california

California Here We Come (Pictures)

/ california, disneyland, family, friends, pictures, vacation

I have to admit, visiting Los Angeles in the winter is the way to go. Well actually, it’s sort of bittersweet. Adam and I were there during an unseasonably warm weekend, and that made coming back to Chicago and its VERY COLD TEMPERATURES that much harder. But getting away from the cold was very nice.

We got into town Thursday night and apparently, while we were on the FlyAway Shuttle to Van Nuys, a 5.0 earthquake hit. Because we were on the bus, we didn’t feel it one bit. There were a lot of accidents, so the 30 minute trip from LAX to the drop off actually took 90. I was pretty hungry, but Melissa and Eli, who met us at the shuttle drop off, took us to In N Out Burger which made everything worth it. After dinner, we went to Amy’s place and stayed up pretty late talking. She’s awesome, just so you know. :)

Amy and Me!
Amy and me!

Friday morning, Amy went off to work, and Adam and I got ready to spend the day with Melissa. She took us sight seeing on Mulholland (there was smog, so the pics are just OK), and then we walked near the WB Studio lots. We had to get a picture of the Animaniacs water tower for Aidan, who LOVES that cartoon!

Where the Animaniacs Live!

The highlight, though, was touring the Disney Studios lot.

Disney Water Tower
Disney Lot Water Tower

Me & The PartnersWalt Shows Us Something! Roy, Minnie, Adam & MeDisney Archives SignStreet Sign

Besides the obvious photo ops, there is so much to see and do on the lot. So much Disney history.

We ate lunch in the commissary and then toured the lot a bit more. I bought some stuff in the store that was only available at the theme parks which made me happy. I had a blast on the Disney Studios lot and would LOVE to work in such a place. Immersed in Disney culture, how wonderful, right?

After that, we went to the Griffith Observatory which was out of this world. It was free, which was amazing to me. They had so much cool stuff to look at. All sorts of neat instruments and exhibits (I found out that on Jupiter, I’d weigh 300 pounds), models and a giant telescope. It was extremely impressive.

Griffith Observatory
The entrance is not an entrance, huh? Adam is confused.

Griffith Observatory
Infrared Me.

Griffith Observatory
Einstein checks out my sunglasses.

We ate dessert at a place called Porto’s, which was inexpensive and delicious. Check out these pastries:

Food at Porto's

I had the strawberry shortcake. :) OK, I had THREE over the course of the weekend, but seriously, look at it. How could I resist?

Friday night, we had dinner with some friends of Melissa and Eli, and they were cool people. After dinner, we headed back to Amy’s, where Amy and I were hyper and stayed up talking forever. Adam kept telling me to go to sleep so I wouldn’t be tired the next day because we were going to DISNEYLAND!!!

Well, seeing as I’m a Disney nut, the adrenaline kept me going pretty well all day. I only had one crash in the afternoon, but once I got some food in me, I was good to go again. We got there before the park opened (the first time I’ve ever gone to a Disney park at opening), and it was good times from then on.

Brothers & Sisters
Adam, me, Melissa, and Eli

YAY!Adam, Me, and Goofy!Dare Me To Do It?Watch This!!Meeting Conductor Mickey!Princess Fantasy FaireTwo Thumbs Up!

Disneyland kicked butt. In a nutshell, we rode tons of rides, the weather was beautiful, the crowd level was low, and even though the character count was nothing like at Disney World, I GOT TO MEET PRINCESS MINNIE who I didn’t even know existed in the US parks! Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean WIN at Disneyland, and Indiana Jones is unlike anything I’ve ever ridden. Tower of Terror is just as nerve wracking and fun, but it IS different from the one at Disney World. I got to ride California Screamin’ this time around, and even though I enjoyed it, I would have liked it more if I hadn’t been getting a sick headache. (Fortunately, a cookie and some bread took care of that later). We watched the Pixar Play Parade, and later, Melissa and Eli treated Adam and me to dinner at the Blue Bayou which was yummy. We stayed until closing. I’d never stayed at a park from open until close before, but I will do it more often (because OH YES, I do plan to go back someday!). It was a great time.

Sunday, Melissa and I hopped on the Metro and went to Roscoe’s to meet Tasha for lunch. Tasha is sooo awesome. I’ve known her through the online world for nearly a decade now, and we finally got to meet in person. She’s fun to talk to and very, very cute. I had a great time with her–the time we spent was not long enough at all! I can’t wait to see her again soon!

Tasha and Me!
Tasha and me!

The food was good, too. Mmm, chicken and waffles.

After lunch, Melissa and I walked around Hollywood Blvd., and we popped into the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store. That store was cool because it had some exclusive merchandise and the VAULT. Disney freaks surely know all about that blasted vault where our beloved animated features go after a certain amount of time.

The Vault!

It might not be the ACTUAL vault, but still.

Melissa got a picture of me in front of the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars are held. I’m trying to look “fierce.” I don’t think I pulled it off, though.

A-List Ronni

That evening, Dave and Angie came over to Melissa and Eli’s and we had pizza and hung out. That was fun. It’s always good to see Dave and Angie. :)

Angie & Dave

It was a great, great trip. If I ever got rich, I’d like to have a 2nd home in L.A. A place to escape during the winter, a place where I have plenty of friends and family. A place where I can get In N Out Burger all the time. And of course… Disneyland!

Want to see more pictures? You know you do! Just click here.

‘Til next time….

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Loving California

/ california, vacation, yay

I love California! I’m having a great time, and even though I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and seeing my kitties, I’m NOT looking forward to leaving high 70 degree temps and sunny skies and returning to the TEENS and snow and ice. Ugh. Anyway, I will be posting a trip report and pictures soon. :)

‘Til next time!

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Take Me or Leave Me (Pictures)

/ books, california, friends, life, pictures, san francisco, vacation

I haven’t written in just over a week, so here’s a recap of what I’ve been up to.

I finally got my hands on Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want, and OMG. It’s the best one in the series!!! I am so going to renew it when it comes time for it to be due—I can’t wait to reread it!

Seriously, I recommend these books to everyone because they’re so good. You have to be able to make that leap into the imaginary. It’s a huge leap. It’s like the deal with reading Madeleine L’Engle. You have be able to visualize—and the author does a great job of describing things in a unique but clear way—but it can be challenging because things in Foo are VERY different from Reality.

Go to Amazon, and you’ll see solid 5-star ratings for this one, and high ratings for the others. This one is Book 3, and there will be a total of five in the series. I’m already freaking out that I have to wait at least six months for the next one! I wonder if the publisher will put out a boxed set when they’re all done?

– I read Fast Food Nation. Um… Wow. That’s about all I can say about it. As hard as it will be, I am going to try not to support the fast food industry anymore, unless I am near an In-An-Out Burger or Carl’s Jr. The other places… sigh. Knowing that people work so hard in those meat packing plants with almost nothing to show for it. Those dangerous jobs. Those scary jobs. No benefits. Little pay. It’s like a sweatshop or something. 🙁 And the stuff in the meat. The things they feed to the cattle. Cattle is supposed to eat grass, not the remnants of other animals, or poop, or whatever the hell they feed them. The two restaurants I mentioned don’t use those awful meat-packing places. Unfortunately, those places are not in the midwest (not that I know of). That’s okay though, because fast food is not that good for me. And it’ll be great for me to stop eating it.

– I also read The Golden Compass. I started on the new A-List book, and I also have Kite Runner. Oh, and I’m in the middle of the second Daughters of Isis book. The 3rd one is in my queue.

– I apparently won one of the many book contests I enter, because I randomly got a copy of Stephanie Hale’s Revenge of the Homecoming Queen in the mail one day. Awesome, right? When I met Stephanie, it was at the Chicago Spring Fling conference in April of 2006. She hadn’t even had an agent yet. And now she’s all published and stuff.

– I became addicted to Earl Grey tea. Mmmmm. I take it with four sugars. Rosa and Richard tell me that I drink syrup, not tea. At any rate, I’m becoming a tea drinker. Digging out all the boxes of tea I’ve had in my cupboard, and they supply free tea at work. This is a good thing!

– I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and watched my favorite line over and over:
He don’t eat no meat? What do you mean he DON’T EAT NO MEAT????

– I made it through 2/3rds of Rent without getting interrupted. One of these days, I’m going to get to watch the whole thing in one sitting.

– I got the original Broadway recording of Rent out of the library and have been listening to it like crazy for the past several days. I love Light My Candle, One Song Glory, Contact (my favorite!), Will I?, and Life Support. Every time I listen (which is a LOT!), I hear more and more that I really like. Someday I’d LOVE to see the actual show. Yes, I do realize that I’m ten years behind everyone in loving this musical, but hey, better late than never, right? 🙂

five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes….

But the big thing is that thanks to my rad friend (and bridesmaid) Rosa (meimeigui), and her cool hubby Richard, I got to spend the weekend in San Francisco!! Lots and lots and lots of sightseeing went down, as well as picture taking. I had a blast.

!!!^-^!!!

I flew in Friday, on Skybus. Skybus is a very inexpensive carrier, and if you’re lucky, you can get seats for as little as $10! The reason they can charge so little is because they use smaller airports (for example, I flew into Oakland instead of the big San Francisco airport), they charge for things such as beverages, meals (you can get real food!), and checking baggage. They also bring this little cart down the aisle with products one can buy—things such as perfume and jewelry and gourmet chocolate! I thought that was the funniest thing. There were people buying stuff up like crazy. Basically, they don’t want to charge everyone for what only a few people will take. Not everyone gets a beverage or checks a bag on flights. It was nonstop, and that was very nice. I had the His Dark Materials trilogy with me and that’s when I made a decent dent in The Golden Compass. I’m finding it easier to get into The Subtle Knife, now. My problem is that with these big books, I want to hurry and race to the end so I can see what happens. I have to FORCE myself to slow down and actually ingest the words as I am reading them.

Anyway, I got to the city, and Rosa got me and took me to the headquarters of imeem.com. What a SUPER DUPER cool place to work, let me tell you. When the drudgery of the work day gets too much, the office is equipped with a foosball table, a Playstation 2, a Nintendo Wii, guitars, a drum set, a kitchen stocked with snacks like whoa, a fridge stocked with Red Bull, just to name a few. OK. How awesome, right? Yeah, that would NEVER happen at ZB. Never, never. Ever. But can you imagine working in such a cool place? A place where the boss lets one of the workers bring in her puppy on Fridays?

Rosa and a Puppy

Friday was pretty low key. Hanging out with Rosa and Richard, drinking tea, and hanging out with their cool friends, one of whom was out of town as well. Played Scattergories, drank lots of tea, and watched the “wild ass.”

Saturday was super duper busy, and it started with a trip to the Farmer’s Market.

Me & Rosa
Me and Rosa!

Boquet
Gorgeous Organic Flowers

Pumpkins!
Pumpkins! Pretty!

Chicken Feet!
Chicken feet. Eeek!

Then we had tea service at Samovar in Yerba Buena. Yummy.

Tea

We popped into SF SOMA for a bit and drooled and dreamed over the cool stuff in the museum shop, then we hopped on the trolley (streetcar?) to head to all the touristy stuff. You know the things they had in the Rice-A-Roni commercials? Yeah, I got to ride two. Sweet, right? I also got to take this random picture of a steep street in the city, and also one of Coit Tower:

San Francisco is STEEP

Coit Tower

We hit the top of Lombard Street, and Rosa and I ran down with our arms out. When we got to the bottom, a hippie drove by and yelled “THAT IS FUCKING TWISTED!!!” Rosa and I cracked up because well, Lombard is twisted. And steep. And pretty.

Lombard Street & Me!

Lombard Street

From Lombard, we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf, which is TOURIST CENTRAL. OMG so many people. Lots and lots of people. Didn’t help that the Blue Angels were in town, being all cool and loud and stuff.

Blue Angels

One can see lots of cool stuff at Fisherman’s Wharf, like Alcatraz. And sea lions.

Alcatraz
Alcatraz

Sea Lions
Sea Lions

Sunday morning, I got to meet and hang out with Katy (drkangelmommy)!!

Katy and Me

Isn’t she so cute??? 😀

Of course, no trip to SF is complete without going to The Golden Gate Bridge. Rosa took me there early Sunday morning. It was a perfect day. Cloudless blue skies, no fog. Beautiful.

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge & Me!

So YAY! Thanks a million to Rosa for making this happen. She’s an awesome gal and I had a blast with her. 🙂

I was in a cranky mood at the grocery store today because 1) it was crowded, and 2) they jacked the prices WAY up since I’ve been there last. An 8 oz. can of Hunt’s tomato sauce used to cost about 35 cents, now it’s 40 cents. Lord knows that the organic stuff is priced sky high. No wonder people love Aldi and Marc’s! I usually go to Marc’s anyway, because it’s closer to me than Aldi is. And sometimes Marc’s has obscure stuff one can’t find in a regular grocery store.

I’m heading toward crankiness again because there is one of those little flitty bugs flitting around and being annoying, and it’s already after 7pm (naturally the work day crawled by), and I’ll have to go to bed soon.

OH! I was on the Apostrophe Abuse blog today, and click to see what the cat dragged in: http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2007/09/thank-yous-note-cards.html. Yes, the same issue from Target that I emailed them about two years ago.

I got good mail today! A gift card, a letter, and a coupon for a free chicken sandwich and medium Coke from Chick-fil-A. You too, can have one. Just go to http://freechickenandcoke.com. If it’s still up and running, you can have free Chick-fil-A too! 🙂 Ka-CHOW!

mandibaby just got married! Congrats to her! She looked beautiful! 😀

All right. I need to get going. Time to make dinner. Tilapia, mashed potatoes, and spinach is on the menu for tonight. Yummy. 🙂

Cheers!

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My Trip!!! (LOTS of PICTURES!)

/ california, disneyland, friends, pictures, vacation, videos

Day One

The flight to Texas was fairly uneventful. Smooth ride. It was really cool flying over Ohio State, though. The stadium looks amazing from up high. Plus, we were at that perfect altitude—one of my favorite parts of flying: when you’re not up so high that nothing is visible but squiggly lines, but not down so low that you know it’s real life. It’s that altitude where everyone looks like toys. Neighborhoods look like dollhouses and toy cars and oh, look at the little baseball diamonds!

I was a bit worried because I’d noticed that my boarding pass for my 2nd flight didn’t have a gate number. Just before we landed, the flight attendant announced the locations of the connecting flights. We arrived at gate C-14 and my flight was to take off at gate C-28. Okay, easy peasy, right? HA! Not so much. We got switched all the way to gate A-25. Have you ever been to the Dallas/Fort Worth Int’l Airport? Um yeah. It’s HUGE. I don’t think I was sitting for more than fifteen minutes when we were moved again, to gate A-9! My arms were killing me by now, but I was excited and in good spirits because heck, I was going to Disneyland that evening!

I got to talk to an older woman from Switzerland. She’d been in the States for nine years. She flew first class. She was funny, heading out to gamble. I also got to talk to a woman from New Orleans. She said her house was under water and that she’d stayed in the hotel across the street from the Superdome. She had a gorgeous little dog with her. She was going to stay with relatives. Her attitude was so amazing, but she kept saying that she didn’t know HOW she felt about everything. I would imagine quite a bit of numbness would ensue at first, that’s for sure. I think of her often.

I landed at Ontario airport about 6:10 PST. Over an hour late. Our plane had been delayed due to mechanical reasons.

Amy (nerdiness) was waiting at the bottom of the escalator and I ran and gave her a big hug. Then we hopped into the car and onto the highway. I had to pee like a racehorse, but I held it until we got to the hotel. Once there, we checked in and Amy got the tickets for Disneyland. Then we went to our rooms, freshened up (ah, bathroom at last!), then headed out. We were parked right next to the parking garage for Disneyland, which is approxiamately ½ mile away from the park. Since we got there so late (about 8:15ish) we didn’t have to pay for parking. We hopped on the tram and made it to Disneyland in no time. We stopped at Downtown Disney. Amy wondered why I wasn’t getting off—I hadn’t realized that the parks were all so close to each other! I finally got it straight, and we got our bags searched and went inside. IT WAS CROWDED! Everyone was filing in to watch the fireworks and Fantasmic! I took as many night shots as I could, and we did a brief sweep of the park, riding the Pooh ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and watching the fireworks. A tiny bit of shopping took place too. Of course! 🙂

My first thought was: THIS LOOKS JUST LIKE MAGIC KINGDOM! The only difference was the castle. The Sleeping Beauty castle is a lot smaller than the Cinderella castle, but hey, it’s PINK and therefore no less beautiful.

Exhausted, I came home, posted an entry on LJ and went to sleep.

Day Two

I was up at the ungodly hour of 7:30am. Of course, it was like 10:30am to my Eastern Standard Time mind and body. Nevertheless, I was excited to go. I knew Disneyland had opened at 8, but I wanted a bit of rest and I let Amy sleep while I got ready and played on the computer. We didn’t get to the park until about 9:30am. Promptly ran into Mickey. 🙂 That was cool. He took my arm and we walked together to his greeting post. They never did that kind of thing at Disneyworld! I was shocked to see characters randomly roaming around. In Florida, it’s all so structured and a character roaming the streets alone would totally get swamped!

The crowds were not bad at all. The longest we had to wait for a ride was about an hour for Space Mountain, and forty-five minutes for Indiana Jones. We got through character greet lines fairly quickly. I got to meet rare characters I’d never even dreamed of meeting! The atmosphere is so relaxed there. I liked it a lot, except for when pushy parents would shove their kids in front of others to meet a character instead of having them wait their turn.

Some people say that those who have visited Disneyworld would be disappointed in Disneyland, but that wasn’t the case at all for me. Disneyland has it’s own kind of magic and it was a lot easier to get caught up in it.

I met Aurora (and a really cool cast member named Melanie who I need to write a letter about), and took pictures near and around the castle. Amy and I rode the flying Dumbos (where every trip is a round one!), Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (um, why does he have to go to Hell during it? I closed my eyes during that part, and the room was HOT!). We did some character greets on the way out to California Adventure. I met Cinderella, and ran into the Mad Hatter and Alice too. Mickey and Goofy came along at the top of a trolley. The Mad Hatter went up to the trolley and talked, and Alice skipped away. In between all that, I posed for dorky pictures. Yay for being a dork!


Goofy and I had a lot of fun playing with my Mickey ears. He truly is a goofball.


I can’t get this darn thing out!


YAY!


I love this picture!

California Adventure was okay. I rode the Maliboomer. Basically it’s like Power Tower at Cedar Point—one of those rides that shoots you up. OMG it was so scary!!! And it’s not even as high as Power Tower! We rode the Mulholland Madness, which is a jerky, crazy little coaster. I screamed a lot for no reason. I got on the swings—of course they had a name and it was inside of a giant orange. I rode it twice, got right on with no waiting both times. California Screamin’ was closed down due to the tragedy that had occurred on it back in July.


I’m stuck in the R!


GET ME OUT!!!

I DID get to ride Soarin’ Over California and WOW. How FUN! I can’t even describe it, you just have to ride it. There is one at Disneyworld in Epcot too. I didn’t get to ride it then, so I am so stoked I got to ride the original one. You’re like in a hang glider and just gliding over California; the mountains, the oceans. The wind is blowing in your hair and you can smell the pine trees. TWO THUMBS UP to Soarin’!!

There were a few characters in California Adventure—Max was there, California/Surfer Dude Goofy, and Mulan, who was all alone! Goofy was busy dancing and wasn’t really doing any character greets, and Max was just walking around and chillin’. So after all that excitement, we were pretty much done with California Adventure.

Back to Disneyland we went. Took a few random pictures like this one:

… and then promptly ran into one of Mary Poppins’ penguins. Met the prettiest Ariel ever.

Saw the Evil Queen. That lady is crazy.


Amy: Can she get a picture with you?
Evil Queen: You have to walk with me.
Amy: You’re BEAUTIFUL!
Evil Queen (haughtily): I know.
Ronni (thinking): HAHAHA.

Ate dinner at Buzz Lightyear’s Club. He was doing greets but I was too hungry to wait. I had a cheeseburger and fries. It was as yummy as Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café at Disneyworld! Watched the parade after I met Ariel. We found a nice spot on the curb an hour before. I had to convince her that it would be worth it, but it didn’t take long. The parade was AWESOME! We had prime seats and we both got great shots. Amy is now hooked on Disney parades. YAY.

Rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again. Sweet. Indiana Jones (holy cow, that ride is crazy!), the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Pinnochio’s something or other. Mad Tea Party at night—AWESOME! Of course we rode SPACE MOUNTAIN too! YEAH!! Space Mountain was awesome, but it broke down while we were on it. Lucky for us, we’d just pulled into the station, so the ride was over for us anyway. What a great way to top off the night, and there was still shopping to do!

And yes I did shop. I’d held back all day so I could go crazy in World of Disney. I didn’t do too badly—mainly because I was feeling cheap, but also because I was conscientious of what would fit into my luggage. I got another toy monorail for Aidan (his other one broke), two little Mickeys and a little Minnie for myself, a magnet for the house, a pin (okay, I got two pins), and a Mickey Mouse Club wallet that matches my messenger bag. By now, both of us were exhausted—Amy was limping like an old woman (I love you, Amy!) and my body was screaming to lie down, so we went back to the hotel. I played on the computer a bit, then went back to bed. Mmm, sleep.

Day Three

We slept in Sunday. I was tired, she was tired. I knew we’d be going into L.A., so I wanted to dress cutely. I wore a new skirt and cami, and carried my cashmere sweater and Prada purse. I dressed to impress—sorta. My cheeks were naturally pink because I was SUNBURNED. Thankfully not enough to look like a lobster, though.

We drove around a bit. Amy showed me her house. She lives right by these gorgeous mountains. Amazing, and she doesn’t even think they’re a big deal. HUH?

We ate Roscoe’s Chicken’n Waffles and yes. YUM. So very yum. I’m craving it now.

There were pictures of the manager with celebrities like ‘Nsync and Pink. There was an autographed picture of Maurice Clarett hanging up.

After Roscoe’s, we went downtown. I called Star (selfstyled) so we could make plans for that night, and she told us how to get to the Hollywood sign. We finally made our way there after a few mishaps. I hadn’t realized it was in a park, with a trail that goes up really close to it, in a scenic sort of way. People ran there, or just picnicked and hung out. Neat.

We drove down Sunset Blvd (you can see the sign from there) and went to the Virgin Megastore to try and spot celebrities. No luck, but I did buy a new CD and Mean Girls on DVD. OH MY GOD. Los Angeles sales tax is a killer! 8.25% or something crazy like that!!! What the heck??? In Ohio, it’s 5.75%. Anyway, we did see look-a-likes as we were driving down Santa Monica Blvd. Possible Lindsay Lohan and Tara Reid in an SUV next to us (Amy! LOOK OUT!) in Beverly Hills.

We made it to the Third Street Promenade around 5:55 and we saw Star drive by in her cute car! After lots of phone calls, we finally saw each other (Star: I see you! I see you!) I gave her a huge hug. She was so beautiful! Her hair is gorgeous and she has the cutest voice! We walked around a bit, then went down to the beach. It was so pretty, the sun setting behind us as we posed for pictures. I was stoked to see the ocean, although it was tres calm. We had dinner at a place called Goucho Grill and it was yummy. Although they smothered Star’s food with onions. Poor thing. We are all proud onion-haters. Once she got them off, she seemed to enjoy everything. We talked and had a few drinks and had a good time getting to communicate without typing!!

Star had to leave before 11pm because the garage she was in closed early. We walked her to her car and then she drove us to Amy’s car. Star’s car is super, duper cool! She said “I have Ronni in my car!” and I was all “I’m in Star’s car!!!”

On the way to the hotel, I sent a text message to Kelly (hybridpeach). Then I called her. We made plans to meet at the hotel at 9:30 and then have IHOP. I was excited, having just met Star and now going to meet Kelly and Becky!

Got back, Amy got on my computer, I fell asleep while reading. Apparently, she took a picture of me sleeping with the book still open. Heh.

Day Four

I woke up early again. Darn it. I got ready and everything. Amy kept begging for ten more minutes of sleep. Then seven more minutes. Then twenty more. I finally got her up at about 8:45, telling her that Kelly would be there in 45 minutes. She bounded into action.

Kelly sent me a few text messages as she was on her way and showed up right on time. Pictures don’t do her justice either. And Becky was adorable times infinity.

Amy couldn’t find her wallet so we all searched while Becky gurgled and played. So much fun! I played and played with her. Kelly was a totally easy-going mom. And IHOP was yummy. 🙂 We all had a Rooty-Tooty Fresh and Fruity. Becky had a few strawberries and sweet potatoes, though. I didn’t want to leave Kelly, she is so easy to talk to and very calm. Brandon called her a million times. I wish he’d have been there.

So now it was time to go. Off to the airport we went. I went inside and went through the stuff. Hopped on board, and flew to Texas. Again, I hate that airport. Hate.It. flew to Columbus from Dallas on a little plane that was almost empty. It was so nice and quiet. I went to sleep a few times. Had an entire row to myself. Then I was home. And that’s all. 🙂 The End.

I had a wonderful trip! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed the pictures and my recount. Amy, feel free to add anything in the comments if I forgot something. 🙂

HOLY CRAP I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS PAST WEEKEND EVEN HAPPENED!!!

For those of you who can’t get enough (like me!), here are a couple of video downloads:

Mickey’s Toontown | Click! | 2.9 M
Fireworks Finale | Click! | 22.7 M

I’ll put up a photo album soon. The summer is ending, so it’s about that time anyway. 🙂 LOTS and LOTS more pictures to come! 🙂

Byeeeeeeeeeeee! ºOº

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