Before I start this post I would like to say that I am no writer. I am not great at paying attention to what a proper sentence is. I hardly ever use punctuation correctly. I have always been horrible at spelling. I just do this blog for me, so that I can look back and read about events that have been important to me and enjoy reminiscing. Kinda like an online journal. I share it so those who are closest to me that want to read it can.
In this post I will be writing about our recent trip to Disneyland! I have a feeling it may be long and will be full of grammatical errors that I just don't want to worry about. So.. don't judge :)
On Friday February 7th Michael and I both worked until 6:00. It was snowing and freezing in Rexburg when we got off work. So we couldn't have been more happy to load up the car and drive to warm and sunny California. We drove through a small blizzard that evening. We quickly stopped at the Winco in Pocatello to stock up on some snack foods and then we drove to Layton to stay the night with our friends Logan and Kayla. They had set up a tent in their living room for us to sleep in which was so sweet. Michael and I didn't get much sleep that night. We must have been excited I suppose! Or It could have been the rooster that was making all sorts of noise before the sun came up. Not that we minded because it made us giggle. We talked excitedly about Disneyland and laughed over each others' stupid jokes until it was time to go to breakfast with Logan and Kayla :)
We went to Sill's Cafe, a place the 4 of us visited before. They have these amazing scones that are bigger then your head.. I don't think there is a better way to start the day ;)
Our next stop was lunch with Devin, another former mission companion in Cedar City.
Soon after Cedar City we drove through St. George where we saw our first palm trees. I was ridiculously excited about seeing palm trees. I was screaming with happiness and trying to take pictures of every palm tree I could see. And of course none of the pictures actually look good. I was just so excited I kept taking pictures anyway. Our favorite part of the drive was going through Arizona. There is this area where you drive through these beautiful canyons for about 15 minutes before getting to Nevada. It was amazing. Of course I took pictures of that too but a picture just does not justify how amazing it was to see.
We were happy to get out of the car when we got to Vegas. It had been a few months since either of us had felt any sort of warm air outside :) This was a pretty happy moment for me. I was with my favorite person in the world, the sun was setting and causing beautiful colors to spread across the sky, the temperature could not have been more perfect, and there were palm trees.. so as you can imagine I was feeling pretty happy.
this nostril shot was an attempt to get a selfie with the palm trees.. your welcome.
We went to the strip to see the Bellagio fountains and walk around the mall. We didn't really like being there though so we didn't stay for to long.
We stayed at the LVH hotel that night and the next day we headed for Anaheim :)
We arrived shortly before sunset. We went to Downtown Disney, got some dinner, met some really hilarious Canadians in the hot tub and then went to bed early.
Monday morning we headed to Disneyland. FINALLY.
We started the day in California Adventure. Soarin over California was our first ride, then Goofy's flight school, the silly symphony swings were next and all the lines were really quite short we were just jumping from one ride to the next. So because the line for Screamin was short we got on that one next.
Random fact: Screamin goes from 0 to 55 MPH in 4 seconds. I think it would have been nice to know that before I got on that ride. Ha. I didn't even watch it before we got on! So we are sitting there just waiting for the ride to start just chatting and I am assuming that when the ride starts we will go slowly up the big hill (like most roller coasters do) and then I could prepare myself for the big drop. Oh no. Very suddenly we just took off. That was the most intense feeling I think I have ever felt. I really don't think it would have been so intense if I would have been expecting it.. but my legs were shaking for like an hour after that ride. Don't worry, I ended up going on it again several times and loved it. The first time was just quite a shock.
We grabbed fast passes for World of Color and Cars for that evening before we went over to Disneyland. We got in line for Indiana Jones and it ended up being our favorite ride that day so we did that one a couple times and then went to go get on Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, prior to coming to Disneyland I worried that Michael wouldn't enjoy himself like I would. He had been once when he was really young and didn't love it, so he was mostly just going for me. But thankfully he was loving it! It was in the line for Pirates that he told me that he wanted to upgrade our 4 day pass to a 5 day pass. :) I was trilled of course so we did upgrade them before we went back to the hotel that night.
That evening we went back to California adventure to ride Cars. That one honestly kinda takes my breath away! I can't handle the feeling in my stomach during the race when the cars go up and down these small hills.
Michael gets a pretty big kick out of this picture, as well as every other picture that was taken on Cars because my face looks the same in every one. It was intense for me for some reason.. It doesn't seem to be that way for anyone else. But I do love it.
We did a few more rides including Screamin again. Michael surprised me with my Minnie ears, he thinks I look darling in wearing them :) Sweet boy. We had dinner at the sourdough bread bowl place in the Pacific Wharf area at some point that night.. possibly just before we went to World of Color. That could quite possibly be the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It is a fountain show on the water at Paradise Pier. It puts the Bellagio fountains to shame. I would highly recommend it. You can watch it on youtube.. but of course it is nothing like being there for the real thing.
Tuesday was our magic morning in Disneyland. The weather was a bit chill and foggy but I loved that morning. It was another slow day so no long waits in any line. Other then Matterhorn.. that one seemed to be the longest for some reason.
Our favorite ride of that day would have to be Space Mountain. I believe we went on that one 4 times. This was the day that we got our first Dole whip, road the train around the park, met Mickey and Minnie, and watched the parade.
Wednesday was the day that we had originally planned to sleep in and relax on the beach and go shopping maybe.. and that would have been nice especially because our bodies were just a little sore and tired from all the excitement from the past couple of days. But we are both glad that we spent the day in Disneyland despite our bodies desire to rest. It was another magical day of new adventures.
We went on Tower of Terror. I think my favorite part of that ride is just waking past it and hearing the screaming. It just adds to the creepiness of it all. We were glad we rode it for the experience but we couldn't seem to get ourselves go on that one again. My favorite memory of that day was watching the Pixar Parade with Michael. We had just gotten ice cream from the Ghirardelli shop. It came in these chocolate dipped waffle cones. That chocolate was so good, and melted all over your face so fast. It was pretty messy, and got much more messy when Michael decided to intentionally smear the chocolate all over our faces and leave it there while we watched the parade. I kept wiping it off my face but that boy has no shame. Not only that but he would do anything to make me laugh. And it worked. I was crying from laughing so hard every time I looked over at him it just got more and more ridiculous. I'm sure it was one of those times that other people are looking at us thinking about how dumb and immature we are but it was so hilarious I just don't even care.
We left a little early that night because our feet felt like they would fall off if we kept walking. We watched Pocahontas in bed until we fell asleep.
Thursday morning was especially exciting. My sister Marsha and her family came to spend a couple days with us and we were SO excited about seeing them. We get to the parking garage and were talking about how excited we are and as we are pulling up to pay for parking for the day I noticed the man and women in the booth were looking at us and smiling even though there were still cars in front of us. When we got to them we handed them our card as we did every day that we parked there. The woman handed it back to us and excitedly said "YOU TWO ARE OUR GUESTS OF THE DAY!!!" She didn't charge us for parking and then handed us "Guest of the Day" certificate.
Then the man asked us to follow him in his car and he took us to the best parking spot possible in Disneyland's parking lot. His name was Tim and he was incredibly kind :) He gave some "we're celebrating" pins to wear that day and escorted us to the front of the line for the first tram so we could get to the park as early as possible. I guess they just randomly select someone every day! How lucky are we!! We were super happy and excited about it!
We got to California adventure and went to find the Millwards. As soon as we spotted them Abram ran to me and jumped into my arms. It is the best feeling ever to be loved by children that you adore. Being and aunt rocks! I could have cried I was so happy to see them :) I have the best family members in the world. So lucky.
Spending the day with them was fabulous. Loved every minute of it. There were still several rides that we hadn't done yet and it was so fun to experience it with them! I loved to watch especially Ava when she would see Characters. Watching her when she saw Buzz was probably my favorite. She started screaming and waving at him. But let's be honest.. I did the same thing when I saw Sully..
After going on several rides that morning Marsha and the kids went back to the hotel to take a nap while Marsha's Michael, my Michael and I went to lunch at Cafe Orleans and went on larger rides like Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Matterhorn that Michael doesn't often do because his children won't go with him.
They came back late afternoon and we enjoyed the rest of the day and ended it with watching World of Color again.
Valentines Day was on Friday, it was our last day there and because it was the busiest day we used this day to go to lots of shows rather then ride lots of rides.
Mickey and the Magical Map was really enjoyable. At the end of the show there are all these twisty streamers that come falling down and Ava started gathering every strand possible. I don't know why it was so important to her to get every single piece she saw but it was hilarious watching her glaring at other children holding just one piece.
See that girl running with the pink strand behind Ava? Yes that girl was getting the death stare until I got Ava's attention for this picture.
There is an area in Fantasy Land called the Royal Theatre that does melodramas. I watched it with both Michaels while Marsha and the kids went back to the hotel to rest. We went to California Adventure for the 3D bugs life movie which I did not like..
Marsha and the kids came back and we went to dinner at the Plaza Inn where we had spots to watch the fireworks from. We spent some time catching a few last rides. Marsha, my Michael and I went and did Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion before meeting up with the rest of the group to watch Fantasmic. Following the show we all went on Pirates together for our last ride. I was trying not to be sad leaving the park but I couldn't help it. I always hate it when good things come to an end. We took a few pictures on our way out and hugged goodbye at the gates.
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We loved it. Such an amazing week!! I was so glad my sister and her family could come while we were there. I honestly can't think of anything negative from this trip other then the hotel we stayed at on the way home. Don't ever stay in the Ramada by the airport in Salt Lake. That was by far the creepiest hotel I have ever seen.. We were a little but scared for our lives. I guess it makes for a good memory though :)
Now we cant help but want to watch Disney movies and documentaries the history of Disneyland and on Walt Disney. So now that I am done with this post I am going to spend the morning snuggled up with Michael while we watch Toy Story 2 :)
