Catch-up post #5

I went to Yakima!  Ben's high school varsity team made it to the state playoffs so Lonnie, Ben and I drove a couple of hours east to watch them play.  Cindy recently started a new job so she didn't get to go with us so it was just me and the boys (scary, I know.)

There was a lot of snow on the pass but the roads were clear.

  

Ben stayed awake exactly 17 minutes of the car ride, I think.

We went to Miner's and Ben did his best to put away a double Miner's burger.

Lindbergh won their first game (yay!) and we had to wait until 9 PM the next night for their next game.  We went shopping to kill some time and while we were at the mall, someone stole my iPad and jewelry out of the car.  I was super sad.  Beyond sad.  Thankfully, I either left my car unlocked or they had some other way to open it without breaking any glass or anything.  It would have been a huge pain to have to get that fixed (gotta look at the bright side.)  I'm also thankful we didn't have anything else of value go missing and I'm especially grateful I was wearing my Tiffany key necklace so it wasn't in the bag of  jewelry that was taken. 

But seriously! Why do people have to be such jerks???  Sheesh.  Get a dang job and buy your own stuff and quit stealing from people!

We had gotten to the stadium to watch one of the other games when I realized my stuff was gone and I made the boys go inside so I could cry alone.  They got tired of waiting for me so they came back to the car, told me jokes to make me smile and then took me to Sonic.  Now, if you remember, I'm off DC so I got a yummy raspberry limeade to help ease my pain.  So dang good.

Ah...Sonic. 

The basketball team lost their next two games so they ended up taking 5th in state, which is awesome.  Even though I lost three pairs of earrings, two necklaces and, sigh, my iPad, I really did have a great time. And yes, I've ordered the new iPad but that's another post for another day.

Disneyland -- the end (yes, finally.)

Okay, I'm packing way too many pictures into this one but I just didn't feel right making my trip recap take up four different posts.  On our last full day, we first hit Space Mountain again.  So worth any amount of time you have to wait in line - trust me.

We rode a bunch of rides and then went back and changed because we had lunch reservations at the ultra-exclusive Club 33. Michelle had the connection to get us in and it was a total bucket list experience for her.  DeAnne and I read up on the place so we could be properly impressed.  The restaurant has a private entrance in the New Orleans section.  After we were buzzed in, we waited a few minutes before our table was ready.  Michelle was SO excited.

We got to ride the antique French lift upstairs which was very awesome.

For lunch they have an appetizer buffet to start and we had all sorts of yummy things to eat.  We dressed up a little even though everything we read said lunches are more casual.  There were people there in shorts and tennis shoes but we felt like we wanted to dress for our surroundings and we were so glad we did.  The staff all commented on how nice we looked.

After the appetizers, they brought our entree which was a fabulous chateaubriand.  YUM.

After the perfect steak, we finished our meal with a dessert buffet.  I cannot even express to you how full we were by this point but we powered through.  The picture below shows my two favorites - the cheesecake pop at the top of my plate and the Mickey macaroon.  Disneyland's macaroons are the bomb.

Okay, I had to take a picture of the bathroom because hello - have you ever seen a toilet like this???

After lunch, we walked through the restaurant and took some pictures.  Elton John once played this piano.

The place is full of really beautiful artwork - I loved these sketches of Bert & Mary from Mary Poppins.  When we were looking at these, one of the waitresses told us that Dick Van Dyke had been in the restaurant the week before.  Can you even imagine what it would have been like to see Dick Van Dyke there?  I would have died.

This table was in Mary Poppins in the Banks' home.

Here we are after lunch, sickly full but SO happy for the beautiful experience we had.  The meal was SUPER expensive but I loved the opportunity to see this historical place and to help make one of Michelle's dreams come true.

After lunch, DeAnne stayed back at the room while Michelle and I went back to California Adventure.  We rode Tower of Terror again (my fave) as well as the Toy Story ride (loved it!)  We also got to be in the first row of Soarin' over California which I LOVED.  We didn't really smell the oranges though - not sure if they don't do that anymore or what.  When we were walking through the park, we saw Mickey arrive and we ran over so we could get a picture.  I was so happy and used one of the shots for my Christmas Card this year.

We left on Wednesday morning and got this picture in our hotel lobby - seriously beautiful.  I don't know how I will be able to ever stay anywhere else when I go back.

We had brunch at the Storyteller's Cafe and met a bunch of the characters as well as had the greatest french toast with buttermilk syrup EVER.  For whatever reason, I look exhausted in all of these shots.  Don't judge.

The raccoon from my least favorite Disney movie ever - Pochahontas.

And finally - forcing my eyes to be really open, thus having the dreaded crazy eyes.

I had the best time on our trip and I'm so grateful I finally went.  Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth.  I can't wait to go back!

Disneyland - the middle

One thing I loved a lot about Disneyland is you could always find someone who would take your group's picture if you'd return the favor.  Most of the time, people were pretty good too.  I love this shot of us on Main Street.  

So I spent lots of time looking longingly at the sparkly Minnie Mouse ears and after going back in forth in my mind about it and mostly talking myself out of it, DeAnne kindly bought each of us a set and I wore them proudly all day.  Seriously, they're cute right?  And mouse ears on a woman of my age (that would be 26, in case you've forgotten) isn't weird or lame, is it?  Yeah, I didn't think so either.

DeAnne was getting over bronchitis so every afternoon she went back to the room to rest so on Monday afternoon, Michelle and I hit all of the classic rides.  Here she is on It's a Small World.  

Here's me - I loved this ride.  Yes the music was obnoxious but it was just cute and fun.  Another thing I loved was The Tiki Tiki Room (no picture.)  Yes, cheesy, but I loved the birds and the dumb jokes.  Okay, and the pineapple whip was awesome too.

So I learned early on that Michelle was not the most skilled at taking the self-portrait.  Case in point here...I'm posting only because it's a great shot of me haha. I think we're on the Teacup ride (also fun.)

We took Mr. Toad's Wild Ride next which came highly recommended and did not disappoint.

My ears are a little crooked here but I had to post a shot outside the castle.

Okay, and to prove that I only post attractive pictures of me, I have to add this shot of our first time on Space Mountain.  I loved this ride so much - easily my favorite Disneyland ride.  I honestly thought I might die the first time we rode this one just because it was so dark and I had no idea if I was going to be decapitated or whatever.  But look at this picture of DeAnne - seriously...have you seen a more bored out of their mind expression while Michelle and I are obviously having the time of our lives???

So I don't know if you remember that on the day before, we rode the Grizzly River Run and got a little damp.  Well, at the end of the day, we decided to try out Splash Mountain and again Michelle promised we wouldn't get that wet.  Well...we got wet.

Seriously drenched!  It was horrible.  We left puddles wherever we went.  I will never again mock those people who bring rain ponchos on the water rides.

After this ride, we went to the bakery at Pooh's Corner and had two of my most favorite treats ever:  the white chocolate chip cookie and the peanut butter sandwich.  Those two items alone are worth a trip to Disneyland. 

Okay, the finale is coming soon -- stay tuned for our once in a lifetime trip to Club 33 plus me and a lot of people in animal costumes.

Disneyland - the beginning

It's long past time that I should recap my trip to Disneyland, wouldn't you say?

So if you are a devoted reader of my blog, you will know that this was my first ever visit to the Magic Kingdom.  I'm not sure why I never went until now but it really was well worth the wait.  I went with two friends I've known for more than 20 years, Michelle and DeAnne.  They'd both been before so really, the trip was all for me. ;)

We stayed at the Grand Californian which was simply beautiful.  I loved being so close to the park. Here's the view from our hotel room the night we arrived.

Michelle surprised us right from the beginning by having these super cute, personalized pillowcases for us.

We got in kind of late so we decided to just walk over to Disneyland and check things out.  I loved all of the decorations for Halloween!

We got to Main Street in time for the fireworks - hurray for the photo bomb in our first group shot.  And please note the first timer pin, which actually did nothing for me...maybe it works better for kids?

Michelle will kill me for putting this picture up but I have to...so in her hand is this little bottle called "Fresh Drops."  She bought it at Safeway before she took a bunch of girls on some soccer trip.  This stuff is actually kind of magical - you drop a few drops into the toilet before you go...and guess what?  No smell.  Seriously.  It totally works.  I thought you'd all like to see this because it would make a great Christmas gift for that special someone in your life...seriously...

Okay, first day is done and now we're onto day two - the first full day of fun.  We went to California Adventure first and our first ride was The Little Mermaid.  Okay, so maybe not the best choice but there was also no line.  It was darling and fun - just not that exciting.  Oh and please note the new bag I bought for the trip - big enough for my wallet, camera and phone and super cute as well.

After our first ride, we took a quick photo together...love these girls!

We had reservations for brunch at Ariel's Grotto and look who we got to meet first off:

We sat outside, in perfect view of the closed-for-repairs California Screamin' (sadness) and waited for brunch to begin. I love my Michelley - isn't she pretty?

The food took forever to arrive so we posed with princesses while we waited.  I told Cinderella she had lipstick on her teeth just before we took our picture together.  I mean, wouldn't YOU have told her??? She's Cinderella, for goodness sake.

Belle showed me how to pose - I've got to work on how to position the hand, just so, I'm thinking. And no it's not one bit strange that a bunch of adults were taking pictures with the Princesses. Why ever would you think such a thing?

Michelley had to be with Snow White because, hello - they look alike!

Well, we waited and waited for brunch but they had something go wrong in the kitchen so we didn't get to eat.  So sad...so we left and got a corn dog (yum.)  DeAnne and I rode Mickey's Fun Wheel (swinging...I loved it when I thought we were going to sail on into the water!)

Next we went on Tower of Terror - twice.  Can I just say how much I adore that ride?  Here's the pic during my first ride - please note that I laughed my way through it, as you can clearly see.

The second time, we decided to pose and did a little jazz hands aka Just Jack!

We did a bunch of other rides too - Soaring over California, Monster's Inc, the Muppets, Turtle Talk and more.  At the end of the day, we went on the Grizzly River Run.  Michelle assured us we wouldn't get that wet.  She said "it'll just be a mist."  So we went...and as you can plainly see, we got pretty wet.  

So that's our first two days...stay tuned for more (before 2012, I promise!)

Oh, Idaho! (Part 2)

One of my favorite things about my weekend in Idaho was visiting the Rexburg temple.  The girls and I went first on Friday and took a couple of pictures (and soon after that was when I accidentally erased my SD card.)

This really is my new favorite temple. So beautiful.

Gorgeous girls

Late Friday night, I was emailing with Kim and I told her I was planning to go to the temple Saturday morning to do an endowment session and she asked if I was going with my favorite guy Greg.  The crazy thing is I hadn't even thought about asking him.  I'm so used to just doing everything alone, you know?  But I texted him at like midnight and he said he'd love to go (to the 9 AM session, in fact and we texted until 1 AM! Don't you love college life???)  Thank you, Kim, for the suggestion!  Greg's cousin Stephen plus their roommate Juan came with us.  It was such a treat to be in the temple with them.  I've known Greg since he was around 12 years old and I have loved watching him grow up.  He's just amazing and awesome.

Stephen, me and Greg.  

After the temple, I picked up the girls and we went to Bear World!  

The girls learned on this trip that I'm sort of obsessed with wildlife so getting to drive through a little park and see bears, elk, mountain goats and even a moose is really my idea of a good time. I won't bore you with a bunch of animal pictures but will include this one because this was quite possibly the coolest, most Zen bear you will ever see in your whole entire lives. 

Seriously.  Can you believe that guy?  He was so awesome.  Next we went into the gift shop and petting zoo and took all sort of fun pictures (all the while, talking in our Southern accents, remember.)

 

Nikki & Emily.  Seriously - how can you look at this picture and not laugh?

 

Sarah looks like she was trying to scare Cindy and succeeded!

After Bear World, we went back to campus and got Kristina.  We may or may not have driven around town with Sarah in the back of the car.

We got some Creamery chocolate milk and then went back to the temple and took a bunch of pictures. It was super windy (love that about Rexburg...um...not) but I got this beautiful shot of the girls.

I still can't believe how blessed I am to have these girls in my life (as well as the others who weren't with us that weekend...you know who you are!)  They truly fill my heart with joy and make me forget that I'm kind of old.

 

After the temple, we went to dinner with Greg and Stephen at Pizza Pie Cafe again.  

Love him.

Stephen makes the best faces.

After dinner, we took Kristina home and then went back to Sarah & Emily's apartment.  We hugged good bye and I of course, started to cry.  I'm such a baby. (Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!)

Sunday morning, Nikki, Cindy and I went to church with my friends, the Brownings.  

Sherry's husband was my bishop while I was YW president and it was so fun to get to see their new home and to see how much their kids have grown in the two years since they moved away.  I love their youngest son, Ryan.  He was one of my favorites when I was in Primary.

After church, the girls changed into road trip clothes (please note Cindy's shoes.)

Then we were off.  It was such a long drive but the girls were good and stayed awake for most of it.  Nikki had her laptop so we watched (I listened of course - I WAS driving after all) Despicable Me and 17 Miracles.  When we got close to Spokane, I texted my friends Richard and Sue to see if they wanted to feed us and let us use their bathroom and of course they did.  

Sue was out of town but Richard (who used to be my home teacher) put out a spread that she would have been proud of -- sandwiches, salads, juice, and all sorts of healthy food.  It was just what we needed to make the last five hours fly by even though it made me wish, again, that Richard and Sue hadn't moved so far away (notice a trend...my friends are all moving away from me.)

All in all, a fantastic trip filled with fun and laughter...so much laughter.  I want to try and remember some of the funny things we said like "I've got to pew" but it's after midnight and I'm brain dead.  Loved the trip, the time with the girls, our fun memories, eating at Costa Vida, and on and on.  I'll be ready to go back when the snow melts, girls.  Let's plan another trip now!