baseball, beaches and Disneyland {baby essentials}

A lot of you asked how our vacation was with a baby, especially Disneyland. What would I suggest taking for a baby? Is it a waste of money to go with a baby? Etc. I thought I would just whip up a quick post sharing what worked (and didn't work) for us!

Baseball 

- Hotels. Unless we are staying in a Marriott, I hate trying to choose a hotel (that sounded snobby, but I feel like we have the right to be snobby when we have a baby and have to live in a hotel for a week. these places are gross enough, staying in a crappy spot makes it even worse). We really wanted to stay right next to the Angels stadium so that we could take the shuttle to Disneyland, but just walk to the game. It just seemed easier that way, and it totally was! We stayed at the Ayres Hotel and we loved it! It was like a 5 minute walk (at most) to the field, and only 2 miles from Disneyland. Their rooms were spacious, clean and we felt so comfortable there! And their breakfasts were SO good and filling (just the fuel we needed to race around Disney)!  Even if we weren't attending baseball games, we'd still recommend the Ayres Hotel!

- We briefly mentioned packing ear muffs to take to the games for Mia, but we totally spaced it. Being in a stadium with 40,000+ people gets kinda loud, and throw in a firework show each night? I was wishing I had ear muffs, ha ha! But I just took a good blanket (which you want anyway, it cools down at night) and wrapped it around Mia so that it covered her ears when she went to sleep. When the cheering got to loud I made sure she was snuggled tightly against me so that one ear was covered with my body, and I covered her other ear with my hand. Having the blanket in between really helped I think because she didn't flinch during the fireworks (which were so loud they set off all the car alarms in the parking lot)! I should mention that the cheering didn't really bother her when she was awake.

- We brought a sippy of water (Mia loves her sippy cup), food in a pouch, and a toy or two for when she got bored. But the games were so late that we didn't have to do a lot of entertaining. She slept through most of them!

Beach

- The first thing I'd recommend is a beach shade. This is the one we bought. This thing saved us. I could feed Mia in it and feel like I had some privacy, we let Mia roll around in it and she stayed in the shade, and we were able to take breaks from the sun when we needed it! 

- Sunscreen!! I rubbed Mia down with the stuff like every hour! I just did NOT want her to get burned! Even though Eric and I use the cheap stuff, we bought this for Mia. Blue lizard was recommended by our dermatologist and we love it! Mia didn't get sunburned our whole trip! And don't forget a hat!

- Take a sippy of water. When you're out in the sun all day (and not used to it) you drink more water than normal. So doesn't the same go for babies? I felt better giving her sips of water throughout the day!

Disneyland

- A good stroller. If we had a BOB we would have taken that for sure :) But my mom suggested taking an umbrella stroller because it's so much smaller (and we had limited space for traveling) and easier to maneuver through the crowds. No way! We took our travel system stroller and were so glad! We could lay the seat flat and Mia would curl up and take naps. We could store the diaper bag, jackets, etc on/in it. A good/comfy stroller is the best thing you can take in our opinion!

-Sunscreen! We used the cheap stuff but used Blue Lizard for Mia. And a hat! We are a fan of those floppy hats for the babes. A little extra protection never hurt anyone :)

- Sippy of water, food in a pouch and a light blanket (like A&A blankets) for nursing. I only mention this because a lot of you asked how nursing was at the park. For us it was super easy. Mia is a fast eater, 5-10 minutes tops. Disneyland/California Adventure offer care centers for feedings, diaper changes, etc but we never used them. We just found a quiet corner in whatever area we were in, throw the blanket on and fed her real fast. It was hot when we went so I felt better about having the light, breathable blanket to cover up.

- A binky clip. We bought one specifically for the trip and don't know why we waited so long! Mia only has her binky for sleeping but she fell asleep on some of the rides! It was SO nice to have the blink clipped to her clothes and not worry about it falling out and having to clean it, or losing it all together.

- Warm clothes. It cools down at night and you don't want the babies to get cold! I took a pair of pants and a jacket for Mia. I skipped taking a bigger blanket because we didn't want to haul it around. Take jackets for yourselves as well!

- Map out which rides you want to do. Eric and I wasted a lot of time going from area to area, park to park. You can take babies on any ride without a height requirement, which is a lot! So map that out before you arrive to the park, or the first morning there. And then you can do all the rides in one area before moving on to the next.

- Single rider is mom and dad's best friend! We were at Disneyland by ourselves the first day. The next day we met up with friends and were able to take turns watching babies so that we could ride the rides together. But if you don't have friends or family (I would definitely recommend grandparents who would rather sit with the baby than ride the rides, ha ha!) DO SINGLE RIDER! I didn't figure that out until the evening of our first day, but you basically walk on each ride. It's awesome! At first I was kind of sad because I really wanted Eric sitting next to me.... but once I was strapped into California Screamin' and we were about to take off, you better believe I was grinnin' like a fool! It doesn't matter who you're sitting next to, you'll have fun and feel that adrenaline pumping through your veins ;) If you are with friends/family learn about the parent pass! It's almost as good as single rider as far as walking onto the ride!

Mia really didn't hold us back too much on this trip. It helps that she is such an easy going, happy baby! But if you have the mindset that taking a baby will hold you back, then he/she probably will. But you can have just as much fun with the baby if you let yourselves :) If you have any other questions please ask! I'd love to give you my opinion!