Dinner Group Moms Take on Disneyland

Maria Trump, Amy Bowden, and me - t shirt in January

My yummy dinner - a large crispy flour tortilla with refried black beans, tomato, avocado, crema, and cheese

The aftermath of the pretzel bread snack

The girl behind us had special needs and she was not excited to be on the ride. In fact, the cast member running the ride checked to ensure she was ok and told her she didn't have to stay if she didn't want to. It was quite sweet. 

My favorite - Midway Mania

Look at that cheesy garlicky pretzel bread and marinara dipping sauce

Just arrived. Ready to walk fast to Guardians

Bonus ride on Midway Mania

This view never gets old - NEVER!

More than 10 years ago, I was in a dinner group with Maria Trump and Amy Bowden. We were neighbors and friends in our American Fork ward. I cooked dinner once/week for all 3 families, delivering dinner to the Bowdens and Trumps. Twice a week, dinner was delivered to our house. It was heaven! I joked that I found out what it was like to have a wife. Our kids still talk fondly of the dinner group days. We ate great food! We had awesome leftovers. It was soooooo fun. 

Well, all 3 of us moms not only loved dinner group and love each other's kids, but we love Disneyland. We planned months ago to go to Disneyland together in January. Maria drove down from Manteca, California, and Amy flew from Provo, to Anaheim on Wednesday. They spent that evening and Thursday at the park. I had to work until 5:00 on Thursday, so I made plans to fly out on Thursday night. Plan A was to catch a Delta flight from SLC to Orange County. Plan B was to fly from SLC to Ontario. 

Flying was an adventure! I got there and there were 5 empty seats on the flight, according to the board. I was #6 on the standby list. I try to remain calm. I try to remind myself that I only need 1 seat. I waited by one young woman who was also on standby. She got on. A party of 4 got on. No seats? I asked the gate agent how things looked. She called the plane and let me know there was a seat. I got to ride in comfort +, arriving around 10:00 pm. Maria and Amy picked me up and we got to the hotel, chatted, and went to bed. It was going to be an early day. 

Maria is a great hotel mate. Since she drove, she brought 3 cozy blankets, nice hand soap for the vanity, and air freshener for the bathroom. I brought tape to tape my mouth shut, hoping to decrease my snoring. 

We got up around 6:30 am to leave the hotel at 7:30. We walked over the the park, starting at California Adventure. We went on Guardians first, then on Webslingers, Midway Mania (twice because the guns malfunctioned the first time), Incredicoaster, and Soaring over the World. We did this all before 11:00 am. Maria and Amy had no idea you could ask to ride again if the ride malfunctions. They were really excited to get another ride. 

We then headed over to Disneyland. Haunted Mansion was first, because Maria wanted to ride it. It's still decorated for Halloween/Christmas. They will be closing it soon to re-do the line. There is not point in undecorating the ride if they'll be closing it soon, so it's still decorated. We then rode Thunder Mountain. Buzz Lightyear, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad, We ate yummy food, like cheesy garlic pretzel bread, soup and sandwiches, popcorn, churro toffee, and lemon pastry that was filled and when Amy bit into it, it squirted all over Maria. We laughed so hard. 

Amy had to catch a flight, so we left the park via the double decker bus around 3:00 to get her packed and off. She flew Breeze from Provo and was limited to a backpack. All of her things didn't fit, so I offered to bring some of her items back to Utah for her. After taking her to the airport, Maria and I came back to the hotel. We got our jackets and walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We had yummy food, then went to Cars Land because it's so cute at night. From Radiator Springs, we went back over to Disneyland for fireworks. They were sooooooo fun! Fun music and colorful projections on the buildings on Main Street.

After fireworks, Maria and I decided to check out the remodel of the treehouse and to ride Storybook Land. That ride is also adorable at night. We left the park around 10 pm. It was a blast! The sun was out and the temperatures were mild for January. 

Saturday morning, Maria was kind enough to drive me to Irvine to meet up with Sarah and Cam, my niece and her husband. We planned to go hiking, but it rained and rained. Instead, we went to Sarah and Cam's house and relaxed. We chatted and hung out. We also got yummy Mexican food for a late lunch. I was pretty tired from a busy week and a long day at Disneyland. After lunch I took a nap while Sarah and Cam shopped for a new dishwasher. Saturday night, we watched a movie in their family room. It was a very relaxing day. I slept in Sunday, then we played games. They taught me a new game called Mantis. I ordered it and have taken it to work to play with colleagues and TAs. Everyone is loving it. 

Flights were looking pretty full. Cam said to go ahead and look into flying out of LAX since there were more options there. I really appreciated their willingness to take me to an airport further away. I had a ticket on United, but wanted to try Delta and get home sooner. When I was dropped off, I walked straight over to Delta, which was in another terminal. It took me almost 30 minutes to walk there. When I got to the gate, the flight was boarded. The gate agents said there was a seat, but I had 3 minutes to log on and purchase it. I got that ticket and got on the flight with their help. Lane and Arlette Kiriyama, from AF, were on the flight, so they waited for me to get off the plane and took Amy's stuff to her. 

I was delayed a bit getting home because we taxied on the runway for a bit and I had to wait for the shuttle back to long term parking, but I made it home. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We laughed, we talked about kids, church, life, etc. So great!

Playing Mantis with Nicole Lauper, Dawna Baugh, and 2 FCSE students I hadn't met before

Mantis with Emily Jorgensen, Madeline Fackrell, Malia Collier, and Starlyn