2018 California

disneyland

Disneyland is a whole different beast!
Our second day at Disney we devoted to Disneyland. It is classic and more crowded. I admit that I’m more of a Pixar fan, but I still wanted to make the day special for the girls. There is something pretty special about that Castle when you walk through the main gates. 

We took advantage of fast passes and skipped a few of the big roller coasters that the girls were not so interested in riding. We rode Its a Small World a hand full of times. We ate Mickey Mouse pretzels, popcorn and giant caramel apples. We waited over 40 minutes for the Peter Pan ride but still loved it. We waited equally long for the Dumbo ride and Gwyneth was in heaven. With aching feet we took a break and rode the train around the park for about 30 minutes. We loved the Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters and the girls were terrified of the monster in the matterhorn ride. We had mickey lollipops, tired feet and a happy day! 
The girls waited 3 days for these yummy treats. They were worth the wait. 
We ran into Cruella on Main Street
We enjoyed those yummy apples!
Gwyneth was the Astro Blaster champion
As the crowds gathered on main street for the firework show the girls decided they had their fill and were ready to go. Both were hungry and tired and asked if we could head back to downtown Disney for a late night treat. I was all for it! 
We stopped at the first little bistro we came across. We shared some calamari and a little pizza and I enjoyed a glass of wine. We talked all about our very long vacation, favorite rides, and missing B. We talked until the pizza was gone and we could barely keep our eyes open. It was such  a wonderful experience!
Goodbye California. You sure were good to us!

california adventure

I did tons of research prior to our trip regarding rides, attendance, lines, hours, fast passes, etc etc etc. After compiling all the facts I concluded that Monday was the best day at Disneyland and Tuesday was the best day at California Adventure. 
We made our way through the super long lines at security and arrived at the entrances to the park. The girls quickly decided they didn’t care anything about any old research and they wanted to go to California Adventure first.  Done! I just wanted them to have fun and they were most excited about the California Adventure park. 
We really did our day up right. We started with The Little Mermaid ride. It was Ananbelle’s favorite when she was little and is still a family hit. We took advantage of all the fast passes and were able to ride everything we wanted. Our favorite was the Lightning McQueen racers. It was a 2 hour wait but we stood in line for about 15 minutes with our fast passes. It was a lot of fun! 
We rode the Goofy Sky School ride 9 times and the Little Mermaid ride 11 times! We ate corn dogs and Mickey Mouse shaped pretzels. We were there when the park opened and we were actually on the Little Mermaid ride when the park closed. We watched the parade and enjoyed the fire works from Disneyland on our walk back to the hotel. 
It was really a great day! I couldn’t have asked for better with my little ladies. 
First stop Little Mermaid ride
Corn dog break
We went on just one ride in a bug’s land and quickly realized the girls have outgrown it. We still had fun walking through – it’s a cute part of the park. 
I tell ya, it truly is the most magical place on earth!!
Caught a little parade of Cars through Cars land. 
Found the new Coco exhibit. We are big fans of that movie. 
We took a little self guided tour in the animation studio. They had a fun game that you answered a few questions about your personality and they told you what Disney character you are. We had so, so much fun with it and were cracking up with our results. Annabelle is Tinkerbell, Gwyneth is Belle and I’m Ursula! So very accurate.  ha!
We got back to the hotel and fell right into bed. Full hearts and sore feet! 

downtown disney

Today was our last day all together in California. B had to head back for work and the girls and I decided to do a quick few days at Disney. This worked out surprisingly well, because I could work from the hotel at night and had a few extra days and well, B doesn’t really like Disney. 
We all grabbed lunch at the Auld Dubliner in Long Beach before dropping B off at the Long Beach airport. Whenever flying in to LA in the future we are definitely going to be using the Long Beach airport. 10 minutes after we dropped him off we received a text from B that he was comfortably sitting at his gate waiting for his plane. Added bonus that there was no traffic getting him there. All around great airport find. 
It was around 2 pm when we got to Anaheim and got checked in to our hotel. In the past I have sworn I would never stay off site again, but I found a pretty amazing deal just blocks from the entrance. The hotel was only $89 a night and a few minutes of walking to the park. We couldn’t really beat that deal especially since we spent so very little time in our hotel room each day. 
I also skipped the hopper passes for the parks. We’ve always enjoyed that but with only 2 days at the park I decided to just buy a 2 day 1-park pass and focus on one park each day. That saved us well over $100 each day too. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s like Disney is paying me to play there (insert incredibly dramatic eyeroll here!). 
Our first afternoon/evening we didn’t go to the parks but spent our time exploring Downtown Disney. I expected to go for about two hours and grab dinner and then head back to our hotel for a goodnight sleep before our big day at the park tomorrow. The girls absolutely loved Downtown Disney and we ended up spending about 6 hours there! There was a lot to see and do and they were definitely getting in the Disney spirit. 
We stopped for an afternoon snack at Tortilla Joe’s and enjoyed some guacamole and smoothies. 
Next stop was the Lego store. The girls picked out tons of kits they want to purchase when they get home. They are big time into legos right now. 
We stopped for just a smell of the sweet treats at the Sprinkles store. 
The girls had their eyes on some Disney treats at Marceline’s Confectionery. Annabelle got a rice crispy treat and Gwyneth got a cake pop. They both had their eyes on some caramel apples that are sold in the park only…so they are pretty excited for those. 
I had offered to buy them ears for our stay as a souvenir and they used their own money to buy stuffed animals. I thought it was kind of silly, but they sure do love those things. I think they may be appreciated even more because they used their very own money for them. 
Seriously, these girls just make me happy!
We got one of the last reservations of the night for a Character Dining experience at the Disneyland Hotel. We didn’t plan on doing any of these in the park so it was a fun little indulgence. Let me tell ya one little hang up…kids are priced 10 and up at Disney. Annabelle’s meal went from around $20 to about $45. That’s a whole lotta nonsense right there because everyone knows our little G can eat her weight at a buffet and Annabelle has way more discriminating tastes. That was truly my only (pricey) annoyance for the day and you gotta be prepared for Disney pricing. 
The girls left downtown Disney with full tummies and happy hearts. Our walk back to the hotel wasn’t bad at all, but we were all worn out and ready for a big day in the parks tomorrow!

long beach

We hopped up early and headed down to Long Beach to meet up with our friends Abe and Wendi. B and I always loved Long Beach so we were pretty excited for the excursion. Plus, we always have a ton of fun with Abe and Wendi. 
We met up for lunch at The Attic which had the craziest, most interesting menu. They are known for their homemade mac and cheese dishes with flaming cheetos. Yes, flaming cheetos! I had a few bites of B’s and it was certainly interesting and delicious!
We parked back at our hotel which was just 3 or 4 blocks from Abe and Wendi’s place. We parked and walked and really explored the area. 
Abe and Wendi’s little girl, Savannah is 4 and such a fun little girl. She sure did love her big kid friends for the day. 
Our first stop was at the Long Beach Aquarium.  
A lot of the exhibits are outside and it was a beautiful sunny day (I guess most of them are in California…)
There were water features inside that were a huge hit. 
After the aquarium we took a little boat ride over to the Queen Mary.
We had snacks and cocktails on the boat and it was a bit hit with everyone. My only disappoint was there was a Princess Diana exhibit on the ship and we ran out of time (…and most importantly interest from my group). 
When our friends had to head out it was quite a sad moment for Savannah. She hates goodbyes and we had so much fun today and she just cried and cried. I got lots and lots of hugs and she is just the sweetest little thing. We can’t wait to see them when they move back to Colorado at the end of the year.
Our day in Long Beach was a huge success and another highlight of our trip. Such wonderful memories!

redondo beach

After several hours in traffic we made it down to Redondo Beach. We stopped for dinner at Redondo Beach Brewery on our way into town; even before stopping at our hotel. We were all a pretty tired and hungry crew. 
The brewery was one of our favorites when we lived there, but we were so very young with very limited means and we couldn’t go very often. It was such a treat to be back in this little beach town where we once lived….although it feels like that was a lifetime ago. 
We stayed at the Shade hotel right on the harbor and woke up to stunning views. 
We threw on our walking shoes, or should I say flip flops and hit the pier. We walked for over 7 miles today and most of it right along the beach. It was mostly cool, a little warmer in the afternoon, sunny, and splendid. 
I love all the seafood stands on the pier. 
The girls indulged in a bottle of coke with real cane sugar. Vacation is the best!
Just sittin’, watchin’ the waves, ships and…
Dolphins!!
The dolphins were most definitely the highlight of Gwyneth’s day. She was in awe. Her eyes lit up and she was one happy little lady. 
I love this photo. It really sums up our day. Just strollin ‘along this peaceful little beach town. B still has so much love for Redondo. I know he would be pretty thrilled to have a little place there again someday. What a gift to share it with his girls.
Annabelle was a happy gal when she got to kick off those shoes and feel the sand between her toes. She’s a beachy kind of girl and loved those crashing waves.
They look just miserable, don’t they?!?! Ha!
Precious memory
That water was COLD! 
We met our friends, Kevin and Susan for dinner this evening. It had been at least 6 years since we had last seen them and I’m not sure the girls really remembered. It was so wonderful to catch up with them and hear about their exciting travels and adventures. 
We had dinner at a new restaurant in town called Rock N Brews. Our table had 4 different taps and we could pour our own beers. Oh man, is that a great concept and so much trouble! I loved every single minute…and every single beer! 😉

los angeles

We left Palm Springs bright and early to head for LA. It’s a good thing we did because there was tons of traffic (of course!) when we hit the city. 
We purchased tickets to the Warner Brothers Studio tour. I think the girls were pretty indifferent at first but once we got into it they were pretty impressed. 
Where they filmed Jurassic Park. You know I was out of mind on this one! 
B and I are big fans of Shameless so the set for Patsy’s Pies was a hit for us. 
The stage for Friends
Batmobile
Joker’s car
Game of thrones
We toured the set shop and B pointed out the vast selection of bongs on the wall. Ha!
Central Perk from Friends
Screenwriting exhbit
Set of Friends
The tour was great and took almost 3 hours. We hopped back in the car and headed to Grauman’s Chinese Theater. It was so, so crowded so we didn’t last very long but I’m glad the girls go to see it. 
Annabelle was pretty excited for the La La Land foot prints.
Jimmy Kimmel was filming across the street. 
Gwyneth found a few stars that she really liked.
Found another Gwyneth and was thrilled! 
Again, we hopped back in the car and were ready to embrace LA traffic. Man, I really forgot about how bad that is! It was worth it get back to our beloved Redondo Beach.

final palm springs day

It was another beautiful day in Palm Springs. We lounged by the pool all day. We played lime putting and I sunk a hole in one! I earned us BOGO margaritas. Just what we needed! 🙂
We swam, we relaxed, we hung out with friends and had a truly wonderful day! I’m so, so grateful for this time we had and hope we will plan another trip together soon. 

palm springs | tie dye and build a buddy

Gwyneth and I got up early and went to the archery class at the hotel. It was just the two of us which was really fun and it was early enough that the heat had not fully hit yet. 

Lots of fun with my little lady!

Then it was back to the pool. 
We splurged and got rafts for the girls too so we’d have more pool toys to play with. They were all lots of fun and provided hours of entertainment. 
We had the pool to ourselves most of our visit. It was wonderful!
Gwyneth and Sarah took a break in the afternoon to make tie dye shirts. 
silly girls!
the view from the pool. We fell in love with all those palm trees. 
the shirts turned out great! 
Annabelle took a little break for lunch. The heat was a lot to take but she kept on laughing…
After even more swimming, all the girls took a break to build a buddy. Those suckers were fully stuffed! 
We had dinner at Las Casuelas  and it may have been my favorite the entire trip. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and fancy drinks. It was a great choice!
So thankful to Connie and Mitch for such a fun vacation. 
I sure do like this guy.
The whole crew!
After dinner we headed back to the hotel for an attempt at the escape room. The girls were really eager to find clues. We found all the clues and keys and managed to escape!

palm springs | whale riding and pizza party

Our first full day in Palm Springs was all about sunshine and swimming. It is hot, hot, hot in Palm Springs – the temperature was over 100 degrees everday. It maxed out at 107 degrees while we were there. Yikes! That is crazy hot. We didn’t mind much though because we lounged by the pool and swam our days away.
The view from our hotel. 
Time to hit the pool!
The Tendlers had this silly whale that provided hours and hours of entertainment for us all!
Awesome!
The girls were having so much fun that I had to join in too! It was a blast!
The hotel had a sundae bar each day at 2 pm. It was a sweet, cool break from a full day in the pool. 
Ice cream didn’t keep them out of the pool for long. 
We all cleaned up and grabbed dinner at Bill’s Pizza in downtown Palm Springs. The pizza hit the spot! 
The girls enjoyed the mist outside the restaurant. 
We walked around downtown and found a yummy ice cream shop. Yep, that’s ice cream twice in one day. While on vacation….

welcome to palm springs

Our dear friends, the Tendlers, invited us to join them for a vacation in Palm Springs. What a treat! We were so excited to get away and looked forward to time with friends. 
Here we go….
We arrived just in time for dinner and the Tendlers picked out a great Mexican restaurant for us. We met at Los Arcos and felt like vacation was officially underway! After dinner we hit the pool and I don’t think the girls dried off for 4 days straight!
The three girls played beautifully together the entire trip. I was so grateful for that and it made for the most relaxing trip. Connie and Mitch are super relaxed and have the same love of dining out that we do so we all meshed easily.