My Heart is Full

This past week was a really good one for me.

Our friends from CO were here!

Aren't they seriously the cutest family you've ever seen?

I have shared often about how much we love and appreciate their friendship. It's hard to believe that it's been 6 years since they moved back to CO! I'm just so thankful for technology and the fact that they are only a text or phone call away.

 My first time holding their new baby!

Bestie time!

We were able to spend a lot of time with them while they were here. And we got to meet their precious new baby! I'm so grateful for the conversations we were able to have and the fun memories we will now carry with us.

 My BCBs!

Isn't she precious?

We had a BBQ and invited all of our friends that knew them when they lived here. We set up a photo spot and had a blast taking pictures together.

Josh snuggling with their sweet baby

The week went by way too fast but I'm so grateful for the time we were able to spend with them!

05.16

May was a crazy month for us.

Here are some highlights from our month:

We went to a gender reveal party for our friends. It was really fun! We are so excited to meet their little guy later this year!

I went to a women's game night at our church. We played a game called Whoopee, which I had never played before. It's a similar concept to Bunco in that it's a game of chance, involves dice and is pretty easy to pick up. It was a lot of fun! And everyone went home with a prize.

We went blueberry and cherry picking with a couple of friends and then grabbed brunch after. It reminded me of doing the same thing when my grandparents used to live in the country and had cherry trees and berry bushes.

I read the first book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). It was definitely a departure from the Harry Potter series (as it is definitely for adults), but I loved it! I'm looking forward to reading the other books in that series.

My BCBs and I started reading The Last Star, the final book in the 5th Wave series. More about that when we finish it!

We saw Captain America and the new live-action The Jungle Book. Both were really good!

Josh has been really busy at work, he had some car trouble and he continued to be super involved in helping out with the jr. highers at church. I didn't see a whole lot of him during the week!

My myofascial appointments have been good. I'm experiencing a lot of breakthroughs in my body, which has been really encouraging. I love seeing and feeling areas that have been so tight for so long loosen up.

And that's a wrap! On to June...

I Love...Disneyland! Take Two {Bonus Day!}

I decided to add a bonus day to my original five day line up to showcase a few of the fun, extra things we've gotten to enjoy at the park in the last few years.

The Lilly Belle

 This chair came from the Queen Mary (and Josh got to sit on it during our ride!)

For those that aren't aware, The Lilly Belle is a super fancy train car that is pulled as the caboose on one of the trains that runs each day. The original plan for this car was to be a place for Walt and his wife to entertain special guests in the parks. Unfortunately this train car did not happen before Walt passed away, but his wife made sure it happened. Some of the furniture purchased for the train car came from the Queen Mary! If you would like to ride in it, there are a few tips I can give you. Arrive at Disneyland before it opens so you can be one of the first ones through the gate. Immediately head to the Main Street train station and find the attendant there that will be able to take your reservation for the train car. They only allow a maximum of 12 people in the Lilly Belle at a time and they usually only allow guests to ride in it a maximum of 3 times in one day (a caveat for being able to ride this is that they do not allow guests in it if it is above 80 degrees outside, as there is no air conditioning or open windows and it gets incredibly hot in there). If you are so lucky to be picked to ride, they will give you your very own keepsake train ticket. You get one ride all the way around the park and then it is over. Be sure to arrive before your departure time as they unload and load the train in less than 2 minutes at each stop and have to get everyone on in that time frame. You are allowed to take as many pictures as you want and the conductor that rides with your group will also take a picture of your group whenever the train is stopped at a station.

Side note: due to the construction of Star Wars Land, the Disneyland Railroad is not currently running, as they have to move the tracks for the construction. On our last trip, they had a train parked at Main Street station with the Lilly Belle attached to it. They weren't allowing guests inside, but they did take pictures of people outside and even on the steps. They will however allow you to take pictures through the windows.

Carthay Circle Tour

This is a free tour that is offered every morning. You just have to be waiting outside the restaurant a few minutes before it starts (when we did it, I believe the tour started at 10:45am). It's really awesome if you like learning the history of buildings and if you love Disney history. They take you through the restaurant and point out facts about the original Carthay Circle Theater that the restaurant is a replica of, as well as details about Disney's first animated feature that premiered there: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It's beautiful inside, so if you've never enjoyed a meal there, I highly recommend taking the tour to see the details put into the decor of the building.

Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps Tour

Josh and I first took this tour in September 2013. It was our first year with annual passes and I had read that we could get a 20% discount on any of the tours Disneyland offers. Some of our friends had done this tour and I looked up info on it online and decided this was the one for us. It takes about 3-4 hours from start to finish and includes a delicious lunch at the Jolly Holiday Inn. The tour guide takes you throughout the park and points out details of the park that Walt had a part in. They also play audio of Walt talking about various attractions and plans for the park. Again, if you love history about all things Disney, you must take this tour. You also get to experience a couple of attractions, as well as experience some behind the scenes parts of the park that you can only see on this tour (or if you happen to win different contests or are a VIP). We took this tour again this past February. And while we experienced the same tour (as far as information is concerned), we experienced different attractions and behind the scenes spots. On our first tour, we rode the Disneyland Railroad from New Orleans Square to Tomorrowland, Peter Pan's Flight (which was awesome because we didn't have to wait in the huge line) and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We were taken into the old lobby of Club 33, as well as Walt's apartment (located above the firehouse on Main Street). On our second tour, we rode The Haunted Mansion and tried to ride Alice in Wonderland, but it ended up breaking down on us and we got stuck for 20 minutes (they did give us a fastpass that we could use that day on the ride of our choice since we didn't get to ride Alice). We were also taken into the Dream Suite, which is located above Pirates of the Caribbean. They were refurbishing Walt's apartment, so it was not a part of the tour at this time. Also, because they changed the way you enter Club 33 when they did the recent remodel, the tour is no longer able to take guests into the lobby. I must say that I loved Walt's apartment and the Dream Suite equally. It was awesome to be able to go into the apartment that Walt and his family spent time in and slept in on occasion. It can only be visited on this tour or if you're a VIP. And the Dream Suite, though originally designed to be a bigger apartment for Walt and his family, is also awesome. It has only been in the park for about 11 years, as they opened it for the 50th anniversary, and they gave away free stays to random park guests. It has a lot of the original designs that Walt wanted to incorporate into the design and can only be visited on this tour or if you win a contest. I highly recommend this tour to anyone, though I will say that it is a lot of walking, so be prepared for that if you take your kiddos with you.

Club 33

I am not allowed to say how we were able to dine here, but I can say that it was one of those things that we never expected to happen. It was on our Disney bucket list, but we really didn't think we would ever be so lucky to eat there. Because of the exclusivity of the club, and the fact that they changed the rules on guests when they did the recent remodel, we only found out 3 days before our trip last year that we were able to go! We had the best time. Not only were we treated like royalty, we enjoyed a delicious 4-course lunch. We took pictures of everything we were able to see, as we weren't allowed in Le Salon Nouveau (you can only get in there if you are or are with a member of the club. If you want to see what that part looks like, check out this detailed review of  the club). We enjoyed the beautiful Le Grand Salon and our views from the balconies just outside. Lunch took a little under 3 hours and I hear dinner is closer to 5. It's not meant to be a fast dining experience but one to enjoy slowly. While I still think it's crazy that members pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to be a part of this club (and yet still have to pay for their meals on top of that), it really was a lot of fun to be able to eat there once.

And that officially concludes my updated I Love...Disneyland! mini series! I hope you enjoyed the ride.

I Love...Disneyland! Take Two {Part 5}

Today I'm continuing my mini series on the things I love about Disneyland.

TIMES I'M MOST HAPPY AT DISNEYLAND

Problem is, I'm usually always really happy there! But there are certain places and things that make it extra special.

Disneyland Railroad

I'm going to talk specifically about the Lilly Belle in another post*, but in general, I love the Disneyland Railroad. It's perfect to hitch a ride on it when your feet are hurting and you just need a break. We often ride it more than once a day, for the relaxation as well as to save us from walking to another land. I also really love the dioramas of the Grand Canyon and Primeval World that you see on the journey from Tomorrowland to Main Street station. It makes me really happy to board that train and set myself up to relax for a few minutes.

Side note: Because of the Star Wars Land construction, the train is currently not running (as of publish date). On our last trip, to try and ease the pain of certain attractions being closed, they had some pretty cool experiences available. At the New Orleans station, they had a train parked at the station that you could get up close and personal with...and they let us cross over to the other side of the tracks to take pictures on the former New Orleans train station building! It was a really fun experience and I recommend checking it out before the train reopens sometime in mid-2017.

Christmastime

So we have officially experienced Disneyland during Christmastime four times now (two of those trips were within the same week)! Considering it's my favorite holiday and time of the year, being in Disneyland (my happy place) while it's decorated for Christmas is truly magical. The Christmas decorations have definitely evolved a little since the first trip we took in 2006 but they are still beautiful. This past year had fewer Christmas decorations because of the 60th anniversary celebration but it was still so perfect. I love that they change a few of the rides to add Christmas themes to them (Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World and Jingle Cruise). And with the addition of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land in California Adventure, the Christmas cheer is even felt in that park. There are many different decorated trees in Cars Land to represent the "car" that decorated them. I just love it!

Enjoying the Park with Loved Ones

2015

2013

2014

2005

Josh and I have been on 7 anniversary trips, 2 trips with my whole family, 1 trip with my sister and brother-in-law, 1 trip with Josh's whole family, 1 trip with part of Josh's family and a few friends, 4 trips with friends, and 6 trips by ourselves that were at different times throughout the year. Although we love going by ourselves because we can do our own thing, we also love sharing the park with people who also share our love for it. It was also super fun for us to go with our nieces and to see their faces as they experienced different things in the parks (our nephew wasn't born when we went on our family trip). It makes me happy to share my love of Disney with others and I'm so glad my husband and I both love Disneyland so much!

And that concludes my mini-series...except *I have one more bonus post to share tomorrow! If you missed the series, you can read the first four posts here, here, here and here.