We had another wonderful year at Comic Con International. We went in with a plan and got to see everything we wanted to see. Now that’s success! We started off the morning by finding a great parking garage just a block from the convention center (only $12 for the day vs. the $20 a day signs everywhere else). Then we headed out to wait in line to get our Sunday passes.

We were greatly surprised by the number of people already waiting in line and weren’t expecting how long it was already. We passed my cousin and her family on the way to the end of the line but wanted to be courteous of the other people who got there earlier than us and we didn’t ask to sit in line with them. But when we got to the end of the line we almost went back to ask. Though the view from the end of the line wasn’t that bad 🙂 That’s San Diego for you!

Once we got our badges it was off to Hall H to wait in line for the Glee panel. My friend, Amanda, was already in line so we were able to sit with her in hopes of getting in to see the panel. Once the line started moving and we saw how many people there really were we were almost certain we wouldn’t get it. Especially when it got down to us being two queues from being let in to the hall and there being a break in the time it was taking for the line attendants to come get another queue.

But we were super lucky I guess. We got in! It was standing room only by the time we were let in but that was fine with us. E hung out with Daddy and enjoyed seeing all of the people while M slept for the first half. We got to listen to the panelists answer questions about the upcoming season and the changes they have in store for the cast of Glee (Curt’s boyfriend is sticking around!). Pretty exciting stuff!

After the Glee panel we headed off to the main exhibit floor to see what was going on at the different booths. We got stuck at one booth in particular. Lego may or may not have just dumped a whole ton of yellow bricks in the middle of the floor for the kids to play with. And that’s all E wanted to do the whole time we were there. So since we’re super cool parents and were basically there for him anyway (J went alone on Saturday) we sat down on the floor and built together. It was quite fun!

After we were done with exploring we decided to go out of the convention center in search for lunch. E was already asking for food so in order to avoid any meltdowns we stopped at the nearest place we found. . As soon as we crossed the street we saw two food trucks and made a b line for them. Luckily there were choices for all of our different tastes at both.

E had a yummy hot dog from Ms. Patty Melt. Sadly they were all out of ketchup but luckily E doesn’t eat any on his. They only take cash so J and I headed over to Super Q. OMG! Seriously the best BBQ pork sandwich I’ve had in a long time! I had the Super Q Pork Melt. It came with bbq pork, mac-n-cheese, sauteed onions and lots and lots of cheese on sourdough. I can still taste it and am already craving more! The sandwich was huge. Definitely more than enough for two. And it also came with a side of potato salad that was equally delicious (but you could get cole slaw or chips instead). Joseph decided on a duo of sliders. He got the beef and pork and seemed to enjoy them. He didn’t leave a crumb when he was done.

Once we got our food we headed across the street to a park to eat. E loved the location because he got to chase pigeons and stare at the water. We may have had to take him away from the water a few times because he looked like he was going to jump in! Once we were done we bribed E with the promise of going for ice cream at Ghiradelli’s if he left with us. And although the allure of running away and finding a new family was strong he decided to stick with us.

The walk to Ghiradelli’s was comical to say the least. Being the pushover, er, great Dad that J is, E got a vanilla cream soda with his hot dog. The soda was in a brown bottle that definitely didn’t look like a soda bottle. So every block or two there’d be a comment from a passerby (or someone sitting at the outside patio of a bar) that we were starting him young. What can I say! When he’s walking down the street trying to drink he doesn’t quite walk in a straight line. He even stopped every once in a while to sit on the side of the sidewalk whenever a ledge made itself available.

Once we got to Ghiradelli’s he was more interested in the cherry on top than the ice cream itself. That may have had something to do with the fact that he ate both mine and J’s sample Ghiradelli square before we got our ice cream. M enjoyed her fair share of whipped cream but didn’t quite care for the ice cream. I’m not sure if she really is my daughter… 😉 So after only eating 1/2 of our sundae (we split it) we packed it up and headed back to the car. Of course as soon as we left the table to go outside E announced that he would have preferred a cone. Oh well! We tried.

As soon as we got into the car and out of the parking garage he was fast asleep in the back seat (M had fallen asleep on the walk over to the car). He slept for a good 3 hours! There’s nothing like walking all around Downtown San Diego to get your toddler thoroughly exhausted.

Next year we plan on coming on Friday and Sunday but only going to Comic Con on Sunday. That way Friday we can just walk around Downtown San Diego looking for fun free stuff to do. Hopefully Suzette will post another 10 Things to Do Outside Comic-Con for next year so we can be sure and check out all of the cool things to do! We passed Ciro’s Pizza and were tempted to come check out the Cartoon Network takeover but just didn’t have the time (or energy) to do so. We’re looking forward do doing it all over again next year! Well.. if we don’t have any problems getting tickets 🙂