First Family Vacation

We got to take our first family trip with Hudson last month! Brandon's family had planned a trip to San Diego earlier in the year, but we hadn't planned to go because we weren't sure what life would be like with Hudson (mostly how he would be health-wise since he was early). After a month of having him here, we decided we wanted to go, so we did! We flew out the day after everyone, and met them at the zoo that afternoon. I had never been to the San Diego Zoo, but I remember my dad bringing me back a pencil one time when I was younger. I'm pretty sure he went, anyway, so I always wanted to go. It did not disappoint! We did a lot of walking and saw most of the animals. Hudson, of course, slept most of the time, but that's okay. He wouldn't know what was going on anyway.

The next day we hung out at Balboa Park and went to the model train museum. That evening, Brandon and I went to go meet everyone at the beach, but they had already left, so we had some time there just the three of us! Brandon dipped Hudson's toes into the ocean and sand, and he didn't seem to hate it. It must not have been too cold for him. He was actually awake during all this too, which was really fun. He had been asleep for most of the morning, but woke up for our little time on the beach and he loved it! There was so much for him to look at. We went to dinner with all the siblings in the gaslamp quarter, which was fun for all of us. It was nice to get out and go somewhere just us kids, but Hudson loved all the lights! We also went to Ghiradelli that night, which may have been the best part of all of San Diego. 

Our last day in San Diego was spent at the beach! We did family pictures in the morning, then spent all afternoon at the beach. It was too hot for Hudson, so we only were there for about thirty minutes, then went back to the condo to cool off and nap while everyone else played in the ocean.

The next morning we got up early and left for Anaheim! We got to California Adventure around 11:00, right when it started to get super hot, so the first thing we did was go watch the Frozen show. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, having a newborn in the theater, but we sat at the very back away from the speakers, and were the only people on our row, so the two times he did start to fuss didn't bother anyone. He did really well though. He was enthralled by the lights on the wall. Later we rode the Little Mermaid ride, and he of course was asleep. But it was air conditioned, so I'm sure he enjoyed it. We got corn dogs from Corn Dog Castle, walked through some shops, then went to check into our hotel around 4:00. We went back to the park later that night around 7:00 and went straight to Cars Land. Hudson was OBSESSED with all the lights. I'm so glad we chose to go at night, because he really loved all the neon. It was so cute to watch him. We got dinner from the Cozy Cone Cafe, then just walked around Cars Land. We were going to try and do the fun cars ride, but they didn't have a parent swap and neither of us wanted to stand in line alone, so we went and bought Hudson a toy instead haha. We got him a little Hudson Hornet car! Later we watched the parade, then stopped at Ghiradelli (yes, again) on our way out!

That Monday was such a big day! It was our seven year anniversary, and our first time taking a baby to Disneyland! We got there about an hour after the park opened and went straight to the castle to get our picture taken. Brandon and I have so many pictures of just the two of us, so I was really excited to get one with Hudson. Then we got an Up themed donut! Pixar Fest was happening while we were there, which was fun because we recently toured Pixar Studios, but also because they had a ton of fun new treats! They even made a little guide book so you could find all the treats and mark them off once you got them. So the don-up was a must-do on our list. We made our way to Pirates after that, and Hudson was awake, but didn't cry, which was good. I feel like since having him I'm way more aware of how quiet places are, including rides at Disneyland apparently. After Pirates we walked over to Haunted Mansion, but it was already closed for Halloween prep. As we were walking back toward the center of the park, we decided to get beignets. Then we went to Peter Pan! The line was pretty long, and it started to get really hot out, so after the ride we went back to the hotel until later that evening. 

That night we stayed at the park until midnight! We rode Dumbo, got dole whips, took a few laps around the park, and watched the fireworks. Hudson was awake for a good part of the night, and stayed up during the fireworks too. We bought noise-cancelling earmuffs before he was born pretty much specifically for Disney fireworks, and they worked really well! We tried them out before we put them on him, and once he had them on, he didn't jump once from the noise. But guys he LOVED the fireworks. We got a little bit of footage from it, but he watched them and smiled basically the whole time. It was the sweetest thing. I cried during most of the fireworks. I had been holding in my tears all day, but during the fireworks I was so overwhelmed with happiness at being able to have Hudson there that I just had to cry. Some people might think that it was dumb to take a newborn to Disneyland, but we loved it. Disney is so special to us and has gotten us through the last two years, and we were really excited to take him. I'll do a post later about how to do Disney with a newborn, but it went about as I had expected it too. We just had to move a little slower and pack a little more, but it was just as magical as it always is. I can't wait to take him back.

All in all, I would say the trip went extremely well for having a two month old. He slept on the flight both times, had no problem keeping up his schedule in both San Diego and Anaheim, and really loved taking in everything around him. We have always loved travelling, but I have a feeling that we're going to love it even more now that Hudson is here. I'll stick our travel videos in down below so you can see a little more of what we did!