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| Look who's celebrating turning the BIG 5-0! |
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| The birthday girl and me |
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| First stop...corn dogs. Thanks, daddy, for lunch! Jen, Karen and Kris |
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| First ride...Karen and Derek on Dumbo with Rosie |
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| Me and Rosie waiting in line for Small World |
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| Rachel, Rose and Jen on Small World |
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| Gotta get a picture of the Dutch stuff for Keen-o |
To celebrate Kris' upcoming 50th birthday, we have been planning a trip to Disneyland. We went 3 years ago before Karen turned 40. We plan to go again sometime between when Jen and I turn 50. Last time Deb, Kris, Jen, Karen and I went. Kelly couldn't make it because of little kiddos. This time, Deb couldn't make it because of upcoming grandbabies, Kelly still has little ones, so it was just 4 of us. We still managed to have a great time. Oh yea! It was a great time.
We flew in to LAX early on Tuesday, Sept 11. It took forever to get our rental car. A guy who plays Aladdin on weekends helped us. He should stick with Aladdin. We drove to our hotel (right across the street from the park) and early registered to be able to park car there. We got to the park, ate corn dogs and went to meet with Derek, Rachel and Rose. They live in Burbank now, which is about a 35-45 minute drive from the park. We spent Tuesday with them.
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| The aunts try to take care of Rosie on the Mark Twain Riverboat while her parents ride Thunder Mountain Railroad. I accidentally tripped her and Kris accidentally hit her in the head with a water bottle. Not very good aunts. |
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| Rosie on the boat |
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| Rose and Jen |
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| Rose and Jen again |
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| Picture of Rose, looking through the railing of the boat |
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This could be Derek from 30 years ago if it weren't for the flowered top.
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We showed Rose the magic of Winnie the Pooh, Midway Mania, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid, etc. At one point we split up and the big girls rode roller coasters, Tower of Terror and Pirates. The crowds were pretty mild. We walked right on to most rides, with Peter Pan and Midway Mania being the exceptions. The weather was quite humid. Unusually humid. There was a nice cloud cover on day #1. Derek, Karen and I were the only ones interested in Splash Mountain. It felt good to get wet, but Derek and I got QUITE WET. Der was in front of the log, I was behind him and Karen behind me. It wasn't long into the ride that the anticipation of getting wet was over as Der and I got soaked on the right side. Kid got her feet wet. Then, at the end of the ride, we had a big drop with no additional water, so we thought we were "home free." Well, just then, we were doused from the left, again with Karen getting her feet wet. Derek and I each had a couple of dry spots on our shorts and that was it. Everything else was wet. It had been a really long day. Derek had gotten up early to work so he could be with us at the park and us girls had gotten up super early to make flights. We were kinda dragging.
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| Me and Derek after Splash Mountain |
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| Karen hid behind us. That's why she didn't get wet. |
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| the one dry spot on my shorts |
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The whole gang...Rachel, Derek, Rose, Jenny, Karen, me and Kristen...
right outside of Winnie the Pooh rideand post-Splash Mountain |
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| Rose occasionally pushed her empty stroller. I remember my kids doing that. She lunged out of her stroller at one point and got a raspberry on her forehead. I guess it was a rough introduction to the Happiest Place on Earth! |
MORE TO COME...other people need to use the computer right now. I'll be back...
I'm back. Kids worked on Independent Study courses and we attended a really good adult meeting of stake conference. Back to Disneyland...
The four of us stayed at Park Place Inn, right across the street from the park. We had a nice free breakfast every morning. Day #2 brought more humidity early and hot sun later in the day. We had a good night's sleep the night before and had taken ibuprofen to ward off any headaches. We were ready. The park was open from 10 am to 8 pm and we covered both parks the entire time, riding rides again and again and enjoying lunch at the Blue Bayou restaurant inside of Pirates of the Caribbean. I've always wanted to eat there and the experience didn't disappoint. We shared entrees and enjoyed the free birthday dessert they brought out for Kris.
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| Getting ready for another busy day. |
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| Eating our free breakfast. The room was packed, so we ate standing at this counter. |
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| Inside of California Adventure...we're off to Midway Mania first! |
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| Jenny telling us how she's gonna kick our trash on Midway Mania |
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| Do we look excited, or what? Karen, me and Jen |
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| Me and Karen outside of Tower of Terror. Jen and Kris wouldn't go on it. |
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An employee poses at the end of a very funny rap about his life, divorcing a mean wife and now
happy sweeping at Disneyland. We talked politics with him. He likes Mitt Romney and the Mormon way of life.
We suggested he look at Mormon.org. He said he never met a guest from Utah he didn't like. |
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| Jen and Karen on tea cup ride in honor of dad. Kris and I love dad, but not that much! |
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| They got a coveted orange cup! |
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| How's that for synchronized tea cup riding? |
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| ...and...it's over! |
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| Remains of our Monte Cristo sandwiches as Blue Bayou |
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| Kris' birthday dessert |
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| Wish I had been there to see this. Jenny chased down Cinderella so Kris could get a picture with her |
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| Getting ready for Midway Mania. Rode 4 times in the morning and one last time at night. |
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| Small World. They later closed the line because the ride wasn't working. Karen is cracking up because she just saw a funny "hidden Mickey." Sweat marks on a man's front shirt. Alan told us that happens often when you combine man boobs, a big belly and heat. Karen and I were lucky enough later in the day to see the female version. |
At one point, us girls split up. Jen and Kris wanted to ride the train and watch the Abe Lincoln show. Karen couldn't imagine wasting time on that, so she and I went on Tower of Terror again and Midway Mania. I got my Dole pineapple whip on our way to the other park. The line was really long, so at Karen's suggestion, I asked someone at the front of the line to buy mine. They are about $3.50 each. I gave a couple $5 and asked them to buy it for me and keep the change. They did. I was happy. We headed to California Adventure to procure t-shirts that Jen and I were dying to have and to go on rides. After the parks closed at 8:00, we did some final shopping.
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Don't you think it's funny that a bathroom stall would have the number two on it. There is a story behind this, too.
It has to do with an old story about "poo dot." That's all I'm gonna say. |
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| Actually took this photo on day #3 when we realized we hadn't taken this picture yet. |
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| And...here we are with Walt and Mickey, two of our favorite "people" |
After we finished our shopping, we felt good enough to head up to Burbank to see where Derek, Rachel and Rosie live. Their apartment is quite nice. It took us only 35 min to get there. Kris and Jen got a bit spooked on the freeway when they saw a woman walking along the onramp. I didn't see it. Kris couldn't sleep all night, worrying about her. We looked on the computer in the morning and didn't find anything about a death on I-5 so we are guessing all turned out ok. Here are pics of the apartment. We didn't get pics of Rose's room because she was asleep. We didn't get to play with her, either. We just looked at her.
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| Rachel near the kitchen |
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| Eating area |
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| Derek in front of their living room |
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| Karen, Derek, Sam, Jack and Rachel in master bedroom |
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| office/junk room. Every house needs one, especially when you're still moving in. |
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| Jackie and Sam. I had really missed those two. It was fun to see them. |
Thursday, we awoke not so bright and early, around 8:30. We got ready for the day, got another free breakfast and headed out for another day of adventure. This would have to be Disney-free since we only had 2-day passes. We decided to check out Balboa Island. We drove by the Newport Beach Temple, then drove through Newport Beach, the town. We drove to where you get the ferry to Balboa Island and didn't ever make it to the island. We enjoyed walking along the streets, window shopping and just hanging out. We found a fun candy shop that had just about everything. I tried a piece of pumpkin pie salt water taffy and it was delicious. I bought an Abba Zabba and a Big Hunk. I also bought bubble gum cigarettes to bring to my kids. The kind that you put in your mouth and blow and smoke puffs out. I remember those as kids. They are very politically incorrect and I had to get them for my kids to see them. They got a kick out of them. We had Mexican food at a small, very small, place that was recommended by the candy store lady, then we walked along the coast and looked at more houses. We then went to Trader Joe's grocery store, then to the airport. We had some time to kill at the airport and we just sat and visited. We also enjoyed seeing how quickly we would drive people away. People would come sit by us, then leave quickly when they realized that wasn't the quietest corner of the airport. We parted ways starting at 7:00 pm for Karen, 8:00 for me and Jen, then Kris left at 8:30 (barely making her flight because she was sitting at the gate of ANOTHER flight to Oakland). It was a great trip. I miss my sisters already and am looking forward to the next trip. I hope Deb and Kelly might be able to make it.
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| Cute beach house |
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| Lunch |
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| Look at the cheese just dripping off of Karen's fork. YUM! |
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| Another cute house. |
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Jen, Karen and Kris at the airport. Jen's wearing the Midway Mania shirt that she and I both bought.
Aren't my sisters cute?! |
