Disneyland~Day 2

On August 22nd, we spent Hudson's 1st birthday at Disneyland!! I can't believe my little man is already 1. This year has gone by so fast. I thought about our first trip to Disneyland so many times leading up to it. The magic, the excitement, experiencing Disney through the eyes of a child, my child, and each time it choked me up a little. Since I had built the day up so much in my head, it could have been a huge disappointment, but it was everything I dreamed it would be. Hudson's eyes sparkled and he seemed to enjoy every (almost) minute of it! 

I bought Hudson and Oliver shirts for their birthdays. Hudson had a mickey onesie and Oliver had a cars shirt. They both looked so cute!

We had early entry into Disneyland, so we took the monorail in and went to Dumbo first. Hud loved it! Then we did Peter Pan. The line was already decent before the park even opened (I think next time we will do Peter Pan first). 

After that, we went to Finding Nemo. Oliver was not a fan of this ride, but Hud really liked it. The bubbles in the window were his favorite part. 

Next we went on Buzz Light Year. Hudson was really into holding the gun. I had to laugh because his whole face was blocked by it. Hud also liked grabbing the knob to turn our car. As you can see, Hud and I didn't do anywhere near as well as daddy, but we had a blast!

After Buzz Astroblasters, we went on the Rockets. They were slightly angled and I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous and hanging on to Hud for dear life. He of course loved it! 

From there, we went over to Splash Mountain. We decided that we should sit in height order, which meant my mom got to sit in the front. Surprisingly, I am now the second shortest in the family! Sabrina, Nic and Lauren were also with us. My mom was so scared about being in the front, but we re-assured her it would be fine. When the log pulled up that we were supposed to get into, the lady sitting in the front was drenched and pissed. Sabrina and I were laughing so hard, but trying to distract my mom so she wouldn't notice. My mom was screaming down every hill and she got drenched!! I got pretty soaked myself, but it was totally worth it. I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard! My mom + Splash Mountain = Best Entertainment Ever!!

As part of our package, we got a free ride photo. As soon as we saw this one, we knew we had to buy it!

After Splash Mountain, we took the kids to Pooh's corner to meet Tigger and Pooh. These were Hud's first experiences with characters. He doesn't really watch tv and has never seen Winnie the Pooh, but he loved both characters. He was so cute with Tigger, but Pooh was clearly his favorite. He kept cuddling him and didn't want to let go. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!

After Oliver and Hudson finished cuddling with Pooh, we all went on the Winnie the Pooh ride. 

After the Winnie the Pooh ride, We all went on Pirates of the Caribbean. My dad rode with Hudson and he was so happy. :) After that, Lauren, Oliver and Susan went back to the room to rest. Hud napped in his stroller, while we had some lunch and went on the Indiana Jones ride. After that, we went with my dad to get his season pass. We took Hud to meet Goofy while we waited for my dad to finish.

He ended up with a migraine, so he went back to the room to rest. Since we were at the entrance of the park, we decided to do a little mini photo shoot. 

After our photo shoot, we met up with Susan, Lauren, and Oliver so we could all go on Small World together.

After Small World, we went to Mickey's Toontown. 

We waited in line to see Mickey and when we were almost to the front, we got a call that the rest of the group wanted to head to California Adventure to watch the Pixar Parade. We figured since we were doing the character breakfast the next morning we could get Mickey photos then, so we got out of line. This is my one regret of the trip! We were so close to the front and should have just waited the few more minutes to get Hudson's photo with Mickey on his 1st Birthday. Oh well, I guess you live and learn and now that can be something special for baby #2. 

We raced over to California Adventure to watch the Pixar parade. Both boys loved it!!

After the parade, we went on Monsters, Inc. 

After Monsters, Inc. we had dinner in Cars Land. Oliver and Susan enjoyed the dance party while we ate. 

Then we did another photo shoot. ;)

After that, we went on Tower of Terror before heading back over to Disneyland for the evening. We knew we would be on Tower of Terror during the sunset so I told Nic to get a picture when the doors open. Of course photography isn't allowed so I then yelled at him that he wasn't taking the picture fast enough and we were going to get busted in the professional photo. He accidentally let go of the camera and said it was floating in mid air on the ride. When we got off the ride, our photo was "lost" We were laughing so hard as Nic was telling us his levitating camera story. 

From there we met back up with Nic's family in Car's Land. We took a few more group photos.

Then we went over to get a spot at Disneyland for the fireworks.

After the fireworks, we took Hudson on the carousel because he had been wanting to go on it all day. 

We also took a few more castle photos, played in the hat store, and enjoyed the view from our room. It was a very long day, but an extremely fun day and the perfect way to celebrate Hudson's birthday!

Disneyland~Day 1

On August 21st, we were up bright and early for our first day at Disneyland. We packed up the car and drove over to the Disneyland Hotel to drop off our bags, then we got our room keys so we could take advantage of our early entry. 

We went to Cars Land first. It was amazing. I felt like I was in the movie. We immediately got in line to meet Lightning McQueen, which both boys loved! Then we got in line for Radiator Racers.

Radiator Racers was such a great ride! It was a bummer Hudson and Oliver weren't tall enough to go on it because they would have loved it. After that we went on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Tire Ride.

Then we raced over to Toy Story Mania. Hudson wouldn't keep his glasses on, but he still loved the ride. He was even moving the joy stick so Nic and I kept missing our targets. We went on the Roller Coaster California Screamin' next which was fun for us "big kids" We then proceeded to squeeze in as many big kid rides as possible before the park got too crowded. We did Soarin' and Tower of Terror.  

After that we did Bug's Land. Hudson was cracking us up on the Lady Bug ride. He looked like he was going to throw up. I didn't think it was possible for a baby to get motion sickness, but he looked a little queesy. I personally didn't like how jerky the ride was or the fact that I couldn't hold Hud on my lap (which I think contributed to him moving around so much and thus looking a bit ill). We loved the other rides in Bug's Land though! While we enjoyed Bug's Land, Nic raced back to our 1st hotel to get the rest of our luggage (we couldn't fit all the luggage and people in our car). Poor Nic really got a work out in running all over the place!   

Then we went to see the Aladdin show. Hudson slept through some of it, but the parts he was awake for he loved!! Oliver really enjoyed it too and we enjoyed a break from the heat. A friend of mine is in the show so she got us VIP seating which made it especially nice. 

I think Oliver's highlights were the Disney Junior show and meeting Jake!! 

That afternoon, we finally made our way back to the Disneyland hotel to see our room. It was beautiful with an amazing view!!

That night, we had dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Then we went on the Little Mermaid Ride. I think it is my new favorite ride! It just makes me so happy.

Before World of Color my dad, Nic and Sabrina raced around using some of the baby swap passes we hadn't had time for earlier in the day. I think they did California Screamin', Soarin' and Tower of Terror. Then my mom, dad, Sabrina, Nic and I raced over to Disneyland to use our Space Mountain fast passes. Then we all watched World of Color. Hudson slept through some of it, but when we woke up he was mesmerized my all the lights and water. He absolutely loved it!! 

We had such a fantastic day and Huson was such a trooper. He was up extremely early so we could take advantage of our 7am early entry and lasted until the park closed!

MIA

Well hello there to anyone that used to follow my blog (I think there are about 5 of you out there ;)). Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I love this blog and always have every intention of catching up, but life somehow keeps getting in the way. I know I shouldn't make excuses, but here goes:

Hudson's 1st Birthday is really what started it all. I spent every night the month or two prior to Hud's birthday making things. Evenings are usually my blogging time, so as you can imagine I started to fall behind. No big deal, I thought, I'll just get through his birthday than get back to the blog and work hard catching up. Well, I guess I forgot to take into account the actual birthday celebrations! Nic's mom, sister and nephew came to stay with us and as I'm sure you have been reading, we were very busy! We were on the go pretty much the entire time they were here. Plus, we don't see them that often so every spare moment was spent catching up with the family, not on the blog. Once everything calmed down, I was exhausted! I went into recovery mode and just couldn't motivate myself to blog. Next thing I knew it was Halloween, then our annual Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii. I did sneak in some blogging on that trip, but by that point I was already months behind. Once we got back from Maui, we went into crazy Christmas and Australia trip preparation mode! I hosted my Christmas Eve Eve, got everything ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas and we left on the 26th for our Australian vacation so as you can imagine the blog got dropped to the bottom of the priority list again. While in Australia, I decided that one of my New Year's resolutions was going to be to catch up on the blog. At that point I was 4 months behind, but felt confident that if I worked on it a little bit each day, I could catch up. I love this blog. I love looking back at recipes or memories and know that I will appreciate it even more years down the road. So my mind was made up and as soon as we got home I was getting back into my blog. Well, the first week or two back didn't go very smoothly. Hudson had a hard time adjusting and got sick so the entire household was getting very little sleep! Plus we still had to unpack and get back into the groove of every day life. Just when I felt like I was getting on my feet again, we got the surprise of a lifetime. We found out we were expecting!! Shortly after we began sharing the news, 1st trimester exhaustion hit me hard! I was asleep on the couch every night by 9pm. So again, the blog was neglected. Now that I have my energy back, I feel like my days are filled with Hudson, baby prep, and all the normal wonderfully fun activities like showers and weddings that make life so fun! I really, really am going to try hard though to keep posting. My goal is to get caught up before the baby arrives, so I better get moving. Even if I can't post every single day, I am going to try to spend time every day working on the blog. I hope you enjoy reading about the past 8 months of our lives. :) Wish me Luck!!

The Day of Rest

We finally had a lower key day on August 20th (sort of). We spent the morning walking around the beach and the Hotel del Coronado. It was such a beautiful day! We could have easily spent the whole day on the beach, but we had to head up to Anaheim so we could go to Disneyland the next day!

On our way north, we met Aunt Susannah, Katrina, and Sam for lunch at a really delicious pizza place by their house. We put Hudson and Katrina in high chairs next to each other and they were a crack up together. 

After that, we stopped at South Coast Plaza for some Jamba Juice and to buy me some new sunnies. (Hudson has figured out how to drink from a straw and is obsessed with Jamba Juice. It doesn't hurt that they gave the kids Planes cups with color changing straws too!) From there, we checked into our hotel near Disneyland. I got Hud set up and into bed while Nic drove around picking up luggage. We got everything ready for our early start the next day, then went to bed. 

Fifty Two Weeks

On August 21st Hudson turned 52 weeks old! How did that happen?!! I can't believe I have done 52 of these posts. Hudson is walking quite a bit now and he says bye bye and night night. He is such a sweet boy who is very excited to be one year old!! Our hearts are so full of love for this little man and it has been a pleasure watching him grow this past year. 

Here is a look back at the past 52 weeks. 

Legoland

On August 19th we went to Legoland. Oliver was in heaven! I have never seen him more excited. When we got to Duplo Town he couldn't even pick something to play with. He was so excited he just kept running from thing to thing. It was hysterical!!

Lucky Nic got to spend his 30th birthday here. We joked in miniature town that Nic got to go to Vegas and New York for his birthday. ;) What a great husband I have though, to spend his 30th birthday with his family at Legoland. I'm sure it wasn't at the top of his list, but he still had a fun day. 

The bummer about Legoland was that they have a lot of similar rides to Disneyland, but with much stricter height requirements. That meant that Hudson could only go on a handfull of rides. He still enjoyed the rides he could go on, watching Oliver on rides and playing with all the Legos (especially the Lego cars). We had a blast watching Oliver enjoy the day. It is always fun to experience things through the eyes of a child and Oliver was having the time of his life. We also had a lot of fun at The Fireman Show. I got to bring back my fireman dance and I even tried to teach Hudson how to do it. ;)

We spent the afternoon at the water park and that was a huge hit with both boys!! To end the day, we got fried apples and my mom, Justin, Sabrina, Nic and I snuck in a ride on one of the roller coasters.

The biggest disappointment of the day was that someone stole my sunglasses off our stroller. Other than that though, we had an awesome day!!

Sea World

On August 18th we went to Sea World. We had such a fun day! We went on the Manta Roller Coaster first, then went through the ray exhibit and even touched a few. Hudson loved watching them swim around, but kept getting scared when it came time to actually touch them. 

We saw the seals then watched the dolphin show. We met up with Aunt Susannah, Will, Sam and Nayara at the Dog show. Then Sheri, Chuck and Carlie met up with us at the Shamu show. 

After the show, we went to the Arctic exhibit to see the polar bears, beluga whales, and a hilarious walrus. (Carlie has a really cute video that I'll have to try to get from her)

Then we enjoyed the penguin exhibit. We also went through the turtle exhibit and shark encounter. 

We watched the Sea lion and Sea otter show and ended the day at the dolphin area.

Hudson seemed to be mesmerized by each aquarium and loved watching the animals underwater. He definitely liked the exhibits better than the shows, and I think he really had a fun day.

San Diego Zoo

On August 17th, we went to the San Diego Zoo. Susan's rash was still bothering her so she stayed home to rest. 

We had such a fun day. Hudson and Oliver really enjoyed looking at all the animals, in fact, we all did. 

We started the day off by going on the tram. Even though the lines were much shorter than at the end of the day, it was still a long wait and we didn't really see much. I think on future visits we will definitely skip the tram ride. Next we took the sky thing while Nic and Justin pushed the strollers through the park. We saw so many wonderful animals: polar bears, an arctic fox, reindeer, a jaguar eating, a lion sleeping, zebras, elephants, giraffes, a rhino, flamingos, hippos, monkeys, gorillas, macaques, a mandrill, orangutans, a tiger, bears, koalas, camels, meerkats, hyenas and so much more. 

My dad especially loved it and didn't want to leave until we had done everything. He insisted we take Hudson on the Skyfari, to see the reptiles and to the petting zoo before we left. It was a long, hot day, but Hud was such a trooper. He napped in his stroller and was in the best mood all day. We arrived at opening and stayed until about 6pm. The only thing we missed, were the pandas. We blew it and didn't go there first and by the end of the day it was over an hour long line. Oh well, it gives us an excuse to come back. :) 

I think the ball the rhino was playing with was Hud's favorite thing of the day. He also liked the giraffes, petting the goats, the skyfari, the crocodile, the hippos and the monkeys. Most of all though, he enjoyed getting so much attention from his family. 

The Other Happiest Place on Earth, Islands, and a Rash

On August 15th we took the boys to Toys R Us. Hudson was in heaven! He went from toy to toy excitedly pointing. I kept thinking who needs Disneyland when I can just bring Hudson to Toys R Us for a few hours to play. (btw, I'm that mom who let her kid run around Toys R Us barefoot! Eeek! I did not anticipate us staying so long or Hudson getting so excited and demanding to run around)

After Toys R Us, we went to the mall to play for a bit, then met Nic and went to Islands for dinner. 

On August 16th, I took Susan to Urgent Care because she got bit by something that caused an allergic reaction. She had large, hot, itchy red welts all over her body. Even though Susan was really uncomfortable, she still found humor in the situation. I'm sure looking back we will all be able to laugh over it.