pumpkin patch 2011

even though brooke is (almost) 2.5 years old, we've never taken her to the pumpkin patch in hawaii. so when my wonderful in-laws invited us to go, we jumped at the chance although little miss wasn't feeling 100%. pumpkin patches in oahu are DIRTY (literally) and DUSTY and HOT. No cool autumn air, but there was a lot of tradewinds which just created more dirt.

anyone up for a tractor ride?


i guess we waited too long to go because most of the pumpkins were gross, exploded (or imploded, i guess) or eaten by worms. check out the one on the bottom left corner!





3 of them on a mission for the perfect pumpkin



lots o' dirt



more dirt




bad idea to wear slippers to the pumpkin patch. next time i will come prepared. note: no white tees and no slippers!








lil' pumpkin





we're 27 right?

last one

Tips for Surviving Disney with an (almost) 2.5 year old:
1. Be prepared to spend money. I know this seems like common sense. Everyone warned us how expensive Disney was, but we were still a little flabbergasted at the price of food in Disney. It was like we were eating Ruby Tuesday's or Chili's every night and only getting McDonald or Burger King quality food. Additionally, at one character dining experience, the waitress got our bill wrong and handed us a bill for 2 adults, 2 kids (once over 3, you have to pay for your child's meals) and it was over $100! For breakfast!
2. There are LOADS of things for toddlers to do at Disney (rides, character experiences, Disney Junior shows, parades, fireworks, Toon Town, etc) but it really depends on your little's personality. Had Brooke been afraid of rides and characters, it wouldn't have been a hugely enjoyable time. If she was the type to get overstimulated and overwhelmed easily, again, not so much fun. But she was totally fearless, rididng the Haunted Mansion with only minimal "I'm scared Mommy" and every other ride we must've gone on at least twice (with the exception of Little Mermaid, It's A Small World and Dumbo, which we rode <5 times.)
3. Be prepared to wait in line. A lot. We went in an "off season" so the lines were very tame, about 45 minutes at most. However, that is a loooooong wait for a toddler.
4. Bring your own water bottle. We purchased those with the water filters on the top and it saved it tons of money that we would've spent on bottled water. I've seen people bring in their own food to eat for lunch and snacks, but as an out-of-stater, this was hard for us.
5. We chose to stay a longer time so that we could see and do everything that we wanted to (no way in heck were we paying so much money to get to CA and only stay for 3-4 days and see half of what Disney had to offer!). Staying a longer time also allowed us to go back to the hotel for long naps without feeling rushed.

mickey's halloween party...