Parker Turns 2

Parker is two! Things have been a little chaotic with the move so we didn't throw a party this year. I know, I know...I experienced some major guilt over not throwing him a kick ass superhero party. Instead, we took him to California Adventure for a fun day of meeting some of his favorite Disney characters. We watched shows and parades, ate ice cream, opened Kinder eggs (thanks Auntie Casey!) and went on rides. Little man had so much fun he didn't want to go to sleep when we finally got home. Unfortunately for him, Mommy and Daddy had to go to work the next day. Hope you guys enjoy my iPhone pics of our fun day.

Cheers to you, Parker! You are such an amazing kid and you surprise us everyday with your growing vocabulary. We love you to pieces. Happy Birthday!!

[Parker woke up at 5:45 AM and was very excited to receive his first gift. Avengers Assemble! The bed head is adorable.]

[I managed to hang a banner in the kitchen the night before. He was so happy to take a photo with his favorite superhero friends.]

[Showing grandpa "Thor hammer". You see that box to the right? That's Tuan's gift to Parker. Superhero pajamas from Pottery Barn Kids. Now he will match his pillow case.]

[Family selfie. Parker was busy playing his his birthday pin.]

[On Daddy's shoulders walking through Carsland.]

[I love his birthday shirt. Purchased from SandiLake Clothing on Etsy.]

[Flik, Kaden, Princess Eden and the Birthday Boy.]

[Instead of cake, we got an ice cream sundae from Ghiradelli and put some candles on it. It took a lot of baby wipes to clean up the aftermath.]

[Messing around with his auntie while we waited for the Pixar parade.]

[Starting to look a little rough as the day winds down.]

[He got to meet Princess Let it Go! That's what he calls Elsa and Anna.]

[Relaxing in his stroller as we leave the park. Must be nice to not have to make the trek back to the tram and through the parking structure. I'm going to suggest that we find a double stroller that Tuan can push us around in.]

[I can't believe he stayed awake for the whole ride home and didn't want to go to bed. Here's my last snap of the day. Parker in his pajamas hanging out in bed with his new toys.]

Disney Parks with a Toddler Part 3

I'm going to keep the word count low on this post since this is part 3 of my Disney Parks with a Toddler series. You can read part one and two by clicking on the links.

Last week I went on my first long work trip coordinating two fun product launch parties in Los Angeles and San Francisco. After a week of traveling and working 12+ hour days, I took the first flight home and Tuan, Parker and I drove straight to Anaheim to use up the last day on our passes. I have to say that they SoCal 3 day/3 park special Disney offered was a great investment and I really enjoyed all the time we spent at the parks. It felt like a mad dash to fit in the last day before June 6 but we did it! I guess the best part of not being able to do everything in the park in one day is that there was always a brand new experience in store for Parker on our subsequent trips.

[Parker's first time on the Little Mermaid Ride was very exciting. Short, fast moving lines, fish, bubbles and ducks. Those are all of his favorite things.]

[Tuan picked up the same Mickey shirt Parker has on our last trip. This time around they were shirt twins and Parker kept poking the Mickey on daddy's shirt.]

[Our first time watching the Aladdin show. It was great! Parker freaked out when he saw the giant cave head though.]

[The Aladdin show is 45 minutes long. Apparently that is too long for Parker because he fell asleep during the show.]

[I broke all the rules and ate this glorious carb overload pretzel with Tuan. At least we shared it!]

[The Play Parade was a big hit. I had no idea the floats shot water at the crowd. No one seemed to mind though since it was a warm day.]

[Balling his fists in excitement. He danced the whole time.]

[We left the park and went back to our hotel after the parade because we could not handle the millions of high school kids who were there for Grad Night.]

We decided to have dinner outside of the park and went to Umami Burger located in the Anaheim Packing District. This was our first time visiting and I was a little skeptical since one of the Yelp reviews I read said the place was not kid friendly. Whoever wrote that review could not have been more wrong. We were seated promptly, our waitress brought over a high chair, coloring page and crayons for Parker and we had our food in 10 minutes. 

We are definitely going back to experience the Packing District in its entirety. It's too bad we were there the day before the grand opening and did not have a chance to taste the offerings of all the other vendors. 

[Truffle fries]

[Tuan's "manly burger"]

[After dinner we went to Joe's Italian Ice for dessert. The nice employee gave Parker a free mini cone of soft serve and he loved it. He loved it so much he ate the entire thing, cone and all. It was a hot mess.]

[Tuan's mango tango and my bada bing cherry]

[Enjoying the fireworks in our pajamas from our room. Parker kept saying "OOOhhh". It was so cute.]

[Can you spot the hidden Mickey?]

[Unlike last time, we came prepared for pool time on this trip.]

[Bundled up like a burrito. I think he's still on the fence about whether or not he likes swimming. Hopefully that changes once we start swim lessons later this month.]

Want to see more of our day to day adventures?

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Disney Parks with a Toddler Part 2

Did we go to California Adventure again this weekend? Yes. Are these photos from this weekend? No. These, my dear readers, are photos from Mother's Day weekend because I am a slacker. Never fear, Disneyland Part 3 will also be posted this week. Enjoy!

[Having some yogurt by the crazy colorful murals by the Mad T Party stage. It's a great spot that is hardly ever busy.]

[On our last trip to Disneyland, we rented a locker to store Parker's cooler of milk. This time we did not and it was so much more convenient to be able to grab a snack or bottle without having to trek through the park. The child care center is located relatively far away from the lockers in the front of the California Adventure park. Side note: I love our TWELVELittle Courage Diaper Backpack. It is stylish, functional and most importantly unisex.]

[In line to watch Disney Junior Live]

[Want to see a baby lose his mind? Let him watch all his favorite characters sing and dance in an interactive show. Baby. Mind. Blown.]

[Parent selfie while we waited for our table at Carthay Circle.]

[The World of Color menu at Carthay Circle. Totally worth the money. The food at Carthay Circle is the best I've ever had in either parks (included at Club 33). Make sure to book a reservation beforehand.]

[The one thing you MUST order at Carthay Circle. House biscuits, fried and stuffed with white cheddar, bacon and jalapeno and served with apricot honey butter.]

[No matter where we go Parker manages to find a duck. It's like a super power or something.]

[Parker sitting patiently while he has his portrait drawn.]

[Is this how you wear 3D glasses?]

[We took a break from the theme park and hung out in our hotel room at the Hilton for a part of the afternoon. They were able to upgrade us to a Disney view room at no extra cost. The Hilton also provides complimentary mini fridges for milk storage and will heat up baby food for you downstairs in their restaurant.]

[We tried our best to keep Parker up for World of Color. The show didn't start until 9:45 PM which is waaaay past his normal bedtime. Strategy 1: feed him an ice cream sundae from Ghiradelli. Strategy 2: go on crazy spinning rides in bugs land.]

[Everything we did to keep him up totally failed. So what else was there to do except put some sunglasses on him and start taking silly photos? Luckily he woke up in the middle of the show and was able to see a bit of it.]

Overall, I thought that California Adventure was a lot easier to navigate with Parker than Disneyland. The lines were a lot shorter for the kiddie rides at Cal Adventure (carousel, everything in Bugs Land). There were more shows and characters that he recognized and the food options are better. Like I said before, the key to making it through the day is to take it easy. Stick to your little one's schedule as much as possible so they don't get too tired or hungry. Take advantage of the services (and air conditioning!) at the childcare center.  I know it's expensive and you want to fit in as much as possible but that really just isn't doable with a little one in tow.

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