San Francisco

From the start San Francisco was a much needed change of pace.  We packed up and left the Disney Hotel nice and early on Monday morning (August 1st) and headed for the AMTRAK station.  In my husband's infinite wisdom the decision had been made to travel from Anaheim to San Fran via train.  It was something he really wanted to do and he assured me the scenery would be amazing.  I was ambivalent to the idea of 12 hours on a train with a 3 year old but I was so wrong - it was a perfect day.  

However before we got on the train things got way too hectic and stressful for my liking.  After the short trip from Anaheim to Union Station in LA we realised we had about 2 hours to kill before the long train ride started.  One flippant comment from Rob and we were in a cab whizzing around the sights of LA (not a planned part of this trip).  We almost missed our train to San Francisco and it took about half an hour for my heart to stop racing.

Here's the evidence that we have been to LA!!

Once we were on the train the relaxation really began.  Rob was right the scenery was beautiful - farmland, beaches, bird-filled wetlands, old mining towns and quaint stations.  We were blown away by our day on the train.  We had booked a sleeper cabin so we all napped and relaxed and we were also fed a really nice hot lunch and dinner - all included for only just over $200 for all of us.  It was a great way to recharge plus see some sights we would never see had we flown up the coast.

Our hotel was situated right in Fisherman's wharf with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  All of these pictures were taken within a 10 minute walk of our hotel.

One of the highlights of San Francisco was time spent with our wonderful friends who had left Australia about two months earlier to start a new life living in Cupertino (about an hour from SF).   These are friends who trusted me with their children for four years so they mean a lot to me and especially I love those kids like they were mine.  Noah has very close bonds with the kids and especially with the Ivy who is only 9 days older. It was like a reunion from a teary rom-com and then they were inseparable for those couple of days.

  

We all cruised under the bridge together and visited the famous Pier 41 sea lions

Noah loved the public art - we had to take at photo at every one

Riding the famous Cable Cars

Views up and down Lombard Street - Famous for being a very long steep road that includes a section that is supposed to be the windiest in the world

Some of Noah's Photography 

Noah having a nap on a bench in Muir Woods

Muir Woods and the famous California Redwood Trees

Next Stop Vegas and then New York City.  

Disneyland

I got in trouble yesterday from a friend eagerly awaiting the rest of my holiday posts - there are always excuses and apparently 'good bloggers' don't make them.  

When we got back from our holiday things certainly didn't slow down we were immediately thrust into Daddy De Roach's birthday and of course Father's Day so we have spent our days in a flurry of planning, shopping, crafting, cake baking and hosting.  Life is definitely never boring around this house. 

It's only 8 weeks until this new baby boy will be joining us (possibly earlier if he follows in his big brother's footsteps!) and then before we know it Christmas will be here.  Scary but true -  Christmas is only 15 weeks away.  On that note I have been trying to be Mrs Organised and getting my shopping done before baby arrives so I can just relax and enjoy those first weeks without any extra stress.

Anyway here it is - Disneyland in all it's colourful, magical glory.

Our very first visit on Day 1 - just hours after getting off a plane from Sydney

Main Street USA

If you were to ask Noah the best bit of his whole holiday he would say the Dumbo ride

Disney Castle during the nightly fireworks

The Rocket Ride

Alice in Wonderland Teacup Ride

The start of a new love affair

Chip or is it Dale?

Ta-Da

More sly photo ops instead of waiting in the HUGE lines

A picture from the famous dancing display

Noah's True Love

Oops watch out Mickey he looks cute but he's trying to steal your girlfriend!!

Getting ready to go on the Toy Story ride

The 'Real' Buzz Lightyear

I have been to Disneyland several times before (the first time I went for 5 days straight!).  I loved it then and it was even more amazing to be there and share it with Noah.  Words and pictures really can't do it justice.  There's an indescribable atmosphere of joy and happiness in the air.  It's immaculately clean.  The staff are beyond friendly and every kid and adult is wide eyed.  The kids rides are fun and there are some ridiculously cool grown up rides but the best part of Disney is the characters.  Everyone loves Disney movies and as Noah kept saying Disneyland is 'The Real Movie'.  We especially loved the rides that took you through those classic movies - Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and the newer ones - Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean.  The special effects are mind blowing.  The Nemo ride was under water in a moving submarine and the scenes of the film were holographic and laser images viewed underwater.  The Toy Story ride was like being inside a giant video game and we had laser guns to battle Zurg and play in Andy's Room.

We could easily have stayed in Disney a week or more but we only had 3 days which we definitely made the most of.  I have a feeling we'll be heading back before too many more years pass.

Quick Getaway

We're off to Bunker Bay Resort - be back after the weekend.

Sydney

The first leg of the holiday for Noah and I was a trip to the beautiful city of Sydney.  I hatched a plan for this stopover for a number of reasons.  Firstly I wanted a chance to catch up with a good friend I hadn't seen for several years.  Secondly I thought my parents could join us and get to spend some quality time with Noah.  They seem him almost every day but it's not the same as 'living' with him for 4 days.  They really loved it and they  really got to see him in his every day 'real life'.  My last reason was to break up the travel for both Noah and pregnant mama and to give Daddy a chance to wrap up work stuff without any distractions.  Almost without fail when we head on holidays Rob spends the last week working long hours in a frantic attempt to finalise everything ready for when he's away.  We usually don't see much of him at those times anyway so why not sneak in some extra holiday fun.

It was an excellent 4 days.  Noah stayed in a lovely sleep routine, I got lots of extra rest and we did lots of lovely Sydney activities.

Noah and Nanna arriving at the Airport

The Gruffalo Trunki - best purchase ever

Oh Yeah Baby - In the cockpit

Noah with Nanny and Poppy at Darling Harbour

Ta-Da The Opera House

The Bridge (from the Ferry)

Noah and Mummy on the Taronga Zoo Sky Safari

Out on the town

Dinosaur Rocks

I saw these around on a couple of websites and thought they looked like a great idea.  Originally my idea was to bury all the pieces of a balsa wood T Rex ($10 from Cotton on Kids) and have the kids find the pieces and construct the dinosaur. Rob said it was too hard and the kids would get bored - don't tell him but I think he was right!!

In the end we made these and buried them in a sand pit with wrapped chocolates and some loose dinosaurs.  Firstly the dinosaurs came in bags of about 10 for only a couple of dollars from Kmart and then the rock ingredients were already in the house so a pretty cheap activity and take home gift all in one. Don't tell the kids but the 'scoopers' were kitty litter sifters from the $2 shop!!

Recipe (Makes about 15)

2.5 cups Dirt (earth worms optional)
2.5 cups Flour
1.5 cups Salt
1 cup of Sand (we used some white sand pit sand but beach sand would be perfect too)
Water and Plastic Dinosaurs

Mix all the dry ingredients then add water until the mixture holds together (we may have added slightly too much but it still worked great so you don't need to be super cautious)

Mould dirt mix around the toys and then leave to dry in the sun for several days.  As usual I planned to do this preparation many days in advance but ended up doing it the day before.  We dried ours in a very low oven for most of the afternoon and then they continued to dry naturally the next day until party time at 3pm.  They were still a bit moist in the centre but it didn't matter.

Some Mama help was required to finesse the shaping but it was still lots of messy fun for the Birthday Boy

I couldn't resist this photo of the ultimate pre birthday party joy - licking the beaters.