Cali Trip 2013

This June, Shawn and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We decided that the perfect way to celebrate would be a trip to Disneyland, just the two of us. And it was such a great trip. No kids schedules to work around, no trying to be back at a certain time, no compromising with others. It was just the two of us and we could do whatever we wanted. I'm a planner and Shawn is a free spirit so the trip was the perfect blend for us. We are so lucky to have amazing family close by who were willing to watch our girls while we were gone for a week.  We were so excited to get going!

 Disneyland at Halloween is AMAZING!! I loved all the pumpkins everywhere. So beautiful!

 This was us our first day at Disney, right before the rides opened. As we were waiting for the gates to open, I was people watching (as I often do), and I saw a girl that looked familiar. I kept watching and realized that it was one of my good friends from high school, Amber Thomas (now Griffiths). I went up to her and it was so much fun to reconnect with her. I have missed her so dearly. And I'm kicking myself that we didn't take a picture together.

 One of the first rides of the day, my favorite! Splash Mountain!

 We had never been to Cars Land and let me tell you. It was incredible. I seriously felt like I was in the movie. So much fun. We got in line first thing in the morning and went straight to Radiator Racers and were some of the first people on the ride. Such a great ride. The perfect blend of story plus action. We knew we had to go on it again and even though Disneyland is pretty non-busy in September, that ride always had an hour wait. Then we discovered the magic of the single rider line. Never more than a 5-10 min wait and about 75% of the time we ended up in the same car anyway. So we went on that ride probably close to 10 times. Awesome! Don't you love my excited face for the single rider line?!

World of Color was so much fun. I am not even ashamed to say that both Shawn and I teared up both times we saw it. Disney has a way of making things so magical. And we were fortunate enough to get amazing spots both times we saw it!

 Happy birthday to me!!! There is no better way to spend your birthday than in Disneyland with your best friend. We just played all day and then went to the Blue Bayou for dinner. It was super fancy so I was worried that my pickiness wouldn't allow me to enjoy the food but I got the Filet Mignon and it was delicious!! We loved the ambiance there too.

This was Disneyland the week we went. Dead. We had some crowds but they were very small. With the exception of Radiator Racers hour wait, the longest we waited in line was 15-20 minutes. Most of the time it was a 5-10 min wait or we would walk straight onto the rides.

 As a kid my family always went to Disneyland the second week of September and we never went on the Haunted Mansion because it was always closed due to them getting it ready for Halloween. But they had it already done this year so Shawn and I went on it loads of times. And we even met Jack Skellington!

 Disneyland was so much fun with just the two of us. I would definitely do that again. Preferably sooner than later. Or maybe we will take the girlies next time. Maybe.

 On the last day in California, we went to the LA Zoo. Shawn and I have this thing where we go to a baseball game and a zoo on every trip we go on. The LA Zoo was just ok. They had some cool exhibits but we left feeling less than impressed. And it really made me miss the Denver Zoo. That place is awesome! And in case you didn't know, I'm a gangster.

 Next came our Angels game. Shawn has been an Angels fan all his life but has never actually been in Angels Stadium. So of course we had to go! He was seriously giddy. Like a school girl.

 It was a gorgeous field. And that game was one of the best I've been to. The crowd was so much fun! And we got so into the rally monkey. Shawn even disappeared to go buy one.

 Shawn got a hatful of nachos. Pretty yummy. Way too much food. Look how happy he was though!

 We really had an amazing time at the game. And to make it even better there were fireworks after. There is nothing I love more than creating memories with my best friend, and the love of my life. I will never forget this trip. And I wish I could write every little thing that happened but it would not be interesting to anyone but me and would be way too long.

I loved every second of it, the food we ate, the stories we told, the times we laughed, and even the times that things didn't go according to plan. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Happy 5 years Shawn!!