Newport/Disneyland

We had the BEST couple of weeks in California with both of our families (I’m currently trying to convince Will to spend all of our summers in California starting next year. Stay tuned lol) and made the best memories all together as a family. We did the first 10 days with the Gochnour family in Newport and then spent a week with my family down in Oceanside. The fact both trips were back to back perfectly was a dream come true! I don’t think I could’ve done that car ride twice haha.

With the Gochnour fam we did Disneyland, a Dodgers game, pool days, and beach days. I also loved getting to hang with one of my greatest friends Sarah who lives in Laguna! She somehow convinced me to run with her a couple of days of our trip and wow… those first postpartum runs are rough! But it was worth every early wake-up call to see her and chat.

While in Newport, we always love to go to Roger’s Gardens, Rose’s Bakery, Lido Island, Balboa Island, Fashion Island Mall, Bear Flag Fish Co., and so many other favorites. We’ve been going there every year since I was a little girl!

How darling are the Bello Sole Floats? Use OLIVIA for a discount!

The little Duffy boats around Lido are so much fun.

We decided to mix it up with my family this year and do Oceanside! It’s about 50 miles south of Newport and it was so fun to adventure around a new part of town. I especially loved going to explore more of Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Diego, and more. My work used to be based out of San Diego so it will forever have a special place in my heart!

We did family pictures (on my camera lol) down in Torrey Pines, went to Moonlight Beach, VG’s Donuts, the flagship Vuori store, The Taco Stand, UTC mall, Din Tai Fung, etc. I could’ve stayed another week to explore more! Maybe next summer… RIGHT WILL?! Hehe.

Man, I’ll be honest, the beach with kids all different ages can be quite the… adventure. There’s just a whole lot of gear required to come but it is always so worth it in the end! My advice would be to not stress about nap times. Just stay the day and let the kids have fun! It’s too much work to get all set up just to leave in time for naps.

Here’s what we brought to the beach and loved!

1. Veer Gear Tent – this was an absolute game changer. So easy to set up and take down! I’ll use it at kids sports games too for sure in the future. For some reason, they’re discontinuing them so snag one while you can!
2. Veer Gear Sand Blanket – Will can’t stand sand so the second he saw these sand blankets he knew we needed one. It filters out the sand so you can relax in peace!
3. Dockatot w/ Cabana – this is what June laid in at the beach! We just brought her Dockatot and put the cabana over it for extra protection.
4. Yeti Chairs – comfiest chairs ever! They’re heavy but totally worth traveling with for the cup holder, height for nursing, etc. Love them!
5. California Beach Co. Playpen – this playpen also fits in the Veer Gear tent and is awesome.
6. Bogg Bag – these are slowly but surely making it to the west coast big time! Every local mom had one (they’ve been big in the south/east coast for years!) Totally waterproof and my new pool bag for life.
7. Geometry House towels – re: Will hating sand. These are the best towels and he wants to buy a thousand more he said! They don’t have the traditional towel fibers so they don’t get sandy and are great for laying on and drying off. Game changer!
8. The Saturday Baby (use OLIVIA for a discount) and Beach People Beach Toys.
9. Tubby Todd sunscreen for the kids – get 10% off here. Their sticks are the best! We love their new mineral spray sunscreen too.
10. SunBum sunscreen for us + the Paddleball set to play at the beach.

Now let’s talk DISNEYLAND!

I’ll be honest. Two Disneyland days were rough at times but overall we had a great time! It’s all about setting your expectations low, and staying calm (I fell short at this at one point 😩), and consuming a churro an hour to power through 🥰 George didn’t nap at all the first time we went and the second time he did. You never know what to expect so might as well go with the flow and just try to stay positive.

Will’s family is a BIG Disney family so my family is lucky to reap the benefits of his (mom’s) knowledge of the park/what to do first etc.

Here are a couple of Disneyland tips from Will!

1. First off, if you park in Mickey & Friends (that’s where we always park! Go into the far right lane right when you pull in. It’s always the shortest line) and are planning on taking the tram into the park but have a big stroller already packed to the brim that you don’t want to collapse it in the tram… just take the elevator to Level 2 and just walk into the park! It takes maybe 10 minutes but is worth not collapsing the stroller (in our opinion!)
2. Download the Disneyland app and make sure your entire party’s tickets are linked together. This makes it easier for one person to make reservations for everyone in the group.
3. Ask everyone what their one “must-ride” is (or must-have treat 🥰) to make sure you prioritize those throughout the day. Especially if you’re only there one day, since you won’t be able to do it all.
4. Paying for the Genie+ Pass is 100% worth it if you don’t want to wait in lines all day. It’s an additional $20 per ticket (🙄) but worth it because you can get soo much more done. Read THIS ARTICLE for more in-depth info on how to best use the Genie+ Service.
5. As soon as you get into the park, reserve your first Lightning Lane pass to one of your top priority rides. You will be able to get a new Lightning Lane pass after you use scan the one you have (if under 2 hours), or after two hours since your previous reservation.
6. Make sure to set an alarm to remind yourself to book a new one if you end up having to wait the full 2 hours.
7. Think ahead to order food. You can order in the app and they will give you a return time to pick it up and you can skip all the lines. You can also order Naples pizza (my FAVORITE!) and eat it inside the park.
8. If you have ANY babies in your group, get a stroller swap! Go up to the attendants in the Lightning Lane and they’ll scan a ticket and give 3 people an extra Lightning Lane pass to go after everyone comes out. To be honest, we sort of stopped doing the stroller swap because it adds on an additional 20-30 minutes but it worked out because not everyone wanted to ride every ride. Having people be flexible and understanding helps so much! Not everyone is going to get exactly what they want all day 🙂

Disney packing list:

1. A good stroller! – We used the UppaBaby this time since we have three (get the Piggyback so someone can stand in the back!) but in the past we’ve used our Zoe double umbrella stroller and it worked so great too. Use OLIVIABETH+ZOE for a discount!
2. The Mommy Hook – to hang any additional bags on the stroller
3. Stanley Flip-Top Tumbler – for you AND the kids! Save money on those $5 water bottles. You can get ice water from all of the restaurants and fill it up all day.
4. Portable Fan – you can clip it right on your stroller! The best.
5. Portable phone charger – never want a dead phone at Disney!
6. Car Seat Cover – if you bring a car seat in for the stroller. It was so nice to cover June with this!
7. Misting Spray Bottle – keeps the kids cool!
8. Mickey Ears – we love ours from Whimsical Curations on Etsy!
9. A good attitude. Lol… but really. I lost my cool once and I’m still not proud of it 🥴

What am I missing?! I’m sure a lot 🙂 Comment any tips/tricks you have too! We have a Reel of our favorite food here 🙂

-Liv