Surviving Disneyland With Two Toddlers

Waaaay back in September, Daddy Warbox AKA my Dad took our whole family to Disneyland and Laguna Beach for a mini-vacay. It would be our first whole, "my side of the family" vacation with the babies, (Aiden and his cousin Emma). We loaded up the 4-Runner with countless Disney CD's for cheesy road singing, tons of snacks, a toddler "entertainment road box" and Mickey Mouse of course! We knew that taking a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth would take a bit more work with a couple of toddlers so before we went I researched some helpful tips from other mom blogs ect. to help our trip run more smoothly. Here is a little list I complied, some tips from others and some straight from our own experiences. Some even from Aiden himself who LOVED riding the teacups with his Daddy and decided that the best napping spot was in the Disney Animation building in the California Adventure park.

1. Bring YOUR parents. Do NOT attempt this alone. You'll never get a break or a chance to enjoy the adult rides with your hubby, sis and bro-in-law. You'll also never get to RUN AT FULL speed like an annoying teenager laughing until you almost pee yourself through the park near closing time trying to make it to the Tower of Terror in sopping wet, slippery flip-flops TRYING to keep up with your little sister who by the way is 4 years younger and runs marathons for a hobby. WHEW! (Thanks seester!)
2. There are at least two baby centers that I know of. One is on Main Street USA and the other is in CA Adventure across from the fancy-schmancy Napa Valley Restaurant. Baby Centers are your secret weapon, well along with your boobs if you happen to be a breastfeeding mama which I am. Baby Centers have rocking chairs, private nursing rooms, hot water, diapers, changing tables and did I mention it has air conditioning? And no this is NOT a daycare where you can drop off pipsqueek while you go off and sneak one more ride on CA Screaming. 
3. There are changing tables in both women's and MEN's restrooms. Now mama won't get stuck with all the diaper changes!
4. Label your toddler. Stick a bracelet on him with your name and phone number JUST in case he wanders off. You never know. This even happens to Supermoms, I've seen it. 
5. Go to the Disney Store prior to the trip and get some "souvenirs" on clearance. Keep them on hand as you enter the shops. You can even go as far as pretending to take them off the shelves and give them to your little consumer. Just make sure the store employees know what your up to or you may end up in Disney Jail. 
6. Best rides for toddlers- Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Bug's Life, Teacups, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, (a little spooky but our little tough guy liked it), Dumbo, Monorail, Railroad, Jungle Cruise, 
7. Save your cashola for your date night with hubby, (because you were smart and brought your parents AKA babysitters along) and bring your own lunch and snacks. Make them seem more appealing by wrapping them in Mickey Mouse clear plastic bags from the Dollar Store. See a theme here? Trickery will get you everywhere with these 2.5 ft little munchkins. 
8. Toon Town, Tom Sawyer's Island, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, Bug's Land Water Play area and Playhouse Disney Live are all good places to let the kids run free when they are tired of being in their strollers or on rides. 
9. Adults with kids don't have to stand in line! 
10. If you have the new Iphone, you can download the Disneyland wait times app. It will save your life. Check it out!  
11. Bring water in a reusable water bottle so you can refill throughout the day. This seems like a no-brainer to me but your would not believe how many parents I saw buying $5 sodas...SODAS loaded with sugar, sugar and MORE SUGAR and letting their already Disney-cracked-out kids GUZZLE it down! CRAZY!!!!
12. Save the wrinkles for your 70's and sunscreen up! Even if it's cloudy thanks to those powerful UV rays! 
13. What are some of YOUR tips for surviving theme parks with young little rascals? Leave your comments below! 

Eat Local, Your Vote Counts!

One of the great benefits of living in the East Bay area are little treasures like these yummy fruit stands. This particular one lives only 3 miles from our home. I can practically roll outta bed and go pick up some breakfast! Smith Family Farm is by far my most favorite! They have an awesome produce stand as you can see, a pumpkin patch and petting zoo in the fall, and all kinds of Christmas trees for the holiday season! I love, LOVE the fact that most of our produce is grown close to home making it green and much more nutritious than the latest spread at the grocery store which has been sitting in a warehouse for  a few months. According to One Million Acts of Green : A lot of the food we eat in North America has travelled a great distance to get to us. On average, various food items travel more than 2,400 kilometres. That’s a lot of energy, transport and storage. Plus, all that food is shipped in controlled environments, which depletes nutrition. Buying local produce means your food is fresher. It also helps local farmers and reduces air pollution.  

Someone else really loves it too! 

Gobble, Gobble

Just dropping by to say hi from Aiden and I! Today I am in the midst of creating baked bliss in the kitchen. My current facebook status reads: "Anyone who agrees to make 4 triple-layered pumpkin cheesecakes, (carved out of fresh pumpkins with hand-crushed gingersnap crusts) with a whining, teething toddler on their hands has GOT to be completely delusional!"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

It's True

Have you heard the good news!? Forever 21 has a new maternity line! Mama's to be everywhere can now look a bit more stylish thanks to this trendy new affordable line of maternity clothing! I used to search high and low when I was preggers for cute maternity clothes with style to them but the choices were so lame I ended up looking like a schoolteacher most of them time. Not that there's anything wrong with looking like a schoolteacher, (especially since I used to be one!) but when your not at work, do you really want to look like you are? I don't!

Here I am at 27 weeks so excited to meet my baby!!! (Wearing a non-maternity Forever 21 shirt which actually stretched with my growing belli)
Happy shopping all you yummy mummies!!!