Disneyland Day 2

Whew! What a day! It started out super stressful, but turned out to be super fun. We left for the parks at about 9am and when we got to the parks, we decided to go check out Downtown Disney first. When we had first got there, I thought that we were going to go into the park so I had pulled my ticket out of my wallet and when we headed over to Downtown Disney, I stuck it in the same pocket as my cell phone. Well... a few texts, a couple of cute photos of Charly, and an Instagram post later we couldn't find my ticket. We searched everywhere where we had been frantically for what felt like forever. Finally, we defeat, we headed over to the ticket booths to see if someone had turned it in. I was nearly in tears and we were pretty stressed out. When we got to the the booth, they simply scanned Bill's ticket, asked to see our IDs and I had a new ticket! It was such a relief to have it easily remedied!

We love Vinylmations!

After that drama, we went over to California Adventures and met up with the Woods. We watched their 2 year old, Elsie, while they went to ride California Screamin'. We took the girls on King Triton's Carousel. After we got done there, the Woods had a Fast Pass for Cars Racer that the window had just opened for and since Elsie couldn't ride that one either, we took her while they did that. Elsie fell asleep as soon as we walked away, so Bill took Charlotte on Flick's Flyers while we waited. After they were done, Bill and I rode the Racers and LOVED it! We then hit up Tower of Terror (the things I do for love!)

After our obligatory nap (and one epic melt-down by Miss Charlotte), we went back to Downtown Disney (with my ticket safely tucked into Bill's wallet!). We got some fun Vinylmations while there and then met Aviator Minnie outside of Soarin' California. I personally was thrilled as I think that she looked great and that it was a unique look. We then met up with the Woods again. We hung out in the Animation area for a bit then split up for dinner. We ate at Flo's V8 Diner in Radiator Springs. It was super yummy. After dinner, we went on our favorite ride, Soarin' Over California while the Woods watched Charlotte. Then we watched Elsie while they rode. We took the girls over to Bugs Land and rode some rides with them... they had a blast!

mmm... Chocolate Pie!

We had tons of fun and can't wait for tomorrow!

Disneyland!

When we first moved to Arizona, we decided that we wanted to go to Disneyland while we were there since it is only about a 5 1/2 hour drive. We thought that we would go during Bill's spring break in March, but about a week and half ago, our friends from Utah, the Woods, invited us to meet up with them on their "we are about to start grad school" trip. We decided that because we have been a bit bored waiting for school to start and we had the money, why not go!?!?! So, we left yesterday afternoon and made the drive. We got here about 630 and celebrated our arrival with dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Today we met the Woods at the park at 7am for Magic Morning. Soon after being let into the park, the Woods (who have 2 daughters, aged 2 and 6) heard that they could go see the Frozen princesses first thing, so they took advantage of that while we went to FantastyLand.  Unfortunately, not much of the park is open for Magic Morning. We went to Dumbo, the tea cups, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Pinnochio. The first two were hits with Charlotte, the second two were Disneyland fails. By that point, we decided to try our luck at California Adventure and headed over there.

Charlotte, our official navigator

We HAD to go to Toy Story Mania first and got right in. The we headed over to Ariel's Undersea Adventure. On the way, we saw Donald (who has always been one of my favorites) and got our photo with him. Afterwards, we wandered through Cars Land, then while Bill went on the Tower of Terror, Charlotte and I went on a couple of rides in the Bug's Land. We finished the morning on Monsters Inc. and at the Disney Junior Show (which was Charlotte's favorite by far).

We went back to our hotel for a nap and then headed back to the park to meet up with the Woods. We started our return to the park with a Dole Whip and a trip on Pirates of the Caribbean. By this point of the day, Charlotte was mostly resigned to the fact that most of these rides were a bit dark and moved. We then went on Winnie the Pooh and then met Mickey. We had to fight parade crowds on our way out, but I told Bill that that was the best way to see the parade (while walking by!)

We have completed our day chillin' at the hotel and look forward to another fun filled day at the park!  

Fun in the Sun

We have been living in the desert for 3 weeks now and part of me can't believe that we have almost been here for a whole month already! Bill finally had something school related this week- he had orientation. It was a super long day, but he got to meet classmates, teachers, etc and is encouraged by the job prospects... the average salary from last year's first graduating class in this field is higher than we anticipated and one alumni who spoke to them had accepted a job offer by October of last year... just 2 months into the program! The next 9 months are going to be intense, but we feel that it will be worth it!

Because Bill hasn't had school or work, we have been getting in lots of play time! We decided to get annual zoo passes and we love it! We are going to try to make it a Friday tradition to go and went the last two weeks. It is nice to be able to see the zoo at a leisurely pace instead of trying to get everything done in a day. This last Friday we took an opportunity to feed the giraffes. It was so much fun! Charlotte even fed "our" giraffe a lettuce leaf... she wasn't overly impressed, but she didn't cry, so I consider it a victory.

Bill's birthday was at the end of July and we celebrated by eating at a pizza place in Phoenix called Cibo. It was mostly authentic according to Bill and pretty good.

We tried gelato at a nearby Italian grocer and enjoyed it! Bill got melon just like they serve it in Italy he says. I love that whenever I take a picture of Charly and Bill, she only has eyes for her daddy!

We have also found a splash pad that is fun for all of us... you know, the splash pad part for the kiddo and shade, misters, and an Orange Julius a few feet away for Bill and I! It is at a really cool outdoor mall, so it is fun to wander through stores while we are there!

Bill also found a place to play hockey and will get to play twice a week. Once for pick up games and another for league play. It is only about 15 minutes away and much earlier in the evening than the groups he played with in Utah so hopefully it can happen more frequently than it has in recent years!

We are having a lot of fun in the desert sun so far, but we are going spend our last school-less week someplace sunny, but a little cooler ... the Petrosino's are going to Disneyland!