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! 

I Vacationed With Cloth Diapers and I Liked It!

While planning our annual Lake Tahoe vacation, I had a hard time at first deciding if I was going to use cloth or disposable diapers for the duration of our stay. Many cloth- diapering mamas opt for disposables because dealing with cloth on vacation can seem like a daunting task. The cabin where we were staying was not equipped with laundry facilities so if I decided to bring my cloth along there would have to be a trip to the laundry mat involved which at first I thought would be crazy! Going to the laundry mat on MY one and only VACATION!!??? You’ve got to be out of your mind, I told myself. But then I thought about how much better our cloth diapers work for our son, how they never leak, zero diaper rash, all the money we would save not buying disposables for two weeks, (which equals more vacation money for shopping and food!) the environmental impact of course-(Keep Tahoe Blue!) and well, how could we possibly let him be seen in a disposable diaper for all of our cherished vacation pictures!? The cloth is just too cute to leave at home on vacation. That would be like leaving all my cutest outfits at home and only bringing my dingy old housewife sweats on vacation. After I realized that, it was a no-brainer! I decided that our cloth diapers would indeed be vacationing with us, featured in the family pictures on our adorable child’s little bum.

Here is what I packed from our cloth diaper stash:

·      30 pre-stuffed cloth diapers

·      My Planet Wise Hanging Travel wet-bag- (for dirty diaper storage in between washings, zips shut to contain odors)

·      1 Bum Essentials travel wet-bag (smaller wet-bag for short outings, used in diaper bag)

·      1 roll of Kushies Biodegradable Flushable liners- (these little poop-catchers keep the mess out of the diaper and flush away in one easy step)

·      My Charlie’s Soap laundry powder

All of the supplies fit neatly into our large duffle bag and everything stayed organized and in its place.

When we arrived at the cabin, I set up a changing station on our bed with wipes, a waterproof changing pad, and I placed all the diapers into one dresser drawer for easy access.

A few days later it was time for a visit to the laundry mat. Pick a time to go when everyone is in “veg-out” mode so you don’t feel like you are missing out on any of the action. Luckily, this happens frequently on vacation. :) I washed my diapers, (along with both wet-bags) on their normal cold cycle, then hot cycle for disinfecting. The whole process just took an hour. And really, I was happy to do it for my son because I know that these are the softest and best diapers on the market. If you had to wear diapers all day which do you think would feel better, paper or super-soft snugglie fleece? During the washes I walked over to a nearby grass roots grocery store to buy some new and exotic teas I had never heard of, making great use out of my laundry mat trip. (Find a laundry mat that’s in a cool shopping center so you’ll have something to do other than sitting there in the mat waiting for the cycle to be complete)

 After the diapers were clean again, I bypassed the drying stage and took them back to the cabin where I hung them out to dry in the sun on a spiffy drying rack that someone had brought for beach towels. There you have it! My simple cloth diaper vacation routine! I challenge you to try it, as it turned out to be a breeze!

On this post, I will be doing my first ever blog giveaway. First you must sign up to follow my blog either through Google or Facebook, (the icons live on the right sidebar of my blog). Then, leave a comment on this post telling me if you would consider trying cloth diapering on vacation or if you think I am just plain crazy, just let me know! :) Leave your email and I will draw a random winner who will receive a One Size Econobum cloth diaper! (Brand new of course) Good Luck!!!

 I leave you with a pic of two cloth diapered cousins Mason on the left and Aiden on the right :)

Two Foodies, A Baby, and A Major Roadtrip :)

Last month was spent up in Oregon having some quality time with our family. We are so lucky that my husband's job allows him to telecommute when need be. It was a two day trip from the bay area to the suburbs of Portland where our family lives. The car was loaded with baby gear and plenty of snacks to keep us energized for the long trips. Aiden did amazingly well on the road on the way there and back. We were so very lucky for that. 14 hours in 2 days on the road is enough to make anyone a little crazy let alone a 10 month old baby :)

On the way home we decided to take a detour to the coast and through the redwoods on HWY 101 which I had never been. We stayed the night in a beautiful Hampton Inn in Crescent City, CA with an ocean view and it was extremely affordable! Crescent City was a quaint little coastal town with only a few restaurants and a Safeway thank goodness! I'm always hopeful of at least one good supermarket when traveling to new places in case we find ourselves needing some baby Tylenol or Pedialyte at 2am. In the morning we used our UrbanSpoon app on our iphone to find the best restaurant for breakfast in this new town. Our goal was to eat organically the whole way down the 101 that day, just for kicks not because we are the kind of people who ONLY eat organically but we thought it would be fun to seek out the healthiest options of road food on this trip. Good 'ole Urban Spoon led us to the Good Harvest Cafe which was a great pick! The avocado, bacon, and cheddar omelet was to die for and the french toast was just crispy enough to withstand the heaping amounts of maple syrup I drizzled on. Mmmmmm I am starting to salivate just remembering it. Considering some late night french toast maybe...
We continued on our journey driving along the coast with the windows down, the new Norah Jones album turned up, breathing in the salty sea air mixed with the scent big, green redwoods. The ocean water sparkled that day and Aiden slept most of the morning drive.

Our next stop was Arcata, home of CSU Humboldt and more hippies than I'd ever seen in my whole life! Wow there were so many hippies! And not even the kind of preppy REI hippies you see in most parts, I'm talking the red-eyed, dreads, incense-saturated, just rolled out of bed hippies! And the OLD hippies like my parents age. The ones who probably followed the Grateful Dead and then never went on to do anything else with their lives except move to Arcata, sit on the sidewalk outside a store and sell friendship bracelets. Since we were in hippie-ville we made sure to dress our little hipster baby accordingly...

About 12 miles down the road from Arcata is the gorgeous, Victorian-inspired town of Eureka. We decided to eat there for lunch because I found this awesome new North Coast CO-OP with an amazing selection of organic foods, wines, a full service deli, fresh baked breads, the BEST prices of teas I've ever seen and a HUGE organic health and beauty section. I wanted to shop all day! We got the yummiest free-range turkey and avocado sandwich on a fresh baked whole wheat roll and I was in heaven. We even found Aiden some Earth's Best gourmet baby food that he scarfed down. It was a variety that I hadn't seen anywhere else-chicken risotto with mango...
If there's one thing those hippies have got right it is the way that they eat. All along our drive that day on the 101 were some awesome looking Natural food stores and Co-ops. The demand for good food must be high around there because I have never seen such a high concentration of quality grocery stores and organic restaurants than down the 101.

On to view some of God's most fantastic natural wonders...da da DUM.....The Redwoods!

A "Breast-Stop" and then on to Ukiah for dinner. I found this restaurant in one of those free tourist magazines I took at one of the redwood parks we stopped at earlier. What caught my eye was, "...the first organic brewery in the nation..." Sweet! An organic brewery. There's always great food at breweries so we went for it. The Ukiah Brewing Co. lived up to the hype. I had an organic greens pear salad with walnuts and endives and a scrumptious viniagrette. For my entree I had the chicken strips which were crisped to perfection and cajun french fries. YUM. Organic ketchup and mustard sat on every table and when we asked if they could heat up Aiden's food in the microwave, (which we avoid at home) the waitress politely replied, " Oh we don't HAVE a microwave. Microwaves are bad for your food." Right on girlfriend, RIGHT ON! LOVE it! So she brought us a cup of boiling water instead to heat his food. Live music filled the air and a beautiful 1930's-looking bar gave us something fun to look at. If you ever find yourself in Ukiah, check it out.
It IS possible to eat well on a roadtrip. If you have an iphone use the Urban Spoon app, if not than do your research before you get in the car but when there's a will to avoid nasty Mickey D's, there's probably a natural foods store right up the street. Well unless you live in middle America then you're screwed. When we drove from Wyoming through Nebraska there was nothing but greasy spoons called Perkins. NASTY old people food. If driving in the midwest where they haven't yet discovered healthy eating then pack your own lunch. The End :)