Disneyland last day - Second run!

Sunday was spent going on rides we missed and going on our favorite rides a second time.

-Check out how many rides we did before we left the park at 5:00

(* means it was the second time around)

*Space Mountain

Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure (great ride!)

*Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Indiania Jones

Jungle Cruise

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road

*Splash Mountain

*Haunted Mansion

*Pirates of the Carribean

Innoventions

Mr. Toads wild ride

*California Screamin'

*Toy Story Midway Mania

*Soarin' over California

-pretty good for 8 hours huh?

What an AMAZING weekend!

Disneyland Saturday - Disney's California Adventure!

Disney's California Adventure opened at 10am and so we got there at 9:30am and we were let into the main entrance of the park. The attendant told us that "Soarin" over California was actually already open so we walked right on that ride first thing! It was amazing! They put you into a row of chairs that they lift up off the ground 40ish feet and infront of a HUGE screen (kinda like an IMAX screen but a big circle) and they move the row to make it tilt and move as if you are hang-gilding.

Stock Photo, cool huh?

California adventure was a really fun park. There was a lot there that they don't have at Disney World (or didn't have last time I was there in 2002) They had lands dedicated to Hollywood, Condor flats, an old carnival pier, and a bug's life. The pier (named paradise pier had a really fun rollercoaster and one of the coolest rides I have ever been on Toy Story midway mania (more on that later...

Kyle and I in front of a movie backdrop

Wall-e!!!

Grizzly Bear Peak

One of the cooler things we found pretty much on accident was the Blue Sky cellar, which was a feature room that showcased all of the cool things that the imagineers are doing to improve the park. Over the next couple of years they are going to add a new land based on the movie Cars, a new ride based on the Little Mermaid and a new water show Called "Color of Wonder." They also had a lot of little exhibits showing how they made Toy Story Midway mania.

Above is the rendering of the Potato Head that entertains you while you are waiting in line. Below is the real thing!

Toy Story Midway mania is a 3-D ride where you are on a car (two to a car) each with a pull string gun that you use for shotting targets in 5 "Midway Style" games hosted by the different toy story characters (Ham Pig has an egg toss game and Bo-Peep has a balloon pop game etc) when you shoot with you gun it appears on the screen (videogame esk) and when you hit certain things they fly at you 3-D style or you get shot with air, water etc. You play against you car-mate for the higest score which Woody and Jessie tally at the end of the ride. Kyle and I went on twice. The first time I won, the second time he did.

Our vote for best ride of the weekend!

Kyle and I sporting our 3-D shades!

Weekend at Disneyland! - Friday at Disneyland

So friday morning we woke up around 5:45 (Both of our alarms went off around 5:15 but miracously no one got out of bed until almost 6:00) We got going around 6:15 and made it up to Anaheim around 7:45. The hotel we stayed at was about 7 minutes away from the front door of the park. We dropped our car and stuff at the hotel and arrived to the entrance of Disneyland right when the park opened at 8am. We walked directly to tomorrowland and walked on Space Mountain, a great way to start off the day! We were at the park from the beginning of the day until the fireworks show at 9pm.

Walking into the park

Astro-orbiter at Tomorrowland

Kyle at the entrance to Toontown!

I wanted to get my picture taken with Mickey Mouse so once we went into Toontown we went to Mickey's house. We got to walk through the whole thing and see pluto's bed and Mickey's chair next to his fireplace! So cute. Then they filed us into the backyard and into Mickey's "movie barn" where we can watch cartoons while we wait to get out picture taken. I was the only person there over the age of 6 who wanted to see Mickey but I didn't care!

Toontown fountain

Teacups!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle! (not as cool as cinderella's but still VERY cool) Inside was a neat walk through exhibit about the Sleeping Beauty story

California Adventure tomorrow!

It's time to remember the magic.....

Ok let's get one thing out in the open right now....

I LOVE DISNEY WORLD

I know everyone says that, but I am really not kidding. The first time I ever went to Disney World when I was 13, the ENTIRE YEAR before while my parents were saving $$ I was planning the trip. I mean I planned where we would eat, which park we would go which day, which ride had the shortest line at which time, the shortest path to the best viewpoint for the fireworks display. I knew the entire layout of all 4 parks before I even stepped off the plane in Orlando. I had read and re-read the unofficial guide to Walt Disney World so many times the spine of the book broke...I am really not kidding!

I was also lucky enough to go again a year later, with my high school marching band

Now next week Kyle will be on his pre-deployment leave. and I just so happen to have three days off of work right in a row....so where do you think I want to go???

"Hey Kyle....Disneyland is only two hours away......."

Now I have never been to the smaller Disney Park, but since I live in California...I can't NOT go!

We leave next Friday morning......

Weekend at Big Bear Lake, CA.....19 Days

This weekend I got on a pair of skis for the first time. I have since learned a few things

1) I can successfully ski without tumbling down the hill and becoming a human snowball
2) Skiing is actually easier (in my opinion) than snowboarding
3) Snow actually exists in Southern California

A few weeks ago Kyle suggested that we go skiing once before our honeymoon so I can get some practice. I have been on a snowboard twice (and spent most of the time on my butt) but never on skis. Kyle, however, has skied for almost 10 years (arg). So this weekend, since we actually both had the same weekend off, we piled into the car with our rental skis from MWR and drove the two and a half hours to Big Bear Lake, CA

Now Kyle told me that there are two pretty large ski resorts in Big Bear, but I was skeptical, after all aren't we in Southern California, land of perpetual sunshine? But as soon as we turned onto the two lane mountain road I felt like we were transported back to New England. Mountains and pine trees, and crisp cold air. About twenty minutes into the drive we turned around a bend in the road, and there was the first patches of snow.

Kyle and I both cheered when we saw it!

We got up to Big Bear Mountain around 11:30, bought half day tickets and signed me up for lessons. I had a two hour lesson which taught me the basics, I proceeded to spend the rest of the day half falling down the beginner slopes. But I caught on quickly, by the last run I was pretty much in control of what I was doing, which pretty much involved going straight down in the wedge (pizza!).

The next day Kyle and I decided to try the neighbouring park, snow summit. Which has more beginner-intermediate (aka Sara friendly runs). With each run I got better and better. By the end of the day I could do large S-turns down the mountain without falling.

Going up the "Magic Carpet" - kinda like a moving sidewalk for skis and snowboards

Photo-op on the Chairlift

Look at the mountain in the background ...gorgeous!

Big Bear Lake from the "summit" of Snow Summit

Pretty Pine tree

Just so you all know, I DIDN'T get any bumps or bruises that will show for my wedding. People at work thought I was crazy for going skiing for the first time so soon to my wedding, but sometimes you just have to live it up!

19 Days till I'm a married woman!!!!

Day Trip to Julian California

So today kyle and I drove up north to Julian CA for lunch and to check out the town. It was about 1 10min drive up north so we left early in the morning to get there around 9:30 10:00. It was really nice to spend the day together because usually we are working so much that we rarely get to spend the day together. We both wanted to take advantage of this weekend we both had off.

The town itself is really small and quaint. It has like one main road with a general store and a few shops. The town hall is reminisant of a one room school house and the entire town is nesteled in the mountainside, very postcard old New England, made me miss home.

So I guess Julian is famous for its apples, everything is apple themed there. So we made sure to get some apple pie, apple cider, and we bought some apple butter to take home! All in all it was a really nice day, we had lunch, went to a local winery and did some wine tasting, then did a hike on one of their nature preserves near their apple orchards.

Julian Cafe, where we had lunch, and the BEST APPLE PIE EVER!

Caramel Apples we had to stare at while waiting for a table, what a tease....

THE BEST APPLE PIE EVER!!

Where we went on our hike, sound kind of ominious huh?

View of the apple orchards from the top of the hill

Me! (with my eyes closed...oh well)