Trip to the Land!

I know it's about time.....

We have had several people amazed that we went to Disney Land and that our kids are little or teenage kids..... Wow, how old are they? We all love Disney and love the whole experience.
It was fun to be with captain awesome, the Ry Guy. He loved it all and had favorites. He likes the spinning rides but his favorite was Astro Blaster or the Buzz Lightyear ride. If he were tall enough he would probably change it to the Lightning McQueen car ride (which is like the test track at Epcot for those in the know) It is so movie like and a fast car ride  isn't half bad.
My Fav has always been the Big Thunder Railway roller coaster, but for some reason this time the Tower of Terror was a very close second for me.
We all had fun in the Big"A" Van.....all except for the ride home which took 3 hours too long due to accidents....however we made the most of it.
Here are some pics of the trip.

MMMMMMM My Red Wagon Corn Dog!

 this bear was giving us a bad time and driving Ry nuts. He wouldn't have anything to with him even when Nels and Hay were having fun.

 I bought us all the preferred seating and show package for Fastasmic. It comes with a desert box and all you can drink soft drinks, hot cocoa and coffee.  It was fancy smancy and was worth doing once in your life.  That cookie thing was one of the best cookies I have ever eaten and is only made for the dessert box...we asked several people who confirmed this truth....it is a very buttery raspberry filled shortbread cookie, and there were no seconds.

Loving Micky! he was so unsure of all of the other characters that this was too cute.


MCC

Disney World 2011

We are back! We all had a fun time and we are suffering vacation hangover....I need a vacation from my vacation.

 Let's party Dude

 Hogwarts

 In grandpa's Hat

 When Captain saw the giraffes he said WOW; it was so cute.

 Captain A loved the shows...especially the Playhouse Mickey show

 Rainy Last Day

 The End,

See Ya Real Soon!

the week that was

Two weeks ago Hayden and I decided that we wanted to go to Disneyland....the only open time was the weekend following my ward party and before his two a day football practice began....Gary and Megan were up to it and available so we were off on a whirl wind mini vacation to So. Cal. As part of our plans we thought we could squeeze in a matinee of a national b'way tour...we found In the Heights playing at the OC performing arts center. We had tons of fun, wore our selves out, ate too much, laughed a lot and made up definition/names for the crazy people we encountered. (crazians, adults in strollers, hat people, spoiled princess, amusing dresser, etc....)

Yes, we are the row of weirdos on the Tower of Terror

The Sun Wheel is the back drop for World of Color a water show which is fantastic and beautiful.



the 'new' Melificent Dragon in Fantasmic. (Fantasmic is a family fav!!)
Hayden practical hyperventilated when it came out and when it breathed fire.......


Hayden has never owned his own Mickey ears....

the fab 4!

We'll be back...Nelson will want to see the new Dragon and Captain A needs to experience the Happiest Place on Earth and back for Fantasmic if nothing else..........

MCC

Friday My Favs....

I have been spending my evenings planing my home redecorating projects for the year. Last night I pulled out my favorite things book. It makes my eyes feel good.

I made this book years ago and have been filling it with my favs ...... in the book are magazine photos of my favorites rooms, locations, flowers, colors, ideas etc.... I know that some of the ideas in the book will never happen in my home or in my life time, But I also know that I have a picture of a sofa that I liked years ago that is very similar to the one in my living room.....
Most interesting to me as I leaf through the pages of my book are the similarities in colors and locations from picture to picture. Looking at it I can better see my decorating style...no my house isn't magazine perfect, nor have I copied the looks exactly. But I can see the colors, the feeling a room invokes, the furniture styles, etc.....on the pages and in my home.....
Over the years my taste and style have evolved a bit from what looked like an English county garden style to an eclectic, Tuscan, style...yes our home and life is more the eclectic and never like the garden......

The oddities in the book are the tropical beach and lake pictures. In my decorating I have never leaned to the tropical, nautical or beach in style or colors.....we live in the desert far from a tropical beach and there isn't a lake near by either..... i guess this is just my subconscious telling me to get away, take a break, indulge in a fantasy.....maybe for the back yard.....a pool, the lush garden, a stay-cation spot......

MCC

Vacy is Over :(

We are back...it is nice to be home, but the relaxation will be missed.

We just spent the past week with our family.

We began our vacation at Disneyland in honor of Gary's Birthday. After 2 days in 'the land' as we affectionately call it we headed north stopping to see Hearst Castle and then on to San Francisco for a couple of days.

Vacation Memories:
Disneyland/California Adventure....we did Toy Story Mania, a fun shooting rage game, 4 times.

The variety of landscape - it surprised me......I thought that the Pacific Coast highway drive would have me looking mostly at beach vistas like I am familiar with in So. Cal. ....boy was I wrong. As you travel north the beach is accessible only after dropping down a hillside or cliff....it was absolutely gorgeous. In the middle area we detoured inland a bit to Solvang, this is a Danish community. By going inland we saw vineyards, farmland, desert, and mountains, once again I was surprised.

California's terrain is varied.....in one place they call it 'the salad bowl of the nation'.....the fields were plentiful and harvesting and re-sowing was taking place. It was a beehive of activity. I now better understand how much of our produce comes form California.

Hearst Castle- We got the bug to go there after we watched Citizen Cain. It was remarkable and sad. Remarkable that all these treasures had been preserved. Sad, that it was located in the middle of no where.

Seals, Sea Lions & Elephant Seals- Big, smelly and slug like.

Golden Gate Bridge- We walked it. It was windy and cold, but awesome.

San Francisco Food- You could eat non stop in SF and still not taste it all. We loved the sourdough bread, clam chowder, corn and crab chowder, fish and chips, Chinese food, Ghiradeli Ice Cream Sundaes, Kara's Cupcakes, farmers market....... a city of great food.

Family Time- It is always best when we spend time with each other. It was fun having Laurie with us....she really got to know us all better.......nuf said.

I Love to travel, but coming home is the best.....If I never went away I would never know about coming home.

MCC