Walking at Disneyland and California Adventure

If you follow me on Instagram or like my Facebook page, you already know that we celebrated the kid’s 6th birthday with a trip to Disneyland. Recently, there have been many reminders of how short and unpredictable life is, and we therefore made the decision to celebrate hubby’s and the kid’s birthdays big. But celebrating life is really about cherishing every day and all the “little moments” for the gift it is, and I certainly strive to do that (some days more successfully than others…).

We visited Disneyland for one day when the kid was 3, which was enough at the time. This time we spent two days in California Adventure and Disneyland and did a lot of walking between the parks. We had a lot of steps at the end of each day. The kid was excited that he got his first Fitbit 25,000 steps badge, and I finally got my first 20,000 steps badge.

While it was crowded, I think for Disneyland the crowds were not bad (we visited Thursday and Friday), and we actually didn’t wait very long for rides and got to see a lot. We got to the park right before opening each day and got back to our hotel around 7:30 p.m. each night.

Since we flew to Orange County, I couldn’t pack as much food as I normally do. I only took bananas, apples, almonds, and trail mix. Our hotel offered breakfast, but there wasn’t much I could eat as it was very sugar and bread heavy. They had plain cottage cheese every day. One morning they also had oatmeal and another day sausage patties. I supplemented that with a banana and almonds. 

I planned our lunches before we left for the trip and made reservations at two restaurants. I thought it would be important to sit down for a while and recharge with some quality food in the middle of the day. If I didn’t plan our lunches, I knew we would get hungry at one point and likely grab a not-so-healthy meal.

On Thursday, we ate at Blue Bayou, the restaurant you can see from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I had been wanting to eat there ever since the older kid was little. It was a splurge, but it was worth it. The cool, dark, quiet restaurant was exactly what we needed after a fun-packed morning at Disneyland.

I didn’t make reservations until 1:30, and lunch really was lunch and dinner. I didn’t take a picture of my food as it was so dark, but I was very happy with it. I had the salmon on top of risotto. Before the meal, they served a very good salad.

On Friday, we had reservations at Wine Country Trattoria in California Adventure. When I looked at their menu, I liked that they offered numerous salads. We started the meal by splitting the mozzarella and tomato salad. The kid claimed all the yellow tomatoes and most of the mozzarella.For my entrée, I chose a tasty salad with shrimp. For dessert, hubby and I split the panna cotta. We also splurged on something else than our regular water: an IPA for hubby, a glass of Prosecco for me, and chocolate milk for the kid. We decided to sit inside, and, again, the cool, quiet space was exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries for an hour.

I’m very glad I made the decision to make reservations before the trip to eat at these restaurants. While the meals weren’t cheap, the food was good quality and worth it. Plus, we didn’t really spend money on other food in the park, except for some ice cream for hubby and the kid on Thursday and a rice dish hubby and the kid split. We also didn’t spend any money on souvenirs other than a Simba pillow pet for the kid. I’d rather spend money on good food than other things. 

While I’m happy with the way we ate on the trip, I know I haven’t gotten as many greens in the last few weeks as I usually do. With hubby’s birthday party prep and then planning for our Disneyland trip right afterward, our meals were less than stellar, and I actually didn’t go to the grocery store last week and just used up what we had. I’m therefore really looking forward to the Conscious Cleanse, which starts on Nov. 2. It’ll be a great time to really clean up our eating and make greens once again the star of every meal. I’ve also not been starting every day with warm lemon water, and getting back to it will be nice. I always feel a lot better when I drink it. I’m looking forward to staring the holidays feeling my best this year!

Questions: What was the highlight of your weekend? What’s on your menu this week? Here is what we’ll be having: roasted veggies, spaghetti squash and ground beef casserole, salmon, pizza with sautéed onions, mushrooms, and brie cheese, ground turkey with mushrooms, and lots and lots of raw veggies and salads.

Be well,
Andrea