Here are some pictures of our trip to Disneyland. Click on the collage for a larger view, or you can see a lot more here.

We had such a great time!! We were sad to come home, especially since we left 97* weather and came hom to 38* and snow, yes SNOW!!! Obviously we are freezing!

We made the trip home in one day... a very long 15+ hour day. It wasn't fun, but we found we can do it and it was okay. Some things we learned on our way home...

* watch out for construction in Vegas. It's crazy!

* there weren't many Idaho drivers on the road, but they bugged me. (So did Utah drivers, but that's nothing new.)

* DON'T EAT AT THE FAZOLLI'S IN PROVO!!! It was disgusting!!

* Stop and get out every 4 hours or so, even to just go potty or walk around the car. Your legs and back and bum will thank you.

* Take your neighbor in the car with you. It makes us all be nicer to each other and keeps Calvin from stinking the car up.

We had so much fun we decided we'd like to save our money to go back next year.

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

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Wednesday Is A Special Day...

... it's the day we use to rest.

We were so exhausted and sore from our previous days in the Parks that we changed our schedule. Originally, we were going to spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Parks and Thursday would be spent at points beyond, seeing different parts of So. Cal. Unfortunately, there was no way we could put in another HUGE day sprinting from Indiana Jones to Space Mtn., to Haunted Mansion, so we opted for a calmer more relaxing day.

We drove to San Diego and spent a calm, relaxing (mostly) afternoon in Sea World. The atmosphere there was completely different from Disney -- in a lot of ways. Firstly, their employees haven't had the "happiness training" Disney employees have to have. Most of them were very grumpy and didn't even greet us.

Oh well. We survived because the other difference was pure bliss: The crowds were minimal. We didn't have to fight for any openings in windows to see the Beluga Whales or Polar Bears. We were able to get great seats for the Dolphin show and Shamu's Show (we got drenched by the dolphins. I'm talking ring-us-out we're sloshing in our shoes wet!! It was great!!)

There were memory making highlights of the day and one horrible low point of the day. I'll tell about the horrible moment first:

We were walking in to see the Manatee and there was a woman and her family by the entrance. The woman was big and mean and MAD!!! Her little boy had done something that put her over the top. As we walked by, she was screaming and she pushed him toward a bench and told him he needed to go sit down. We were shocked, but unsure if we needed to step in because he went to the bench by himself and she stayed behind.... or so we thought.

As we were walking into the attraction, Calvin heard her yell, "Assume the position!!" He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and walked back out the door to see what was going to happen. I knew the woman was large and she scared me. I tried to pull him back. Thankfully, my husband is a better person than me and he's not afraid of doing what's right. Also, he could see what I couldn't....

The woman had come back to her son carrying a large belt. (Yes, all this happened in a public area!!!) When she yelled, "assume the position" it was because she was going to beat him. Calvin walked up to her and told her not to do it. She became even more angry and started screaming at my husband.

I was very scared.

Calvin, is a very calm person and he wouldn't back down. Even though she was yelling at him to leave her alone and that she could whip her own boy if she wanted, he kept talking, telling her not to do it. He even said these words to her, "You're better than this."

This woman got one whack at the boy before she felt compelled to leave. Calvin's presence had created more of a scene than she wanted, so she packed up and left. We tried to find security to see if someone could help that poor child more, but, the laid back atmosphere of the park meant there was none that we could find. We had an employee call and gave them a description, but we know nothing was done about it.

I just hope that poor child remembers that there was a man (a very good man) that stepped in on his behalf. I hope that woman remembers Calvin's words that she's better than that. I hope that I remember that doing the right thing isn't always easy, but it can save a child.

Okay, so I wanted the bad stuff done first so I can end this post (#92... I'm approaching the 100 mark!!) on a happy note:

Today I conquered a HUGE fear and pet a (drum roll please.......) STINGRAY!!! I was terrified -- scared out of my mind to touch a slimy thing in the water. But I knew that I would regret it if I didn't so I sucked up every ounce of courage I could find and stuck my hand in the water.

The first touch was (and I won't lie) DISGUSTING!! Totally and utterly slimy, squishy and horrendous. I squealed and pulled my hand out, but wanted to try it again. I was a little more brave the second time and I found out that it wasn't as slimy and squishy as I originally thought it was. No, it actually felt more like I thought it would feel. Pretty soon, you couldn't keep my hand out of the water!! One cool moment that happened was when I found an especially friendly stingray that swam right up to me and pressed against the retaining wall and poked his surprisingly cute face out of the water and looked at me. He hung out with me for what seemed like a long time before he took off. I wanted to take him home with me.

It was simply AWESOME!!!

On the way back to Anaheim, we stopped for a few minutes at the San Diego Temple and walked the grounds. I took a few pictures (with my point and shoot), talked to a patron and headed back. Calvin was pretty tired on the drive back, so I took the wheel for the first time since entering California (another proud moment. I've been pretty scared to drive here because the traffic is a lot heavier than the streets I drive).

So that's where we're at. Tomorrow is Day 3 (final day) in Disneyland. We'll head home soon.

P.S. I'm using my point and shoot camera because (and I'm soo mad!!!) the lense on my good Nikon got broken yesterday. I'm not sure how or where. It stayed in its case all day (except when in use) but it must have gotten crushed in a ride somewhere. I am so thankful that I brought both cameras along! The point and shoot isn't fabulous, but it's quite adequate and will still record the memories.

P.S.S. I almost ruined my point and shoot today. I thought I had it put somewhere safe for the Dolphin Show, but it got drenched too. The salt water made it nearly impossible to move the dial to turn the camera on and off. I worked it hard though and think I broke through the salt seal that was created.

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I'd like to give a shout out my friend, Sarah M who's new to blogging! Welcome aboard!! I can't wait to see you and the boys in a couple weeks!!

Vacation Thoughts

I couldn't post yesterday. I tried, but I couldn't connect to the internet and Calvin was too asleep to help me. Oh well. This is what I was going to say:

"Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked."

You remember that Primary song, don't you?

I thought of that all day as we walked miles through California Adventure and Disneyland.

I'm pretty sure if I was a pioneer, they would have shot me and left me on the prairie.

Bloody stumps and all.

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(That's all I'm saying about that.)

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We're having a blast. It's hot and I mean HOT!! The weather guy said it was one degree short of the record high. It was 97 degrees yesterday. We came here in October for two reasons: the weather would be cooler and smaller crowds. Both reasons have been shot to heck. The heat has been horrendous!! Thank heavens for backpacks and water bottles so we could stay hydrated.
And.... the crowds have been huge as well. We're not the only school district that is having a vacation. The Arizona schools are on break right now and the crowds are summer-like. We could have come in July and had the same experience. Oh well. Thank heavens for RideMax and FastPass. The only lines we've had to wait a long time in were the rides that didn't have FastPass (and when we ditched our RideMax schedule.)

The kids are having fun anyway and haven't complained at all. The miles we've walked has to be astounding and they keep going and going. Energizer Bunny going. I'm proud of them.

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I just checked weather.com and we'll be going home to 39 degree weather with a chance of snow. There may be a slight chance we won't be going home.

I'm....

too....

tired.....

to.....

blog......

Maybe tomorrow.......

(No, Devyn, we didn't lose Adam! He was a good boy and stayed right by our side all day!!!)

Alive!!

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth!!

It's been a couple long days and more than one wrong turn, but we've made it to Anaheim and our hotel. It was an adventure getting here:

The first day of driving was the long day. We drove from our home to Mesquite, Nevada (which is longer than 4 hours). The hard part about that was the rain. It rained the entire day!!! It was irritating, annoying and down right obnoxious. I was driving when we went through Salt Lake and it was so hard to see the road in front and behind us. Add to that the large amounts of traffic (much larger amounts than what I'm used to driving in) and I was "white knuckle driving." Add to that the fact that we put Mr. Jabber-box in the far back seat of the Tahoe and I couldn't hear a word he was trying to say to me because of the amount of water hitting the top of the car and running beneath the car. Aly wanted music on, and Adam wanted to talk and I couldn't hear a darn thing. That made my knuckles a bit more white and I'm sure I gained more than a few more white hairs on my head

*Note to self: Call hair dresser when we get back for a touch-up of my highlights.

The highlight of the day was being able to talk to my friend, Kristi, for about 20 minutes as we were driving through Arm-Pit, Utah (which is about an hour north of St. George). I was amazed that we had coverage the entire time and we had a nice conversation. I'm looking forward to her visit in two weeks.

It was also nice bringing our next-door neighbor and friend, Maddie along on the trip. Her sister, lives 20 minutes from Disneyland and we decided it would be fun to bring Maddie along as a surprise. Maddie is naturally cheerful and happy and things were quite positive while she was in the car.... it's hard to fight when she's around.

(The surprise was perfect!! A. had no idea that Maddie was coming! A's hubby, B, was so good at keeping her in the dark. He had A. cook us dinner (which was delicious) but told her she was cooking for some of their friends. Unfortunately, those friends "cancelled" and they couldn't find someone else to come eat the copious amounts of food she had prepared. When we knocked on the door (with Maddie staying behind to come in a couple minutes after us), she was so excited because she had the right amount of food to feed us. She was so gracious because after greeting us, she said, "Have you had dinner? Do you want to eat with us?" The surprise was made even better when Maddie knocked on the door and came in. I will treasure the memories of that for a LONG time!)

We gave Maddie her first experience at a casino. I didn't fully realize that the hotel I booked in Mesquite was a full-on casino (it said resort, and that made me think of swimming pools and spas. I never dreamed that the resort was a casino. Oh well.) It was quite disgusting. My non-smoking room was -- of course -- full of stinky walls, bedding and ashtrays. Of course, there was no where we could be moved to! "It's Expedia's fault!" was the line Calvin got when he called to complain.

Traffic between Vegas and LA was intense. I've heard that it gets worse later on Sunday and that boggles my mind. Calvin handled it perfectly, though. I'm grateful that he is so cool under vehicular pressure. (I probably would have had a vehicular aneurysm.)

The two times we got lost was coming into Anaheim. We made our map with Google and they weren't as thorough as we expected them to be. Thankfully, there was a very nice lady in a gas station in Ontario (two things: yes, Calvin stopped and asked for directions and who knew there was an Ontario California?)
The second time we got lost was after leaving A & B's apartment. We thought we'd go on an adventure and try to find the Newport Beach Temple (I didn't know there was one!). We didn't find it, but missed our turn coming back. We ended too far east than where we were supposed to be, but thanks to a beautiful map Calvin bought at the first gas station, we figured it out.

We've seen a lot more of Southern California than we ever thought we would. It's great!! And now we're looking forward to our first day in Disneyland tomorrow.

Our goals:
to not lose Adam
to have fun
to keep Adam with us
experience as much as Disneyland as possible
whatever we do, try not to lose Adam

This is it!

I really don't have time, but I'm gonna write anyway. I still have plenty to do to get ready for our trip, but I feel good in that I have a lot done.

Yesterday was high stress day. It was one of those where you wake up too early with your mind racing, going over lists, trying to organize the day. I stumbled out of bed, bleary eyed because I am not a morning person and don't like getting up. I fell into a chair at the kitchen table, a pen in hand, a piece of paper in front of me on the table. I drew an utter and complete blank. Remember all those lists that woke me up? Well, they faded to the sleepy abyss that is my brain. After a NutraGrain Bar and a glass of milk, my poor brain was able to start chugging up enough memory to create a small list of the tasks I needed to accomplish. (As the day went on, the list got longer, not shorter!)

I realized, half way through the day, that I was operating in the same high stress I did at Girl's Camp. (I cried every day while I was there, over silly things people said to me: "Adam is going to kindergarten this year?" BAWL !! "Aly is graduating in two years?" BAWL!! "Your husband almost cut his finger off!" BAWL!! It went on like that all week!) Yesterday I was on the verge of tears all day... anything set me off!! For instance, as I was folding laundry, I watched an episode of The Bonny Hunt Show which I DVR'ed earlier this week(I just love her!) Yup, I bawled over a silly segment. I bawled while watching the Today Show. I bawled over the commercial that offered free scooters for the movement impaired (can you believe these poor people that have trouble walking can get them for free?)

I re-evaluated my list and realized that I didn't have to do everything. I saved the dirty dishes for Aly. I let Calvin put his own laundry away. I had one of Adam's friends come over so I didn't have to entertain him. Those little things helped tremendously.

Today I'm going to finish it all: scoop the cat box, finish ironing so I can finish packing, vacuum, mop, make some more goodies to eat in the car, among other things.

The best part of the day will be going to watch Adam's best friend and my best friend's daughter get baptized!! We are so excited for Devyn!! I think it will be a great day for her. It's a great way to end this day and the best way to begin our vacation.