California Dreamin' - The Beach!

After taking in the Anaheim scene, we packed up our Mouse Ears and moved down to the beach (which is neck in neck with Elaine's cabin as being my favorite place on Earth). First, a stop to the cememtary to visit my parent's grave and leave some lovely tulips. Then on to Huntington Beach. Unfortunately, it was a little cold that day, so we bravely walked the pier but it was tough - brrrrr! We ate lunch on Main Street and back to the car for destination Laguna Beach. We went down and visited the beach across from our hotel (99 steps, to be exact) then back to the room. We took showers and then we went to dinner with my friends Julie and Jimmy (yay! Connor got to meet his Uncle Jimmy!!!)

Happy Easter

I will get back to posting vacation pictures later....got lots from the beach! In the meantime, I will be unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning house and wishing you a HAPPY EASTER from our bunny patch to yours!!

California Dreamin', Part 3

California Adventure Park!!! As you might imagine, mom and dad were feeling pretty stiff in the legs, but, what are you going to do? I have to say that I like Disneyland better, but we had fun at CAP too. We went to the 3-D movie "It's Hard to Be a Bug" (which scared Connor and his mom), rode on more t-cups, bumper cars, and Connor's favorite - the name of which I forget - but it's based on Brother Bear...there are rope courses, swinging bridges, caves to explore, log slides - all the sorts of things kids can do while their parents sit down (hurray for whatever it was called!). In fact, Connor had his first real melt down of the whole trip when it was time to go back to our room for a nap. And believe me, everybody crashed. Then we went back and saw the 3D Muppet Movie and the Pixar Parade! Connor got to see that superstar that he loves soooooo much.....Movie Car (aka Lightening McQueen)!!! They have a great little boardwalk area and we hung out there for a while and took in the sights (Mom was dying to go on California Screamin'...the gnarly roller coaster, but I just couldn't do it without Daddy). We ate some dinner and just looked at the sights and then watched the classic "Electric Light Parade" - this has been around since I was a kid and has not changed one bit, including the music. By then, we were exhausted, but got to watch the fireworks again then headed to the room for crashville.
Highlights: Connor had bought a light uppity sword at Disney the night before, and insisted on taking it all over CAP - so it went with us on every ride
-Surprisingly cheap good food
-Seeing Tinkerbell in Electric Light Parade (I don't know who was more excited, Connor or Mommy! LOVE Tink!)
-Quote of the night from Connor: I had bought him a familiar delicious candy confection and he was workin' on it when Lonny asked him if he wanted to go on one of the rides that takes you up in the air and drops you....his response? "Mommy, Daddy, I don't want to go on Jumpin' Jellyfish because I might dwop my wawwypop!"

California Dreamin, Part 2 - Goofy's Kitchen!

We had a great opportunity to enjoy a character breakfast with Goofy and some of his friends at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. This was so much fun! It is an all you can eat buffet with menu items that include french toast, the best o.j. I've ever had, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, scrambled eggs, bacon from heaven and ....peanut butter and jelly pizza!!! It is so awesome because the characters come right up to the table and say hello to you, let you take pictures and have a few moments of alone time. We met Goofy, of course, Pluto, Ballou, Chip and Dale, Princess Mulan and the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. Every 20 minutes or so, the kids all run up and join Goofy for an activity. Once we all got up and did the twist (in which Connor showed off his break dancing skills) another time, you got to help him mix ingredients into a big bowl with giant shakers. Goofy kept turning around and shaking his shaker over Connor's head! It wss super exciting. But with items like cupcakes for breakfast, you've really got to to watch the sugar high potential. Or, the potential for your whole head getting stuck in a trash can after the tea cups. Didn't happen to us, but, well I am sure you get the gist. Goofy's Kitchen! Totally fun to watch your kid "freak out with happiness"!!

California Dreamin' , Part One

We just returned from our family trip to Orange County....or as I call it the "Potty in the U.S.A Tour 2010" (I pee in the pot like yeah, mom likes it a lot oh yeah) - Connor's reward for finally graduating from pull ups and into full time big boy underwear!!! We started our trip a day earlier than anticipated, because I fell for California's oldest trick in the book....the threat of incliment weather later in the week (I lived there how many years? It NEVER happens!!!) but it meant an extra day in the OC, so who cares. The first night we spent in Vegas, and that was just swimming and chillaxin' in the room. The real fun begins when we hit, the happiest place on Earth, the house of the Mouse....Disneyland!!!

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Highlights of the Day.....
-Connor on the Disneyland Railroad yelling "Toot Toot" and "All Aboard!!" - He says that was his favorite ride
-Connor wanted to go in Sleeping Beauty's Castle....twice!
-Getting on Pirates of the Caribbean with no wait! (Though I think this scared Connor a bit, I really enjoyed it)
-Meeting Minnie Mouse (though it's kind of hard to tell by the picture, he warmed up to her of course, after picture taking was done)
-Getting to go on It's a Small World - after all, as it was closed most of the day
-Lonny seeing that there was not one little boy in line to meet the princesses and opting not to wait in line to do so (Connor loves him some princesses)
-The awesome fireworks show (that was apparently so awesome, I forgot to take a picture)
Quote of the Day from Connor - "Mommy, can I have a bite of your horn dog?" (I was eating a CORN dog - trust me when I say, this is hysterically funny at 9:15 in the evening when you have been with a toddler at Disneyland all day and you are pretty tired)

Great Day! And Connor has decided, worth putting it all in the potty!!!

Goodbye, Gwen

Finally getting a chance to post about our little memorial service for Gwen. It was a beautiful, perfect California spring day, albeit a little windy. We found a perfect spot at the park - you had to go through a wooded area and down a hill into a clearing. It was so amazing to stand there and watch people as they came through the trees - you never knew who was next - and see some faces you haven't seen in almost 20 years! It was a small reunion, but it was the people who were supposed to be there. We started the service by playing a song Gwen had recorded of her singing "El Shaddai". To be able to hear her sing again, was incredible. We did a brief history of her life and talked about how happy she was to know that we were all together again. We were blessed to have our friend Steve there from Texas (Gwen, Steve and I were all roomates back in the mid to late 80s - sort of our own version of Three's Company) and he sang "In My Life". We had readings from Isaiah, Ecclesisates and a couple of poems. Jimmy did a reading about how the soul is like a balloon - it is tethered to the earth and fighting against the breeze until one day it lifts off into the heavens and becomes part of the air that kisses our faces (we had beautiful jeweled tone balloons). I sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and we had a balloon release. One by one we would take a balloon into the clearing and let them go. It was truly moving and there wasn't a dry eye. Then we shared memories....Linda, who was one of Gwen's oldest friends in California (she was originally from Michigan and transplanted during high school) brought photo albums and it was so fun to relive so many memories. We told stories and we laughed and we cried. It was beautiful. Afterwards we went to lunch at a place that Gwen had worked for a long time while we lived together and during college. It was a great day and so fitting. We received a beautiful e-mail from Gwen's mom expressing her gratitude. She was busy closing her home in Mexico and preparing to move Logan with her to Temecula where they will start a new life. I believe that Gwen was right there with us, and that she was so happy with her tribute. I simply have to believe it or it's just too hard.





Also got a chance to go to lunch with Jimmy, Steve and his sister Patti who was a very good friend of mine in high school but who couldn't make the memorial. Talk about a blast from the past...we used to cruise around in her VW Bus and had many adventures....

It was a good trip...I am always happy to go back to Orange County. In between tears of sorrow, tears of joy and tears of laughing so hard my tummy aches (special thanks to Jimmy and RuPaul's Drag Race) it was a journey to remember.

From the Open Mouth, Insert Foot Department....

STOP READING IF YOUARE EASILY OFFENDED!!!! I wish I could.....

Connor really loves those super balls that you bounce and they go up way high. But he loses them. Alot. I am thinking about one particularly ugly incident where he lost one in Costco and the howling was such that complete strangers were trying to help me find it. Including a couple with a guide dog. No such luck. True story.

Now I buy them whenever I think about it, so there will always be plenty of substitutes on hand. I was at the supermarket last night and was getting checked out (in the grocerial sense, not like "hey, check her out" although I guess I shouldn't assume) and paying for my purchase. There were two men in line behind me, a male checker and a male bag technician. I started to walk away and I heard one of the guys behind me say "Hey, these aren't ours" and I turned around and saw him holding the package of balls. We realized that I wasn't charged for them so we started the process of purchasing them. To try and be funny, I turned to the guys behind me and said "What? You don't want bouncy balls?" Ever have one of those moments that the very second something leaves your lips you want the proverbial trap door to open and shoot you down to a dark dank basement because it would be better than feeling that blush rush go shooting up your head? Mine was worse than that. Hoping that the "gentlemen" behind me would be inclined to play it cool, I turned to see one doubled over while the other one is hitting him. The grocery employees won't even look at me! I can just imagine what was said after I left.

In an unrelated story, I am trying to find a new grocery store. Great prices, beautiful produce and trap doors at every register. Anyone got any recommendations?