Super Deluxe Mega Trip Reportinator! Now featuring 8/12 San Diego/Disneyland report!

[bumbershoot]

I lied, I read another page.

You guys saw MOVING R2D2? Lucky lucky lucky! And Boba Fett? And I can't remember the other you saw? We've seen Stormtroopers twice now, but the others? Wow!

I actually think DS gave this balloon to a little girl who was admiring it. We don't have a stroller to tie it to, and we can't bring it in the rides, so balloons are kind of lost on us.

Awwwww.

IFor example, I had the following conversation with a server there:

Me: "I am vegan, I don't eat meat, dairy, or egg."
Her: "Oh, hmmmm. Do you eat fish?"

Really? I don't understand why I would eat fish but nothing else from an animal.

Just watched a recorded Conan, and Ben Stiller was on it. He's made some dietary changes, and said he is eating vegan now. Then said that he doesn't really call himself that, and he eats fish anyway, so he's really a pescatarian.

I want to tell him "just call yourself macrobiotic" and be done with it, LOL. You don't eat ONLY fish, and if fish is a regular part of your diet you're not really vegan and your'e just messing with people who ARE.

Then again, maybe he's not really macro, but to describe yourself as "vegan with fish" really REALLY sounds like it!

All that said, though...he looks GREAT.


If you guys have a car, there's a Red Robin down down down Harbor, near Target (or you can take the bus). They have a Boca patty that's vegan, and you can get it with the lettuce wrap instead of the bun (I've become quite a fan of their lettuce wraps aka "protein style"). Though is the Boca GF, too? Eek. I would think so, but then you'd know better than I would!


OK I gotta go to the Y now!

 

[nancy drew]

Molly, yes, it was an unexpected magical jackpot of SW characters! Totally awesome, and if we had been in any other part of the park we would have missed it. Total serendipity!

And ugh, I love Ben Stiller, but if he goes around calling himself a vegan who eats fish I might have to start loving someone else.

I've had the kids ride together and ride alone myself, that works on things like Buzz (where I want to play too!!) and it would be fine on TSMM, I think they just didn't want to do that on that night. It was so nice that the family near us offered to have their DD ride with DD!

 

[kaoden39]

Ugh. Let the pre-trip drama begin. DS woke up sick today with a sore throat and fever. We leave in 48 hours. I don't feel well either. Please tell me this is not happening!!! I am taking him to the doctor later and hoping he has strep because then he can get medicine and hopefully be better by Saturday, otherwise we have to cancel at least part of the trip. I'm just ready to cancel the whole thing because I can't handle this stress.

Also the dryer isn't working, so I can't do laundry. I guess that won't matter if we aren't going anywhere. I have someone coming to look at it later today, hopefully it is a quick fix.

I hope everything is better for you and that DS feels better quickly. I am so sorry about the dryer. I hope that is a quick fix for you.

 

[nancy drew]

I hope everything is better for you and that DS feels better quickly. I am so sorry about the dryer. I hope that is a quick fix for you.

Well, the dryer is fixed, so that's good. The boy is still sick, so that's not good. He has kept one dose of his amoxicillin down, but hasn't eaten anything all day. He has had sips of Gatorade, but otherwise has been completely lethargic and sleeping off and on all day. His fever has hovered around 101.5-102.1 all day. He gets this at least once a year, and I do recall years where he has been like this one day and bouncing off the walls the next (or 2 days later) so all hope is not lost yet. But looking at him like this it is hard to imagine him traveling in 36 hours.

I just called the SD hotel and asked about getting a refrigerator for the room for his medicine, and they said we could have one free of charge, so that's good. Let's hope we get to go.

Worst case scenario, I think, would be that we skip SD and change the flights to our Disneyland arrival day.

Or, less worst case but still not ideal scenario is that we move both flights, fly down on our DLR arrival day and do SD after DLR. Depending on how he looks/feels tomorrow, I might start making phone calls and seeing what can be done.

Sorry, just thinking this through as I have no one to bounce this off of at home, other than the cats, and they don't have much to say since all of the above options involve leaving them behind.

But, in the good news department, I have done some laundry! And I did not have to use one of these: And I have steam cleaned the carpets, and one set of stairs! So go me! DD went home from camp with a friend, then my mom picked her up and took her out to dinner, and DS has been a lump of a boy in bed all day, so aside from dealing with the dryer issue I've had oodles of time to clean up. Tomorrow I take on the other 2 levels of the house. Those are the difficult ones.

Oh and packing. Gotta do that too. Well, depending on how DS feels. Ugh!! Shoot, I was trying to end this post on a positive note.



There. That's positive, right?

 

[kaoden39]

You are rocking on the cleaning!! Yay for the dryer being fixed!! If our dryer or washer go out I panic!! I hate the laundromat, they always seem to be in the worst neighborhoods.


Kids tend to bounce back quickly so I hope that is the case for DS.


As far as the cats, they consider themselves above us so they can't be bothered to deign to answer.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ugh. Let the pre-trip drama begin. DS woke up sick today with a sore throat and fever. We leave in 48 hours. I don't feel well either.

Oh drat! Scads of vitamin C, stat!

And ugh, I love Ben Stiller, but if he goes around calling himself a vegan who eats fish I might have to start loving someone else.

On the other hand, he seems very aware of the fact that he isn't truly vegan and doesn't like calling himself one, and he knew the word pescatarian, so....

He also talked about "coming out", diet-change-wise, to his parents, LOL. I'm so lucky in that I didn't get huge amounts of push-back when I went veggie. I think people saw it coming anyway, as I had been limiting my diet more and more from high school. It was a long process with definite "oh well now THAT's gone from my diet" moments.



Now go drink some Emergen-C! And if you can, echinacea as well!

 

[nancy drew]

You are rocking on the cleaning!! Yay for the dryer being fixed!! If our dryer or washer go out I panic!! I hate the laundromat, they always seem to be in the worst neighborhoods.


Kids tend to bounce back quickly so I hope that is the case for DS.


As far as the cats, they consider themselves above us so they can't be bothered to deign to answer.

So true! Unless you have a bag of treats or a brush in your hand, then they totally agree with whatever you say.

Oh, and the dryer vent pulled off the exhaust vent, so it works, and it heats, but the lint flies all over the place. I duct taped it, even though my contractor said that wasn't the right tape. Well guess what, buddy, your tape fell off, and I need dry clothes. So duct tape it is!

Oh drat! Scads of vitamin C, stat!




On the other hand, he seems very aware of the fact that he isn't truly vegan and doesn't like calling himself one, and he knew the word pescatarian, so....

He also talked about "coming out", diet-change-wise, to his parents, LOL. I'm so lucky in that I didn't get huge amounts of push-back when I went veggie. I think people saw it coming anyway, as I had been limiting my diet more and more from high school. It was a long process with definite "oh well now THAT's gone from my diet" moments.



Now go drink some Emergen-C! And if you can, echinacea as well!

I've been taking Sambucol lozenges and probiotics. I don't even know what they have, aside from elderberry (anyone else immediately go to "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries" every time they read that word? No? Just me?).

I should try to catch that Conan episode. I have a hard time "coming out" to people. My mom has been more supportive than I ever expected, which surprised me. The kids have a hard time with it. They always tell me "I wish you weren't vegan so you could eat this".

I don't even want to talk about how DS is doing. Let's just say nothing has changed, and although he has kept his medicine down, he still hasn't eaten and has drank maybe half a small bottle of Gatorade. And he doesn't want to eat, and he threw up the one time he got up from the bed. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease let the second dose of medicine stay down and get him back on track!!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I think the same about elderberries.

Maybe tomorrow he'll start rallying. Poor dude.

 

[kaoden39]

May I suggest popsicles for DS? I know from experience with my kids that was the thing to keep them hydrated. The great thing with them in you can make ice cubes with whatever drink and crush and let them spoon it. Tasty and no dehydration problems.

 

[nancy drew]

I think the same about elderberries.

Maybe tomorrow he'll start rallying. Poor dude.

Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that.

And yes, rally, little dude! Rally!!

May I suggest popsicles for DS? I know from experience with my kids that was the thing to keep them hydrated. The great thing with them in you can make ice cubes with whatever drink and crush and let them spoon it. Tasty and no dehydration problems.

I tried to get him to take a Pedialyte popsicle but he wanted Gatorade instead. He tends to consume more Gatorade than anything else when he is sick, so I let him, but his problem is that he will just keep bringing it up. He was horizontal most of the day, and once he got up to use the bathroom (once all day) he threw up. Luckily he hadn't had much before that, but it triggered his reflex and happened a few more times. The trick is to try and get past that. Sometimes it happens the next morning, where he wakes up and will eat anything and keep it down. Sometimes he wakes up and keeps vomiting. I'm going to force the Pedialyte popsicle again tomorrow. He does need something other than Gatorade, especially the low calorie one he chose today. Good thing he finished that one!

I know, from experience, that once he bounces back he will bounce back with a vengeance and there will be a frightening preview of what is to come in the teenage years with regards to eating.

Gotta stay awake enough to give him 4 more ml of medicine, make sure it stays down, then try to sleep (impossible- too much worry about whether to postpone trip or not), and get DD up and ready for her last day of camp tomorrow.

 

[kaoden39]

I hope that all is better for you today!

 

[nancy drew]

I think it is safe to say......








We are going tomorrow!!!

It was a rough start to the day, but once he had his morning medicine he started telling me he was all better, and was asking for food. That was huge, because he hadn't wanted anything all day yesterday. He has had crackers and soup, and Gatorade, and so far so good. He is trying to negotiate for more food but I'm being mean. He is also trying to negotiate for me to let him do cartwheels and I'm also being mean on that one.

So now we are watching Disneyland Fun, and maybe the planning DVD, while I finish cleaning and packing.

 

[kaoden39]

That is fantastic!!

 

[3inthefamily]

So? How was the trip? I remember we were going to be there around the same time! What did you think? Wasn't Cars Land AMAZING?

 

[kaoden39]

I hope everything was magical!!

 

[kaoden39]

I saw that you posted on Molly's trip report and I wanted to stop by and say HI!

 

[nancy drew]

I saw that you posted on Molly's trip report and I wanted to stop by and say HI!

Hi!! And I was going to say hi in Molly's thread, but somehow didn't manage to do so!

I really do need to update with an actual TRIP REPORT, right? Ugh. Can't I just friend you all on Facebook and then you can see my photos and figure it all out? No? Fine. I will work on this.

 

[nancy drew]

So usually after a big trip I avoid the Dis. I just don't want to think about Disneyland because I never know when we are going back, and I hate to think about our trip being in the past. I know that sounds weird, but I just don't like to think about it. But really, that is stupid because then I start to forget. And come on, we will be back.

Alright, best to just dive in and do this!!!

So as you can see from previous posts, DS suddenly got really sick 2 days before we left for CA. I was so stressed, not knowing what was wrong, not knowing when he would get better, not knowing whether we should travel or rearrange our trip. Well, things all worked out and DS was feeling so much better by the day we left. Whew! Really, I'm not the drama type, so this was really awful for me. And awful for DS!!! He felt horrible!!! And DD and DS didn't want to cancel or rearrange our trip!!! And I felt bad for putting that idea in their heads, but I wanted them to be prepared if we had to make changes.

Anyway, it was all moot, and we flew to SD.

Now, we were flying United, and they have always had movies and TV shows available on flights to CA from Chicago. So I didn't bring the DVD player, and we ended up forgetting the kids' Nintendo DS players. They had other things, DS had a Lego set and DD had books, but still, I like having a back up plan if they get antsy with the toys. So we get on the plane, and they have Direct TV in each seat. Nice, right? Except you have to PAY to watch it. Something idiotic like $8 per person, with a $2 per person discount for groups of 3 or more. I was so mad!!! We had a delay on the plane, which I don't recall now. Either we were delayed in leaving, or moved to a new gate, or both, or we sat on the plane at the gate, I don't know. We were inconvenienced so they comped Direct TV for everyone. This was AWESOME!!!!! And it was pretty funny, too.

We found that ABC Family was playing Harry Potter 2, and it had just started when we got on the plane. Our flight was 3.5 hours long. So easily we should have finished the movie and watched something else too, right? No. Somehow, wizard magic (and TV commercials) made the movie last LONGER than our flight. I'm not complaining, I just laughed that it was like the magical tents at the Quidditch Cup, which are bigger on the inside than the outside. Somehow the movie was longer than it should have been, because we needed to have something to watch without stressing.

Now, I remember back when I was a kid, the pilot would announce points of interest as you flew over them. Do they not do that anymore? Because if I hadn't have been paying attention, I'd have missed the Grand Canyon!!!! We flew right over it, and no one said a word!!! We had the most amazing view, and somehow I didn't even think to take photos!!! What the heck is wrong with me? So clearly we need to fly to San Diego again and sit on the right side of the plane! At least DS and I (and DD, though she was kind of into the movie and didn't really care) got to really look and appreciate it.

So anyway, we arrived in SD and got in a cab to head to our hotel. Now, do cab drivers not need to wear seat belts in CA? Because ours did not. This scared me.

Anyway, we stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. This was a good choice, for a lot of reasons. It was a nice hotel, and the kids really thought we were staying in a palace. The lobby is SO nice, very grand, very luxurious. The concierges were really awesome, too. I mean, you kind of have to be a people person to be a concierge, but these folks were great.

But really, what did the kids want to do while we waited for the room to be ready? Swim!!!

So, this was the main pool, which was closed most of our trip for a conference. I've read about this problem at other Hyatts, but I guess they do it here too. That really sucked, because it was closed for 3 days solid. Our room overlooked this pool, and I can tell you they used the pool maybe 3 hours a day for the event. We had access to the "adults only" pool, so the kids could swim, but it was hard to explain to them why they couldn't use the empty pool.

The crowd at the pool was interesting. Lots of games of "chicken" fights, with people on shoulders, and LOTS of splash fights among adults/teens. I kind of felt like I was on Spring Break. It was really annoying, especially since 99% of the people we saw in the elevators and hallways were from the conference, and the chicken/splash fight people were definitely NOT part of the conference.

Anyway, after swimming and getting settled in the room, we went to Seaport Village, which was pretty much attached to the hotel. There are shops, restaurants, a marina, a waterfront walking path, and other attractions. We really liked this area!!

Lots of fortune telling booths were set up:

There was a bird rescue, with tons of parrots. The guy would come and put a bird on your shoulder and you could take a photo, but you were encouraged to donate money.

This guy had stacked these rocks without glue or anything. They were just balancing. Nice, right? But again, you were strongly encouraged to donate money for the privilege of taking a photo

Luckily there were tons of free photo ops:

Tons of fish/crab traps and equipment. Kind of makes me squeamish, being a vegan and all...

The kids rode the carousel, which was very well-traveled:

I really liked the bike racks:

That night they had "poolside movies" at the hotel. They have firepits at the main pool, and sell s'mores kits at the store downstairs. So we made s'mores and then went to the movies! They had moved the movie to the adult pool, for unknown reasons. Again, annoying issues with the hotel and pools that kind of made this an annoying place to stay.

They were showing A Bug's Life, which was awesome!

We had a busy day coming up, so we went to bed after the movie.

Coming up soon... more San Diego!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi

I have just read your report from the start and have enjoyed it immensely! I am looking forward to hearing all about your latest Disneyland adventures. I know exactly "that" feeling when it is time to leave, but I feel doing the trip report does help to keep the memories fresh..................especially for this 44 year old brain

My DD and I are back to our happy place next month especially for Halloween and will have 16 fun filled days to soak up as much Disney magic as possible We are really looking forward to trick or treating as we don't celebrate Halloween here in Australia, but we know just how much fun you all have for this holiday!

Can't wait for more!

 

[nancy drew]

Welcome! And wow, 16 days! That's incredible! Are you visiting other areas too?

**************
San Diego, day 2. Can you believe all that fun was just from our arrival day? I can't.

So before we ever went to San Diego, I had to "sell" it to the kids. I thought the zoo would do it, I mean there are PANDAS there, that's enough, right? But there was a dark horse attraction that somehow became the must-see-first attraction. That would be the Midway Aircraft Carrier. Who knew, right? But that was all they wanted to see: the aircraft carrier. One game of old school Battleship and a real WWII submarine in our local Science museum and they now have to see ALL the armed forces vehicles they can.

So we walked over to the Midway first thing in the morning, which was a good idea, as I'll mention later.

This thing is huge. I mean, you kind of know it will be huge, but it is still impressive to see up close.

As we approached the Midway, we saw these tiny cars driving by. Upon closer examination, we realized they are computerized tour cars. I really don't know where they go, or HOW they go, but here they are.

That guy didn't want his photo taken, I guess. Then don't drive the little computer cars, mmmkay?

So we climbed aboard, and got the headphones for the self-guided audio tour. This is really the only way to tour the ship, btw. Each person gets a headset with a little radio box. At each stop, you enter numbers and hear narration about the area/aircraft/etc. The kids got the kid's trivia card to fill out, with the promise of a reward if they completed it. This was really helpful, as we could enter specific buttons on the tour guide boxes. There were a lot of stops on the tour, and if we had done all of them the kids would have lost interest much sooner. So if you have kids, get the trivia cards, and do the condensed tour. You can still enter numbers for any stop, but the trivia cards narrow down the most important ones.

So we were walking around, looking at everything, and I see this sign and do a double or triple take and tell the kids we have to stop so I can process this sign:

because OMGWTFBBQ is that a LOST reference?????? No, apparently it was not a LOST reference (anyone remember my LOST reference from my last trip to San Diego? Frank Lapidus the bus driver? What is the universe trying to tell me?). It was just some dumb part of the carrier.

This was the anchor area (not the real name, sorry, my brain has the dumb these days and I don't recall what the proper name is) which was really cool. To anchor a carrier, you need more than just *anchors*. The chains also work as anchors. Each link is something like 140 pounds, so they help anchor the craft. Crazy!

This was one of the bunk areas. Each level of officer/worker had a different bunk area and dining area. It was kind of crazy how segregated it was (by rank, not by race). I felt like I was looking in some weird hall of mirrors or something in this part.

I'm pretty sure this was a plane that was in the Vietnam war, which rescued a family of 7, or something. There is room for 2 people, but they crammed a family in there to save them. There's a story about it on the tour that is worth a listen.

Of course there are tons of hands-on experiences for the kids.

On the top deck, with tons of planes and vets, answering questions and talking about the planes etc.

As we ended our tour, it was obvious that most people didn't get there early. When we arrived, we walked up and got our headsets without waiting, had no lines, and often were the only ones in any given area. We had to go back and do a few sections over again because we had missed clues for the trivia game, and on the second walk through we found crowds of people. It would have been very frustrating to go through the ship with that many people. So I recommend getting there early.

The kids did complete the trivia packet, and they got their reward. A vet pinned them with special wings, that they have cherished since then. I have a photo somewhere, and I'll add it if I can later. It was really cool, and they really liked that part. The wings (kind of like airline wings) are one of their favorite souvenirs of the whole trip.

So then we took a ferry to Coronado. I had been told by the concierge that there was a shuttle to the Del Coronado hotel, and that it wouldn't be a problem to go there without a car. That was not entirely true. There was a city bus, which didn't run on Sundays (the day we were there). We had to take a taxi, but it wasn't clear where we could catch one. Someone told us one thing, someone else told us another. It was annoying, and the kids were being whiny because suddenly they didn't want to go to the beach at all (GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!). But eventually we found a cab and got to the hotel, then got out to the beach. And it was worth it.

The kids were whining a bit, and I was really mad that they weren't appreciating the beauty of the beach.

But then they found some kids who were catching crabs, and suddenly all was well.

We were missing the air show in Chicago, but we had our own little air show going on in San Diego that weekend.

I could not get over the fact that the sand was sparkling like gold!!! I felt like I was in 1842, panning for gold and hitting the jackpot. We filled 2 empty water bottles with sand and plan to do something with them here. I'm sure Pinterest has plenty of beautifully photographed ideas for me.

The kids spent hours climbing on the rocks, searching for crabs and snails in tidepools, catching them then releasing them, and doing more climbing. It was awesome.

We eventually made our way back to the hotel, and had drinks at the bar at the top of the hotel (wine for mom, kiddie cocktails for the kids). The hotel had amazing views.

This is Seaport Village, the area we had visited the night before.

Some random shipping boat we liked:

We had a great view from our room too. The building with the green lights was our favorite, especially at night.

And that was Day 2!!! Next up... San Diego Zoo!!