Disneyland!!!!

Wow...it has been a super long time since I blogged last! I promised some good friends (Hi Jackie and Kim) that I would blog after my Disneyland trip, so here I am. :-) You read that correctly...I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Disneyland for a long weekend.  I haven't been there in at least 20 years, so it was a long overdue trip. I had a blast!!!! I think it may become my new addiction...a not so cheap one though. I got to go with my good friend Tamera, her husband Tony, her daughter Caitlin, her son Erik, her son Noah, Caitlin's fiancé Bryce, and another good friend Lauri.  Tamera and Tony were already in Southern California for a business trip, so the rest of us woke up at 1:30 AM on Wednesday morning and started our drive down there in their van.  We got to the hotel at about noon, unloaded the van, got something to eat, and headed to the park.  We caught a few rides that evening, but left kind of early because we were all exhausted from the drive there.

We woke up a bit late on Thursday and headed to California Adventure.  This was my first time to this park and I loved it.  It was Lauri's birthday, so we went to get her a birthday button.  They were out of buttons at City Hall, but they gave her a sticker instead.  Later that day, she got the "It's My Birthday" ears and a pin from a nice little lady at a store.  I think she counted at least 40 people that said happy birthday to her that day...it was CRAZY! (Caitlin and Bryce are getting married on September 22nd, so they got the bride and groom ears.)

It was pretty hot in the mornings because there was no breeze, so we would go to the park for a few hours, then take a break, and go back to the park later.  On Wednesday, we went swimming at the hotel during our break.  On Thursday, we went to Huntington Beach.  It was beautiful and much cooler out there.  Lauri had never been to an ocean beach, so that was pretty exciting for her on her birthday.  While we were at the beach, the tide washed up a little shark.  Caitlin saw it flopping around, so we went over to look at it.  It was pretty cool, however, we were all too scared to pick it up.  This nice fella came over with his kid's shovel and bucket and saved it's life.

Cars Land was pretty cool but very crowded because it is new.  We finally got to ride on the main ride in Cars Land, Radiator Springs Racers, after a LONG wait.  I don't know if I would wait that long again to ride it, but it was fun for the first time.

I had heard that the Aladdin show was awesome so we went to see that one day.  I was really good! The genie was hilarious! However, I think the best part was the fact that the theater was air conditioned! ;-)

Unfortunately, Sunday rolled around and we had to say goodbye to Disneyland.  I really would have stayed forever if I didn't have my lovely students to get back to.  The drive home seemed twice as long as the drive there...probably because I was sad we were leaving the "Happiest Place on Earth."  We had to stop for gas in Las Vegas (sorry Jen...we had to get home or I would have stopped to see you guys).  We saw this funny sign (along with a ton of other "funny" stuff you see in Las Vegas).  It said, "If it's in stock, we have it!"...DUH! We laughed pretty hard, but probably because we were all so tired.

Well...it was a fabulous vacation and way too short!  I can't wait to go back!  Now I need a vacation from my vacation...or at least a weekend! ;-)