Thomas the Train on the last day. So many of our friends having been telling us for years that we needed to take the kids to Dutch Wonderland because it was a perfect amusement park for kids their age. They were right! The kids were able to go on so many rides! One ride to be forewarned about though is the “Sky Ride”. Although this ride is fun, it is also a little deceiving because it looks like you go across the park and come back, but it actually only goes one way. That means that you end up standing in line to go across, but then you need to get off and stand in line again to go back. Mike and I wished we had known that, because when we reached the end of the ride, Mike needed to stand in line to go back and get our stroller, and then walk it halfway across the park to us. Luckily, the kids just rode rides and ate New York Gourmet Italian Ice while we waited for their dad and the stroller (the Gourmet Italian Ice was yummy!).

Dutch Wonderland also has a water park too! So as soon as we started feeling a little hot, we headed over to Duke’s Lagoon. Our boys love water parks, so they had a blast in Duke’s Lagoon. If you ever happen to go to Dutch Wonderland on a hot day though, I would recommend heading over there before lunch time to get a good spot to sit down because it can get crazy crowded heading into the afternoon. After spending a few hours at Duke’s Lagoon, we did a few more rides before heading out of the park. Of course no one can enter Dutch Wonderland without going through the gift shop (it is built into the entry and exit point of the park…very sneaky), so on the way out we stopped in the gift shop so the kids could pick out a souvenir. It was during this souvenir shopping that this scene took place:

Me: Aidan you can pick out 2 things to get from this gift shop

Aidan: I want this (a sour fruit roll-up) and this (hand-cuffs).

Me: I don’t think hand-cuffs are a good idea. While Mommy is standing in line to buy, why don’t you quickly go around the store with Daddy and see if there is something else that maybe you like better.

Aidan: Awww…I want the hand-cuffs.

Me: But you haven’t looked through that side of the gift shop, and maybe over there you might find something even better. Go quickly with Daddy and look, because I really don’t think we should buy hand-cuffs.

….a few minutes later Mike walks up to me standing in line

Mike: So Aidan found something that he liked better.

Me: Great! What is it?

Mike and Aidan: A cap gun!

Me: Give me the handcuffs.

Raging Waters

On the last day of our California vacation we went to Raging Waters. Unfortunately, the weather that day ended up being cooler than we expected. Cooler weather meant that the water at Raging Waters wasn’t exactly on the warmer side. But apparently, when it came to playing in a water park, the water temperature didn’t seem to dampen the amount of the fun the kids had. Mike was very heroic and volunteered to accompany the kids into the cold water so that I wouldn’t have to freeze. Therefore, my job was to warm the kids when they were feeling cold (definitely one of my favorite jobs) and feed them snacks. We spent the morning ‘till early afternoon at Raging Waters before heading back to Santa Monica for dinner. We ate our last dinner at “The Lobster” (I’m sure it is not too hard to guess what we ate for dinner there :P) then walked to “Angelato Café” for some gelatos for dessert. It was a wonderful end to one of the best vacations we’ve had.

Umami Burger

We went to “Umami Burger” for dinner on the 6^th day of our California vacation. This restaurant was mentioned on the Food Network for having one of the best hamburgers. Mike loves to eat hamburgers. In fact, out of the all the restaurants we had eaten at during our vacation, this was the one that he expressed that he was the most excited to eat at (my man loves to eat his meat). We ordered thin fries, sweet potato fries, tempura onion rings, and 3 Umami Burgers - high quality beef with shitake mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, carmelized onions, house-made umami ketchup, and a parmesan crisp on a truffle-oil brioche bun.

Everything was awesome! I honestly wished we had more stomach room so that we could have tried some of the other burgers on the menu that sounded good, but alas, God only put one stomach in each of our bodies…. The kids enjoyed eating the side dishes the most and obviously Mike enjoyed his burger with a cold bottle of coke (a glass coke bottle, which added a little “class” to the meal). If I had to pick one thing not to pass up on the menu it would be the sweet potato fries; they are definitely a yummy side that you will want to have with whatever burger you order.

Santa Monica Beach

On the 6th day of our vacation in California, we made the effort to wake up early and drive to The Griddle Café for breakfast. I had seen this restaurant mentioned on the Food Network for having delicious Red Velvet Pancakes. We must have looked like a family that never ate breakfast before because we pigged-out! After enjoying a big breakfast at The Griddle Café we headed back to our hotel to get ready to spend the rest of the day at the beach. At the beach, the kids had fun playing in the hot sand, chasing seagulls, and splashing around in the cold water. We even got the added joy of teaching Aidan that when he’s shoveling sand and tossing it behind him that it is a good idea to make sure that people are not behind him getting that sand in their face….people like Mommy and Daddy. As the kids played in the water, my job was to warm the them up every time they came out of the water with their teeth chattering (I can’t think of anything better than sitting at the beach and giving my kids long hugs ‘till they’re warm……). After spending a few hours at the beach, we “de-sanded”, changed our clothes, and headed to the Santa Monica Pier to enjoy some of the rides. Next came a late naptime followed by dinner at Umami Burger (another Food Network restaurant recommendation). We ended the evening by picking up some smoothies from Robeks and walking to Whole Foods to pick up some snacks for our trip to Raging Waters the next day.

Luna Park

On the 5th day of our California vacation we drove from San Dimas to Santa Monica and checked into our hotel there. When we checked into our hotel, I was so excited to find out that our hotel had a Starbucks in it…SCORE! We spent the rest of the morning unpacking, walking to Whole Foods to buy some drinks and healthy snacks, and then napping. Later that evening we drove into LA to eat dinner at another restaurant that I had seen on the Food Network called “Luna Park”. Food Network mentioned that “Luna Park” had a wonderful “S’mores” dessert. Aidan had been nagging us for a couple weeks about making s’mores again at home, so we were excited to surprise him with this restaurant on our vacation. Luna Park was a nice casual restaurant that even had paper mats and crayons for the kids to color with, Yay! Honestly, I can’t remember what we ate for dinner there because all I can remember is how GOOD that “S’mores” dessert was! It was a lot of fun to assemble our s’mores using Luna Park’s house-made crisp graham crackers, toasted mini marshmallows, and dark chocolate sauce…YUMMM! In fact, we all enjoyed it so much that we ordered it twice! I’m seriously considering baking my own graham crackers and using dark chocolate sauce if we make s’mores at home again someday….

Scandia

On the 4th day of our California vacation, we originally had planned to go to Universal Studios. Our plan was to relax in the amusement park and just let the kids play in “The Adventures of Curious George” water playground. However,the weather forecast for that day ended up being more on the cool side which made going to a water playground not the best idea. With the water playground out and the rides/attractions at Universal Studios being geared towards older kids, we decided we were better off saving $250 and coming up with a new plan for that day.
The first thing we did that morning was head to “Kickback Jack’s” for a big breakfast. Mike LOVED eating breakfast at “Kickback Jack’s”. We both had the Country Breakfast which Mike claimed was one of the best breakfasts he ever ate ( by the way, the breakfast portions are HUGE! ). We spent the rest of the morning swimming in our hotel’s heated pool, ate fruit for lunch, and then we all napped. After we all woke up from a much-needed nap (a day in Disney will exhaust anyone, so recharging from that trip the day before felt great) we decided to check out this small amusement park/miniature golf place called “Scandia” that I had happen to notice when driving by.
The rides at Scandia basically had no lines at all (probably because we went on a weekday in the early afternoon). Whenever our kids wanted to go on a ride in the park, they just needed to ask one of the park staff to go over to the ride and start it up. With no lines and the park staff basically at their beck-and-call, our boys had the time of our lives at this little amusement park! So instead of $250 to go to Universal Studios that day, we ended up getting a nap and going to Scandia for $81.80. Smiles all around that day!

Legoland

Legoland was the first amusement park we went to on our 2011 California vacation. Aidan was so happy that Tito Alex was coming with us, and informed Mike and me on the car ride there that he was going to do some rides with his Tito Alex too. The Lego sculptures at Legoland are a lot of fun to take pictures with. Alex and I had enjoyed taking pictures with these sculptures while Caleb napped in his stroller later in the day, and Aidan waited in line with his dad and rode the rides.
What we quickly learned while standing in line for most of these rides (and we were there on a weekday) was that even though the lines might seem short, most of the rides move like they are really made of legos (slow), so for a couple of rides we found ourselves waiting in line for almost 35 min. On the plus side, these slow-moving rides made it much easier to take pictures of the kids riding them.

One of the unique snacks that we ended up trying at Legoland was the “Granny’s Apple Fries” with vanilla cream dipping sauce. “Interesting” and “different” would be the words that I would use to describe this snack, but I wouldn’t buy it again if we went back to Legoland. I’m sure this snack would be a winner for a lot of other people, but for us, even though it was a taste experience, it didn’t leave us amazed.

It is pretty difficult to make it through the entire Legoland park in one day with kids aged 5 and under, but that day we managed to go through about 75% of the park. If I had to give my overall opinion of Legoland I would say that it is worth going to, but not for more than a day. I’ve definitely seen better rides in other amusement parks (but young kids like ours honestly can’t tell the difference), but seeing the Lego sculptures is sure worth the park visit. We were only able to endure waiting through some of the slow lines in Legoland thanks to the fact that we live in such a multimedia age where our phones and iPads have games and videos that the kids can watch and play while waiting. Out of all the parks we visited throughout our vacation though, Legoland had the healthiest food choices (things like fresh made pasta to order, yogurt, fruit chips, frozen fruit bars, etc….) which made me very happy.