Disneyland

Alright, now that we got all those gross feels out of the way, we can talk about the rest of my Disneyland trip, which was thoroughly enjoyable. This was the first year I've seen the new Buena Vista St and Carsland all trussed up in holiday spirit and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

It was packed. The wait times were out of control, so I'm glad we'd all been there before and were okay with taking it easy. I nabbed a sour cream, bacon, and chive potato and shared with my niece which was delicious. We snagged our way onto Haunted Mansion, her favorite, Pirates, where my necklace was commented on, and Thunder Mountain, a fast ride, before we hit the parade and ice cream for the kids. Then it was Astro Blasters, where I got demolished by everyone, including the five year old, so obviously my gun wasn't working. We nipped over to the other park for a few rides and watched World of Color which, as always, was gorgeous.

My first day I totally overdid it by only having a milkshake and cotton candy for dinner, mixed with 98% of my brother's mojito, which he took one sip of and didn't like (in fact, the majority of the trip continued in this fashion before he realized he should just drink beer.) The resulting sugar crash mixed with carrying around my two year old nephew in heels and dancing with him on my hip at the Mad T Party was hilarious/ridiculous as I stood on the bus and had to keep my balance on the way back to the hotel over speed bumps and with abrupt stops.

Alice :D

The second day started off at the Ghirardelli shop, with chocolate filled croissants and a white chocolate mocha :) Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes. After having my picture taken with all my chocolate and being hounded by a very gay lady castmember who wanted a piece of my croissant and also loved my necklace, we were off to Carsland for the day. Thank god we are all funny or we would have been so bored in line for two hours. Some ice cream and cold water later and I've got a kid on my hip eating string cheese between rides like California Screaming and Tower of Terror, and then night fell and I took over as babysitter and went cavorting through Bugsland before making our way back over to the Mad T Party where I had a very nice conversation with Alice, who also liked my necklace, and serenaded us with a great version of No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl."

The Tweedles

"Dee" and "Dum" then commented on my "hoodlum" nephew and posed with him while a flamingo peckishly photobombed behind. We made our way back over to Tomorrowland for some fun rides where my niece got creeped on by an adult male and my nephew fell in love with Princess Leia, and we watched the fireworks on Main St.




At this point my brother's family was tired, so they left and I stayed behind to enjoy life's little pleasures. A jalepeno-cheese pretzel, single rider lines, the Casey Jr Circus train at night, talking to cast members and getting free things :)

View from the top floor

The next morning I woke up with a sore throat, lounged around in bed, said goodbye to my brother and fam, and then drove home - where I found out yesterday that I have strep throat. Remember all that food/drink I shared?

Oh crap.

Day 24 Memories

30 Day Letter Challenge

Day 24 — The person that gave you your favorite memory

This Taco Bell cup is half the size of my little body

I have a lot of favorite memories. When Ladybug was three he ate ketchup with everything, and one day we were sitting on the floor eating McDonalds chicken nuggets and he smothered his in the red stuff before stuffing it in his mouth. As the older, wiser of the two, I suddenly began to doubt myself. What if I had been missing something amazing all along? What if it tasted really good? What if ketchup really did belong on everything? So I slammed my eyes shut, dunked a piece of chicken in the sweet paste and hesitantly bit off a piece. Yuck! It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever tasted! I threw the piece of half-eaten chicken at Ladybug, who proceeded to eat it, no questions asked. I love this kid with everything I am.

The first time I remember going to Disneyland I was nine (the first time I was 4) and we went to dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. It's a character dining experience where they come around and say hi, sign autographs and take pictures. Nowadays it's kind of lame, but back then it was just starting out and they didn't push the characters so fast. My favorite Disney movie was Aladdin at that time, and Aladdin came out and sat next to me for 25 minutes! We talked about everything. If he and Jasmine ever fought over the blankets, what the stars are like in Agrabah, what Abu would say if he could talk, if Genie ever gets annoying, if Jafar is scary in real life, if being a Sultan is hard work, if he and Jasmine would stay in love forever. He was so patient with me, never getting exasperated, telling me I would make a wonderful princess because I was beautiful, kind, and thoughtful, taking pictures with me, singing me happy birthday. No other character experience has ever lived up to the magic of that moment.

There's all the hilarious memories of my sister thinking she won the lotto (she didn't), my niece "cussing" at two teenage boys jaywalking (stupid apples!), my other niece at 4 years old, naked and walking around with her hands under her ribcage saying "Ribs! Ribs for dinner!" my brother's "oops, I forgot to tell you I have a kid," text several hours after first son was born. There's the crying memories of Ladybug becoming a Marine, of the Disneyland proposal on Christmas under fake snow and fireworks, of Ellie's wedding and seeing that huge, redneck side of the family again. Then we're back to hilarious, because there were four kegs at that wedding and they ran out of beer. Granted, his side of the family is Italian, but I'm sure our family took care of a huge portion. (Yes, kegs, at a wedding. It was also in a barn.)

Anyway, I've got lots of memories. I'd like to hear one of your favorite memories :)

NYE/Trivia

That last post is not how I want to end the year, not what I want to come back to in the New Year, but I'm still organizing the "chapters" of my trip, as it was very long and eventful. Instead, I thought I would share some New Year's Eve trivia and plans.

This is only my second New Year where I have been comfortable kissing women at midnight.

I have only stayed up to watch the fireworks at midnight twice. Both times were at New Year's parties in high school, and both years I broke up with my boyfriend right after.

I was at Disneyland for New Year's Eve two years ago. The park was so crowded you could barely breath, and the fireworks were canceled at 6 pm due to high winds. As a result of being pushed around all day, I was exhausted and went back to the hotel room, asleep before 10pm.

I have never had champagne on New Year's Eve.

I like to play scratch off cards on New Year's Eve, and have one for tonight.

I like dressing up for New Year's Eve, even if I'm by myself in my room.

I have always worn high heels on NYE.

I have never slept at another person's house on NYE. I did sleep in a hotel room once.

My own NYE tradition is to drink whatever I'm drinking out of a wine glass. This year it is Coca Cola and Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, respectively.

I have never seen NYE fireworks in person.

I live not far from a casino which is having a New Year's bash. I am trying to decide if I should be fun and outgoing, and go, or be comfortable and frumpy and stay home with a good book and some pajamas. Oh, what a decision!