Disneyland Day #2

We woke up this morning to find that some of the Disney characters were sneaking in packages to our hotel room overnight? Cheyenne found some items hidden on the lower bunk bed - coloring books & fruit snacks. Wow, they were certainly quiet!

Today was our FIRST day in Disneyland. Super excited!! Even though it was only September, the park was decked out and ready for Halloween.

Our first stop was Carnation Cafe for breakfast. While waiting for our meal we spotted a nearby patron who had a fun tattoo on her ankle. Obviously a true Disney fan...and perhaps a cupcake connoisseur as well? Cheyenne and Audrey each ordered the Mickey waffles, John ordered Apple Granola pancakes and I ordered the Oscar's Choice breakfast.

We checked out the rides at Fantasyland first ultimately hitting all the traditional dark rides such as Peter Pan, Pinnochio, Snow White and Mr Toad. I love this picture of Cheyenne on the tea cups. Fair warning - taking pictures while going on a spinning ride when you are prone to motion sickness - not a good idea. But the picture was worth it!

Next we went to check out the Billy Hill & the Hillbillies performance - a must for our family each time we go to Disneyland. This year was different as they were located at the Big Thunder Ranch along with a Halloween Carnival theme of various activities. So it was the Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies show instead of the traditional one. They sang "ghost" songs like Ghost Riders in the Sky. It was fun and a nice change, but I still like the original show they do in the Golden Horseshoe. Guess we'll have to go back another time : ) ??

We headed to Frontierland next and rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Cheyenne loved it. Then we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. It was decked out with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme. Cheyenne made sure to wave to Sandy Claws (as Jack Skellington calls him). Then we went on Splash Mountain (one of my favorite rides). Zoom in on Cheyenne's face in the official photo below.

After she got off the ride she said "It's like I took a shower!" So even though she got wet, she loved this ride.

We met up with Susan and Nancy and went to the Golden Horseshoe. There was a show with "The Laughing Stock Co." performing. Besides a variety show portion, they had an audience participation skit. The premise was that they were trying to figure out who the bank robber was and was reenacting the event. So they had different audience members play the part of the bank manager, teller & town drunk. They would bring them up one at a time and give them certain lines to say when they were pointed to. John was chosen to be the bank manager. His line was "That Sally Mae is one mighty fine looking filly". Note - Sally Mae was played by a man dressed up as a woman so John had a really though time with this line....

Afterwards we decided to head to the Enchanted Tiki Room, but stopped to get Dole pineapple whips before heading inside. After getting the Tiki Room song stuck in our heads....Nancy & Susan went to meet back up with Heather's family. We had promised Cheyenne all day that we'd ride Dumbo, so we went back over to Fantasyland and did just that! Crazy thing was, we had never ridden it before either.

And then we went on the remaining Fantasyland rides we missed in the morning:

It's a Small World

and The Matterhorn.

We explored Mickey's Toontown and went back over to Adventureland for Tarzan's treehouse. Had a yummy snack at Bengal BBQ and caught just a portion of the parade that day. We went to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain,  which was decked out as Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. Cheyenne got off that ride and LOVED it!! She said "Hey, I didn't even scream".

Before we left the park for the day we did Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on Main Street. We had gotten some great character photos today - see below. We left the park and had a late meal at Tortilla Joes and then went back to our hotel.

Disneyland Day #1

It had been since February 2011 since our last Disneyland trip, so we were due. This time we got the opportunity to take our 7-year-old niece Cheyenne with us. She had never been to Disneyland nor on an airplane, so we were excited to have her with us. (We had taken her older brother & sister a few years earlier, so she saved up some souvenir money figuring it was her turn to go). We found out about her plan to go with us at her 7th birthday party in July. We were totally on board because it is fun to go with someone who has never been before.

The morning of our trip, Shaune took us to the airport. We flew Delta and had a 6:15am departure so had to get up mighty early. We were all excited - don't you love Uncle John's pink bag?

We switched planes in Salt Lake and arrived around 11:30 am to LAX. We took a shuttle to Anaheim - Disneyland Express Gray Lines - and got to meet a nice set of grand parents on that ride. They were meeting up with their grand kids to go to Disney. In fact, we did run into them another time at the park.

We dropped off our luggage at the hotel, but had arrived too early to check in. They let us store the luggage while we went across the street and explored Downtown Disney, including the huge Disney Store and the Lego Store.

They had lego displays of Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast and Toy Story characters.

Then we went over to the Disneyland Hotel and grounds. They had a display of various Disney toys, dishes, books and games through the years. It was fun to see the history. It was also fun to see how many details are added throughout the area (fun shrubs!). Cheyenne got to take a picture in Goofy's Kitchen, a place where they have character breakfasts in the Disneyland Hotel.

We were ready to relax in our hotel, the Park Vue Inn, which was located directly across from the entrance to Disneyland. We had booked a reservation for 2 queens, but were pleasantly surprised when we got to our room and realized they had upgraded us to the family suite at no additional charge. That meant a queen bed for John/Sam, a queen bed for Audrey and twin beds for Cheyenne. She slept on the top bunk and used the bottom bunk to lay out her suitcases. Pretty cool!

The hotel also had a pool and it was rather warm (upper 80's - low 90's), so Cheyenne checked it out. She even packed her goggles so was prepared.

When we originally picked the time we were going to Disneyland, we had coordinated with John's sisters (Nancy & Susan) who were planning on meeting Nancy's daughter and her family there as well. Since we all had arrived today, we met up at Mimi's Restaurant for dinner. Had a good time catching up with Heather, Shane, 5 year-old Kyle, Nancy & Susan. We finally left when poor Cheyenne was literally sleeping at the table. A very long day!

The Fair

We went to the fair on Monday evening after work. I decided I would leave my camera at home (for once) but after seeing a long-horn (really long horn) animal in the petting section, I got my boss to take a picture a few days later when Safeway had their day at the fair. (It was a watusi which is a breed of cattle originally bred and raised in Africa. They can grow horns reaching 8 feet across and can weigh up to 1,600 pounds). On Safeway day, we have samples available at the two entrances to the fair, so we also have a large sign on the fence and one of our Safeway trucks on display. On the day that John, Audrey and I went we checked out the craft displays and veggie displays to look for friends and family who had entered. Then we tried some carnival food and ended our evening with a funnel cake covered in strawberries and whip cream.

xx

Front Door Remodel

And this is what we did on Saturday. Removed the front door, purchased a new one (to match the back door remodel earlier in the summer) and installed.

Marriage Retreat

Our Stake had a Strengthening Marriage Retreat at the home of Karl & Tami Wilkinson. We were not sure exactly what to expect but thought we would check it out. The instruction for Friday evening was to bring a picnic blanket, wear casual dress and arrive around 6pm (they had staggered arrivals so that parking could be handled more efficiently).

We checked in and got an informational packet. These were the first set of instructions: "As a couple choose a spot to sit and visit and look through your folder. This is a date! Rather than socializing with others, spend this time reconnecting with one another. Give your spouse your undivided attention. Forget about the stresses of last week or the week coming. This is a time to enjoy the moment with your husband or wife."

It was kind of weird to be spending time talking with each other when you had someone on a picnic blanket every 10 feet or so, but soon it got to where we were only focused on us and not who was near us. The setting was very quiet with areas of lawn and wooded areas as well. There was dinner available so we gathered our meal (pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, salad, chips, drinks) and headed back to our picnic blanket to go through the rest of the packet.

There were Fortune Cookies for us to share, but each had a question in them that we had to answer:

Tell your sweetheart three things that you love about them:

• John to Sam - (1) Talented, (2) Smile all the time (even your voice smiles), (3) Practical / tame me.
• Sam to John - (1) Patient, (3) Generous, (3) Cute

Explain the details about when you knew that your spouse was "the one"

• John - While in Seattle & you visited. Thought it would be easy to introduce you as my wife. Proud to be attached to you.
• Sam - Remember Provo / Park / Gazebo? - Stopped caring what other people thought. Wanted to spend all the time with you.

Share with your significant other a time when your faith was strengthened:

• John - At the MTC - while listening to one of the talks and then  when 2,000 other missionaries all sang "Ye Elders of Israel".
• Sam - At a missionary farewell for Sam Fox, while singing the words "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" - - I knew it was true.

Then we took a Language of Love Quiz - Sam's answers had most points for Physical Touch and Quality Time. John's answers had most points for Words of Affirmation, Quality Time and Physical Touch. This exercise showed us how we can best express love to each other. (Words of Affirmation - give praise, give credit, compliments; Quality Time - undivided attention, take a walk, share thoughts, feelings; Physical Touch - kiss, hold hands). The other 2 love languages where neither of us had many points were Receiving Gifts (either purchased or giving of self) and Acts of Service (help withe chores).

When we were done with dinner they had an ice cream bar and then asked all to gather together for a program. First they showed a video of Golden Anniversary couples from the stake (interview format) and then we heard from Mark & Cami Young. When the evening was over, we headed back to our car.

The next day was to include breakfast, lunch and various speakers (rotating between groups). Here is the part where we practiced the skills we've used in our marriage over the last 24 years. Though we both felt it was an enjoyable evening, we also were thinking of all the projects we could get done on Saturday so decided on the drive home to forgo day #2 of the retreat.

Smoothies

Audrey and I were having fun experimenting with different recipes for smoothies & shakes this summer. Below is a sampling of a few we made. The green one was way healthier than the ice cream shake, but both were delicious. And you really cannot taste the spinach.

GREEN SMOOTHIE
1-2 bananas
1/2 cup frozen peaches
1/2 cup frozen mango
A couple handfuls of spinach
Water & Ice as needed
Add just enough water to blend and enjoy.

BLACKBERRY SHAKES
1 pint fresh blackberries
2-4 tablespoons sugar (depending on berries sweetness)
1 pint vanilla ice cream
12 ounces pomegranate juice
1 cup milk
Combine all but a few blackberries and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until the sugar has melted and the berries are soft and just starting to break down. Cool. Then put the cooked berries, ice cream, pomegranate juice and milk in a blender and puree until thick and creamy. Pour into tall glasses and garnish with remaining berries.

Kennewick Day Trip

We had been promising to see Susan & Larry's new (to us) place for awhile, so hopped into the car and took a day trip to Kennewick. Their place is a brick rancher on a mini-farm with lots of gardening areas. I believe Susan said the house was built in 1955 and is on about an acre of land. Since they had lived there for almost a year by the time we visited, they had already refinished and remodeled a number of rooms in the home.

Afterwards all of us did a little shopping at the mall (though Larry & John headed off in different stores than Susan, Audrey & I did). Then we all had dinner at Famous Dave's before heading back home. It was fun visiting and seeing their most recent project.