Tuesday was a busy day - swim lesson, doctor appointment, then 6 hours in the car. Wednesday started early with breakfast at Hof's Hutt in Long Beach. We like to sit on the patio and watch the birds fly around us, but they were cleaning the patio so we were stuck inside. (Too bad) We met up with Dirk's dad at the house and he was giddy to have company out on the boat. He's got a Boston Whaler, seats 6, pretty comfortable. Apparently it's a tough boat to sink! After getting gas, buying snacks at Starbucks and checking out a pelican, we lauched and headed out for Long Beach Harbor. Our goal? To get up close to the sea lions that hang out on the buoys. They are soooooo cute!
After we came in from the harbor a bit early (Genna had to use the facilities) we took a fast spin around the marine stadium, a place where one can go as fast as one wants. Genna had fun. Then it was more interaction with the pelicans at the dock, and a quick ride home. We went out to dinner with Dirk's parents at Katella Deli - a nice way to end the evening.
Thursday... Disneyland!!!
Genna and I were up early so we could catch the first shuttle to Disney, but we didn't make it, of course. So we arrived a bit behind schedule. No matter - there weren't a lot of people at the park anyway. First thing - photo ops! During the next 90 minutes we rode on Mr. Toad, Storybook River Boats, Casey Jr. Train, Teacups, Alice In Wonderland and Astroblasters. Then it was over to Autopia where Genna decided she wanted to drive. It started to get busy around this time so they had 3 lanes out of 4 open. We were in lane 4, luckily. There was a broken down car in lane 3 and because of it they shut down the ride. We were lucky to have our turn before that happened.
We had lunch in the Pizza Port, then we went to California Adventure. First stop, Monsters Inc. At the Hollywood Backlot we met Jasmine, Aladdin and Snow White. Also, we drew Minnie Mouse and Tigger, and went to see Turtle Talk with Crush. During the show a guy proposed to his girlfriend. How cool! Crush helped out with the surprise - what a way to propose!
Genna and I decided to go back to Disney and I convinced her to go to the Haunted Mansion since she refused to go down Splash Mountain. She was scared, but there were no tears. I was so proud of my baby for being brave and trying something new. Maybe next time we'll conquer Splash Mt.
We went on the Jungle Cruise, into the Tiki Room, back to the Teacups (where we saw the Parade of Dreams since it went right by the ride) and saw 50 Years of Magic on Main Street (a must for Disneyland fans). Then it was back to CA Adventure for the Electrical Light Parade. I haven't seen it in years and it was nice to share it with my 7-yr-old. Everything is exciting to her! We had awesome seats thanks to the advice of my big sis - no one sat in front of us and we weren't even sitting on the ground. Very comfortable!
By this time we were just pooped so we went back to the hotel.
Friday was uneventful with a quick good-bye to Dirk's parents and a long drive back to Mesa.
(Genna took some pictures of herself while we were packing up the room on Friday morning. I thought they were cute.)
There was the stop at Seal Beach where we went to our favorite shell shop to get some stuff for Genna. Then, we walked down the street to Cold Stone Creamery and had ice cream on the pier where we saw some of the sights:
SCARY!
All in all it was a worthwhile trip. Can't wait to go back in October.
