California

So this year for the California Dental Meeting I got to go as daughter, not employee. It was just my dad, AJ, and me. We drove this year and left at 6 pm, meaning we would be driving all night! We stopped in at Andria's house to wish Audrey a happy 1st birthday! I drove from Andria's all the way to St. George. Be proud people!

We finally made it, and the hotel was super nice and let us check in, at 5:45(their time) We of course didn't go to sleep right away we went next door and ate at PoFolks. I was super excited to finally get some french toast in me.



After we ate, we went and napped for a bit then decided to go eat. We went to In N Out. Then we headed to the beach. Where the picture in the post below was taken. AJ was the only one to get into the water. I'm not much of a water person myself. We didn't think he'd last that long in the water.... Hence the incredible sunburn shown below(the line is from where my body bugg is on my arm)

After we went back to the room so AJ could clean up a bit, and I napped again...we went to Knott's Berry Farm. Unfortunately, they have a after 4 discount but were only open until 6. So we had to get a lot in in a short amount of time. Luckily it wasn't too crowded. AJ's favorite was the Silver Bullet...mine of course was Xcelerator.

The last ride we went on was Ghostrider. Which, I think, is my dad's favorite ride. AJ started crying on it- his seat belt wasn't tight enough apparently. He'll kill me for saying that.
We hit some of the shops in front of Knott's before heading to...

The ever so famous Knott's Chicken Dinner. AJ was miserable. He was cold and super sore from his sunburn. I ate WAY too much...but it was super delicious.

Friday was the glorious day we would be spending in Disneyland/California Adventure. I was super nervous because I had to drive us there all by myself(not to mention in my dad's mountaineer, no SUVs for me thanks...) Thankfully we had the gps, so after a few missed turns we made it there. We had to sit forever waiting to park...boo!

The first ride we went on was Indian Jones, for some reason this is the ride I always start with. Then we went on Pirates. It was FREEZING cold! After this we were going to make our reservation for the Blue Bayou(of course...) and when we got there you know what they told me, it's full! WHAT?!?!?! If you can't call in a reservation how could it possibly be full by 9:15 that morning. He told us there was a small chance we could get in if we came back by 11. So this made for a lot of walking back and forth.

We hit fantasy land to ride the only fantasy land ride worth riding to find this....

Yes, there would be no flights to Neverland for us. I was heartbroken that Peter Pan is getting worked on. So we didn't ride any fantasy land rides.

We got to ride a few more rides before we had to head back to Blue Bayou to see if we could get in.

Obviously we got in, and notice all the empty tables. I'll be honest, it wasn't quite the experience I was hoping to have. The menu has completely changed.. there's only like 5 things to pick from(4 on the kids menu) AJ had to go with the Mac and Cheese, which wasn't very good. I of course loved my Monte Cristo. Also, last year when we went our waitor came and had to take a quick break during our meal. It happened again this year....k, they had just opened. Why did he need a break so soon? I think that's totally weird! Well, I don't know if it will be a necessary stop for me in the future. GASP!

After we had finished eating lunch we headed over to Splash Mountain, it was getting quite hot. The wait was going to be 55 minutes. No way Jose! So we went and got fast passes...then went and rode some more rides. Which means, once again we were walking ALL over!

AJ wanted to buy something so bad, money must burn a hole in his pocket. So he bought this Grumpy hat. He later lost the beard to it. And I got to be the one to carry it around the rest of the day.

We still had some time to kill before our Splash Mountain fast pass...we yes, we went on Winnie the Pooh. I felt like I was on drugs...

We finally got to get on Splash Mountain. I love fast passes. We passed all those people who decided to wait for an hour for the ride. To make it even better, we had about 20 people in front of us yet they needed a party of 2, so we got to pass even more people. We seriously just walked right onto the ride. And we sat in the back this year so I didn't even really get wet at all. My kind of water ride.

After Splash Mountain we tried to get on Big Thunder Railroad, no such luck it was closed temporarily. So we headed over to California Adventure. California Screamin' was the ride we had to hit first because AJ had never been on it. But since the fast pass thing is such a great invention...we got fast passes then went on the Rapids ride. That was the LONGEST wait we had to wait for. It was almost an hour before we got on the ride. The man in front of us was silent for the longest time then he took these pills and magically wouldn't shut up....uh oh. And the girls behind us all had "1st visit" pins on and were pushing me and AJ out of their way the whole time. It was miserable waiting in line time. I got pretty wet, but no nearly as soaked as I thought I would get.

So then we went on Screamin'. AJ absolutely loved it. So after we got off we got another fast pass and decided to go to Tower of Terror while we waited for that fast pass time to come.

Now, we walked all the way over there and the wait said 50 mins. But we knew we could handle it cause most of the waiting was inside where it was cool. So we got to the back of the line and some lady came running up to us and said she had 4 extra fast passes and if any of us were a party of 4. AJ was like we have 2 and the people behind us were also just 2. So she gave them to us...so once again. We got right on the ride! Could our luck get any better???

Unfortunately, they now have someone standing there so you can't take pictures of the pictures as well....but I sure tried!

Then we went on Screamin' again...and once again got another fast pass for after. Then we went on Soarin Over California. The wait wasn't horrible but after just walking on to all the rides it kind of sucks. Then we rode Screamin' once again before heading over to Disneyland again.

We were going to head and see if Big Thunder had opened. As we were walking in the gate a lady grabbed my arm and was like "excuse me, do you want these?" I look, and had finally decided luck was on our side. It was 2 fast passes for Big Thunder. So we ran straight for the ride and got right on! AJ was loving it, he thought he was pretty "Bad A" if you will.

After we rode that we decided to go on Space Mountain again, we had gone in earlier that morning. The wait was HORRIFIC!!! Seriously, couldn't someone had given us a fast pass for that? We were trying to be obnoxious in this picture because the girls behind us were obnoxious the whole time in line(over an hour of middle schoolers makes me want to poke my eyeballs out)
They complained about not being able to see themselves...whoops...?

After riding a few more rides, we were pretty hungry. So I bought a turkey leg, first one ever thank you very much. I didn't eat it all. That's a lot of meat! But it was tasty!

So, AJ couldn't find anything he wanted in Disneyland(apparently...) so we once again headed back over to California Adventure...you'd think my feet would be hurting from all this walking back and forth but they weren't. After he ate, we went back on California Screamin, no joke. It doesn't get old! So we rode it 2 times in a row and called it a day.

On Saturday my dad had a class(as I said in the earlier post) and I didn't really want to drive around and do much so me and AJ hung out at the pool. Yes, I even got in the freezing water! I think I might secretly become more of a water baby then I let on....

After swimming and laying out for over 2 1/2 hours, he had a serious sunburns. Stupid us! I took the sunscreen out. Not my fault AJ didn't apply it liberally. So we sat in the room for awhile before I got so bored I told him we were leaving(thank goodness for GPS!) We headed to the nearest Walmart and bought some Aloe Vera. I will never, ever complain of our Walmart being too crowded ever again! That was a nightmare!

Since it was our last night there we went out to eat with my dad's good friend, "Uncle" Brent, and his wife, Diane, and their son, Dan(can you guess where he got his name from :)). It was a good time. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. It was a great way to spend our last day in California.

Then on Sunday we left bright and early and headed home. I'm happy to be home and sleep in my own bed. And most importantly, to not have to deal with California drivers again!!!

A big thanks to my dad for taking me along for the fun. Thanks to AJ for being a good sport and tagging along with me. And even a thanks to Kelsi for supplying the clothes for me ;)

Oh and PS- I burned 3417 calories walking around Disneyland, in case any of you were wondering!