Baby's First Trip - Halloweentime at DLR! (lots of photos) - UPDATED 11/21/08

[TXAng]

We've been back for a little over a week, and I'm finally sitting down to start on our TR! There will be lots of photos as we go along!

Backstory: I spent the first 10 years of my life in So Cal, and visited DL multiple times as a child. Then we moved to Texas, and I didn't get to go back to DL until 2002. That was my DH's first ever trip to CA and DL, though he did get to go to WDW as a teenager.

My dad and stepmother live in So Cal, so I have a great reason to try to get to DL as much as possible! They're AP holders this year, which was awesome since that meant they could spend a good deal of time with us in the parks.

When we went to DL in September of last year, I was about halfway through my pregnancy with our first child. Here's a photo from that trip:

If we look a little wilty, that's because it was INSANELY hot last year.

After that trip, there was much debate about when we should bring the baby out for his first trip. We live in TX, and really hate to fly. It's a long drive! Anyway, we finally decided to go (a mere month before actually leaving) in October so that we could see the Halloween decorations and hopefully have some cooler weather.

And so it begins...

We left Texas at about 7:30 pm on Wednesday, 10/13/08.

We thought we'd be smart and leave home around DS's (who I'll call Peanut) bedtime. That way he could sleep through a good portion of the trip.

What we didn't count on was the fact that both DH and I would be way too tired to drive all the way through the night, as was our custom on past trips. Oops! We did get a good 8 hours of driving in before we decided to stop off and get some sleep.

We only got a few hours of rest, but it was enough for us to be able to get back on the road. We started again at about 9:15 AM (central time), grabbed some lunch in New Mexico, and then kept going until we were just east of Tucson, where we pulled off for a little while at the rest stop.

Peanut was doing so well with the drive, and we were making much better time than we expected (even with our unplanned hotel stop!). At this point we thought we might be able to make it to Dad's house this night, instead of Friday.

Back on the road, only stopping for fuel before leaving AZ, and then for our customary dinner at the Del Taco in Blythe, CA. Peanut was fascinated by all the bright colors.

Y'all, we don't HAVE Del Taco in Texas, and it's a tragedy. So I eat as much as I can stand whenever we go to CA. I love their quesadillas and they have fountain Cherry Coke! Yum.

Well, we made it to Dad's house at about 8:45 (pacific time), and visited for awhile before finally crashing out for the night.

Breaking here for now. Next up: A (mostly) lazy weekend and a visit to the pumpkin patch!

 

[10stime]

Your little "peanut" is absolutely adorable. I can't wait to hear and see more of your trip!

 

[avalon451]

Great start, looking forward to hearing the rest!

Oh, my gosh, your little boy is giving me baby fever. SUCH a cutie! My youngest is 6, and there are times when I just have to borrow somebody else's little one for a baby fix! Of course, I get to hand them back when they get wet and fussy! The sight of the pudgy thighs in a onesie takes me right back to the days when I always had a kid on one hip, for about 10 years running. Not that I'd want another one (especially at my age! )... but... ADORABLE!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Yea, I'm finally joining a TR in the begining Peanut is so cute, I can't imagine doing a road trip that long with a little one. Our 6-7 hour drive seems endless...

 

[TXAng]

Your little "peanut" is absolutely adorable. I can't wait to hear and see more of your trip!

Thanks!

Great start, looking forward to hearing the rest!

Oh, my gosh, your little boy is giving me baby fever. SUCH a cutie! My youngest is 6, and there are times when I just have to borrow somebody else's little one for a baby fix! Of course, I get to hand them back when they get wet and fussy! The sight of the pudgy thighs in a onesie takes me right back to the days when I always had a kid on one hip, for about 10 years running. Not that I'd want another one (especially at my age! )... but... ADORABLE!

Isn't baby chub the best thing ever? Too bad it's not quite so cute on us adults. Kids don't know how good they have it!

Yea, I'm finally joining a TR in the begining Peanut is so cute, I can't imagine doing a road trip that long with a little one. Our 6-7 hour drive seems endless...

We were a little nervous about taking such a long drive with the baby, but he really surprised us with just how well he did!

 

[TXAng]

Friday 10/17/08 and Saturday 10/18/08

We pretty much spent Friday and Saturday hanging out at Dad’s house, visiting with family, and decompressing from the long drive. It didn’t take very long for Peanut to acclimate to the new environment, and he had a great time checking out all the new (to him) toys!

DH also made the best discovery ever – did you know that Del Taco sells churros? I had no idea! We never thought to even look at the dessert menu of a fast food place, but an employee asked if we wanted to add a churro to our meal.

And guess what – they are actually better than the churros at Disneyland. I couldn’t believe it, but they were hot and fresh and less expensive than the DL version. Yes, they’re also smaller, but they are delightful.

Sunday 10/19/08

We had decided that we would take Peanut for his pumpkin patch pictures while we were in CA so that Dad and Stepmom could come along. This also worked out (we thought), because Stepmom was able to go pick up Peanut’s cousin (we’ll call her Sweet Pea) so that we could spend some time with her and try to get some photos of them together.

Sweet Pea is a year and a half old, and she is a little ball of energy! Such a doll. However, Peanut was less than impressed with her invading his personal space, which she did a LOT. She so wanted to be friends with him and hug on him. It was very cute.

We all headed to lunch at the Bob’s Big Boy before going to the pumpkin patch. That went pretty well, and before long we were at the patch!

Peanut was not so much interested in the pumpkins, but he was VERY interested in trying to eat the dirt.

And then we sat Sweet Pea down next to him. And it was the END OF THE WORLD.

We did manage to get a couple of photos, which is probably the best we could have really expected with two tiny kids. It was fun, anyway!

This series of photos cracks me up (Stepmom took these):

Here I am, sitting in this cart, minding my own business.

Wait, where did this pumpkin come from?

I HATE PUMPKINS!

That about sums it up. He was starting to get tired by that point and he was DONE with pumpkins.

We all went back to Dad's house for the rest of the day, and ended up playing cards until way too late in the night. It was ok, though, because we had no trouble waking up on Monday morning - it was going to be our first day at Disneyland!!

Next up: Day 1 at Disneyland - pins, princesses, and a ride breakdown.

 

[trodrigue]

Enjoying your report. Can't wait to hear about your first day.

 

[TXAng]

Goodness, I didn’t mean to neglect this for so long! Things have been busy around here, gearing up for the holidays! Finally, back to the report.

Monday, 10/20/08

Monday was our first Disneyland day! We ended up leaving the house a little later than expected, and when we arrived in Anaheim, the line to get into the Mickey and Friends parking structure was backed up all the way out to Ball Road! Yikes! I’ve never seen it that bad, but then again, we usually arrive really early. I was worried that this was a bad sign and that the crowds would be terrible.

As we sat (and sat….and SAT…), I then started to worry that we were going to be late to our PS at Ariel’s Grotto.

We finally parked and boarded the tram to the entry plaza.

It turned out that we had just enough time to pose for a couple of photos, get into DCA, pick up a stroller for Peanut, and walk over to the restaurant. Yay!

None of us had even eaten at Ariel’s Grotto before. I picked this meal for two reasons: we didn’t know if Peanut was going to be frightened of the furry characters, so face characters were a safer bet, and I thought I’d better get a Princess meal now, before Peanut’s old enough to protest! Hehe.

There was very little waiting before we were ushered downstairs to meet Human Ariel, who said that Peanut was a very cute little guppy:

And then we were seated. His Majesty enjoyed gnawing on the crayons.

It wasn’t long before the first Royal Visitor was announced. And who was it? Princess Minnie.

Oops. You know, I probably should have read that Minnie appeared at this lunch, but either I didn’t know that, or I just forgot about it by the time we were finalizing our plans. Remember how I said that one of the reasons we chose this meal was because the princesses are face characters? That we didn’t want to find out the hard way that Peanut was afraid of the fuzzies?

Turns out that there was no need to worry. As luck would have it, Minnie turned out to be his favorite character of the entire trip!

Next up was Cinderella. She was my favorite princess at the meal. Peanut thought she was just ok. He was much more interested in chewing on a straw.

He had NO interest in meeting Belle.

Or Aurora.

The meal at Ariel's was ok. We weren't particularly impressed with the appetizer setup, but the actual entrees were very tasty. Of course I forgot to take pictures until we had already started eating. I'll spare you of those, because they are really unappetizing.

I did manage to get a photo of the dessert tray before we dug in, though!

Would I eat there again? Meh. If there was a little girl in our party who was interested in princesses, then I would go for it. Otherwise, though, I'm content to have experienced it once and have no need to do it again.

We did all enjoy the theme of the restaurant. It was beautifully decorated.

What is the limit of photos per post, anyway?

 

[TiggerNZ]

love your trip report so far....Peanut is TOOOOO cute!

Can't wait to read more

 

[blue donkey]

love the 3 shots of your baby showing his distaste for pumpkings. He is just adorable!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

hey, you look so familiar! i think i read your previous tr!

(please excuse the lack of caps, my keyboard seems to be malfunctioning.)

None of us had even eaten at Ariel’s Grotto before. I picked this meal for two reasons: we didn’t know if Peanut was going to be frightened of the furry characters, so face characters were a safer bet, and I thought I’d better get a Princess meal now, before Peanut’s old enough to protest! Hehe.

smart woman! i have two boys and thought i'd never get to see the place; however, my youngest boy and i took a quick trip together last winter, and with a 3yo in love with princesses and other girlie things, it wasn't a hard sell.

Oops. You know, I probably should have read that Minnie appeared at this lunch, but either I didn’t know that, or I just forgot about it by the time we were finalizing our plans. Remember how I said that one of the reasons we chose this meal was because the princesses are face characters? That we didn’t want to find out the hard way that Peanut was afraid of the fuzzies?

Turns out that there was no need to worry. As luck would have it, Minnie turned out to be his favorite character of the entire trip!

i don't think we saw minnie there, so i don't think you could have known. fortunately all was well. more than well, actually!

minnie was a favorite of my ds' too. she definitely has a way with the little ones.

Would I eat there again? Meh. If there was a little girl in our party who was interested in princesses, then I would go for it. Otherwise, though, I'm content to have experienced it once and have no need to do it again.

We did all enjoy the theme of the restaurant. It was beautifully decorated.

loved your photos of the light fixtures; i was fascinated with the decor, too, especially the lights. and did you see the big gold mirror in the bathroom? ds loved that, too.

i'm enjoying this tr, can't wait to read more!

 

[travelmel]

Y'all, we don't HAVE Del Taco in Texas, and it's a tragedy.

I hear that!

TXAng! Where have I been?? IS there more??

 

[TXAng]

Hey, y'all, sorry I've been MIA. Things are still crazy busy around here, so I haven't had time to pull together the next installment. Hopefully soon, though!

love your trip report so far....Peanut is TOOOOO cute!

Can't wait to read more

Thanks! Glad to have you here.

love the 3 shots of your baby showing his distaste for pumpkings. He is just adorable!

I think those were some of my favorite photos of the entire trip (which is kind of wrong, since they weren't even at DL!). They just crack me up!

hey, you look so familiar! i think i read your previous tr!

loved your photos of the light fixtures; i was fascinated with the decor, too, especially the lights. and did you see the big gold mirror in the bathroom? ds loved that, too.

i'm enjoying this tr, can't wait to read more!

Hey, there, you do look familiar! I did see the big mirror in the bathroom, and was VERY tempted to take a photo, but I didn't want to be that strange person taking photos in the bathroom.

I hear that!

TXAng! Where have I been?? IS there more??

Hey! What's new with you? There is much more, I just haven't had much time to be Dis-ing these days.

 

[travelmel]

 

[fairykin]

What a sweet family you have! Thanks for sharing the pictures of your trip... i've never seen inside ariel's place..now i want to go there!