California

Wrapping up the Holidays

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To say I slacked on Christmas pictures this year is a bit of an understatement. I procrastinated taking our pictures and then slightly panicked when after I purchased them,I was told they may not make in time. On top of that, I somehow didn’t order nearly enough. So if you did not get a card from us this year, I apologize. You will next year.

We took some day time photos at Crystal Pier in Pacific beach. I think they turned out great.

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On Kaili’s last day of school before break, her class had a Christmas performance.

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It was the cutest thing and they sang some great traditional and non-traditional songs.

Once school was out I decided I probably should take them to Santa.

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As you can see, Averi didn’t want to sit with Santa but other than that it was painless.

Our Christmas was nice, despite poor K bear getting sick most of Christmas day. She wanted nothing to do with her presents until later  when she started to feel better.  I hope everyone had a great holiday. Only a few days left on 2016 can you believe it? See you in the new year.

On the Road Again

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I pulled Kaili out of school a tad early so we could hit the road, destination Walla Walla.  The girls did good, better than I expected to be honest. After a pretty decent dinner in Stockton, we finished up the days drive in Dixon, a town outside of Sacramento. It was 8:30 p.m by the time we were all ready for bed and the girls crashed without a peep.

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Dinner at Harvest Moon, Stockton, Ca.

After a quick hotel breakfast we were back on the road again by 8:00 a.m. It was a long day in the car and the weather wasn’t great. We saw Mount Shasta and a few beautiful rainbows but besides that our sights were set on Newport, Oregon.

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We hoped to get there while there was still daylight but by the time we checked in to our hotel and made it down to the bay front for dinner, it was pitch dark outside. Dinner was good, we have been wanting to try Mo’s for a long time, it was fun to check that box.

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Too cold and dark to walk around, so we went back to the room to get the girls and myself in bed. I fell asleep before 8:00 p.m.

Kaili woke up around 6:00 a.m so we had an early start to the day. With cheese and ice cream on the mind, we made our way to the Tillamook factory. Kaili seemed to enjoy watching the cheese packaging process and pretending to milk the fake cow. Averi was just enjoying being out of the car and neither of them seemed to care about the cheese. We were disappointed to find out the cafe was only serving breakfast since we had our minds set on grilled cheese, so we settled for ice cream instead.

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The only other stop we planned on before arriving in Walla Walla was Multnomah falls.  It was a perfect spot for a bathroom break and a stretch of the legs.

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On the third day and the final stretch  of the trip, Averi decided to give into a nap. It was bliss.

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We made our arrival into the town and conveniently drove by one of the wineries we are members of, so of course we had to stop.

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It’s good to be here and it’s good not having to get back into the car for another day of driving tomorrow. Maybe wine tasting downtown instead.

 

Pumpkin Patching

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We managed to visit three different pumpkin patches this year. I don’t think this is something anyone needs to do, but the kids had fun.

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We took a day to check out the Ramona pumpkin patch. We also tried the famous cinnamon roll at the Ramona cafe…way overrated and then on to a few new wineries.

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Averi had her first ever pony ride, you can tell from her face that it was exhilarating.

We painted pumpkins before school and then met Kaili for her Halloween parade.

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After a mediocre dinner and a total meltdown from Averi, the girls were ready for some Trick or Treating.

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Momma lasted about an hour and a half and then I was ready to get the girls to bed.

I think we successfully nailed October this year!

 

 

A Day by the Sea

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We have been keeping busy the past few weekends. The Chula Vista Harbor fest is the one thing we do each year. It’s the perfect mix for kids and adults. Most of the time you find these festivals have it all, food, booze and a kids zone. But in the city of San Diego, the booze has to be kept in a 21 and over “beer garden.” In Chula Vista, they don’t give a shit and we like that kind of thinking. We can grab a drink and walk around with our kids or sip our wine while our kids bounce in the jumpers. I mean it really is common sense, happy parents + happy life?

The girls had so much fun. From the bouncers to the ice cream…they were kept busy.

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Kaili did a little bungee jumping.

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Ave’s had fun on the playground.

 

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There was hula hooping. I just realized I don’t know how to spell that…is it hula or hoola? Oh, man.

It’s all fun and games outside of SD limits.

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After the festival we headed to Coronado for a late lunch. A day out in San Diego really does feel like a mini stay cation.. What’s not to love?

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Keeping Busy

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Kaili has two more weeks at her school and then she is out for summer. I finished her Kinder paperwork which I have been procrastinating on. She is up to date with her school vaccinations but she still needs to have a doctor fill out a medical record and apparently they want the same done with her dentist.Two things that are easy to want to push aside, but I finally made appointments to get it done.

We have been watching a lot of soccer with the Copa America going on. Kaili picked out a new shirt to wear for our viewing pleasure.

How do you like that garden back there? We have been eating a lot of sweet tomatoes, plenty of  zucchini and we have six baby artichokes on the way.

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I have been taking Averi to the park in the mornings without K so I can focus on playing one on one with her. She is not as adventurous as her sister was but slowly she is starting to test her fear.

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Can you believe she is going to be two in less than a month? Ya, me either. She looks up to her sister, has to do whatever it is Kaili is doing, eating, watching you name it. It’s what I always wanted with siblings but it’s also very draining.

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The girls were  invited to a birthday party out in Ramona last weekend. The land you can have out there is attractive to me but then again you are out in Ramona which isn’t attractive at all, to me.

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We try to stop at a winery or two when we are out there. This time we tried one that had recently opened. It had a great outside area, live music and luckily some decent wine. The girls  spent most of their time chasing the dog around. The little winery Chihuahua was the hit until she stole Averi’s chocolate chip cookie and booked it across the lot. Averi was more stunned than upset and I was more worried about the tiny dog eating a whole cookie, but the owners weren’t phased. Must happen often.

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See Food

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Catalina offshore is a local seafood market. We were told about it by a neighbor and watched it make its debut on a travel channel show. I don’t know why it took us so long to make our appearance.

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We strolled in early on a Saturday morning side swiping the local chefs and fishermen. A cook behind an enormous stock pot was  handing out bowls of piping hot bouillabaisse while we waited for our order. We came for mussels but left with a side of snapper. I love a whole roasted fish, if it’s one the specials at a good restaurant, chances are that will be my choice.  But scaling and cleaning a whole fish and then worrying about cooking it has intimated me. But standing in front of this array of fish, I decided this was my time  to tackle the snapper.

First up, mussels. We had an amazing dish at a local seafood restaurant a few weeks back.The Mr and I love our shellfish and after 10 years I think we agreed that those mussels were indeed some of the best. I needed to replicate this dish!  After intense recipe research I chose a favorite blogger of mine and used this recipe. They turned out better than I imagined, the mussels were the plumpest and juiciest I have ever had and the coconut curry broth was drinkable, like pour in a glass and cheers!

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Then there was the Snapper. Since I hooked it on a whim, I really had no idea what I was going to do. I chose to keep it simple and let the fish shine. I grabbed some lemon, herbs and salt. I wrapped it in foil and roasted it,  at the end I let it sunbathe under the broiler for a minute.

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We delightfully dug in.

IMG_8778 Along side we enjoyed caprese and grilled artichokes with an aioli, never forgetting the crusty bread.

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It was some good eating!

Disney Ending

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This day we had big breakfast plans at Goofy’s Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. The girls got their picture taken with Pluto while I checked us in.

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It was a buffet style set up with all the characters wandering around for pictures and autographs…basically chaos. Mediocre food was available by the mounds and if you have a child that has a huge appetite  it would be ideal. Most of the food was legit kid friendly, mac n cheese pizza, peanut butter and jelly pizza, mickey mouse shaped pancakes, you get the picture. Of course my kids wanted nothing to do with any of it. Kaili just wanted to see Minnie Mouse, Averi just wanted to get out of her high chair and I just wanted to eat and have my coffee.

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After offering all the desserts to my kids and them turning their noses up to even the chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, we decided to throw in the towel and get on our way. It was magic morning at CA Adventure and we had big plans to see Anna and Elsa.

Obviously we weren’t the only ones with this idea so we waited in line for over an hour, it was pure torture. But the smiles on the girls faces when they met their favorite Queen and princess made it worth the wait.

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Olaf was a surprise to all of us.

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Once that fiasco was over we we walked through Bugs Life to get the girls on a few more rides.

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Meanwhile Shane went to get us fast passes for the roller coaster that was closed the day before. That was our last ride of the trip and maybe the best ride because not only is it fun, we were able to walk right on without any wait.

We were in our already packed up truck and on the highway by 1:oo pm. Averi was asleep not minutes later.

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A certain sign that the trip was a success! It was a really great trip and I think we managed to do all that we wanted. Looking forward to going back when the girls are older and Averi is over 40 inches.

Disneyland Day 2

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I hope you didn’t think I abandoned you. Day 2 is a long one so tuck in with some coffee, wine, burritos…whatever you love.

I can’t tell you who woke up first, probably me but it was early per usual. This was our “magic” morning at Disneyland and we HAD to be in line by 7:45. Turns out they actually let guests into the park at 7:45 but you don’t get passed Main street until 8:00 and that is because all of the United States is behind you, it’s got to be a semi fair game….I guess?

All Kaili was asking for was the Dumbo ride and since we didn’t get that done day one, this was my first stop. I took both the girls and they loved it. We hopped over to another ride because it was pretty empty. Turns out the Alice in Wonderland ride was a tad scary, Averi wasn’t sure about it and Kaili asked immediately when we would be done but they weren’t crying so we were good.

The one thing we did want to do during that “magic” hour was the Nemo Submarine ride.

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Averi pretty much loved it between her bouts of concern.

We then headed to an adult ride. Thunder mountain requires riders to be 40′, Kaili is 39′. We were told by some other parents in line that they are sticklers when it comes to height and we would later find out that was true. So even though Kaili insisted Grandpa stretched her out and she was tall enough, I took the girls for a stroll  while the rest of them could have a go.

Us girls ventured over to Tarzan’s tree house, Kaili skipped up while I dragged Averi with me.

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Having just  watched Tarzan the day before,  Kaili had her eye out for that Leopard who may  was lurking in the tree tops.

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We wandered our way through Tomorrowland and it was out.of.control.

And as  early as it was, it was just a preview of what was to come.

Kaili wanted to go on a ride in Tomorrowland so we waited 45 minutes for another ride that goes around in circles, much like the Dumbo ride. I’m pretty sure we need to bring back the merry go rounds to our playgrounds so we can forgo this boring children  ride people pay thousands of dollars for.

We made our way over to California Adventure and it was a tad overwhelming. I felt like we had done so much already, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was left to do…but there was a lot. Luckily Mickey was one of the first things  we saw heading into CA so that took some pressure off.

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We also ran into Doc McStuffin’s and now they are besties.

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After a few kiddy rides in Bugs Life….

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Food was on our mind. We grabbed some pretty good clam chowder and not so great Mexican over by Paradise Pier, beer is always good.

Our hotel room looks over CA land so the Mickey ferris wheel is a fixture you can’t hide from even the littles. Kaili begged to go on and once everyone agreed,  we payed our dues in line, but the ride was SO worth it…although Shane will disagree.

IMG_8499 We got the rocking car because there was no way standing in line with two kids for a boring ride is a good idea. It turns out that rocking car is a thrill ride for Kaili and Grandpa! Averi was in tears with her head in my lap.

We dragged the tired kids, but not Kaili because she is never tired, back to the hotel. Averi went down for a nap and grandma rested along side her while Shane and I took Kaili to the pool.

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Our early bird dinner reservations were approaching, we packed up the crew and headed out to the Rainforest Cafe. It wasn’t my top pick but I thought it would be perfect to help keep the overtired kids entertained. I was wrong. The place is a joke but it’s hard to compete with a tired Averi. To sum it up, my food wasn’t good, service wasn’t good and my kid wasn’t good.

After overpaying for shitty food, we confidently headed back out to CA land to take on what we hadn’t yet mastered. In other words, we got a fast pass to Tower of Terror and Cars, Radiator Springs.

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Unfortunately, the Cars ride had a 40′ height restriction. We didn’t bother to put Kaili through the ringer but I think we both regret not trying. She would have LOVED that one!

Gramps and I were the only ones that went on Tower of Terror…”because food”  meaning no-one else wanted to ride that because they just ate. But it’s the best ride there.

After grabbing a churro we went back to the hotel to watch the light show from our hotel room. We fell asleep one by one, grandpa and Ave’s weren’t far apart.

 

 

 

 

Disneyland Day 1

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This year for Kaili’s birthday we thought we would take the family to Disneyland, you know while Averi is still free. We booked through Costco and got a 3 day park hopper package. That included the hotel stay, park tickets with 2 early morning entrances, one character dining and a $40 gift card.

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We left early on a Monday morning planning to meet grandma and grandpa at the Disneyland Pier hotel by 8:00 so we could be at the park when the gates opened.

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I got a ton of great information from people on what and what not to do with our three days there. I had a tentative plan in mind and so we started the day out hitting Fantasyland getting most of those rides done in a couple of hours while the crowds were sparse.

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For lunch we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Uva Cafe only because it was outside dining and the weather was perfect. That turned out to be my favorite meal of the trip.

After lunch we headed back into Disneyland and that is when the crowds started turn up. Averi met Goofy while Kaili was on a ride with Grandma.

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Later in the afternoon we got a text from our hotel letting us know our rooms were ready. After a few more rides and a lot of walking we headed to check in.

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The first day at the park was a success and the girls were amazing, and I don’t say that lightly.

After we unpacked our stuff we went to check out the pool and let the kids take a dip. The hotel had a waterslide and a kiddy pool that kept Kaili highly entertained.

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For dinner I wanted to check out Trader Sams in the Disneyland hotel. Although it’s a cool tiki bar, it’s more for drinks than it is dinner. Our food was good but the service wasn’t superb. My Mai Thai however was delicious.  After dinner we strolled through downtown disney in search of ice cream. As we ate the sun went down and we took that as a cue to go and put the kids down. They knocked out immediately and we weren’t far behind.  We had to get ready to do it all over again bright and early in the morning.