Day 8 - Home Time

Today we got up and had to pack our bags. I wasn't ready to come home, but my skin was. Oh, and I missed Swiffy. A big thanks to Grandma Dorothy for looking after him, our house, and my flowers. We owe you!

We stopped at a shoe store so Mike and Matt could get some new shoes and then we headed to Walmart. We didn't have to be at the airport until 3:00pm. After some shopping at Walmart, Mike still hadn't found his "Flamin Hot Sunflower Seeds" (that he is addicted to), so we stopped at about a million convenience stores from Anaheim to LAX looking for them. Finally, the last 7-11 we stopped at mom found some. I think his addiction will be fueled for a little while. He did buy 9 bags of them!

We dropped off the rental car at Budget and then headed to the airport. Matt was lucky enough to get the random security scan again!!! Poor guy. I think him and I need to travel more! We had a quick, but expensive drink at the airport and then we were headed home to Calgary and the smoke! We got home just after midnight and Swiffer was more than excited to see me!

Today, I grabbed a few groceries and now I sit and ponder when our next vacation will be and where..........

Stay tuned!

Day 7 - CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Off to California Adventure today. We got there before the park opened. I never made it the whole day though. I got overheated and my skin is so sensitive right now that I couldn’t even stand the sun. Matt and I did most of the big rides before we came back to the hotel. Guardians of the Galaxy was the best ride today. It is a huge drop of doom. We saw Woody, Jesse, Goofy and Donald Duck today. Oh we also saw Lightning McQueen. I couldn’t even stand to walk back so I made Matt pay $7.00 for a cab to drive us about a mile. Mom and Mike continued on in the park and went to a Frozen show and met Elsa.

Matt and I came back to the hotel and had a nap then sat by the pool for a while. We picked mom and Mike up at the park and went to Outback Steakhouse for supper. Now we are sitting by the pool having a beer before bed. Tomorrow we will do a little shopping then head to the airport. I’m ready to come home and see Swiffy.

Day 6 - SAN DIEGO

Today we were invited for a BBQ at some of moms friends house on Coronado Island by San Diego. On the drive down we stopped at a couple beaches - Languna Beqch being one of them. It is just beautiful there. We watched some people surfing, playing volleyball and throwing a frisbee. We got to moms friends mid afternoon and spent the rest of the day with them. And holy smokes - do they ever live in a mansion. It is unbelievable. They also served us a steak feast including a birthday cake for mom. It was pretty special. It was a long day and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 11:00pm.

Day 5 - KNOTTS BERRY FARM

We finished off last night with the Fantasmic show. It was great! We got to see Mickey and all his gang! Today we went to Knotts Berry Farm. First ride was the Ghost Rider. Which is an old wooden rollercoaster. Man did that thing move! Fastest wooden coaster around. We went on a few more coasters after this before mom turned green....again. The new Hangtime coaster is good but isn’t the best one there. I really like the Accelerator. 0-82 mph in 2.3 seconds. Oh I forgot to mention we saw Charlie Brown and Lucy by the entrance to the park. Mom made us go to this little show in the saloon - it wasn’t very good but the beer was cold. Mind you it should be for $10.75 a glass. Matt and I left mom for a while and w ent on the more “spinny” rides. Mom was pretty green. After we decided to leave we headed back to the hotel before showering and going out for dinner at PF Chang’s. Great restaurant. Mike has better photos and videos!

Disney Pictures

Day 4 - DISNEYLAND

Back to Disneyland again today. First we indulged at IHOP for breakfast and then Mike DROVE us to the park gate. I think he was sucking up because it’s mom’s birthday! Matt and I tried to go to see Mickey Mouse first thing this morning, but he wasn’t home. I guess he was out for a stroll. We met Mike to ride the Monorail. Don’t see much on that thing other than the outside walls of the park. Next it was off to Thunder Mountain Railway (Mike’s favourite). Next stop was Splash Mountain again. This time I didn’t get the front so I stayed relatively dry. After that we split up for a little bit and did our own thing. We mostly just wandered and checked things out. Later in the day we found the Disney princesses and Goofy. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean again (without it breaking down in the middle this time!) The day was extremely hot. Matt and I took off to Downtown Disney to find some adult beverages. Mike and mom decided to ride the big paddle boat. We met back at Astro Blasters and Matt kicked all our asses again with his laser gun! We watched Mickey and the Magical Map, which was a sort of musical play. Mike bought us all a dinner package at The Hungry Bear restaurant which also guaranteed us water front seats for Fantasmic tonight. And now we sit, on the warm concrete awaiting the show...... 

Universal Studio Pictures

Day 3 - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Another early morning today. We went to Universal Studios. Mike even paid for preferrrd parking! Only an extra $10 but it was sure worth it! Thanks Mike! The new Harry Potter world there was amazing. It all looked so real! First ride we did was a Harry Potter coaster/4D ride. Made mom nauseous. We all thought she was going to heave into the garbage but she was a trooper. It was my favourite ride of the day. We then witnessed a wand fitting and then went to Springfield! Homer and Marge were out and about so that was cool. Mom missed a coaster ride because she was sick, but she didn’t miss much. Shortest coaster in history! We took in the studio you which was really cool. Got to see where they film shows like The Voice and America’s Got Talent. We also saw some cool movie sets and we’re almost eaten by a shark! The Simpsons ride was really cool too. Jurassic Park soaked us, but it felt good because it was so hot out. We also saw dinosaurs, mummies, and transformers. The Walking Dead attraction scared the shit out of me. I was screaming in Matt’s ear like a little girl. We also were recruited as Minions on The Despicable Me ride! Waterworld was amazing as was the special effects show. We learned how they do certain effects in movies. The last ride of the day was Transformers. Great 3D ride. We decided to have supper outside the park and stopped at The Sizzler on the way home. Great food for cheap! Then Matt decided we needed milkshakes from Sonic so we stopped there too! Now we are relaxing in our room. Back to Disney for moms birthday tomorrow.

Day 2 - DISNEYLAND

Today we got up and we’re at the park when it opened at 8am. First stop was Tomorrowland where we rode rides like Star Wars and Toy Story Astro Shooters. We tried to get to the thrilling rides early when there was no line ups. The longest we waited for a ride was about 15 minutes, thanks to Fast passes and a disability benefit. Some rides were amazing, others were just okay. Everything at Disney is fun though. It was a hot one today, over 30 for sure. We stopped for lunch at The Golden Horseshoe and indulged on our overpriced food. After lunch we hit more rides. Splash Mountain was the best though. First time on Matt got the front of the log and thought it would be funny to lean forward and try to soak us. Well him and I got soaked, the other 4 not so much. The second time riding Splash Mountain I took the front - bad idea - I was still wet at supper! Pirates of the Caribbean broke down while we were on the ride. It took away from the overall tide, but it was still good. Thunder Mountain Railroad was Mikes favourite ride. Silly little coaster! We got to eat our frozen chocolate covered bananas on sticks and paid wayyy to much for water throughout the day. Mickey’s toon town was busy busy, but we managed to spot Mickey on the street later in the day and skipped his long line up at his house! On Sunday we will also go back and visit Eeyore and friends! It is Pixarfest and they had a parade that we also watched. We got to see a lot of Pixar characters in the parade. By supper time we had already done most of what we wanted to do so we left the park and hit Downtown Disney where we did a little shopping and grabbed supper. After supper we split up and did some more shopping before meeting on Main Street for the fireworks show. By this time we were all getting tired and cranky. Sooo much walking! My app tells me we walked nearly 30,000 steps today. I hope tomorrow is easier on the feet but we are headed to Universal Studios back in Hollywood. Here’s to hoping Matt can navigate us there!