day four - first day into the city

We moved to our other hotel today that James Price lined. It's the Sheraton Delfina located in Santa Monica. It was so nice! Great work, James! I was very, very pleasantly surprised. Clean, modern, my kind of hotel! And I think James was happy that I was overly satisfied as he probably got sick of me complaining about the dumpy hotel we were at previously. After doing laundry at Crappy Inn, I mean the Candy Cane Inn, we went straight to Skirball Cultural Centre. It's part of the Jewish Community Centre. Skirball, was a Jewish lady that dedicated her time in creating a place for children. This place was quite impressive. Right as we entered, the lady behind the counter was very helpful and when asked where we are traveling from, she got so excited as she used to travel to Vancouver every other year for a family vacation. She directed us where to go but we decided to grab lunch at the restaurant in the centre before heading to the Noah's Ark area. As we entered Noah's Ark, the lady who greeted us informed us that everything within reach was free to touch. This place was divided into three sections: cause and effect area where the kids can turn things to make them move, the interactive area where the kids can do imaginary play and also climb on the climbing structure (I got stuck at one point!), the third part was for arts and crafts and for story time. Matthew and I made a voodoo doll in the arts and crafts room and then when storytime came, he plopped himself in the front row. It was very cute. We also went upstairs on the rooftop to dig in the archeological area for some fossils. Again, this place was pretty cool. After checking into the Sheraton, we did our 10 minute stroll to the Pier and this was when Matthew got his late afternoon nap. We were thinking he'd fall asleep in the car but didn't and seemed okay without a nap. But since he was getting a wee bit fussy, we put him down and he went down no problem. We walked through Bloomingdales and oh man oh man! It's heaven to me! Right when we entered, I was surrounded by beautiful purses by Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Burberry, Tory Burch, Rachel Zoe...the list goes on and on...But since this trip was all about Matthew, James didn't plan any free time for mommy to shop :( I only got to cruise by as they all whispered my name, taunting me to touch each and one of them... After leaving all those beautiful purses, we walked down the ramp to the Pier but since it was on the dock, the ground was quite bumpy as we strolled Matthew for his nap. We decided to visit the Pier after he woke as we didn't want the bumps to wake him up so back up the hill we went. We stopped off at the first food truck we saw. It sold tacos, Korean style. It was tasty and cheap. I think it was $2.50 for a taco. We tried a chicken and beef one. Matthew woke up by the time we finished walking on Third Street, a Robson type street with shops. James saw Johnny's Burgers as we strolled and said that it was one of the restaurants he wanted to try so again, we had burgers! I finally found a cheap sweater that I would potentially wear again. I've been looking to buy an extra layer since Disneyland. LA wasn't as warm as I thought so I barely packed anything warm. The sweaters in Disneyland were way too

tacky and expensive. And since Scrooge, aka James, came on this trip he discouraged my shopping habit. I merely got away with a matching t-shirt for Matthew and I, and a couple of souvenirs for my teachers and Matthew. My purse strings were tied too tightly... We got back to the hotel to put the little guy down. Afterwards, I attempted to ask for free wifi as this hotel only provided complimentary wifi in the lobby. I got denied...twice...boo!!!

day three - last day at Disneyland

Today we went to California Adventures. There was a line but definitely not as long as the Disneyland one. This side was mostly rides. It's incredible how big these parks are, I wonder how much their property tax is?!?! Our plan today was to walk around California Adventures and then go back to Disneyland to get our Dole Pineapple drinks and more bacon wrapped asparagus...yum! We weren't planning on having lunch earlier than 11:00am but then we walked by a stand that was selling turkey legs. A whole turkey leg; something that wasn't a hamburger! Woo-hoo! The three of us munched on it and got pretty full but James still managed to down a corn dog! We spent a good 30 minutes at these steps that Matthew couldn't pull himself away. He's quite into walking up and down steps and then once he gets to the last step, he likes to "jump" off of it. His jump is quite funny as he bends his knees and gets down quite low and then extends his body to only quickly step off the step one foot at a time instead of landing on both feet. We then lined up to take a picture with Mickey Mouse. To our surprise, Matthew ran up to him and hugged him. Then we went to the "It's a Bug's Life" area and rode on the rides there. James and I didn't like those rides. A lot of spinning around but Matthew enjoyed them. The nice thing about going to places where it's full of kids is that there are other little munchkins around to entertain each other while waiting in line. We also went to the carnival area to play some of the games there. For the record, I LET James win at my game - ski ball, so he got the credit in winning Matthew a little Bulls eye doll that Matthew lost a couple days later at the LA Zoo :(. We went back to Disneyland when Matthew went down for his afternoon nap. As the line ups for a picture with Minnie Mouse and Pluto were short, James and I decided to line up to take the pictures. Pluto was very nice. He saw that Matthew was sleeping in his stroller after we took our picture and went up to him, lifted his sun shade and posed for a picture with him. What a nice doggie! This night, Matthew woke up about three times right when we put him down and cried a bit. The little guy is sick :(

Day two of seven - first full day at the happiest place on earth

We arrived at Disneyland around 9:30am to join in on the 30 minute long line to get into Disneyland. James had purchased a three day hopper pass that allowed us to have access for Disneyland, California Adventures and Downtown Disneyland. With a tip from my bro, we used the first two days for Disneyland and then waited till the weekend (Friday) to go to California Adventures as he said Disneyland will be much less busy on weekdays. Indeed he was right. Most of the line up times for rides were approximately 20 minutes long which apparently is nothing compared to when it's peak season which could be an estimated 60 minute line per ride! We learned about Fast Pass at the end of our trip. We thought we had to pay for this addition but now we know that if you go to the ticket booth for each ride, it will issue you a time to come back which you then line up in a shorter line up for the ride. There's no additional fee. We'll do this next time. The first ride we went on was Pirates of the Caribbean. James ensured that it was a safe ride for Matthew and I (who hates any sort of dips/roller coaster type rides). After 15 years of being with me, you'd think James would know my hate for these kinds of rides. I reluctantly lined up for this ride even though I had a feeling that both Matthew and I wouldn't enjoy it. The good thing was that there was barely a line up for this ride as the park just opened. We hopped onto the boat, and got comfy. Matthew started whining quietly as the boat ride started and it was getting darker and darker...then splash! A big dip! Matthew then whined loudly and I was bickering at James for picking this ride right when another big splash and another bigger dip came! Oh boy, was I pissed! Not only am I terrified of this ride, I'm trying to sing twinkle, twinkle little star to calm my little toddler without losing sight of the fact that I'm pissed at James for suggesting this ride! Finally, after what seemed like a 30 minute ride, we were off! At this point, I had taken James off the duty of choosing rides for the rest of the day. Then James excitedly encouraged us to go on the Winnie the Pooh honey adventure which was right next to the last ride. As much as I hate waiting in lines, I didn't care that others were hurrying passed us to line up as I stopped and quizzed the ride attendant of what we can expect on this ride. After my interrogation, we hoped on. Matthew was a bit scared as most of the ride was loud and dark. Poor little guy, we must have traumatized him! After this ride, we decided to go on the rides that were outdoors to determine what the little guy likes. And indeed we figured it out right away - outdoor rides where he can see what's happening is more his speed. We went on the Dumbo ride, Madhatter Tea Cup ride, the carousel, and the train ride that took us all around the park. He's very big on trains or what he likes to call it - "choo-choos". We also went on the Toy Story ride which was under repair the previous day. This ride was indoors where you get a gun and got to shoot at things. Matthew didn't enjoy it as much as it was inside and loud. We watched the 7:00pm parade and had dinner on the side lines - burgers again. Surprise, surprise as we've only been here for two days and I've already consumed two burgers. Matthew really enjoyed this parade and wanted to get up and dance. He was very good at finishing his dinner and then asking to get out of his stroller so he can bop to the music. After the parade, we went on the carousel again before we headed home. Again Matthew went down no problem.

three's company!

Vacations are always fun. Different places to go to, different things to see. This was our first family vacation with just us three. We got up bright and early on Wednesday (May 2). 8am was our flight out to LA so we woke up our little travel buddy at 5:30am and quickly got him ready. Luckily he went to bed easy the night before at around 6:30pm without a fuss so he could get maximum sleep. We bypass the customs line with our niffy Nexus passes and proceeded to pick up my last steep tea for the week. Matthew has proven to be a great traveler. He napped most of the time on the plane and woke up quite happy when we landed in LA at around 11:30am. We then went to pick up our ride and went straight to Candy Cane Inn where we called home for a few days. We chose this place because it was in walking distance to Disneyland. (Note to self for the next time we visit - for approximately the same price we could live in Downtown Disney) After checking in, we walked across the street to this little Mexican joint. This was the start of our Mexican and burger diet for the week. Yay, lucky me...but James was stoked! We finally got to Disneyland, just in time for Matthew's afternoon nap. Unfortunately the first time he set foot (or should I say set wheel as he was in a stroller) he was asleep :(. Too bad, but when he woke he was super alert, turning his this way and that to see all the exciting things

Disneyland had to offer. Before this trip, I had called ahead to try to make dinner reservations to Goofy's Kitchen as we were told it was a must do while we were there. It was (of course) a very kid friendly buffet eatery that served very kid friendly foods such as peanut butter and jelly pizzas, and mac n cheese pizzas as well as this was the one Disney themed restaurant that had the most characters that come out throughout dinner to sign autograph books and danced for our entertainment. Even though they said they were fully booked, we tried to get in anyway and luckily the wait was only 40 minutes so we decided to stay. All this goodness of course came to a pricey $80 that I cannot say was worth it food wise. But I think Matthew did enjoy the characters, but from a distance. Right when he saw Goofy, he took a few steps towards him and waved. As Goofy came closer to catch a high five from him, Matthew quickly ran the other way! After dinner, we called it a night and started our 10 minute walk back to our hotel. I definitely didn't pack enough warm clothes for myself as the nights were quite chilly. Both Matthew and I caught a cold while we were here :( Luckily for us, Matthew went straight to bed right when we put him in the borrowed pack n play. Even with the lights on and minimal noise we were making, he's snoring like a baby! Then James and I watched a movie (The Change Up) with the lights on! Night, night till tomorrow.

our little ham at the wedding

These were taken at about 9:30pm! Maybe he can stay up or maybe he's just wired!

some more pics from the wedding

Our little angel is a monster eating machine!

It was the day of Carla's wedding, a wedding that I have been quite excited for. And what a perfect day it was! The sun couldn't have shone any brighter for this couple! It was a small, intimate wedding with 30 of her closes loved ones. It was set for 5:30pm at Seasons in the Park but it started just a little bit later. The day was even better since Matthew was the bestest little angel anyone could have asked for. We started the day a bit late as he slept in till 9! When I woke up I thought it was only 8am but then quickly realized that it was 9 and he was still catching his zzz's! Then we got ready quickly to meet up with Clayton, my brother and Kim at the Richmond Nature Park. We spent about an hour there on the trail and then in the gift shop that had stuff to do for the little guys. We then went to Pho for lunch. Matthew ate all his mush and two bowls of Pho noodles and fruit before we headed home for a nap. I was hoping that he'd have a great nap so he could last longer at the wedding. My wish came true as he got just over 2 and a half hours before waking up very happy. We got ready, him putting on his suit, James putting on his suit and me in my navy blue dress. We got to Seasons in the Park just before 5pm to settle ourselves in. Since the timing was quite off from our usual schedule, I couldn't help but worry how Matthew would take to it. I really should give him more credit and stop worrying! He was exploring the dining room where we'd be spending the next 6 hours in. The bride was a bit late so the ceremony didn't start until closer to 6pm. Then some h'orderves came to tickle our tummys while photos were being taken outside. We fed Matthew his mush and some of the h'orderves. James said that he'll consider this his dinner so I could enjoy mine when the time comes as he'll be entertaining Matthew. I don't know if James was being nice or if he just thought the small bites were too delicious to stop munching on but anyhow James ate a very good amount while Matthew finished his mush and some chicken skewers and spring rolls. Then we went outside to take some pictures which was only about 15 minutes. We went back downstairs to enjoy some bread and speeches. Matthew ate almost a whole bun and some cheerios and fruit. Then our entree came and Matthew had some mashed potatoes and lots of french fries and one chicken strip. Dessert came and Matthew had a few bites of our lemon tart and a couple bites of ice cream. At this point, it was 9ish and not only is Matthew a very pleasant guest, he had been sitting since 6pm (with a short break to go outside for pictures) but he was still eating and very happy. After a few more speeches, it came time for dancing. We thought Matthew would go crazy when Rihanna's "We found love" song came on but he was too preoccupied with Ciresi's phone which had been playing Rihanna's "We found love" song continuous for him as he was asking for it. We left the wedding just after 10:30pm. We were prepared for Matthew to fall asleep in the car on the way home so we brought his PJ's. But he didn't sleep as he kept requesting for Rihanna's song. Man, it used to be one of my fave songs but I'm getting kinda sick of it! We got home and he was still awake so we decided to give him his milk and do his regular bedtime routine. He downed 6oz of milk and then went to bed super nice. He's been eating up a storm! He must be making up for the 2 days he didn't eat! I was hoping he'd sleep in and he did until I woke him up to go to the Easter Egg hunt at the YMCA (langara one) to meet up with Ryan, Lana, Doug, and Yee-ma. He woke up happy (thankfully!) and we enjoyed a full morning of carnival games and an easter egg hunt. He wasn't too good at it and the YMCA volunteer kept dropping eggs around him so he'd find it easily. He just wanted to play! We then grabbed a quick bite at Oakridge Mall with Yee-ma before we headed home for a nap. So that's what our angel's doing now - napping since 1:20pm. It's times like this that I TOTALLY want another one!
oh one thing about the wedding. I thought it was so thoughtful that there were gift bags for each of the children in attendance. Each bag was thoughtfully prepared based on gender and age group. The idea behind the bags was to help entertain the kiddies, luckily for us it was just an extra and not needed but super much appreciated! I thought it was such a nice added touch...thanks guys!