Indian Wells 2026 - Elle’s 2nd Birthday
Day 1 - May 28, 2026
Last year, Jenn convinced me that we needed to do something special to celebrate Elle’s first birthday. We paid to bring the entire family to Disneyland for the day and capped it off with an incredible dinner. This year, we went back and forth on whether to have a party or a small getaway. We eventually landed on a small getaway and had Scottsdale booked for the last few months, but in the last week, we decided to switch to a stay closer to home in Indian Wells. We eventually decided to return to the Hyatt Grand Champions, a hotel we had stayed at several times early in our marriage. After a half day of work and dropping Frasier off at Bone Adventure, we left our new house in Irvine and hit terrible traffic on the 241 Toll Road. We made a split decision and went on 91 West, had BJ’s for dinner in Anaheim, then drove to Indian Wells to avoid much of the traffic.
We arrived at the beautiful resort a little after 7 PM, checked in, and went to our King room overlooking the pool. We let Elle have some fun before putting her to bed at 8:30 PM (an hour and a half later than normal). After a few false starts, she eventually fell asleep, and we were on our way to celebrate Elle’s 2nd Birthday weekend.
Day 2 - May 29, 2026
After a less-than-ideal first night's sleep, we were up early with Elle and out looking for breakfast this morning. We landed on grabbing Starbucks nearby. Jenn had a hot chocolate, I had a coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and we got Elle a muffin and a yogurt. She ate a few bites of both, and then we were off to the pool at close to 9 AM. We found out the lazy river wasn’t open until 10 AM, so we stayed in a nearby pool, splashed around, and let Elle hang onto us as we swam around. When the lazy river opened up, we made our way over there. She was a little nervous to start her time in there, but after a few loops, she was loving it.
We made our way from the pool to the car to grab some lunch, but by the time we left the parking lot and were turning onto the main road, Elle was falling asleep. We took her back to the hotel room where Jenn and Elle napped, and I grabbed lunch at In-N-Out and later coffee at the hotel. When Elle woke up, we walked around the hotel, played with some of the lawn games, and then made our way for an early dinner at Adobe Grill. Elle had a quesadilla she barely touched; Jenn had chicken fajitas; and I had two tacos. It wasn’t until the last five minutes that Elle started to act out. Jenn took her back outside, and I wrapped up our bill. We returned to the hotel, took our nightly walk, and called it an evening.
Day 3 - May 30, 2026
One of the mistakes we made yesterday was not giving Elle enough food, so to rectify that, after a much better night's sleep, we went to get breakfast. We made our way to the hotel restaurant, which had a line of 20+ people, so we made a quick decision and found CJ’s diner a few minutes away. The entire restaurant, mostly 70+ year olds, fell in love with Elle and gave her their attention every minute we were there. Jenn had orange juice (which Elle loved), and I had coffee, while Elle downed a massive glass of milk. For breakfast, we both got eggs, bacon, and hash browns, except Jenn also added pancakes. Elle had a little bit of everything and ate really well.
We made our way back to the hotel, immediately got into our swimsuits, and headed back to a much busier lazy river. We found a great set of lounge chairs and did several laps around the lazy river. From there, we did a quick stint in one of the main pools before we headed back out to grab Elle some lunch at In-N-Out before her nap.
Jenn and Elle both took naps while I watched an episode of Daredevil and got some work done. When Elle woke up, we took her back out and walked around the hotel. At check-in, they handed us a small scavenger hunt that Elle had to complete by getting stamps throughout the property. Jenn loves this type of activity (something she used to do with her parents when she was a kid), and so we made sure Elle got all her stamps. She eventually turned it in on her birthday and got a small stuffed animal.
We walked across the street from the hotel to Kestrel, a Richard Blais restaurant that opened a few years ago. It was very quiet at 5 PM on a Saturday, but we got a nice table overlooking the golf course. Jenn tried their take on a French 75, and I had a pistachio old-fashioned to start with. Elle stuck with her milk. We started the meal with their deviled egg flight (three different versions), and then moved on to our main course. Elle had a delicious, freshly made pasta with butter, I had their signature dish, the smash burger, and Jenn got the prime rib. We splurged and went for dessert and had the chocolate lava cake. Far and away the best meal we’ve had on the trip.
Day 4 - May 31, 2026 - Elle’s 2nd Birthday
After an incredible Saturday, we made it to the final full day of the trip, and the reason we were here, Elle’s 2nd Birthday. All week, and maybe for the past 2-3 weeks, we’ve been singing "Happy Birthday " to Elle, and finally, we made it to the real thing. She didn’t sleep great the night before, but eventually went down and slept in until almost 8 AM. We made our way out for breakfast, skipping the hotel and heading to Beautiful Day. I had a breakfast sandwich, Elle got her own pancakes, and Jenn had eggs and toast.
By the time we left the restaurant, it was over 100 degrees, and we made the call to avoid going back to the pool; instead, we drove to a nearby Barnes and Noble and let Elle pick out whatever she wanted from the store. During our 45 minutes in the store, she probably went through 30+ books, and we eventually whittled that down to 3. She loved it, though, and seeing her light up with books brings us both so much joy. During our drive to the bookstore, we decided to check with the hotel and see if they’d let us check out a day early. Elle wasn’t sleeping well and thought she’d have a better birthday being at home with her toys and getting a good night's sleep.
The hotel was great and accommodated us quite quickly, and by 12 PM, we had packed up the car and were on the road home. Elle slept for a little over an hour, and we got back and celebrated her birthday with a small chocolate bundt cake and a candle. Unlike last year at Disneyland, our far more intimate birthday celebration left Elle smiling from ear to ear and singing along with us. She even ate a good amount of cake. I’m writing this a day after her birthday, and she’s still singing the birthday song.
We went to Korean BBQ (Baekjeong Irvine) a few weeks ago, and Elle loved it, so we decided to give it another go. Jake met us there, and we did the marinated meats for the table. Elle loves cheese corn, egg, and rice, and will partake of each of the meats, even in small quantities. More than anything, she loves the spectacle of someone coming over to cook the meats and the variety of dishes that come to the table. It may not have been the ending to our Indian Wells trip that we expected, but I think it’s the version of the day that Elle was going to enjoy the most. Seeing her smile in the above pictures while blowing out the candles is something I’ll never forget.
