bean's birthday party, take 1

we kicked off the bean's birthday celebrations a little early with a fun playdate at disneyland with our friends lilcee/mini cee and dailygluttony/miniDG.  because she has several circles of friends who don't really know each other, it's always nice to plan hangouts with them separately so that everyone can have a good time and she doesn't feel pulled in 30845713098 different directions.  and since i fully believe that birthdays at any age are a special occasion, i decided to take everyone to the carthay circle restaurant at california adventure for lunch.

the reservation happened to be right when they opened for the day, so there was a little bit of a line to check in.  it went quickly though, and in no time we were seated in a lovely booth upstairs perusing the menu.

our server informed us that we were seated at one of just eight parties that had extra magic built right into the table.  she pointed out the evil queen and her magic mirror in the woodgrain, and i think i got them both.  i'm not gonna lie, i totally don't remember which is which and i think at least one of them is upside down.  or sideways.  maybe you can tell:

we kicked off our meal with an order of their fabulous bacon/jalapeño/cheese biscuits, and of course there are seven in an order...like the dwarfs.

because it was early in the day and we knew we'd have plenty of time to burn them off, the ladies and i opted for adult beverages.  lilcee had a spiked wildberry lemonade topped with berry foam, while dailygluttony and i both went for the pimm's cup.  i order it every time i come here.

lilcee and dailygluttony ordered two entrees to share.  these are the chicken meatballs with tagliatelle pasta:

and the bone-in pork chop.  i got a bite of this and it was probably the best pork chop i've ever had.

the kids were unimpressed with the options on the adult menu, so i suggested that they do what the bean had done at lamplight lounge a few weeks ago - order two items from the kids' menu.  the portions are pretty small and they've got adult-sized appetites, so it worked out perfectly.  while miniDG went for a double serving of pasta and marinara sauce, the girls both went big and ordered a petite filet and alfredo pasta.  this is a terrible photo, but i literally had like two seconds to snap one before their hungry asses dug in.

my order was pretty boring - their angus burger served on a soft pretzel bun - so i didn't bother with a photo.  and after everyone had polished off the last bites of their entrees, the girls ordered up some dessert.  the bean opted for whatever had chocolate in it, and it came with a "happy birthday" plaque with a candle to make a wish on.  she endured our singing before blowing out the candle and posing for another two seconds before going in.

mini cee ordered up the birthday cake push pop, and it looked pretty tasty.

a few group shots, and then it was time to head out to the park, brave the insane humidity, and ride some rides.

yay for early birthday parties!

family bonding at the house of mouse

next on the agenda for thanksgiving fun week was a family trip to the happiest place on earth.  although he rarely goes with us, the hub does indeed have his very own annual pass.  while he only goes a handful of times during the year, it still pays for itself since he opts for the least expensive (read: most blackout dates) pass.  and the bean was stoked to show him around and take him on all of her favorite rides.

this meant that i got to spend lots of quality time on those rides with the teen.  first:  mater's junkyard jamboree.  see how excited she was?

the teen and i were excited to bring the hub to carthay circle, the fancy restaurant we'd visited with MIL this summer.  blue bayou is his usual go-to for a nice meal at the parks, but we knew this place would live up to his standards easily.  i didn't take any pictures as there really wasn't anything different from our first time there, but i can tell you that we were right - he loved the place.  and who wouldn't?  it's gorgeous, inside and out.

since the bean really didn't love the radiator springs racers ride, we sent the hub and the teen off to join the single riders line while she and i went to see the disney junior stage show.  yes, the very same show that we've seen a bazillion times.  i kid you not, i've sat through that thing so many times i could totally host it myself by now.  i sat there and cackled to myself as i recited all of the lines and made all of the hand gestures along with the cast member up on stage.

outside, we got a good look at the gigantic tree all decorated and ready for christmas.

because we still had time to kill, we headed over to a bug's land for some kiddie rides.  the bean loves sitting in the chinese takeout box on the flik's flyers ride.

across the way on the disneyland side, the girls decided to take a ride in the teacups.

and then before we met the hub for dinner in downtown disney, we snuck over to toontown to say hi to mickey.  the bean had remembered to bring her "photograph" book (as many times as we corrected her, she still calls it that), and she was excited to have mickey sign it.

i was slightly disappointed to see that he wasn't dressed up in festive holiday gear, but that's okay.  i'm sure we'll find him all gussied up another time.

silly girls.

after a full day of disneyland fun on her own two feet with no stroller to sit in, the bean was plum tuckered out.  we didn't even stay long enough for fireworks.  but it was a fun day spent with the hub at our most favoritest place in the whole world.  not to mention, i had a super busy day ahead of me with a turkey trot 5K first thing in the morning followed by a whole lotta cooking for the thanksgiving feast.

whew.  i'm tired again just thinking about it.

high-class munchin'

we capped off a fun weeklong visit with MIL with - well, what else? - a trip to california adventure.  the bean always has something she wants to show her at the disneyland resort, and with the new cars land and buena vista street having just opened, she was antsy to ride her new favorite ride with grandma.

but of course it's summertime now, which means lots of folks on vacation and in town to check out the new and improved DCA.  i was slightly alarmed when we attempted to park in our usual "mickey & friends" parking garage and were instead turned away to find a spot in one of the other lots, which are all a bit further away - and without a tram to whisk us right to the gateway to the parks.  boo.  we ended up in the "simba" parking lot, which is located across from the grand californian hotel.  a photo of the nearest aisle marker was a must, since we weren't familiar with this area at all.

despite my mumbling and grumbling over the unexpected variance from our usual routine, it almost seemed easier this way.  i didn't have to unfold and fold and unfold again the stroller to board the tram.  instead, we rolled right through the lot, across the street, and through the hotel to the turnstiles.  the bummer was being parked out in the sun, which meant a pretty toasty car to return to after a sweaty day.  oh, well.

MIL wanted to have a picture of the four of us all together, so we finally got to take a photo in front of the entrance to cars land (something i'd wanted to do on opening day, but it was damn near impossible).

the bean's new favorite ride is thankfully the one with the shortest line.  with a posted wait time of 40 minutes, i'm pretty sure we were whizzing through this attraction in less than half an hour.  she was so excited to share it with her beloved grandma.  and as we went through the line, i managed to snap a photo of a "hidden mickey" - see it?

my MIL is the best sport ever.  inside a souvenir shop, i thrust this thing at her and said "hold this!" while i busted out my phone.  she didn't even know what it was till i'd taken this picture, and she'll probably going to kill me for posting this.  hee!

after dragging us to the "little mermaid" ride, the bean enjoyed a little cooling-off time in a fun waterplay area that i'd never even realized was there.

and another first for MIL - the "golden zephyr" ride.  i'm not sure why it's called that since the rockets we get to ride are silver, but whatever.

we even got to meet the buena vista street version of mickey.

although i'd called a few days earlier to secure a reservation at the brand new carthay circle restaurant, i'd been shit outta luck.  hoping for the best, though, we headed over to see if they might take us as a walk-in or snag a table via a cancelled reservation or no-show.  and happily, we were quoted a 30-minute wait and settled into the lovely air-conditioned lounge.

believe it or not, as we waited, i actually ordered a cocktail.  with real alcohol in it and everything!

this restaurant, a replica of an old l.a.-area theater from the 20s, is beautifully done.  very upscale and classy, and not something you'd really expect in the middle of an amusement park.  then again, this is disney after all.  and upstairs in a secret corner of the restaurant is a special lounge, available only to club 33 members.

before our drink order arrived, we were led into the elevator to be seated at our table.

our host explained that the framed photos inside the elevator depicted the original carthay circle theater, which the imagineers had used to painstakingly recreate every small detail.  from the lighting fixtures to carpeting to wallpaper, they'd duplicated the look of that long-ago era perfectly.

upstairs, the restaurant was just as lovely as the lounge area.  i realized that the center of the ceiling was adorned with a scene from "snow white and the seven dwarfs."  this was disney's tie to the original theater - that's where the movie premiered in 1937.  and there were more framed photos of walt disney himself and lots of old-time movie stars.

all along the edges of the dining area were doorways that led to rooms of varying sizes for larger parties with names like "hollywood," "buena vista," "hyperion."

as we perused our menus, our beverages were served.

pimm's punch for me, rose water soda for the teen.  hers had a sugar-encrusted rose petal floating at the bottom, but to me it looked like a potato chip.  heh.

cheers to a fabulous visit and a surprise lunch at a fantastic new place!

we chose a couple of appetizers - our server highly recommended the grape leaves stuffed with goat cheese, served with roasted garlic and red pepper sauce, eaten with their specially made sourdough bread.

the carthay house biscuits were amazing - served hot from the oven and stuffed with white cheddar, bacon, and jalapeño.  they came with an apricot butter that complemented the flavors perfectly.

the teen's pappardelle pasta with housemade chicken meatballs and yellow tomato essence.  she shared a bite with us, and it was really delicious with a delicate flavor that we all loved.

the bean ordered orecchiette pasta with marinara sauce - "mickey ears," we called it.

strawberry-lemon organic roasted chicken salad was MIL's choice.  the server told us that it was a 4-day process to make this:  fresh strawberries dried overnight, rubbed over the chicken and marinated for another 48 hours, then roasted slowly before being carved and served warm over the salad that was tossed with two dressings - a buttermilk lemon and a strawberry vinaigrette.  she loved every bite of it.

i'd chosen the kobe beef cheek sliders.  whipped horseradish sour cream, red bell pepper marmalade, and crispy onions.

we were all stuffed silly by the end of lunch, and although we didn't order any we just had to take a peek at the dessert menu.

before we headed back out into the bright sun, we made a quick pitstop.

there was time for just one more ride before we headed home (to make it back in time for the bean's swim lesson), and she chose "monsters, inc."  of course.

it was definitely an upscale lunch with a price tag to match.  and it was an awesome way to wrap up MIL's visit.  if you get the chance to go, take it - we were totally satisfied with every bite (well, except for that rose water soda.  the teen had to chug it so it wouldn't go to waste, although she hated it).  i'm hoping that we can bring the hub there after summer is over - i'm pretty sure he'd love the place.  hell, i wouldn't be surprised if he opted to hang out in the bar while we went out to ride rides.  heh.