Goofy's Kitchen

 

After settling into the hotel and watching a little bit of the Disney channel (a treat since I deprive my chillin's of TV!) we set off to Downtown Disney and Goofy's Kitchen. Our Disneyland package was AMAZING!!! I seriously couldn't give Costco better ratings for everything their package offered. We were able to get a HUGE package for less than I could find just tickets to the park and a hotel room. If you're going to Disneyland, book through Costco! Goofy's kitchen was part of our package and it was maybe one of the funnest parts of our whole trip. I'm so, so, so glad we did it!

We passed by the gates of Disneyland on our way to Downtown Disney, and we almost tried to break in! I'm kind of a 3-year-old in a mom's body so I was beyond excited (like butterflies, can't sleep, jumping and dancing sporadically excited!)

We tried on hats and played with toys at the BIGGEST Disney store I've ever seen. It was huge!!! T was in heaven and kept running from one thing to the next--trying this on, playing with that, telling me about everything he "needs!"

We made reservations for 5 pm (opening time) and it was the best decision ever. We were able to walk right in and we were there when Chef Goofy came out to greet the guests. I can't begin to explain how cute it was to see T see Goofy for the first time. He ran all the way across the room and was hysterically laughing/squealing/screaming with excitement. He was going a million mph and asking Goofy every question in the book. He noticed everything about him and said, "Wow Goofy, you got some buttons..." I think he also called him Goofy Goof a time or two. Cute! It made me cry.

Our fam with the Goof-man himself. They have a photographer taking pictures, but I always asked them to take a picture with my camera as well.

Everett was SO scared of all the characters. He cried through most of dinner and anytime a new character came up he started reaching for me with big tears streaming down his face. Talmage, on the other hand, was in Disney heaven!!!

After being seated at the table, characters started coming out to greet the guests. Since we were the first ones in the place, we had TONS of time to spend with them. Talmage danced with Pluto for SO long. T is at the perfect age for a trip like this because there is so much magic in seeing these characters for him--they are real to him and it was SO super magical.

I was so excited by the characters too! T was jumping up and down, I was jumping up and down, Evie was screaming and saying "mama" and James was trying to calm us all down (mostly Evie). Yep...basically how it went down all night long!

Dale and T played together for a long time. T gave Dale a kiss on the nose and this was Dale returning the favor ;)

Dale tried to make friends with Evie by loving on his blanket. Evie didn't scream the whole time he was there so I think Dale was successful!

The funniest moment of the night was when Snow White came to our table. As mentioned, Talmage had been bouncing off the walls with excitement with each new character...but not when poor Snow White came to our table. He looked at her, looked down and said with a grumpy voice, "I don't know your movie!" She tried to make conversation with him but Talmage would seriously not even look at her. He kept telling me, "I don't know who she is!" I guess she was a little too real for him and he's right, we haven't seen her movie. She left our table with one bit of advice, "Be careful when you eat that apple!"

When Minnie came by, T was back to his happy, huggy self. She is just so cute, don't you think? We also saw Gepetto and the fairy Godmother but I didn't get pics of them. It was such a fun night--good food (and the biggest dessert table you've ever seen!), lots of magic and one super pumped little boy.

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A Visit from Grandma and Bruce

Before we left Los Angeles, and after another visit to the ER for this incredibly cute and sicky little boy, we had a visit from Grandma and Bruce. Evie's great now, PS, and one hospital bear richer!

Grandma had multiple treats for the boys and Talmage was always SO excited when he saw bright colored paper in her bag! She gave the boys some amazing new toys that they have loved playing with.

While they were visiting, we tried out a cute bakery called Sweet E's. They specialize in mini cupcakes and every last detail in that store was cute. So, so cute. I'm definitely still a Sprinkles girl, but Sweet E's was cute!

Grandma and Bruce took us to this delish BBQ place at the Grove, and it was actually Jim's first visit to our favorite place so we gave him the full experience--live music, dancing and a trolly ride!

I found out that the Santa Monica Playhouse had a free performance on the Saturday of their visit and since I'm never one to turn down a free and awesome children's event, we went. It was AWESOME. Short enough for kids, witty enough for kids and just a little bit silly. Speaking of silly...T's face?

El Chollo = Yummy Goodness!!! Their guacamole was super good and homemade at the table and it made me so happy. And their green chili tamales--to die for yum. Please go if you live in LA!

This is where Talmage spent almost all of his time when we were at restaurants with Grandma and Bruce. He'd always start next to me and before we knew it he would climb under the table and squeeze his way between them. So cute!

Thanks Grandma and Bruce for the visit and all the fun!

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all in just 10 weeks

This summer...

 

We went to 10 museums (Zimmer, Skirball, Natural History, Wells Fargo, Hammer, California Science Center, La Brea Tarpits, The Getty, The Griffith Observatory, Peterson Auto Museum)

 

We consumed 100 otter pops.

 

We saw 18 celebrities (Mario Lopez, Kourtney Kardashian, Maria Menonous, Kevin and Danielle Jonas, Kelli Pickler, Jerry Mathers, Steven Spielberg, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Jon Voight, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Tyler Hilton, Gloriana).

 

We tried an old LA favorite (Tito's tacos) and a new LA favorite (800 degrees pizza).  

 

We were on one TV show (Extra).

 

We were very impressed with cupcakes at Sprinkles and less so with cake at Sweet Lady Jane's.

 

We went to one movie premier (Savages).

 

We ate chili dogs at two restaurants claiming to have the best hot dogs in LA (Carney's and Pink's).

 

We saw many-a-free concert (including Kelli Pickler, Tyler Hilton, Gloriana and lots of kiddie stars!)

 

We toured UCLA, got kicked out of a Home Depot junior event and watched a parade in the Palisades.

 

We ate at 3 of the top 5 burger joints in Los Angeles (Umami Burger, Hole in the Wall, Apple Pan). 

 

We went sailing in the ocean, saw a movie at Grahman's Chinese Theatre and went to the LA Zoo.

 

We saw a ridiculous number of kids shows (Heebie Jeebie, Wild Animals, Scott's Marionettes, Twinkles the Clown).

 

We tried out many different beaches until we found the perfect spot--Santa Monica lifeguard shack 26--where we spent 1 or 2 days a week splashing in the waves. On the other days, we swam our heart out in the apartment pool.  

 

We ate ice cream at Diddy Riese, Blockhead and Sprinkles, and had froyo at Yogurtland and Milky's. 

 

We celebrated Evie's first birthday and a Father's day for the Dad-Man.

 

We visited the ER twice (UCLA and Cedar Sinai).

 

And as if our 10 week summer in Los Angeles was not already the best ever, we ended with a magical week in

DISNEYLAND!!!

 

Can't wait to tell you all about it. So fun. So so fun. 

 

This will definitely go down in coolest summer history!   

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Extra!

We spent a few amazing hours at The Grove on Thursday, and all three of us walked away super happy.

We started at Extra! where we saw Maria Monounos interview Kevin and Danielle Jonas. Maria is so pretty and the braid in her hair was amazing (I wish you could see it in the pic). I really need to learn how to do it. I pretty much don't know anything about the Jo-bros, but there were tons of teenage girls flocking him so it must have been a pretty big deal to see him ;)

We walked down the mall and decided to take advantage of a Jamba Juice back-to-school special--16 oz. Jamba for $1. The boys and I were so happy. Yum! Immediately after taking these pictures T and I had a smiling practice session--that boy and his fake smiles!

Then we went to a kiddie concert. T was dancing around like a crazy man near the stage and there was a cute, short, round kid that seriously was following EVERYTHING he did. He even came and sat next to us for a little while. The funniest thing was when he ran up to his mom and said, "Mom. This is my best friend, Big Kid!" Yep, he named T Big Kid and called him that for the rest of the concert. Turns out they are only 3 weeks apart in age, but T was probably a foot taller...seriously!

Everett spent the whole concert flirting with the woman sitting next to me. She is a recent New York City transplant who just opened a food truck in L.A., so we had LOTS to talk about!

After the concert, we went back to Extra! just so I could get a little peak at Mario Lopez! His face is so flawless he almost doesn't look real--seriously not a pore! He was really friendly and joked in between takes. A few minutes after I took this picture the producers had me, Ev and T go stand behind Mario for his intro to the show. Mario came out, rubbed T's head and said, "Hey buddy, how are you doing?" I think I was beaming! Slater touched my kid's head ;)

Since this was our last trip to The Grove for the summer, I gave in to T's requests and we rode the trolley--twice. He was SO happy and wanted to have a seat all to himself--Mr. Independent. What a fun day at The Grove. I'm going to miss this place.

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My new favorite picture of the boys.

Totally them. 100%. I love, love, love this silly picture.

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Graumans & Pinks

On Saturday morning we went to Grauman's Chinese theater to see Megamind. No, that movie is not new and yes, it was as hilarious as it's always been! During the summer Grauman's offers families the opportunity to come watch a movie on Saturday's in the historic theater for only 25 cents per person. Cheap and super fun--right up our alley!

After the movie we checked out the names and footprints around the theater, but Talmage really fell in love with this bench. He really wanted to sit in it.

Since we were already in Hollywood we decided to go to Pink's Hot Dogs, one of the last unchecked items from my original LA bucketlist. We got there at the perfect time because the line wasn't that bad. When we left the line wrapped around the building.

The food was really good and they had a lot of exciting options (James got the Olympic rings dog--onion rings and bbq sauce on top of a 10 inch dog). I wanted to compare it to Carney's, Pink's rival that we went to a few weeks ago, so I ordered the same meal--a chili dog with cheese. I gotta say, Carney's chili was more flavorful and the hot dog had more of a snap. Pink's fry's were better. Carney's had fountain Mug's fountain root beer--always a plus for me! Pink's had famous people all over the walls, but at Carney's you got to eat in an old train car. They were both fun experiences, but I think I like Carney's more!

Me and the grub...sweating my head off in the heat!

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National Night Out in Santa Monica

The boys and I had a fun night out in Santa Monica at National Night Out--a super fun event thrown by the police and fire departments. They have them all over the country, and we definitely denjoyed our local one!

I realized once I got home that I only took one pic of me, one of Evie (both shown above) and then a million of T! Here are all of the things that T got to do:

 Pet police horses.

Dance with the octopus. 

Slide down a HUGE inflatable firetruck. 

Eat lots of cotton candy. 

High five McGruff the detective dog.

 Sit on a police motorcycle.

"Climb" a rockwall!

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