California Adventures - Disneyland

We left Bakersfield around 8pm on Monday night and got to our hotel in Anaheim around 10:30pm.  It was straight to bed and up bright and early to head to Disneyland for our Magic Morning Pass.

We made it!

We headed to this Disneyland classic...

This is when I learn that my husband is like an 8-year-old on roller coasters.  He just laughed and giggled through the whole thing.  Haha!  There is a video later to prove it.  Love him!

After Space Mountain and Astro Blasters, we headed over toward Adventure Land and Frontier Land only to find that were both closed.  None of the rides were working.  People were getting full blown irate.  It was hilarious!  Calm down everyone!  We made use of the downtime and hit up some beignets and mint juleps.  We had a lot of must eats to cross off our lists so might as well start at 9am on our first day!  Finally the rides opened...

Big Thunder Mountain!!

Autopia...

I never knew James was so scared of my driving.

Matterhorn...worst ride in the park I determined.  It hurts my brain.

A trip Disneyland is not complete without at least one viewing of Captain EO.

James was feeling it!

I love corn dogs.  They are like "manna straight from heaven"!  Just as Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband!  The best corn dogs ever exist at Disneyland. 

We went on Splash Mountain one last time and I got soaked!

One day at Disneyland complete!  Two more days of pure joy to go!  It was unusually hot every day we were there.  And when I say unusual, I mean high 90s in LA in early May.  Unheard of!  It was also crazy windy which actually helped with the heat.  The crowds were low though, so I won't complain!

The next day we headed to California Adventure.  I love it there.  All of my favorite rides are there. 

Started things off with California Screamin'!

A quick stop at Luigi's tire ride.

Churro...a Disneyland must eat!

This ride is as good as they come!

This was James' first time there since Cars Land opened.  It was pretty fun to be there with a first timer!

I think if I had to choose, I would say Midway Mania is my favorite ride at Disneyland/California Adventures.  It is just so dang fun!  I have been known to be quite good at this game, so I told James he was going down.

We got to the end of the ride and this is what we saw...

We tied!  Who has ever gotten the exact same score?!

The Muppets make him so happy!

Round 2...

Yes!  Yellow=me

Round 3...

Yes!!  Red=me

I've died and gone to heaven!

My face gets blocked in most of these pictures.  Its a talent I have!

Get a room! :)

Radiator Springs at night.

Round 4...

Sad day...I got killed!  But James got 200,000 points!  Rocked it!

We went to World of Color which is always super rad, and we headed home.  We were soooo pooped!  We are old!
We had a three day single park per day pass, so we had to decide where to go for day 3.  It just had to be Disneyland.  California Adventure is more fun and more thrilling in my book, but Disneyland is just classic.  It can't be beat!

The Haunted Mansion...scary!

Face covered

James got it this time!

Wet bum!

We got to meet the man himself!

I think we've mastered the art of selfies!

Face covered

Our last ride of our trip...

And blogger won't let me load the video of James gleefully giggling through the whole ride of course.  I can play it for you upon request if you come visit me.  The good news is that we are Disneyland compatible...this whole marriage thing just might work out!  I'm the luckiest girl in the world!
After 3 days of endless walking and waiting in lines, we took it easy on Friday.  We slept in and were really lazy.  We finally pulled ourselves together and headed down to San Diego to go to the temple.

I love this picture...doesn't he look like a missionary?!  Love of my life!

That temple is so stunning!  James had never been inside.  We had just missed a session and there wasn't another one starting for a couple of hours, so we did sealings.  It was so peaceful and wonderful!
We grabbed some lunch afterward and then went up to a lookout peak called Mount Soledad.  It had a war memorial on top and there was a great view of the whole city.

We sat up there for hours and just relaxed and watched the sunset over the ocean.

So every day at Disneyland I got ice cream.  I was having withdrawals this day, so we stopped at Cold Stone by our hotel and watched the fireworks at Disneyland because calling it a night.

Saturday morning we headed back home.  It was the best trip!  I love California!  I loved spending time there with James and running around Disneyland for 3 days!  It was like a second honeymoon!  Such a blast!

California Adventures - Killer Kern

One of my old roommates from BYU gave James and I an awesome wedding present.  Her and her husband own a river rafter company.  Their wedding present to us was to either raft the Provo River or to raft the Killer Kern.  Provo or California?  California, duh!  So we were quick to plan a getaway to CA.  We left last Friday afternoon and drove straight through to B-town USA.
We were on pace to set a record until we hit this...

Dust Bowl 2014...not good!

 We sat on the freeway for over a half hour before being allowed to get off at the next exit and then taking the unpaved frontage road to the next on-ramp.  There was a huge accident from the dust that was blocking the whole freeway.
Want to know what else was not good?  When we stopped in Barstow to get gas and this is what we saw...

What on earth?  Makes me nauseous!

 We finally made it home!  On Saturday, my dad's work was having a spring BBQ party, so we headed down to Pioneer Village to get some free lunch.  They had three different BBQ restaurants cater and we were supposed to vote on our favorite.  We had to eat three delicious BBQ lunches.  Bummer!  It was lots of fun!  We toured one of the old houses there and ate popcorn and Marie Callendars pies.

Had to take James by this old classic!

 

 They even had photographers there to take pictures of us.  We sure are cute people!  Am I a twin of my mom?  People tell us this all the time...

After a epic dinner by my dad and just when you thought another ounce of food couldn't fit in our bodies, we headed to a frozen yogurt place for dessert.

And this happens when my mom tries to take a picture on a smart phone...

There's a good one!

We went to church on Sunday and just relaxed.  We had another epic dinner again...smoked meatloaf I think.  It changed James' life. Then on Monday we headed up to Kernville for our Killer Kern run.  So let me do a little preface here.  I grew up rafting the Killer Kern every summer for YM/YW activities, and I remember it being quite intense.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous.  James was super excited.  It was his first time white water rafting.

Getting pre-run instructions.

Here we go!

 

 

My parents got some great shots of us!

Coming in safe and sound!

 

It was peaceful and beautiful out on the river!

Peaceful and beautiful is not how you would usually describe white water rafter, but we had fun!  It wasn't the Killer Kern that I remember from my youth.  It was early in the season and the river was still really low.   It was still an exciting wedding present, and I got to catch up with my old roommate Alyssa a little and meet her sweet little baby and husband (who was our river guide). 
 

 When we got back from our first run, they asked us if we wanted to do it again so they could train a new guide.  Heck ya!  Good times!
We headed home to Bakersfield with just enough time to grab some Sequoia Sandwiches, and more specifically, Sequoia cookies for dinner.

And yes, I got one of every flavor.  I LOVE them!

Mom loves them too!

 It was so fun to get to spend some time with parents and to have an excuse to head to CA.  While we were there, we decided to make a real vacation out of it.  Disneyland here we come!!

Ensign Peak and Easter

 Last weekend was perfect for a little hike and to celebrate Easter.  I just love this time of year!  On Saturday, James and I met Heather and her friend, Mike, for a hike to Ensign Peak and then dinner.

Isn't that an awesome pic?!

We are so good at the selfie!

 

 

 

 Later on Saturday, James and I dyed eggs for Easter. 

 

The final product.

 While I was in Seattle, James created a scavenger hunt around our apartment that led to my Easter present.  He had created the most awesome and creative clues!  It was so fun!  Since he had done that for me, I decided to hide all our dyed eggs around the house for an Easter egg hunt.

See that one he's missing right behind his head!?

All ready for church!

After church we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon and walked around the Dogwood picnic area.

 After our drive, we headed home and created our Easter feast.  Ham, potatoes, deviled eggs, green salad, and strawberries.

 

Yes, we eat almost exclusively at our coffee table.  It was such a wonderful weekend.  I'm so grateful for this holiday that reminds us of how much our Savior has done for us.  His Atonement and Resurrection are truly infinite and miraculous!  Happy Easter and happy spring!