Family Fun 2010: California Dreamin'

A lot has happened this summer so first things first...our big family trip to Disneyland!!  This was the first time we all went as a family and it was so much fun!!!  We started off our trip with a bang, literally.  On our first night we were hit in our rental car by a drunk driver.  He was driving a brand new Camaro SS and after he hit us he started to drive off.  We were going down the freeway and Scott was flashing his lights and honking the horn at him to get him to stop while I was on the phone with the cops.  After a a mile or so he finally pulled over and he hardly had the ability to enter our contact information into his phone he was so wasted.  Good thing he was driving...he could barely handle a phone, how he thought he could drive a car was beyond me.  The cops came and got our statements then arrested him after doing sobriety tests.  I was trying to video it on my phone, but the officer told us we could go, so we did.

The next day, Sunday, was our anniversary and we celebrated by getting massages in Laguna Beach and then dinner at Ruth's Chris.  It was our first time to Ruth's Chris and dinner was heavenly.  You know it's going to be good when you walk into a place and it smells like butter.  oh yeah.....the memories....mmmmmm steak. Thanks to Polly for strongly suggesting we go there for our special dinner!! 

Monday was our first day at Disneyland and I was SO excited!!! It was my first time there ever and it was so much fun to be there with my family!!!!  Our group consisted of Mom and Dad, Jason, Gabriel, Polly, Grandma Anderson, Aunt Artie, Scott and me.  We didn't actually come with Grandma and Aunt Artie, we just happened to run into them soon after entering the park.  We even got these cool bright green family reunion tshirts so we could see each other across the park.  I had to practically beg Scott to take his off at the end of the day ;) 

Somehow Jason got a free pass on wearing his shirt, but since he is so tall it was easy to see him anyway.  We had so much fun the first day.  We rode the Matterhorn, Star Tours, Space Mountain and walked through Innoventions.  It was standing in line for Buzz Lightyear that we got our first real treat...Prepare yourselves..this next picture has not been photoshopped in any way, shape or form...

This kid's mullet would put most middle aged NASCAR fans to shame.  Just look at those curls!!!  Since the wait for this ride was quite long, Polly and I had ample time to admire those lustrous locks.  Soon it was our turn and when we were done Mullet Boy was lost in a sea of people with normal haircuts.  Here is Scott & Gabriel racking up the points in the fight against evil.  Two of the cutest Space Rangers I've ever seen!!! I especially love how Scott is holding his blaster ghetto style.

After the mullet excitement and defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg, I was ready for some ridiculously overpriced park fare.  We decided on the Mickey Mouse Pretzel, which turned out to be very tasty and satisfying. 

After devouring Mickey we headed over to Adventure Land to ride the river ride.  

Here's our group from front to back: Aunt Artie (Grandma's Sister) GGMa, Scott, Mom, Jason, Dad, Polly and Gabriel.  I really liked the river ride and our guide was really funny.  Most of the time I don't have any trouble remembering that all this is just fake but a few times I forgot, like the piranhas jumping out at us.  I was not ready for that.

Indiana Jones tricked me too the first time we rode it.  I was convinced I was going to be smashed flatter than a pancake by the huge boulder.  I was almost more scared than Gabriel on that ride.  He covered his ears the whole time and smashed himself into Scott's side until the ride was over.  Gabriel was also pretty scared on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. He would look up occasionally, but kept his ears covered the whole time.  

Quick Photo op in New Orleans.  This little alley was so pretty and a little hidden so we were the only people in it.  A nice change from the rest of the park.  But we couldn't stop for long, we were on our way to one of my favorites.... Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Here's an action shot of us on the Railroad.  Jason recorded the whole thing on his little recordo gadget. We had a pretty full day so far, but we weren't even close to done.  We headed over to California Adventure and went straight to Soarin Over California.   That was such a fun ride! It feels like you can dip your feet in the water, even though it's all on the screen.  We rode the Tower of Terror, one of my absolute favorites, and by then it was starting to get dark.  We headed back over to the Promenade to ride California Screamin, but it was closed! Oh no!!! The had started doing the World of Color show so they shut down all the rides on that side of California Adventure. We watched the show instead thinking we would just wait for it to end then we could ride the best roller coaster ever after the show.  Sadly, after waiting all that time the people told us that the roller coaster was closed for the night.  Tough break for us!!!

Gabriel gets his hands on an authentic In-N-Out burger hat. That might have been better than the milkshake! We did have to get home and get some rest though, cause the next day was Universal Studios for Scott and I, where we would meet Heather and Cody.  Everyone else went down to San Diego to go to Sea World and the Wild Animal Park.

Universal Studios!! Its small but has some pretty awesome attractions.  We went on Jurassic Park and than the Mummy ride twice.  it was just that good!! And there was almost no line at all.  Double Bonus!!!  Then was my favorite part of the whole place....The section devoted entirely to the Simpsons!!! haha Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart, let's hurl a brick-E Mart! The Kwik-E-Mart is...d'oh.  

We went on the Studio Backlot tour and got to see the new King Kong attraction before it was formally released to the public.  That was completely amazing....360 degrees 3-D.  It even makes it look like part of the tram gets pulled into the movie.  We also went to see Shrek, Terminator, and Waterworld.   That was an adventure simply from the fact that we sat in the "wet zone" and the lady next to us brought her umbrella and would bust it open at every little drop of water.  She almost poked my eye out a few times until Scott told her to stop or move. Thanks for taking care of me, Baby!! After the shows we had dinner at the Hard Rock and parked right outside was none other than the real Bella's Truck from the Twilight movies. Kinda fun to see after that fake they pass off over in Forks.  After dinner Heather showed us this awesome place for dessert by UCLA, they have an assortment of cookies and lots of different ice cream flavors and you pick the combo you want and they make this giant ice cream cookie sandwich.  Soooooo Good!!!! and they were only $1.50 each!!! what a steal!!!!  After our delicious treat 

we went to see Eclipse with Heather and Cody.  What a perfect day!!!

Wednesday we drove down to San Diego to meet up with my family.  We make a quick stop at the San Diego Temple so I could see it in person but the whole outside was being cleaned so there were scaffoldings everywhere.  :( It was still amazingly gorgeous! I can't wait to see it next time after it has been cleaned.  

At the San Diego Zoo!!! I really loved how all the animals feel so much closer to you at this zoo.  Much more than at our zoo.  See, here is Gabriel riding a gorilla. Where else do you get that experience???

Most of the animals were right up against the glass, like here. Scott and I saw a little crocodile stalk and kill a grasshopper for a quick snack.  One section had river otters and monkeys in the same habitat. One of the monkeys jumped into the water and started swimming like an otter.  It was hilarious, by far one of the funniest things I have ever seen at the zoo! We also saw the Pandas, The Bird Show, Polar Bears, and my favorite....The Koalas!!!! These little guys are so cuddly and cute!!! I wanted to snatch one out of the tree and take it home with  me.  I'm sure the zoo wouldn't mind.  I guess I'll just have to put it on my Christmas list.  :) Back in Orange County it was time for dinner and that meant Ferrell's!!!  My dad worked there when he and my mom were first married and they are notorious for huge desserts like this one.  It's called the Zoo and it's full of ice cream, sherbet, whipped cream, nuts, cherries and chocolate sauce.  They bring it out to your table on a stretcher and ring a bell and sound a siren so the whole restaurant knows someone ordered it.  it was fun to hear some stories from Dad about the Ferrell's he worked at and the shenanigans he got up to as an employee there. 

Friday it was back to Disneyland.  We rode all our favorites again, and managed a quick trip through the Haunted Mansion.  Jason, Scott and I stayed until past midnight so we could ride Space Mountain and Star tours one last time before we left.   

Mom and Dad left Saturday morning and Debbie was hosting a baby shower for her sister, but after that we all got to hang out...finally!!! And, after a much anticipated wait, I was finally introduced to the Golden Spoon.  Sunday we took a quick trip to the beach, but left before the ranger gave us a parking ticket, and lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then it was off to the airport.  Such a fun trip!!! It was so nice of Russ and Debbie to let us all take over their house for the week.  And great to spend so much time doing fun things with my family and with Heather and Cody.  Definitely a trip to remember!!