Disney with Stranger Things Gang

Me, Kristen, Sarah and Cam Christesen

When I was at Sarah and Cameron's house in July, Cameron told me I had to watch "Stranger Things," a very popular TV show. I told him there was no way I would watch it because it's scary and I live alone. He said I HAD to watch it. I said NO. He then tried to bribe me with merchandise from the Disney Store. I didn't bite. Then he offered me a one-day trip to Disneyland if I would watch an episode with him via FaceTime. "OK." 

I got back to Utah and we arranged the time to watch simultaneously. I loved the first episode. I spent my spare time the next few weeks watching all 4 seasons. We scheduled our Disney day and I bought my plane ticket. Kristen bought a ticket to join us and to be the 4th person. Sarah, Cameron, Kristen, and I went to Disneyland on Saturday, November 5. 

I made a paper chain to count down. We texted often in our "Stranger Things Gang" group chat over our excitement about the upcoming trip. Kristen and I arrived Friday around 1:00 pm. We took an Uber to Sarah's school. She's the office manager at a Jewish school in Orange County. We got to meet her co-workers and we got a tour of their beautiful campus. Then we drove to their welcoming home. We met up with their friend Lauren and her daughter, Lily, at a place called "Starfish." It's an Asian fusion restaurant and was amazing! Wow, it was delicious. We went to bed early to be ready for the big day. 

Thunder Mountain Railroad

So happy to see the beginnings of Christmas decor

Toy Story Mania

Starlyn loves Dory, so I had to take this picture

Silly Swings

Cute ticket - it's always fun to see what you get

Saturday we got up early and left their home at 7:30 to get to the park. There was an accident right at the entrance of the Mickey and Friends parking structure, so we went to the Toy Story parking lot. Good thing I know Disney. We started the day in Disneyland and our first ride was Thunder Mountain on our way to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. We rode Pirates, Space Mountain, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Rise of the Resistance, and Buzz Lightyear. Cameron isn't a huge Disney fan and hadn't been in years. In fact, he'd never been to California Adventure. The weather was a perfect sunny 70-ish degrees all day. At 1:00 pm, we hopped over to California Adventure. Cam really liked Radiator Springs Racers. We did the Incredicoaster, Toy Story Mania, Web Slingers, Tower of Terror, and had delicious tacos. We also went on the Silly Swings.  It was such a fun day. By 8:00, we were going to go back to Disneyland to ride Haunted Mansion, but we decided we'd done enough, so we went home. I like leaving the parks on my own terms. It was fantastic. We grabbed Taco Bell and McDonald's (for Kristen) on our way home. We were tired. We had sore feet. It was GREAT.

Sunday we slept in, then went to breakfast at a French restaurant. We then went to their local farmer's market. I bought a beautiful cutting board. I just couldn't resist it. After the farmer's market, we went back to their house and rested. I napped a bit. We watched "Tangled" because Kristen had never seen it. We had leftovers for lunch and Sarah made a delicious dinner. She is such a great cook. We finished the day at the beach, watching the sun set. She and Cameron are the most fun hosts. They always have Diet Dr. Pepper, they ask if we want or need certain foods, and they make me feel so welcomed. I love visiting them and look forward to going many, many more times. 

This design is called drunken checkerboard

I had emails to deal with before flying home. I got answers when I landed in Salt Lake. I stopped at the grocery store, took a quick shower, then went to work for some Monday night meetings. Vacation OVER.