The Mustard House

A Conversation with Mia: Joke Teller, Scat Singer & Beat Boxer

// April 8th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Mia

Here’s the latest from our little babbler. Her rants can start at any point during the day, but usually she busts them out during a changing or when she’s getting dressed in the morning. Sometimes she’s just trying to get her point across, but anymore we’re suspicious she’s polishing up her act for American Idol, 2025. In this rendition, you get to hear some of her scatting and beat boxing skills along with a knock-knock joke for her warm-up act. She’s what industry folk refer to as a true “triple threat”.

The California Adventure – Part 3, the Final Chapter

// March 20th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Mia

Well…it’s our last night

We had another great day today. Went to the San Diego Zoo this afternoon and spent the day with birds, bears, giraffes, elephants and pandas. Mia loved it. She’s definitely getting more into her walking and demanded for much of the day to go cruising in her Pumas instead of her stroller. She got to feed the giraffe but I think she thought he was going to wrap his tongue around her along with the biscuit I was holding so we didn’t overstay our welcome at the Giraffe House. By far, the coolest part was the Pandas. Well worth the wait. After the zoo, we parked downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter and did a little shopping at Horton Plaza then headed back to Old Town for another round of Mexican food at the Coyote Cafe. Our choices were Mexican, Mexican and Mexican, so we chose Mexican (but funny…Mia was still able to find French Fries). After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to our hotel and finished off the trip with a night on the beach making s’mores in our fire pit on the beach. The weather was great all day and it was a nice way to finish off the trip. We’re sad to be leaving tomorrow, but it’ll be nice to get home and get Spring started. We’re definitely coming back though – one of the best vacations ever!

In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, “You Stay Classy, San Diego”

Hello zoo! We're about to add another monkey to the joint!

One for the giraffe, one for Mia, one for the giraffe, one for Mia...

Panda Express or the San Diego Zoo? You decide!

Panda-monium.

In captivity: the elusive Baby Mia.

Back to the beach! Some more S'mores, please.

C.U.T.E. x2

Mom's better at the self-family-portrait than dad.

Fire + Graham Crackers + Marshmallows + Chocolate = FUN

I love San Diego!!!

The California Adventure – Part 2

// March 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Mia

Greetings! It’s Friday morning and our vacation is sadly winding down, but we’ve had a really great time. Here’s a recap of the last few days:

Wednesday: A thick fog rolled in today and cooled things down into the low 60s, which put a little bit of a damper on our first trip to the pool. Mandy took Mia around to feed the ducks and the fish then we attempted to get her into the pool. She dipped her toes, but that’s about where it stopped. We still had fun and had some lunch poolside until some birds attempted to attack Mandy and steal some of her pulled pork sandwich. Later in the day, we hopped in the car and drove to Seaport Village, downtown and across the bridge into Coronado where we walked around the famous Hotel Del Coronado and bought Mia some books in their toy store. Rumor has it that the place is haunted and on this day, we could see why. The thick fog definitely made things look a little creepy.

Heading to the pool. Check out my new pink sandals!

Oh well...we tried!

I had a boat and everything!!

A shop in Seaport Village. It's not every day you see these names together. Mia's cousins!!!

Thursday: Today we woke up early and headed North to Anaheim for Disneyland! It was soooooo fun. Mia did great most of the day. She’s a little too little to go on anything, but we started her off on a jungle boat ride that she did okay with but then we took her on the Winnie The Pooh Adventure Ride and it freaked her out. It was surprisingly loud, dark and quite psychedelic. After the failed experiment, we took to the Blue Bayou for lunch (mmm…Monte Cristo sandwich!) We wandered around Toon Town and thru Fantasy Land before it was time to stroll over to California Adventure to catch the Playhouse Disney show. HOME RUN! Mia flipped out the second we got in line. They were playing episodes of each of her shows on monitors while we waited. For only being one year old, she was among the most active kids in the bunch. Dancing and clapping and doing her signature,”I can’t breathe” laugh. It was great. And that was just while we were waiting in line! Once we got inside, she was fixated on the stage. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto put on a show to give Minnie a surprise birthday party. After them came Handy Manny and his tools (quickly becoming a fav) and after Manny was the biggie – Little Einsteins!!! I thought we were going to have to find Mia a paper bag to breathe into (note to self: watch her for hyperventilating). The show ended with My Friends Tigger and Pooh. Afterward, we walked around the park where we were a few seconds too late to get Mia’s picture with Mickey, but we did run into Handy Manny, Mr. Incredible, the blue monster from Monsters Inc. and Woody from Toy Story. After California Adventure, we wanted thru Downtown Disney and had dinner at the ESPN Zone and then it was time to drive back. Mia had had it. Given that she’s only one, she did really well the whole day. We can’t wait until she’s a little older to take her back. I can’t speak for Mandy, but it was definitely my favorite trip to Disneyland of all time. We’ve been telling Mia we would take her there as soon as she was off the meds. Words can’t describe how terrific it was to finally do it. Yeah…she’s only one, but she’s an experienced One.