Plane Ride to Arizona

Well it’s been a couple months since I have updated this blog. I have been a little busy with my food blog and daily chores but I wanted to get this one started up again.

We recently took an eventful plane ride to Arizona to celebrate W’s cousin G’s first birthday. We had a grand time in Arizona playing with so much family and celebrating is always fun. The plane rides, however, not so much fun.

We booked our flight to Arizona in the morning hoping to make it to Arizona in time for W’s nap. I don’t think we realized just how desperate for nap he would be. This was our third time flying with W but the other two times he wasn’t such a mover and shaker as he was now. So we boarded the tiny puddle jumper plane and immediately got out the ipad to get the kid dialed into his favorite show hoping for a quiet ride. The flight attendant came by and told us we were preparing to take off and that we needed to close the ipad until we were in the the air. This sent sleepy little W over the edge. He instantly wanted to run and play and when we tried to keep him on our laps he cried, screamed, arched etc. There was no holding him. We were offering him everything; raisins, juice, fruit snacks and to no avail. We ended up being stuck on the tarmac for what seemed to be a century but was probably only 10 minutes. The entire plane was watching us and we were unable to quiet or calm W in the slightest. I had Wade on my lap and my husband said “pass him to me I will show him the window” so I passed the screaming little guy to his daddy but as I did I over shot the arm rest and accidentally slammed his head on the roof of the plane cabin. the whole plan gasped. W screamed louder. He was fine (luckily) but was going to let me hear it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and I felt awful for W. Finally the guy next to me said “I always turn the ipad on as soon as the flight attendant walks away”. So I did and W was silent for the the rest of the ride. What a trip!

Here are some pictures of our fun while in Arizona.

Loved the oranges at Pita Pit

Arizona has fun parks

Bathtime with G

Favorite Cousin

G's cute party

Pumpkin Patch and Beach Picnic

I love adventures that revolve around holidays, especially with little ones. We had such a fun outing this weekend taking our little guy to the Pumpkin Station in Del Mar CA. This pumpkin patch is extra special because it has fun kid rides and a petting zoo, not to mention tons of huge pumpkins. At first I thought the whole thing might go over Wade's head but to our delight he was thrilled to play and go on rides. We started with the merry-go-round which he thought was pretty cool although I think my poor husband was starting to get a little green towards the end of the ride.

Then we headed over to the petting zoo to feed the goats. Wade really loves animals just like his mama.

Because Wade is walking everywhere now I think it made the whole experience a little more fun because we could see what interested him and where he wanted go. He just loved the pumpkins, banging on them mostly.

He also got to ride in a pretty sweet car. Doesn't he look like a little James Deans?

Once again my poor husband took him on the train that goes round and round. Wade thought it was awesome, I think Dave was done with the rides after that.

More huge pumpkins.

Saturday was just gorgeous so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and finish our afternoon with a picnic at Solana Beach.

Wade had to use his walking skills to explore and he wanted his daddy to see everything he found.

We watched the ocean and made friends with some people that thought Wade was pretty cute.

After snuggleing with both of us, Wade decided it was time to go take a nap.

We had such a magical day exploring and watching our little one light up with each new thing discovered.

The Petting Zoo

Last weekend we joined our friends at Zoomars Petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano. We had such a fun time watching Wade and his buddy N playing with the animals. These boys provided more entertainment than we were prepared for. We started the day with Guinea Pigs and Bunnies. Neither boy was too sure about these little creatures. Their faces were priceless.

I think they wondered what these furry little things were.

We then headed over to see the Zedonks. Yes that's a word. It is a half zebra half donkey.

The boys decided that playing on the park bench was the most fun!

I thought the train ride was pretty cool.

The Goats were acting like they were starving but they didn't look like it.

Our last stop was the pony rides. N seemed to really like this part but it was not popular with Wade. If he wasn't tearing up he was trying to put on a brave face.

San Juan Capistrano is such a cute town. Next time we decided to explore more of what it has to offer.

Fun in Oceanside Harbor

Today's adventure was spent exploring the scenic Oceanside Harbor in Northern San Diego. The Harbor is right next to the Camp Pendleton Marine base off of the 5 Fwy. It has so many fun things to do, see and eat! We started our day by walking around the Harbor and admiring all the different boats, dreaming about which one we would love to own some day.

One of the the extra big boats had a live band playing reggae music. People were dancing on the boat and the dock. Some of the dancers had some serious moves. It was definitely entertaining to watch and the music was great. We ate lunch right next to boat at the "Harbor's Fish and Chip".

This place was very popular and with good reason. The food was outstanding. But even better than the fish and chips was the yummy ice cream we snacked on afterwards at "Cascade Glacier Ice Cream".

I think this was Wade's favorite part of the adventure. He got to try cherry ice cream and mint chip. The Ice cream man gave Wade a little behind the scenes demo of scooping cones.

It was pretty cute. This whole adventure was relaxing and easy. It was so nice to be able to take in some beautiful scenery with my little family.

Beautiful La Jolla

Last Saturday we packed up and headed out to spend an adventure day in La Jolla California. Although we had been to La Jolla before neither my husband nor I had ever really explored the beautiful beaches, fun shops and yummy food this little area has to offer. We started the day by getting some lunch at Carl Strauss Brewery. Having a 10 month old in a restaurant can either provide free entertainment or a stressful atmosphere. Luckily we were provided with free entertainment this time around and the people around us seemed to enjoy Wade's outgoing personality. Once we were full we set out to see the baby seals and enjoy some sightseeing and window-shopping along the way.

We stopped to see some birds outside a pet store. Wade couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him grab the birdies and I think it made the pet store a little boring for him.

Down at the cove in La Jolla, seals come to nurse their babies. The beach used to be a nature preserve but now there is some debate over who the beach belongs to. Because of this people were able to roam and swim around the seals. We kept our distance as not to disturb the seals because after all they were there first.

We loved watching them from the cliffside, and we could see everything from where we were standing. Wade really got a kick out of all the seals.

I think he just thought they were weird looking babies, but it was pretty funny to watch him. This is definitely a fun place for young kids. La Jolla was so beautiful and full of fun things to do that we are considering spending a couple days in a hotel and exploring more of what this little cove has to offer.

What a perfect day!

Rochester NY

Over the weekend we braved the 6 hour flight plus a layover to Rochester New York to see Wade’s Auntie Alex graduate from RIT. This was our biggest adventure as a family.

The plane flights weren't too bad. Wade insisted on wearing the neck pillow whenever he was awake, which was pretty funny to us and those around us. He did have one meltdown on the flight to Rochester and one on the way home, understandably. The meltdowns probably only lasted about 5 minutes but seemed to last forever. Thankfully we had some very nice people sitting near us telling us they weren’t bothered by it at all. I think Wade had won them over with his huge blue eyes.

Rochester was beautiful, the weather was perfect and we had such a great time hanging out with the family. Wade got to spend a lot of time playing with his Grandma and Grandpa and Aunties.

We ate out at some fun restaurants including a delicious Tapas place downtown. It was so nice of Grandpa CB to walk Wade around the restaurant while Dave and I enjoyed ourselves. While we were in Rochester we also got a little tour of RIT and saw some of Alex’s photos hanging in the school halls. She is a very talented photographer. We are so proud of Alex! All in all the trip went pretty smoothly and we really enjoyed being around family.

Some things we learned from this trip
1. Save the flights that are longer than 4 hours until you baby is down to 1 nap a day and make them direct.
2. Book a hotel room with a bedroom, so you don’t have to sit outside the hotel room door with the monitor while your baby naps for 2 hours.
3. A 3 hour time difference is huge for small babies and can mess up their schedule completely.