Graduation Trip to Disneyland

My husband is the best man ever to give me a trip to Disneyland/California Adventure. It's definitely an act of true love to be willing to wait in a bunch of lines for rides that sing Disney songs. It was a nice little escape from reality and responsibilities and I loved it! Thanks Daniel.
5/18 We ate dinner with my family and then my Mom took us to the airport. It was weird saying goodbye to Hayley knowing I wouldn't see her until Sunday. We flew to California at 8:15 in the evening and got there around 9:15 PM. We picked up our awesome Kia Soul rental car and made our way to Embassy Suites after we got some food. We were both pretty tired by the time we finally got to bed.
5/19 We spent the first day in Disneyland. We got in all the rides we wanted to and skipped the ones we didn't really care for. Thank goodness for Fast Passes, whoever came up with those is genius. I met up with one of my companions, Ashley Stokes, at Hyperspace Mountain and we rode it together. We had been trying to see each other for months and things kept popping up so naturally we meet up in Disneyland haha. We were at the park from about 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. We went to dinner at BJ's, mostly for the dessert but the pizza we had was pretty delicious too. The outlets were right by BJ's so we looked around them for a little bit and then hit up Ross because Daniel always has to go to Ross when we're on vacation. Sadly we left empty handed. My feet and lower back were killing me so we decided to hot tub instead of going back to the park. Then it was time for bed! It was a long day.

Finding Nemo.

Splash Mountain.

Stokesy and me after riding Space Mountain.

The man, the myth, the legend. I love Walt Disney.

Pizookie trio at BJ's.

5/20 We made sure we got to the park right when it opened, and we stayed in California Adventure all day. California Adventure was a lot less crowded, especially in the morning, so we were able to get in all the rides there that we wanted to do. It had been 10 years since I had been there so it was fun to ride new rides, although several of them were pretty similar to rides at Lagoon. We went back to our hotel in the late afternoon and went to Roscoe's Chicken 'N Waffles for dinner. I will never understand the concept but Daniel loves it. We took a little snoozer and then went back to California Adventure for a few quick rides before World of Color.
Those who know me better than others know that I absolutely love Disney. I have had the tradition of "Disney Movie Sunday" since I was a little girl, I gave my speech in 7th grade theater class on Walt Disney, and I dressed like Cinderella to my Jr. High School Prom, it ain't no thang. So call me crazy if you will, but World of Color reminded me why I love Disney so much. Yes, the songs and princesses are pretty grand, but Disney is about so much more. It's about making dreams come true and teaching children that they can do whatever they want and that they deserve happy endings. I love it. I want my kids to think that way and be raise to believe those kinds of things. If there more Walt Disney's in the world, Disneyland wouldn't be the only happiest place on earth.
Off my soap box now. The park closed for Grad Night after World of Color so we just went home because I was having my old lady back problems and Disneyland Forever (fireworks) got cancelled.

California Screamin'

Cars ride.

Grizzly River Run.

He definitely showed me how much he loved me on this vacation. Thanks love!

Toy Story Mania.

I was player 2. I have document whenever I beat Dan at something.

Dan had never been on Tower of Terror so I rode it for him. I hate the straight up and down rides.

Paradise Pier.

I had to get my corn dog from Corn Dog Castle.

5/21 We planned on getting up to get to the park when it opened but when that 7:00 AM alarm went off we decided that sleep sounded better. So we got to the park around 10:00 AM and looked through shops in between riding our favorite rides. It was nice to be able to do whatever we wanted, when we wanted. We went back to the hotel in the late afternoon again for some dinner and then came back for Disneyland Forever. We caught some of the parade before the fireworks started. They almost cancelled them again, but thankfully they didn't because they did the other two nights we were there too. Dan enjoyed the Buzz Lightyear ride, probably because he always won (but I did beat him at Toy Story Mania) so we rode that a few times afterward and then went back to the hotel to hopefully get a few decent hours of sleep before waking up at 5:00 AM to get to the airport and fly home. Our flight left at 7:15 AM and we landed around 9:45 AM.

Thunder Mountain.

Splash Mountain take 2.

The best Disney Princess.

Disneyland Forever.

It was a wonderful 3 day vacation, but man it was almost one of those "you need a vacation from your vacation" kind of trips. We walked 27 miles over the span of the 3 days we were at the parks, and both of our feet were fine, but my lower back was not happy at the end of every day. Ever since having Hayley it has not been the same. Speaking of Hayley, it was super wonderful to see her! I did video chat with her twice while we were gone but only for a few minutes and obviously she doesn't fully understand what's happening. Paul and Becky picked us up and met us inside and it took Hayley a minute to recognize us and believe that we were real. Once she did she was laughing and smiling like crazy. It made me a little teary eyed to see her again. It was a little weird having her in my arms again because California was like a separate world where she didn't exist, I don't know how else to explain it. Luckily it was nap time for her when we got home so Dan and I could take a nap too. We were both exhausted, my eyes would not stay open.
I am glad that Daniel and I had some time to ourselves. It was nice to be able to talk about things besides Hayley, work, and school, and just be the two of us again. I sure love him and am grateful that he is mine forever.