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!

Disney's California Adventure Park

On day #3 of our California vacation, we choose to spend the entire day at Disney’s California Adventure Park. We choose this park over the Disneyland Park because there were so many attractions in California Adventure Park that we hadn’t seen or done when we went to Disneyworld two years ago. We arrived pretty much when the park opened and made a beeline for “Paradise Pier” to stand in line for the “Toy Story Mania!” ride (I researched this park for a couple of weeks, and learned that this was one of the most popular rides where the line can really become long). Even though we were in line early that morning, we still had to wait 35-45 minutes to get on. Luckily though, we had our iPads with us for the kids, so waiting in line was not torturous. It was such a bummer though that this ride did not have Fast Pass because it was SO MUCH FUN! Caleb definitely enjoyed this ride the most. During the whole ride we could hear him laughing and squealing with joy. In fact, we all liked this ride so much that we stood in line to ride it a second time (that’s right, another 45 min.) In case you all are wondering, Mike beat my score both times (it was a hard reality to swallow. If we didn’t have the kids I would have begged Mike to stand in line so I could have challenge him a third time….I’m so darn competitive!).

I’d have to say that the ride Aidan enjoyed the most was “Mickey’s Fun Wheel”. Aidan had a blast every time our gondola lunged, swinging back and forth on the tracks inside of the Ferris Wheel as it went around. He rode this ride twice too :)

Another attraction that we took the boys to was “Disney Junior – Live on Stage”. Both our boys are currently HUGE fans of the Disney show “Jake and the Neverland Pirates”. Here’s proof:

So when we found out that Disney had incorporated the show into the attraction this year (along with the “Little Einsteins”, which is Caleb’s favorite Disney show) we knew the kids were going to be absolutely tickled. We conquered about 12 rides/attractions that day, with some noteworthy ones being: “It’s Tough to be a Bug!”, “Princess Dot Puddle Park”, and “Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies”.



For food that day, I packed sandwiches and snacks for lunch. For dinner, we forked over some extra cash to eat at Ariel’s Grotto so that we could get “Preferred Viewing Section” seat tickets for the “World of Color” show.

We were very excited to watch this show, because again, this show is not offered in Disneyworld. The show started at 10:00pm, but people were lining up to get good seats even an hour before the gates opened. It was an AMAZING show! The film clips projected onto the fountains, along with the music and fire, are choreographed really well. I encourage you not to miss it if you find yourself visiting Disney California Adventure Park. Even though our boys were pretty tired by the time the show started, they watched the whole thing in amazement (along with a dozen yawns too).

All in all, it was a fun-filled day that ended with our kids crashing to sleep on the car ride back to our hotel (Aidan actually began falling asleep on the shuttle ride back to our car. Everyone on our shuttle kept laughing at how hard he was fighting trying to stay awake on that ride back to our car lot) :)

The Foundry on Melrose

On the second day of our California vacation, we spent the day at the California Science Center, followed by dinner at the “Foundry on Melrose”. For a while now, I have been making a list of restaurants that I have seen on the Food Network that I would like to eat at. The “Foundry on Melrose” was mentioned on the Food Network as having the best grilled cheese sandwich. I was excited to try this sandwich with Mike because it sounded so unique.

Normally Mike and I prefer not to go to nice restaurants with our boys (I would say casual elegance looked like the appropriate attire for this restaurant), but since we were on vacation with no one to babysit them, this could not be helped. I really wanted to try this restaurant, and was determined that if they wanted us to leave because we brought our kids, then they would need to say it to my face! Luckily, we brought our iPads with us to keep the boys still and silent (hey, whatever works….), so even though the staff looked a little surprised that we brought our kids with us, they did not ask us to leave. In fact, they were super nice and friendly to the kids during dinner and offered us a table outside on the deck.

Mike ordered his grilled cheese sandwich with the short ribs and I ordered mine without. Both sandwiches were delicious! In addition to the grilled cheese sandwiches, the two other dishes that we ordered that did not fail to disappoint our taste buds were: the “Potato Soup” and the “Pan-seared Scallops”.

California Science Center

After spending a full day at Legoland the day before, we decided to spend the next day of our vacation on a more relaxing trip. So we headed to the California Science Center. One of the best parts of this Museum is that it is …..FREE! The kids enjoyed spending most the day getting their hands on all the exhibits around the museum (I still think the exhibits at the Maryland Science Center are way better, but it is not free). At lunchtime we ate at a café within the Science center, followed by a walk outside into the Rose Garden to look at the various roses and the fountain. We then headed back into the museum to go through the rest of the exhibits. We were surprised to discover that the California Science Center had a large aquarium hidden within its “Ecosystems” exhibit. This was a really neat aquarium because not only could you view it from below within the museum, but you could also look down into it from above by going outside onto the museum’s rooftop. We ended our visit at the California Science Center by buying some small souvenirs at the museum gift shop and heading to Jamba juice for some smoothies before getting ready to eat dinner at the “Foundry on Melrose”.

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.

Aidan Saddles Up!

This past Christmas (2010), Aidan claimed that the only present he wanted from Santa was horseback riding lessons. Mike and I have taken all sorts of lessons growing up, but horseback riding is definitely not one of them (and believe me, I would have traded piano lessons for horseback riding lessons!). So when Aidan requested horseback riding lessons as his Christmas present, we felt a little nervous about what we would be getting ourselves into if we allowed Santa to give Aidan this gift. As I looked into signing Aidan up for horse riding lessons I learned that he needed to be at least 5 years old, and that he would not be able to start until the spring session which began in February. When I told Aidan that he would have to wait a month before being able to enjoy his Christmas present, I was slightly hoping that he would change his mind and ask for something else…but he didn’t. So when February 2011 came, Aidan began horseback riding lessons.

For horseback riding lessons, Aidan is required to wear long pants, paddock boots (horse riding boots) and a riding helmet (not a bike helmet). He looks so cute geared up! I remember the day of his first lesson, we arrived at the horse center, I opened the van door, and Aidan said, “Ewww….what is that smell! It’s so stinky!”. “Get used to it” I said, “because that is what your lessons are going to smell like”. We went to the office to fill out paper work and find out which horse Aidan had been assigned to ride that day. As I filled out the paperwork, Aidan kept asking the receptionist “Can you give me a big horse, I mean, like a really big one! One of the biggest number ones” (I just kept shaking my head and mouthing “no” behind him). The receptionist told us that Aidan was going to ride Pumpkin that day and that his instructor would meet us at the stall. When we got to Pumpkin’s stall Aidan whined “This is a small horse!” “Are you kidding?” I exclaimed “this horse is taller than me!” “No, look at the number” Aidan said as he pointed to the stall number “it is one of the smallest numbers. It’s a small horse. I wanted a big number horse.” I then laughed as I realized that Aidan was associating the size of the horse with its stall number. When Aidan’s instructor showed up she taught both of us how tack a horse (frankly I have felt much more comfortable changing diapers) and then she had Aidan lead his horse to the riding arena. For his first lesson she and Aidan worked on:

· * How to mount the horse

· * Proper way to hold the reins

· * Riding posture

· * How to make the horse stop and go

· * How to pull the reins to steer the horse

It is all very interesting for me to watch, and exciting for Aidan. Caleb, in the beginning, was unhappy that his brother got to ride and he didn’t. During the first few weeks when he saw Aidan take a horse out of its stall and lead it to the arena, he would fall on the floor pouting, “Horsey, own mine. Horsey own mine” (“My own horsey”). I eventually solved the problem by bringing a couple of carrots for him to feed any of the horses his wished during Aidan’s lesson. Aidan is currently working on making his horse trot while posting, and is most eager to get to the “galloping” stage after he develops some strength in his "two-point" riding posture.