Chris was invited to go out to Anaheim, CA for the NAMM convention, which is not open to the public. It's a music product trade show with a TON of famous musicians roaming around from your famous pop singers on the radio to famous musicians that don't need to be on the radio. He was able to go and represent our company and get some new and reconnect with contacts in the industry. While I was searching for flights and hotels for him, I found an awesome deal for all of us to go for a week, which happened to be less expensive than Chris going alone for just a few days so Leah and I decided to tag along :) Since Chris was going to be busy most of the week, Leah and I did our own thing.
Before we left home, I did a ton of research to try to find things that Leah and I can do and not activities that would require Leah to be strapped to a stroller like shopping, however, that would've been nice for me. One of the things I looked into was Gymboree Play & Music classes since I've always wanted to take Leah to one, but the closest one to us is 2 hours away. Throughout the week, Leah and I would go to these classes which were only 45 minutes long. Some days we went 2x a day and sometimes we went once. I tried my best to snap pictures but it was kind of hard since they were very interactive classes. Leah learned so much during that week it was impressive! Chris was even able to go to the last class with us, which was nice :)
Before we left home, I did a ton of research to try to find things that Leah and I can do and not activities that would require Leah to be strapped to a stroller like shopping, however, that would've been nice for me. One of the things I looked into was Gymboree Play & Music classes since I've always wanted to take Leah to one, but the closest one to us is 2 hours away. Throughout the week, Leah and I would go to these classes which were only 45 minutes long. Some days we went 2x a day and sometimes we went once. I tried my best to snap pictures but it was kind of hard since they were very interactive classes. Leah learned so much during that week it was impressive! Chris was even able to go to the last class with us, which was nice :)
I wasn't able to snap pictures from the first class so here are some from the 2nd class on.
Leah didn't really climb before these classes, but as you can see...she's doing just fine.
Leah didn't really climb before these classes, but as you can see...she's doing just fine.
I showed Leah once how to go through tubes and from then on, she kept going through them
Leah listening to what the instructor had to say LOL
Leah was getting bored of going down the slide so she decided to climb up the slide and down the stairs LOL
Leah learned how to get on and off of the horse
Leah's first time trying to make a basket
Leah's first basket...YAY Leah!!
We ended up spending a few hours at Adventure City, which is a small amusement park geared more towards toddlers (Leah's age). It's actually known to be better than Disney because the rides are more age appropriate and it doesn't have the huge sticker price. We felt that Leah was too young to go to Disney and we would rather take her when she can actually remember being there so this was the next best thing :)
Chris was amazed with the White House replica so he took a picture
We all went on this ride...it was basically a ferris wheel, but A LOT smaller. Leah looking at the people in the cart above us
We were almost to the top
This is Leah at the top...I guess she's not afraid of heights!
It took, what seemed like forever, to get Leah to pet the goat. She was so afraid
She didn't want to be on the ground so I had to carry her
The conductor was kind enough to offer to snap a family picture of us just before we boarded the train
Chris took Leah on her second carousel ride because the first time we all went on and the pictures didn't come out too well, so I decided to to snap pictures from afar.
Waiting in line for their turn
Okay so this is hilarious!! You see the lady behind Chris? Out of the whole carousel, she decided to squeeze herself behind Chris and if you've been on one, you know that there's not a lot of room between the two. See her husband in red (right side), he was taking pictures of her. NOW take a look at Chris' facial expressions in the next few shots...It was all luck that I happened to get these shots cause it happened so fast. It makes me laugh out loud every single time I look at these pictures HAHAHA. If you know my husband, you'll laugh even harder because you know his humor!!
This was Leah's last ride...she was getting so tired
We went to Downtown Disney for dinner and on our way out to the car there was a band playing and Leah wanted to dance...check it out!
On, January 17th, Chris' sister drove up from San Diego area to Anaheim to spend the day with us. It was pretty crappy out that day...rainy and cold, but we still managed to have fun! We had lunch at, if I remember correctly, Ralph's Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney (it's separate from Disneyland Theme Park).
Chris and Lisa
After lunch, we went to get some coffee and then headed over to Build a Bear just to keep try and for Leah to be able to stretch her legs.
For dinner, we headed over to Anaheim Gardenwalk, which is similar to Downtown Disney (shops and restaurants) for some P.F Chang's China Bistro. Chris is showing Leah how to hold the chopsticks. With the kids meal, they have a cute clip that goes over each chopstick so that they can't separate...great for learning!
While we were sitting there, before we got our food, I noticed that Leah was really low compared to the table so I asked the waitress for a phone book so she can sit on it...even better...she gave me a ream of paper. You may be laughing at me right now (Christine and Mandy, I know you two are), but it worked AWESOME! Look how high she is :)
On our last night, January 18th, we decided to splurge and go to Goofy's kitchen for dinner. It was basically a really expensive buffet with Disney characters walking around visiting tables. Leah was pretty scared of all the characters, but we still had fun!!
This was taken just before we were seated
Leah giving Goofy a high five!
As you can see...Leah was even scared of Cinderella LOL
This was so cute! Goofy kept on coming over to our table to win Leah's heart, but she was still scared of him no matter what he did. One of the many times he came over we told Goofy to do "Cheers" with her, Goofy was so impressed LOL, that every time after that he would come over just to do "Cheers with Leah. In this picture, Goofy was trying to tell or should I say show Minnie to do "Cheers" with Leah without using words. It was adorable!
Princess Jasmine...As you can see, Leah cared more about her food LOL
Yes, Leah was also scared of Pinnochio
Every 15-30 minutes, Goofy would do a show at the middle of the restaurant. All the kids would gather around dancing and participating in whatever Goofy was doing. In this case, Goofy was making a cake. As you can see...Leah has a shaker, but she didn't want to participate HAHAHA
Leah playing "Peek a Boo" with Minnie
Video of Leah dancing to the music!
