San Diego: Fall Fun at Bates Nut Farm

It's still sunny and warm most days but Fall is definitely here. I love driving through light fog in morning, wearing cozy sweaters and seeing pumpkin spice lattes on the menu at Starbucks. One of the family outings that really signals Fall for us is visiting the pumpkin patch at Bates Nut Farm. Driving to Valley Center is a bit of a trek but it's totally worth it to arrive at the farm to see fields of Big Macs in all their orange glory. The Macs were a bit smaller this year, probably due to the drought, but they were still awesome to walk among. I remember when we went last year, Parker was barely sitting on his own and we kept worrying that he would fall off a pumpkin. This year, he was walking about pointing at all the "balls" in the field and fearlessly putting his hand in a goat's mouth to feed it corn kernals. He's getting so big! Truthfully, he was grumpy for most of our visit because his morning nap had been cut short but we were able to capture a few good photos. Besides the pumpkin patch, Bates also has goats and sheep you can feed, pony rides, quilt displays and a whole bunch of tractors on display that the kids can sit on. 

Mom tips:

1. Arrive early, especially if you want to take photos. The later it gets, the more people there are ruining your shot. The farm opens at 8:30 AM. The lighting is terrible later in the day. 

2. Bring plenty of wipes/antibacterial handsoap. There are no hand washing stations where the animals are. Grosssss.

3. This is a porta potty situation. 

4. Wear the right shoes. You will literally be walking through a field so wear the right shoes. 

5. Last year there were food trucks when we went. This year the only food offerings I saw were kettle corn and ice cream from Mariposa. I would suggest leaving the farm if you want to have a good lunch.

Bates Nut Farm

15954 Wood Valley Road

Valley Center, CA 92083

1-800-642-0348

[That dimple though. This kid is growing up so fast.]

Parker's Outfit

Shirt and sweater: Letter Cardigan Zara Kids

Jeans: Skinny Jeans Gap Kids

Shoes: Declan Chukka Boots Target

[Less we ever forget that he's a little boy through and through]

[80% of his photos looked like this. Poor kid. So over sitting on pumpkins.]

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San Diego: A Visit the New Children's Museum

Hooray for free passes to the New Children's Museum courtesy of the San Diego Public Library. The last time we visited the museum, Parker was barely 2 mos old and slept through the whole experience. It's hard to believe that little peanut has grown into such a social and curious little toddler. The NCM is a great place for little ones to run around, explore, get dirty and make friends. We were able to find a meter spot across the street and paid $1/hr for parking.

[Throwback photo of Parker from our first visit. Awww he looks so peaceful.]

 

[Parker and Kaden playing in the Orange We installation. Every time they moved the oranges, a new sound played from a speakers overhead.]

[Delivering food and twerking on Kaden in the Food Truckin' installation.]

[Parker loved the bubble table. He has a great time splashing and grabbing at the bubbles. We had to do an outfit change after this one. It was a mess!]

[Wobbleland is an area for kids 4 and under filled with food sculptures. The boys loved sitting in the orange.]

[And crawling through a giant slice of cheese]

[Tuan rockin out (and looking like Justin Bieber) in the Sound Kitchen]

[Banging on some can drums]

For $80 you can buy a family membership to NCM. That is such a steal and would make an amazing gift.

Follow me on instagram @sdmama33 to see more photos of our adventures!

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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Review of Station Tavern & Burgers

This weekend was the first in a while that we didn't have anything planned. No weddings, no birthdays, no holidays. Parker let us "sleep in" until 8 AM and we spent some time cleaning the house and doing chores. It felt really good not to have to be anywhere in particular. 

After a quick bang trim at Clip Art Salon in Kensington, we headed to South Park to have lunch at Station Tavern & Burgers. Ever been to a place that was so kid friendly that you felt weird being there without a kid? This is one of those places. The food is simple, kid friendly, reasonably priced and satisfying. They have an extensive bar menu. Almost everyone there has at least one child under the age of 5 at their table. There is a little play area with chalk boards and a little wooden train for the kids to play in. The outdoor dining area is shady and filled with long picnic tables (perfect for large groups). I failed to take good photos of the space but there are some good photos in the gallery on their website. But let's be real. We came for the tater tots. They are so crunchy and perfect with the chipotle mayo sauce. 

For those who are not familiar with the area, there are a few nice boutique shops to check out in the neighborhood after you've filled your bellies. 

Station Tavern & Burgers

2204 Fern St. 

San Diego, CA 92104

619-255-0657

http://stationtavern.com/

[Parker was hesitant at first about playing with the other kids. After a few minutes he was trailing behind a cute little girl trying to make friends.]

[My Yard Bird and Tuan's Sloppy Joe. That's right. When's the last time you had a sloppy joe?]

[Giant mound of delicious tater tots]

[After lunch we went home for naps and tickle time. I LOVE this photo.]

[Parker playing with Tuan's Beats by Dre headphones. What a cutie!]