We're the Baldwin's!: universal studios hollywood

We took our first vacation as a family of three this past week! Last fall, Amanda and I started talking about taking a Disneyland trip and it quickly turned into a whole family trip! It was so fun to take a trip with Brian's whole family before we take off for the other side of the country for the next few years. We started out on Tuesday, May 2 and headed to Las Vegas. Tatum did so good in the car and we only stopped once on the way there to feed her and change her diaper. We grabbed some food also and were on our way again! Once we got to Vegas we hung out and swam in Kevin and Amanda's pool, had a yummy dinner, and relaxed before the bigger part of the trip!

Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed to LA to hit Universal Studios. It was so much fun finally getting to ride all the rides now that I'm not pregnant (I was last time we went and wasn't able to go on much). I'm definitely getting to be more of a pansy the older I get because those virtual reality and 3D rides totally made me sick if I wasn't careful and took a break in between. We rode both Harry Potter rides (Dylan insisted I ride the Hippogriff ride with him), Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy, Jurassic Park, and Minion Mayhem to name the best ones. We grabbed dinner at Universal's City Walk and then headed to Anaheim to check into the hotel. We stayed at Kevin & Amanda's timeshare at Worldmark by Wyndham and it was so nice. We were right off Katella so we were close enough that Brian and I walked to the park one evening.

Thursday, we spent the whole day in Disneyland and it was probably my favorite day. Coincidentally it was May the 4th (Star Wars Day) and it was a little busier but not too bad. This was totally the best time to go because it wasn't peak season yet pre-summer and the wait times weren't bad at all either day. We got fast passes for Hyperspace Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain. We also hit up Haunted Mansion, Matterhorn, Star Tours, and some of the smaller rides for the kids. Tatum rode her first rides, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's A Small World. We were going to take her on Jungle Cruise but she and I went to get dole whip while everyone else went on that. I basically ate my way through the park being sure to grab my faves: dole whip, churros, jalapeno and cheese stuffed pretzels, and frozen lemonade. The best part about going with all the nieces and nephews was the leftover cotton candy, slushies, and treats! (Ok not the best part but a definite perk haha).

Friday, we spent most of the day in California Adventure and wisely used our fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers and Soarin' Around the World. We had a great system of sending one person to grab FastPasses while the rest of us ran to another ride. When we first got in, Kevin went straight to Radiator Springs Racers to grab the passes while the rest of us basically walked on to California Screamin'. We worked our way around the park riding pretty much everything. It was fun being in Disneyland and California Adventure because there was a lot more rides for Ella and Dylan to ride, so we spent a lot of time in A Bug's Life Land for them. Cars Land was a big hit with Luigi's and Mater's rides, but Toy Story Midway Mania was probably a bigger hit. That one is always fun and Brian and I were in close competition with that! But Amanda kicked both our butts haha. The kids were getting tired so we grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel to swim in the pool and hot tub. Brian, Kirk, Lindy, Tatum and I went back that evening to see the World of Color show and I'm so glad we did because Brian had never seen it. Also, we got to see the fireworks in Disneyland which was great since they weren't able to have them Saturday night because of the windy conditions.

Saturday, we headed to Huntington Beach for a bit and the US Volleyball Open was going on so that was fun to see. It was really windy and a little chilly so we didn't stay long with Tatum. That evening we went out to the Cheesecake Factory which was right next to our hotel and then Brian and I went back to Disneyland to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and grab some more dole whip (you can never get enough!). It was nice to have some time just the two of us and it was nice of Kirk and Lindy to watch Tatum so we could bob and weave throughout the park and to rides without a stroller! It was a great end to a great trip.

Sunday, we made the long trip back to Utah. With Tatum, we had to stop a few times but for the most part it lined up with either meal times or a need to stop for gas and she did so good. Overall travel time with the stops wound up being about 12 hours so it was a great trial run for the looming Florida trip!

We are so lucky to have such a happy little girl that's so easy to please! I sat in the back with her for a little bit of the drive home Sunday but she was so happy most of the ride and either slept or just looked around. I'm happy we have a baby that likes her carseat and doesn't just scream for 12 hours hahaha. Anyway, it was a fabulous trip, and I'm adding some photos below!

So I mentioned briefly in the previous post about my upcoming work trip! I must admit I was so not looking forward to this trip. Not only was it the first time Brian and I had been apart overnight since we got married, but being 25 weeks pregnant and spending 9 days away from home living out of a suitcase and walking a crazy amount of miles made it even more unappealing. Luckily, I have some of the greatest co-workers and bosses ever that were super accommodating and made the trip a ton of fun, and pass quickly! (Shout out to my awesome roomie, Kourteney) I came home looking about 3 months more pregnant than I did when I left, gained 8 lbs from all the delicious gourmet food we ate, and had swollen feet and ankles that it took 3 days to get back to normal, but it was such a great opportunity and I feel lucky to have experienced it all!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1: Thursday, November 3 we flew out to San Diego and immediately started touring hotels. Our first day we saw and met with our contacts and toured 9 of our hotels. We had a super amazing lunch at Humphrey's Half Moon Inn and got to spend some of the afternoon at SeaWorld. I hadn't been since I was little and have only ever been to the one in Orlando so this was neat to refresh my memory. That night and the following we stayed at the Hilton San Diego Airport. Great location, cheap Uber ride to Seaport Village, and pretty views!

Day 2: Friday was another day in San Diego!
7 hotels and the San Diego Zoo! I loveee the zoo. Like any zoo. But the San Diego Zoo is like the National Zoo in D.C., it's a classic! Of course my favorite part was the elephants, but they had baby giraffes and of course the panda bears! Such a great experience. I have to say I loved it so much more than SeaWorld and I probably could have spent the entire day there! We went shopping and had dinner in Seaport Village and it was so cute!

Day 3: Finishing up in San Diego and heading to Carlsbad!
We finished up San Diego with 2 of our most popular S.D. hotels, then got to check out the USS Midway Museum and have lunch at the Fish Market Restaurant before heading up to Carlsbad. This was my first time in Carlsbad and the town itself is really cute with great shopping outlets that we hit hard that night. We saw 7 of our Carlsbad hotels before checking into the Legoland Hotel! Which is insane. And I'm not sure I ever want to stay there hahaha. It's like Chuck-E-Cheese on steroids for a hotel. But it was cool because of course all the rooms are themed and they all have king beds with bunk beds so we all got our own rooms. I had a pirate room and they have these great Lego chests that you follow clues around the hotel to get the code to crack the safe and get your goodies.

Day 4: Legoland and Huntington Beach!
Sunday was one of my favorite days of the trip because we spent the morning touring Legoland and their Sea Life Aquarium (above photos) before heading to Huntington Beach and we had pretty much the whole evening off. We stayed at a SUPER nice hotel called the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach which had a private entrance to the beach, was only about a half mile from the pier and all the shops, and was overall a beautiful resort. We all headed to the beach for a few hours and then got cleaned up and went shopping before finishing the night at Duke's on the pier, which is incredible, if you've never been. It's their only stateside location, the other being in Hawaii. Super yummy!

Day 5: The first day of Anaheim and the worst day of the trip.
So one thing a lot of our guests love about us is our partnership with most of the hotels up and down Harbor Blvd., AKA the hotels closest to Disneyland. While this is great, it made for a rough day for me and two of my fellow pregnant co-workers as we walked the entire length of the blocks around the parks and toured 13 hotels. It was a long, long day. That night we checked into the Disneyland Hotel for that night and the following, and we had a special dinner in the Blue Sky Suite in the top floor of the Disneyland Hotel with our awesome Disney contact, following by VIP seating for the original World of Color show in California Adventure Park! So, so magical and a great way to end a tough day. I slept well that night (and included a photo of the light up headboard I slept under)!

Day 6: More Anaheim, Knott's Berry Farm, & Medieval Times!
10 hotels this day, then a few fun hours at Knott's Berry Farm! Which meant no rides for me since it's all big roller coasters, but I did play a few of my co-workers in a 3-point competition... which was super awkward with my own personal basketball under my shirt. But the very best part of the day happened when we got to Medieval Times. For anyone who doesn't know how this goes, you're placed in a specific section that corresponds with a knight who fights to win the games, so it's always most fun when your knight wins. Not only did our knight win but he also had a crush on one of my co-workers and roommate, Kourteney. He couldn't keep his eyes off her and it made for quite the show!

Day 7: Last day of hotels!
By Wednesday, we were all getting to be beyond exhausted. We had another long day of touring hotels and meeting with contacts but we finally had a light at the end of the tunnel! This night and the last, we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim. This place was like a vacation in itself, which is actually what they want out of it so it's funny that it's located so close to Disneyland. This hotel has a huge indoor water park, complete with water slides, a lazy river, FloRider, a wave pool, splash pads, and an outdoor pool. Downstairs they have miniature golf, bowling, and so much more. It's a kid's paradise! We didn't have much time to enjoy it since we had a reception with most of our hotel contacts for drinks and hors d'ourves, so once we got back to our rooms we crashed.

Day 8: Disneyland will forever be ruined.
On our last full day in California, we were in Disneyland by 8 am and didn't get back to our rooms until almost 11 pm. I was warned that being treated to a Disneyland day with our contacts was like nothing else I would ever experience and would ruin every other Disneyland trip for me from here on out and now I know why. We were treated like royalty! They saved our Disneyland day for November 10 because it was opening day of the holidays, and I'm so glad they did. I forgot how magical Disney is around the holidays. We rode all the new rides (and the classics) without any wait since we had 4 private tour guides who took us on to the front of the line at every ride. My lucky co-workers got to ride Tower of Terror one last time and we went on a few baby-safe rides for us pregnant ladies. We got to see the new Frozen play live at the Hyperion Theater in California Adventure Park, eat lunch at Flo's V8 Cafe in Carsland, watched the Christmas parade, had a private dinner party with Jasmine and Aladdin, and had VIP seating for the fireworks that night. I successfully checked off my food bucket list with a churro, a jalapeno cream cheese stuffed pretzel, and of course, a Dole whip. This day was worth the wait and I'm so glad it was saved for last!!

Day 9: Our final SoCal day and Universal Studios Hollywood!
Full disclaimer: I am SUCH a nerd. I was so excited for Universal to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it did not disappoint! We rode a good amount of rides and walked around Diagon Alley, got our frozen butterbeers, and enjoyed the last of our time in California before flying out of LAX, but we were all so excited to get home. It was a long trip, but a good one and I'm so grateful for my wonderful co-workers who have become better friends and for all the laughs we shared. Get Away Today is such a great company to work for and I'm so glad I got to experience this opportunity!