Happiest Place On Earth! Agreed!

Who doesn't love the Happiest Place on Earth??? Disneyland!!! It was time to head to California for some fun with Mickey & Friends this past week. My parents talked us into driving to save money, we took it a step further and carpooled with my brother Brett and his wife Melanie. Let's just say...we won't do that again!!! 12 hours of riding in a car through the desert is torturous! The extra cost of flying is so worth the price. Our ride picked us up at 6:30 am to start the long trek to Anaheim. Brett and Melanie also convinced us to stay an extra 2 days with the bonus of super low hotel prices through Melanie's sister. 

Poor Melanie was starting to get over the cold and bronchitis she had for the past week but she was still coughing up a lung! Not a great situation for 2 germ-a-phobes! I think both Steve and I were secretly hoping that she doesn't get us sick. We stopped in Las Vegas for an amazing lunch at----Del Taco! Yes, I know, you are all jealous of such a wonderful lunch. I brought my kindle to listen to my audio books I had downloaded and one of them just happened to be Bossypants by Tina Fey. I offered it up for everyone and we decided to plug it into the stereo to listen to. It took 5 hours for the Tina Fey to narrate her book. It was quite funny and definitely worth the read or listen. I just wish I had downloaded more comedy books to last the whole drive. We made it to Anaheim around 7:30 and had dinner and passed out. Unfortunately we still had to be up early due to the hotel having a power outage planned for 6:30 am. All of us wanted to be able to shower in the light. And the power didn't even go out before we left at 7:30!!! 

Woo hoo!! Disneyland! Our first ride was Star Tours which we walked on to since it was so early in the morning. Usually there is at least a 30-60 minute wait for this ride. The boys loved the ride, Melanie didn't feel good still and that ride made me ill! It was one of those where you sit and it moves on a platform. That kind of action does not do well with me. Since I wasn't feeling great, why not go on Space Mountain and ride in a car in the darkness where you can't see 5 inches in front of your face. Let's just say I won't ride them more than once a trip. I barely could keep my head the right way as we were taken on a crazy ride.

We had the first half of the day just us 2 couples before my parents showed up. The Matterhorn Bobsleds were our next choice for a ride. As a child this ride scared the crap out of my cousin and me with the abominable snowman coming after you. We were standing in line and the lady asked if there were any groups of 2. Steve and I raised our hand before we realized that meant we left Melanie and Brett in line. Off we went  on our ride but it gave us the opportunity to take photos of them on the ride!

As much as this song may get stuck in your head I still like going on It's a Small World. There is so much to look at inside and you will always know the words. Melanie cringed as we went on the ride.

We met up my parents and played in Disneyland a little longer. One of our favorite places for drinks, that is adult drinks, is in Downtown Disney at the Uva Bar. It's a great place right in the middle of the shops and is outdoors. We absolutely love this place. And they have some of the best mixed drinks ever! As you can see the crazy guy in the picture is my dad. 

Steve saw someone wearing this hat on Main Street and just had to have one. Good thing we got him one since it started raining...protected his head from the cold rain! He loved it. I had my own pirate.

Not our usual choice of ride but to get out of the rain we decided to take a turn on the carousel. Our shoulders were so wet. 

Time to play a little Buzz Lightyear and kill the evil Zorro. As usual Steve kicked all of our butts with it...must have something to do with he liking to shoot guns and knowing how to aim. I can't ever tell which laser is mine on the wall so I am just randomly shooting hoping I hit something. 

Mickey Mouse Cactus!

Brett and Melanie were behind us again in the line for Thunder Mountain Railroad so we waited for them to come and took pics. If you look close they are at the tip of the cactus in a red shirt with a camera to his face and Melanie's in a white jacket. Perfect timing! 

Haunted Mansion was the same as it was last year when I came...I thought they would dress it up differently for Halloween but since Jack and Sally come from Halloween town there isn't much to change. 

I love the Little Mermaid! It's my favorite Disney movie and has always been my favorite. They made a ride in California Adventures called Ariel's Under Sea Adventure. You sit in clam shells and take a ride past all the events in the movie. It's cute but not much of a ride.

Monster's Inc. coming down the road for a little parade.

We decided to try to be bugs at It's Tough to be a Bug. I think this show is so cute although the stinger in the back does sort of hurt (so don't lean back hard on the benches). 

For once, Steve actually PUT himself in a picture I was taking. I love it! It shows his crazy side of him.

We made it to World of Color on Wednesday night. Incredible show and water works. I loved it a lot. I wish we could have watched it each night and when it's a bit warmer. It finally stopped raining at 5pm and gave it some time to dry up before the show. 

Our favorite little robot- WALL-E with his girlfriend Eva

Half of the group decided to go ride Splash Mountain again and the other half went to Pirates Cove Island. While we were in line, my mom, Steve and I had an idea of going in the single riders line. What a great idea! We got on much faster than waiting forever in the line. We each rode separately but check my picture out. The family I was with didn't let go at all. :)

Autopia! I was trying to get pics of us driving but kept slowing down so Steve had to slow down. Brett kept bumping Melanie because she would slow down for Steve. Chain effect! It was fun and we were laughing our butts off. 

Earlier that evening we went to the Uva Bar in Downtown Disney and had a bunch of drinks. We discussed life and children and Disney Annual Passes. Everyone wants us to get an annual pass but I don't want to get that yet. I asked my parents would they rather us get annual passes or have a baby. Hands down they want another grandchild! My dad told us kids whoever has the next baby will receive $500! It's going to be a race that I am determined to win! We danced around the Downtown Disney area waiting for my Dad and Steve to buy my mom and me jewelry from Simply Silver. My mom and I went to her favorite store Little MisMatched and bought some socks. We had a great time that evening! We stayed as late as we could convince the rest of them to stay. We finally left the park at 10:30 to get back to the hotel and crash. Early morning the next day to drive back to SLC.

San Diego July 23-30 2011

Back in March, an idea came from my Grandma that she wanted to take the family on another vacation this year. As planning began, most of the family were unable to take the time off due to previously planned vacations or were unable to make the dates work. So in the end it ended up being my Grandma, Steve and me. She really wanted to go to San Diego and stay in one of the little towns on the coast. I researched for a good couple of weeks trying to get the best deal for flights and a place to stay since this was all on my Grandma. 

So on July 23 we flew out of Salt Lake City and into San Diego and took the 45 minute drive up to Oceanside, California. We rented a condo that was pretty much on the beach. We dropped our stuff off and went on a drive looking for somewhere to eat! We found Rita's Fine Mexican Restaurant which I promptly ordered this Mango Margarita. It was so delicious especially after a long day of flying! After we filled out bellies full, we took to grocery shopping so we would have plenty of snack foods at the condo.

This was the favorite spot of the all the evenings, this is the top floor of the condo we stayed in with it's own balcony. We had views of the pool and of the beach. Steve brought his Jambox with him and our laptop so we had some good music, wine and food to enjoy while watching the sun go down.

On Sunday, I really needed to get my fingernails painted since I found the Del Sol color changing nail color. I asked Steve to help paint my right hand since I really suck at using my left to paint with. This is why I never paint my finger nails...they always look horrible! Of course Steve cringed at the thought having to TRY to paint my nails so I asked my Grandma. I figured she would be pretty good at it since she paints her own but as soon as we started I realized I was wrong! She raised 2 boys not a girl. She didn't quite get all of my nails covered but it was fun while we did it. (I had to redo some of the nails) I painted my toes a brilliant blue color which reminded me of the ocean. I wore that for a few days but I couldn't quite get used to it. 

We headed to the beach later that day and got some sun. As usual I wasn't thinking about ALL my skin...I made sure I sprayed sunscreen on my legs since they almost NEVER get sun but didn't spray up top. What a surprise when I got burned on my chest! Someday I will learn that my skin doesn't like the sun! 

This is me trying to get a cool shot of the waves coming in and out over my feet! I think I took a million of these shots but finally had to give up. 

I made a delicious spaghetti dinner that evening complete with my Grandma getting out the champagne to celebrate being on vacation! It was so yummy and I think I ate so much bread and butter! I now know where I get my bread loving from- Grandma! 

On Monday my Grandma made plans to see some old friends of hers for lunch. We gave them directions to the condo and they picked my grandma up. Steve walked her out to the front where she saw them across the street. She waved and proceeded across the street without looking. Thank goodness Steve was there to save her from being hit by a car and a biker! We went to Mission Street and wandered through the stores and had lunch at a Thai place. It was pretty good and it made me crave it later on. We bought 2 boogie boards since we couldn't find any in the condo, despite it saying it had beach equipment. 

We headed back to the condo which happened to be perfect timing as we saw my Grandma trying to direct her friends to where she is staying but she had no clue. We made a switch on the passenger and went back to relax on the balcony. My Grandma was raving about the place they went for lunch and wanted to go back there for dinner. We went to Rockin Baja Coastal Cantina which was on the Marina. It was pretty good food and my grandma makes me laugh. She can be so oblivious to everything going on around her but yet so engrossed in what other people are wearing or doing. We wandered through shops at the Marina with Steve catching my grandma before she falls into the displays. Let's just say it was an early night for my Grandma!

We went for an evening stroll along the beach while the sun went down. It was perfect temp and cool breeze. 

Sea World day!!! My favorite day of the trip! We took a day to go to Sea World with my Grandma. The first thing we had to do was convince my grandma that she could ride in a wheelchair around the park. There was NO way that she could walk that entire park without her leg hurting. My grandma is in pretty fit condition and can get around just fine on her own but to walk the giant park would have taken us all 7 days of our trip! Once we got the wheelchair, we steered off in one direction. We were able to pet the baby kangaroo that the staff were holding. 

We watched the Beluga Whales interact with some lucky guests in the water and with their trainers. 

We watched the Pets Rule show...which I think was all 3 of our favorites! Who would have though you could train cats, pigs, an ostrich, a kangaroo and ducks to perform a 20 minute show??? It was quite amazing and I wish my videos would load on here. I think we could have watched it again and again! 

The new Turtle Reef exhibit! Lots of turtles to look at. It was quite hard to look at some of these exhibits because people would stand at the glass forever. One exhibit had a moving sidewalk that kept the line going...they should all have those!

We enjoyed the Sea Lion show without getting wet. It was quite funny the jokes and fun stuff they came up with for the audience. My grandma loved it!

At the sea lion house we watched others buy food for them and feed the sea lions. It almost looked like they were waving at you at times! Super cute and noisy!

We only glanced at the dolphins as we were wandering around to the Shamu show. We are glad we headed over when we did because it filled up fast. We missed a dolphin show because we didn't know how fast they fill up. 

Loved the Shamu Show! It is quite amazing what these large animals can do!

Kissing whales!

Last show of the day for the Dolphin exhibit which we made it into. It was a great show also and we enjoyed most of the show! They had these divers doing tricks off the high beams that was cool but we really just wanted to watch the dolphins and black pilot whales do the performing.

I ran out of memory on my camera while at Sea World which made me sad. I had to delete videos so I could take more photos. We bought a new memory card the next day and then I never took any more photos after that. 

My uncle Meryl and his girlfriend Teresa came in on Wednesday and stayed with us til Saturday when we had to leave. We went to the beach a few times, used our boogie boards, went out to eat for dinner and just relaxed. 

It was a great time and I am glad we didn't ditch out!