Harry Potter was awesome-until someone blew chunks in my hair.

15 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family, The Travels

It seemed like the perfect night. My parents were in town to watch Little T for us, I found my old Harry Potter tie from when I waitressed at the Macaroni Grill, and the movie theater let us in at 6:30. If only I would have known how the night was going to end…

My friend came to meet us at the house all dressed up and ready to go. She is my Harry Potter partner in crime!

We picked up Big T from work and started the long drive to the movie theater at Downtown Disney. It’s our favorite because they let us sit inside instead of having to wait outside in line.

There was a lot of traffic, so it’s a good thing I brought my wand to zap the cars out of the way.

The theater was kind of scary because Lord Voldemort was there.

Voldemort and Umbridge

Luna was more welcoming:

Luna Lovegood

I loved seeing wizards at the snackbar:

Wizard Snacks

When the movie was about to start, I could hardly contain my excitement:

ZOMG ITS STARTING

We sat through the first movie and had a great time. We LOVED the second movie, but five minutes before it was over, the person behind me dropped what I thought was a slushy on my head. Yeah, it wasn’t a slushy. More like the effects of too many Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans. To my horror, the person behind us tapped me on the shoulder and said she’d just thrown up in my hair. She said she’d gotten food poisoning or something and threw up twice during the movie, and couldn’t hold it anymore. My guess is that she felt the urge to throw up, but didn’t leave because it was the end of the movie. I. was. disgusted. I couldn’t even say anything. I mean, how do you even respond to that!? Come on people, I know you love Harry Potter, but if you start throwing up in the theater you should probably leave. I got up and looked at Big T in shock. Kind of like this= 0_0 I had vomit all over me and didn’t know what to do.

Thankfully, two of the people in our group work for Disney weddings and are used to successfully and creatively dealing with bridal day mishaps, or anything else that’s thrown at them. We walked to the Disneyland hotel, they asked for some shampoo and conditioner and a bag for my clothes (thanks Disneyland Hotel for being so understanding), and washed my hair out in the sink (thanks girls), and changed my clothes. I’m glad I brought my pajamas to change into so I’d be comfortable. I’m also glad that I was thrown up on at the end of the movie, instead of the beginning. Erg.

So that’s how my night ended. I got home and took another shower at 3 in the morning and fell asleep with wet icky hair.

I’m going to try and remember all of the good things about the night instead of the end.

Who am I kidding? I’ll always remember the last Harry Potter movie as the film where I got thrown up on. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sit in front of a person at a movie theater again.

Koroneburg Renaissance Festival

14 Thursday Jul 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family, The Travels

≈ 2 Comments

One of our recent trips was to the Koroneburg Renaissance Festival. I hadn’t been to a Renaissance Fair in about ten years, so it was a blast to the past for me. The fair was pretty charming with a permanent village set up just for the Fair (fun fact: they filmed an episode of House there). We met a few friends and walked around and enjoyed the booths. I didn’t find any vegan food, but I did find this fancy mask:

The highlight of our trip was the jousting tournament. I love, love, love photographing events like this.

And here’s Trevor with two lovely ladies that caught his eye.

We’ve Got a Ticket to Ride

11 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Travels

≈ 1 Comment

We survived train trip #2, go us! It’s easier to travel by train instead of a car when we visit my mom. A few months ago I attempted a long car drive with Little T. He cried the whole way and it was traumatic for both of us. When we take the train, I can entertain Little T along the way. We also don’t have to make extra stops, and Little T likes getting 100% of my attention for 5 hours straight. It’s better for the environment too, so it’s a win/win.

To make the trip a little easier, I use an overnight diaper for Little T. It’s leak proof, and I can get away with changing his diaper once, halfway through the trip when we stop for a change over. I also usually prepare food in advance for the train trip, but this time it was a last minute trip and I didn’t have enough time to get anything together. I had to use what we had on hand, so I packed a few black bean burgers, a banana, and some other snacks for Little T.

We put our things by the door as we were getting ready to leave, and didn’t notice when Little T got into the black bean burgers a little early…

Sneaking Black Bean Burgers

For myself, I packed a Kind Bar and some Chili Lime Kale Chips. Those kale chips had an intense amount of flavor and I loved them for it. I’ll have to forget food again so I’ll have another excuse to eat them, heh heh.

I always try to pick a time that goes with Little T’s nap schedule. It’s easier if he sleeps for the first couple of hours while we’re on the bus. Once we make it onto the train, the trip is a breeze. I have a few toys that Little T likes, but he enjoys looking out the window and doesn’t need a lot to stay happy.

On the Train

I love that we can get up and walk to the dining car if Little T starts to feel squirmy on the train. If we stopped in the car and took a break from the seat, we’d be adding a lot of travel time to the trip. Big T and I used to take the train and play cards for the whole trip. It will be fun when Little T’s old enough to do that with us.

Totally content…

05 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family, The Travels

≈ 4 Comments

Hiking

We’re training to do a longer hike in the Sierras, so we went on a test hike with Little T over the weekend. He had that happy little grin on his face the whole time.

Steampunk at the Labyrinth of Jareth

05 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family, The Travels

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

costumes, labyrinth of jareth, labyrith, masquerade, steampunk

Big T and I had an amazing time last weekend at the Labyrinth of Jareth. We’d heard about it from a few friends, and were excited to finally be able to go. We decided to go Steampunk, but we’re going to try something a little more spectacular next year because we felt inspired by all of the creativity in the room.

Steampunk Costumes

I remember back in the day, when store bought Halloween costumes didn’t exist and you had to throw a sheet over your head and poke holes in the eyes to be a ghost. Nowadays when kidlets knock on your door for Halloween treats you’ll see 10 identical Spidermen, 5 Batmen, and 2 Ironmen, and then a few Barbies or Disney princesses. I miss the clever costumes! That’s why I was in heaven at the Labyrinth of Jareth. Everyone put so much thought and time into their costumes and they all were stunning. It was a great people watching event and I loved walking around and taking in all of the creativity.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was the coolest date night we’d ever had. Everywhere we turned there were performers and musicians and dancers. There were three stages and the shows were constant. We were never without something to do. There were so many things to look at that it was overwhelming at first. We walked around and danced together until our feet were so swollen that we couldn’t dance anymore.

We were sad when we had to leave at midnight, because we didn’t want Big T’s mom to have to stay up much longer with Little T. It was really nice of her to babysit for us when we were staying out so late. On the drive home, we talked about all of the costumes we saw and how great everyone looked and tried to decide which costumes were our favorites. We were hungry and felt like teenagers when we pulled into the Taco Bell drive through to grab something to eat. I don’t think I’ve had fast food for six+ years! I probably won’t have it for six more, but it was a fun way to end the night. We ate in the parking lot, talking the entire time, and were still hungry afterward so we laughed and drove through the drive through again.

Little T wasn’t having any sleep that night, so it was hard when we got home. We were both really tired the next day. It was worth it though, what a night. 🙂

Vegan Traveling

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Travels, vegan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

food, traveling, vegan

Vegan travel isn’t nearly as complicated as it used to be. I remember 10 years ago, when I had to walk in the snow 12 miles to get to school, I’d always have to bring my own vegan food when I traveled. Now it’s easy to find a Chipotle or Panera, or even an all vegan restaurant that was referred from awesome websites like www.thehappycow.net, but what do you do when you’re in an area where you can’t *gasp* utilize your smart phone?!?

This happens to us every once in a while. We’ll sneak off to a place where there aren’t a lot of restaurants or grocery stores to fall back on. Those places are nice, because who wants to see the same old restaurants and grocery stores everywhere? But they do require extra planning. For our vacation to Cherry Valley and Oak Glen, we knew it was going to be a challenging trip. Fortunately, years of experience made it pretty snag-less (go us!) Here’s what we did to make sure we ate well, because it is a vacation, after all!

We started out in Cherry Valley for a Lavender Festival at the Highland Springs Resort. It used to be called “The Last Resort”, and was a vegetarian wellness center that Albert Einstein used to frequent (no joke!) We technically could have ventured into town and eaten at Subway or something, but who wants to leave a place that looks like this:

Do you see what I mean?

It was kind of like that poppy field in “The Wizard of Oz”…….poppies…………..*suddenly in a daze with silly grin on face*

So this is what we did:

1. We researched the few restaurants we could find on location ahead of time and called to make reservations and ensure they could make us a vegan meal.

2. We requested an *empty* mini-fridge for our room. They said it wouldn’t be a problem, but we discovered they’d forgotten once we were there. They were nice enough to let us store our perishables in their main fridge until they could get the mini-fridge in our room. They didn’t have a microwave in the room so we had to use things that didn’t need to be heated.

Next we went to stay at a B&B in Oak Glen. This was a little more challenging, because there weren’t any restaurants around.

3. We called the B&B ahead of time to make sure they knew we were vegan. We gave them a few simple ideas for our breakfast, and they said it would be no problem. They gave us an amazing breakfast, and asked if we had any tips for the next time they run into vegan travelers.

4. We brought sandwich items like avocado, pickles, and hummus. When we were out for the day, it was easy to find a restaurant that served sandwiches. We asked them to put as much produce as they had on the sandwiches, and made then added some yummy extras.

Adding avocado and other fixings to our sandwich...

5. We brought some of our favorite snacks, but they only lasted about five minutes. That’s always the problem with good snacks, isn’t it?

6. We lugged everything around in a cooler until we got to our destinations. We’d asked the B&B if we could use their fridge, and they didn’t mind a bit. It was a bit of a pain, but worth it.

If you have any other vegan traveling tips, let me know. I’m always glad to hear new ideas.

Serendipity Ranch Bed and Breakfast

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Travels

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

b&b, bed and breakfast, photography, traveling

If you want a nice getaway during Apple Season, make reservations at the Serendipity Bed and Breakfast. You have to do it fast though, because they fill up like crazy. My Mom and I stayed for a night during the Lavender Festival. One night really wasn’t enough though to enjoy all of the charm at the Serendipity Ranch. Next time we’ll have to plan a longer visit.

Serendipity Ranch Bed and Breakfast

There were so many little places to explore here, but our favorite place by far was sitting on the swing on the front porch and looking over the lake at night while the frogs talked back and forth to each other. It’s so weird, the frogs will be so noisy and then stop talking all at once.

In the morning, Nina (the b&b owner) put birdseed out because I really wanted to snap some pictures. I got a lot of great pics, but I had to get the okay from this chipmunk first:

Chipmunk Standoff

Birds!

Little T’s favorite part of the ranch were the llamas. Nope, they didn’t spit at us, but I’m sure he would have thought it was funny if they did.

The coffee machine was pretty snazzy. They even had blueberry coffee, my all time coffee favorite!

They even made us a delicious breakfast to accommodate our vegan diet. They were such friendly people and we can’t wait to visit again. It was incredibly charming way to spend the weekend.

Lavender Festival Part 2

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Travels

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

traveling

My mom and I had an amazing time. They had so many relaxing and enjoyable activities at the Highland Resort’s Lavender Festival.

Our Cabin

They had a craft table where you could work on different projects with the lavender. Our favorite was making the lavender wands because there was nothing more relaxing than having the smell of lavender fill your nostrils as you weave the ribbon in and out.