She's Back!

Super excited to get lightening lane on Midway Mania

Saw Alyssa Arnold, our former TA and food buyer, and her cute family

We are incredible parents

Jenny is literally the first person to follow the cast member on Monsters, Inc.

70th Anniversary decorations in Downtown Disney

The Apple Cheddar Cinnamon Roll ice cream was delicious

Symphony Silly Swings

The only down side of the hotel was the really low shower head

Thank you to the girl who took this picture on the morning of September 6. The lighting was perfect. 

Ice water all day. Paper straws suck. 

Jenny, me, Sarah, and Cam

Galaxy's Edge for fireworks was perfect for us girlies who saw Star Wars when it came out and LOVED it

Jenny got home from her mission in Angola and early July. She and I made it back to Disneyland in early September. We took a very early flight to Long Beach on Friday, September 5, arriving in Anaheim around 9:00. We pre-checked into the Desert Inn and Suites and got our bags stored. That was a bit of an ordeal since the locker ate our coins without engaging the lock. We had to go to the office, who had to call maintenance. We got it figured out and went over to California Adventure and went straight to Little Mermaid. I had to join a work Zoom meeting at 10 am California time, so that's all I had time for before finding a quiet place to join the Zoom. The meeting ended after about 45 minutes, giving Jen just enough time to ride "Soaring Over the World." We then went on all of our favorite rides, Guardians of the Galaxy, Webslingers (Jen had never been on that), Incredicoaster, and Monsters, Inc. We walked right up to Monsters as they were re-opening. We were the first ones to walk on right after it opened. When we went to ride Midway Mania, I said "let's see if there is a single rider line." The cast member told us that there isn't, but she saw us two old ladies and let us go in the lightening lane. It was a thrill. We got my favorite wedge salad and shared a piece of pizza. We got "I'm Celebrating" buttons. Jenny's said "I'm back" and mine said "She's back." We did some shopping, got Salt and Straw ice cream (Jenny had never been there), then went back to the hotel to take naps and rest from the heat. The room was great. We had nice air conditioning and plenty of room. We slept for quite a while, going back to the park around 6:00. I looked and noticed that the park closed at 9:00. We had to figure out what rides we wanted to ride. We were in line for Guardians and decided to try another ride or two, since the line was so long. We decided to go on Midway Mania again. We tried our single rider act, and it got us in the lightening lane again. It was a perfect day of sister time at our happy place. The sun was out. We went to McDonald's for dinner. Hahahaha. 

We got up early on Saturday and headed to Disneyland - The Happiest Place on Earth! We continued our luck. We went straight to Indiana Jones. Jenny really wanted to ride Haunted Mansion next, but it was temporarily closed. It remained closed for a long time. We rode Space Mountain, Small World, and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad (Jenny had never ridden it). We also wanted to ride the train. We were in line to ride the train back to main street, and I looked behind me and saw people moving at the Haunted Mansion. By this time, it had been temporarily closed for hours. We ran over there and walked right on the ride. What a blast! After Haunted Mansion, we wanted to ride the railroad. It wasn't open. Dang. We walked back to Main Street and watched a short bit about the Sherman Brothers, who wrote many, many songs for Disney movies. We also watched an animatronic show about Walt Disney's life. We enjoyed popcorn and cheesy garlic bread. I don't remember what we got for lunch. I do remember having a hard time deciding what to eat, but we landed on something good. Just as we walked outside of the park, Jenny looked back and saw people on the train, so we went back into the park and rode the train. We really had great luck and got to do everything we wanted to do, including resting and relaxing. 

We went back to our hotel around 3:30 again, for naps and rest. We then met up with Sarah and Cam at Din Tai Fung for dinner. We had delicious dumplings, fried rice, dessert, etc. The conversation was even better! We had such a great time with Sarah and Cam. We talked and talked and laughed. It was soooo much fun. I have spent a lot of time at their house and I just love spending time with them. I had actually seen them the previous week, when I picked them up at the Provo Airport and took them to their hotel in Lehi. It was fun to say "see you next week" which we did at Downtown Disney. 

After dinner, Jen and I watched the parade as we walked to Galaxy's Edge to watch the fireworks. The view of the fireworks from there is spectacular. Neither Jen nor I had ever done that. Cute little Star Wars weirdos lift their light sabers before the fireworks and music begin. The music is fantastic. It's all Star Wars music and is synced to the fireworks. I talked Jenny into going on Tiana's log ride. We got on the single rider line right before it closed. We got SOAKED, but we enjoyed it. We were heading straight back to the hotel anyway. Jen's shoes were a bit wet the next day for the flight home, but she survived. 

It was such a great trip. We both bought 70th anniversary Christmas tree ornaments and bought a Disneyland Tshirt. Jenny bought 3 sugar cookies. I bought 2 gingerbread cookies and some chocolates to take to work. We got home mid-morning Sunday. I took a long nap to prepare for a full week of work. What a blessing to have the funds to go on such a trip. Also a blessing to have a sister that I enjoy spending time with. Great to meet with Sarah and Cam, too. Such a blessing. Life is good. God is great.