Undone

No clever title here. Sorry. I had a great vacation though. Pics (or at least a link) should be soon to follow. If anyone even still reads this!

anyway, we left early Saturday morning with our friends and I was driving. I don’t drive stick well. It’s probably some sort of crime that I wasn’t taught, but I was ok with that. I could have went my whole life not knowing IMO, but I do know mostly how to drive one now. That being said, I stalled like 4 times on my way to the freeway. Yeah. Then we drove and drove

I drove all the way to the last city before we went into AZ (St. George) I’m kinda proud of that. And Scott was so agitated by my driving that he decided to drive. but we stopped for lunch, and the kids played and I tried a shamrock shake (unimpressed) and chatted. I was accused of not using Birth control (but Drew meant Cruise control, and we all laughed A TON) Then we piled back in and drove and drove. I navigated, and did a great job staying awake (IMO) helping the girls find things to do. We packed surprises they got each time we stopped. We parted ways from our friends for a while, and we drove down to Carlsbad. We were SO EXCITED to stop and get out of the car. The girls were excited to meet Scott’s Aunt and talk to her about the ride, and their friends. We sat down and ate a dinner (chinese, yum!) and decided that the next day we would probably NOT go to sea world after all, which wasn’t a loss since no tickets were purchased yet. We sat down and started watching Princess Bride, and I gave up the ghost quickly as far as staying awake. We all went to bed.

The next morning I woke up with the girls, and we got ready so we could go to the beach. Since Scott had drove the previous day and didn’t sleep much at all, I let him sleep in while the girls and I went to  see the ocean. The tide was kinda high, So I didn’t want the girls running into it much. They were excited though. We did some sandcastles (in the sand) and then played on a playground that was nearby. They had a ton of fun, and Katie adopted herself into another family. People were really friendly and sweet. I guess sometimes It’s nice to go somewhere else– somewhere different to realize that people outside of your neighborhood, and circle of friends are decent and sweet too. The playground made me wish I was having another baby (but don’t worry, disneyland took care of that!)

We went back midway through the day to the house and Scott had just woken up. So we went to lunch at Bull Taco. They have HUGE  quesadillas, and Scott was in love with their  lobster taco and ghost chili sauce (it wasn’t THAT hot, I even had some!) Then we had some yummy doughnuts. Katie had a Hello Kitty cupcake to match her hello Kitty outfit. Then we went to the Aquarium and had a great time. Have you ever seen a starfish flip over? I have. and it’s freaky neat. Lots of fish, I have to say I liked the Jelly fish, and Katie’s freak out at an eel the best She seriously crawled up the walls to get away from the eel. haha. IT was neat to see that they were simulating the tide within all the tanks… and the garden eel, SO FUNNY. It was a great time. Scott and I, in all of our grownup glory, played on a sea saw, and let the girls run wild. Then we went to see the Secret Life of Arrietty, and had a yummy pizza dinner. Audrey fell asleep, Katie ate a little, mostly everyone slept.

We took off fairly early the next morning, to allow Ann to go about her day as usual, we were all really sad to go, and honestly, I think if we could hang out with Ann every weekend, we’d all be happy campers! We headed to anaheim for a day of shopping. We looked around in shops and found SO many neat things.  We had lunch at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Cafe, with beignets, gumbo and so much deliciousness. We picked up a necklace for Kate (Pink with Sparkles) some mis matched Socks for the girls  at miss mismatched. and then finally it was time to meet up with our friends again, we all checked in at the hotel and I unpacked the girls bags, and we all just relaxed for the evening. It was nice to have a day off. Isn’t that what vacationing is for? The girls and I went swimming, then they took a bath to wash off the salt water. Katie loved it (she can touch the ground on the shallow end) but audrey wasn’t as big of a fan. She doesn’t have enough body fat to stay warm.

We woke up the next day and I (of course) cannot turn off my internal clock that had me up at 6 am local time. So I got a shower, and the girls played with their friends since we had a suite, they were overjoyed. They picked out their outfits. We went into the park and tried to get on Big Thunder Mountain first, but the line was SO long, we ended up going on pirates first. Katie sat by Ivy (her bestest friend) and they had a BLAST, but also were terrified. haha) from there we went to Big Thunder moutain and got right in. (Fast pass) Kate went with Ivy and her dad, and didn’t seem to mind it until she went with me. then it wasn’t as much fun. Which was ok. We were also doing pin trading, which is SO much fun. Our goal was to trade all the pins we didn’t want  that we had bought online. I got a LOT that I ended up loving.  We went to Haunted mansion. A lot of rides kept getting closed. after that we hit up winnie the pooh, and met tigger, and pooh. The girls were estatic. Katie was hillarious. We were standing in line and she waved to Tigger and then started to cry when he didn’t wave back saying he broke her heart. It was adorable. Then we met up with family and then went to Space mountain, which got shut down while we were on it. SAD. We waited, then bailed, and it  got fixed.  so we got back in line. People were generous enough to let us back to our spot. I took Katie on it… She was not a fan. AT ALL. At which point I met back up with the group to allow them to go on the ride. We kind of got split up for a bit. Scott took Audrey on Astro blasters. She is a sweetie, and loved it (what’s not to love??) we were pretty tired, so what better to test our levels of exhaustion than “it’s a small world” Scott (as usual) stayed back. There was a duck though, in the water, that was playing chicken with the boats for the ride. itw as hillarious. After we got off that always too long ride, we stopped to meet some fairies (Tink and Iridessa) which the girls were super excited about. But Audrey  is MUCH more shy than Katie. Not shocking. We walked right out of there into The Mad Hatter and Alice. That Alice spoke with a lisp. It was odd. Katie was thrilled to meet Disneyland Alice, since she knows that her Cousin shares her name 😉 Because we hadnt’ already jammed enough in, we got into Star Tours (in Shifts) The girls got to go twice (Kate and Ivy) and I chilled with Drew and the babies outside. Which was nice, to sit and relax. Audrey passed out, so that was awesome. I got my turn on the ride, it was meh, but fun.

Is that seriously only 3 days? I’ll have to do the rest tomorrow!

I am up to no good.

As usual.

Life has been solid and boring. Our new roof and a/c make life worth living though. Scott took me on a SURPRISE date to Captain America and a YUMMY dinner at Texas Roadhouse. On the way to which our tire exploded. Or just went flat. Whatever, we’re glad we’re safe and have good friends to giggle with on the phone when we call for help. Our tire got stuck on the … uh, thing there, and it wouldn’t come off, I called DQ as her husband is a car genius, and they happened to be passing by where we were. Scott was so frustrated he started kicking the tire which eventually loosened the rust from the wheel and we finally got the spare on. Luckily DQ and her Mechanic hubby didn’t have to stop to help us, but I heard them as they passed! 🙂 Thanks to them for being willing to stop and help! PS: When it comes to changing a tire, I’d rather do it in the heat than in the snow. Point 1 for summer. I got to side road navigate us up to South Towne so we could go to dinner, and buy me a new shirt. We got to the theatre early, which was good. I chatted with another girl who was going in momentarily and overall focused on not having a panic attack at the general amount of people in the room. I don’t know why large crowds make me nervous. It is Unreasonable, and I hate it, but It’s usually a matter of people being close enough to touch me. I don’t like random people touching me. NO TOUCHIE! Anyway, we had a good night, and I’m fairly sure I was going to have food triplets! GEEZY.

I have stalled on my Futurama quilt. I really need to buckle down and get it done. REALLY REALLY. I am not doing so well at that though. Every night after the girls go to bed, I think about it. But I never DO it. I need to. I am in this weird funk of “I want do that, but I don’t want to do all the stuff that comes with it.” Like I want to quilt, but I don’t want to get the quilt out and the thread, and the scissors, and then put it all away when I’m done. Also– I thought I knew how to make binding, but I’m thinking I was wrong. I haven’t cut into any of my fabric yet, Luckily, but I’ll definitely need to at some point. (adoi) I’ll probably watch a bunch of youtube videos or something. Hopefully I can get Katie’s quilt done before September. I just have Leela’s face and the space ship left. (PLANET EXPRESS!)

I do often dream of the day  that I no longer work any more. At least outside of the home. I don’t imagine being at home every day is a picnic, but it’s gotta be better than being at work and trying to manage a home and all the things that go a long with it. I am tired of doing too much. Working and managing a house is impossible. I’m not going to think about it– I have dishes that need done, et al, and I can’t think about it when I have a full docket today anyway.

I’m excited for Christmas. NOW NOW! Before y ou throw your arms in the air and say “MERYL REALLY!? It’s not even August yet!!” I say, this is the first job where I get a christmas Bonus. FOR ONE, and for another, I will be instigating the Family Christmas present of Disneyland again this year. I liked it the best. It’s really pretty much the same price. I like it better. I like going some place and relaxing. Not caring, and just taking a week, to chill and be happy in California. I am looking forward to it. It will be a bit more expensive, now that Katie is old enough to get a ticket, but it will also be more FUN. Two princess dresses to wear, two kids to squeal over princesses, TWICE AS MUCH!! And Beignets. OH YES! I must start dieting now. I MUST, to lose weight in time for the trip, so I can buy some new clothes! (haha) Dieting so i can gain it all back in Disneyland! We’re planning on going in March next year. I’m Excited. Can you tell? really really really really REALLY excited.

Derringer Meryl [WHEE!] out

Ok, we had SO much fun, and this might get spread over a few posts… so bear with me….

Sunday/Monday:

We drove STRAIGHT through. Because we’re vikings like that. Really SCOTT is a viking like that and honestly, he hates vegas, and Nevada all together, which is the most logical stopping/break point. So we just went all the way and.. Did you know LA crazy traffic starts at 6 AM? WTH? What kind of crazy people are getting up and going to work at 6 AM? No wonder everyone drinks coffee and smokes. they’re all on edge! Anyway, we got there after being stuck in some crazy traffic at 7 AM, whoopsie doodle, i forgot that there’s an hour difference here in planning our trip. Oh well. We got to the hotel, and MAN I seriously was impressed. the lady who checked us in was a bit grumpy, but I chalked it up to the fact she probably got stuck in 5 AM LA traffic, so I forgave her. We were lucky that no one had stayed in our room the night before so we got to check in immediately and take our stuff up to the room. AWESOME. DQ got to freshen up, which hyped her up, we got the kids ready and headed for the park. I think that’s the earliest we got to the park all week. We had breakfast together at the carnation cafe, and listened to them open main the rest of the park (mainstreet opens before the rest of the park) Once we were done eating we headed to get our lanyards, and delved into the deep dark underbelly of pin trading. I had been told before we left to buy some pins that you don’t really care about before going so they can trade with you, instead we spent a lot on pins we wanted in the park. Even Katie got some. We went on Pirates (all of us!) and I did a quick rider change and went on Big Thunder Mountain Twice. I feel kind of proud that I didn’t feel more nauseous than I did.  because going on a fast roller coaster pretty much twice in a row, makes you a little woozy. We also did Haunted Mansion, where the cast member BUTCHERED the joke (they tell you to step into the DEAD center of the room, she said it quite lack luster, and didn’t even emphasize that it should be the DEAD center!) We rode around on the train (all the way around the park) so Katie could see it, and had a good laugh when the narration said that the construction site was as people had seen the area over a century ago. HAHA. Nice. We went to toon town where Katie met goofy, we had slushies, met minnie and Mickey too. I feel bad that many of our pics don’t have Audrey in them, I have to say that I just wasn’t thinking about it TOO much, you know? I am normally a BIG planner of things and have a tendency to get upset when things aren’t exactly what i’d call perfect. So I just wasn’t thinking, because I was doing my best to relax. After we got to see a bunch of the characters, DQ and I took Katie on her first roller coaster, Gadget’s go-coaster.  She loved it, and then promptly ran up and down chip and dales’ treehouse. After that we all needed a nap (as we had slept in the car, except Scott) so we ate dinner at a SUPER yummy restaurant (something something Jazz in down town disney) went back to the hotel and collapsed. We  ended up just hanging out and going to the pool that night. Katie really enjoyed herself, and Audrey’s little bottom lip shivered. she enjoyed the pool though. Katie refused to sleep in her “pull out” bed, and slept in bed with Scott, and I slept on the pull out, which was shockingly comfortable. I woke up at 6 AM the next day…

TUESDAY:

Was Katie’s day, we did mainly Katie rides and focused on her. She wore her princess Cinderella dress and we had a lot of fun. She went on Dumbo and King Arthur’s Carousel,  we got hats from the Mad Hatter. I went on the teacups twice and then we went on Alice in Wonderland. Katie loved that. At that point we saw that the line for Space mountain (which I had never gone on) was really REALLY short. so we got fast passes,  did Finding Nemo (formerly 10000 Leagues under the Sea)  went on Space mountain (which was AWESOME, SO much fun!) and ventured for the MOST disgusting lunch we’ve ever eaten. We went to Red Rocket’s Pizza port. The pasta I had was… I would say poorly cooked. DQ and Scott got the same meals, and they said theirs were fine, but Katie’s pizza… was disgusting. It was cheese pizza, and that had been under a heating lamp for like 24 hr hours (I swear to you) I officially dubbed it “Syphilis Pizza” as it looked and tasted DISGUSTING, but I ate it anyway. Why? Because when you pay so much for food, you sure as heck eat it. So we finished that up, and Katie was hiding under the table, throwing a HOT fit. Well DQ, being the bestest and greatest friend ever, offered to take her to the child care center (BEST PLACE EVER!) to change her diaper and get her into some more comfy clothes. Little did we know, she had a MAJOR blow out. The worst I’ve ever heard tale of, or seen. She had poop EVERYWHERE. I won’t get graphic, but she got to go back to the hotel and relax after that, Everyone needed a nap. We had SUPER yummy take out from an italian restaurant that night. It was delicious! We all went to bed VERY Happy with our day, and with Katie’s day too.

WEDNESDAY:

(this seems so much more condensed when I retell it but they days were long and wonderfully relaxing) Wednesday we decided to tackle California Adventure. We ran into Mickey and Donald, and had to get Katie’s pic with them. Scott realized that his insulin was running low, and ran back to the hotel. Mean while DQ, the kids and myself sat in and watched Playhouse Disney on Stage. It was really REALLY cute. I thought. Everyone had a lot of fun, and Katie enjoyed the bubbles and dancing and singing. By the time we were done DQ had graciously offered to watch the kids while Scott and I went on Tower of terror. WHOA. I love that ride, but at the same time, it makes me scream like a little girl. For that matter, someone (after the ride) said “You were screaming the whole time. I don’t remember that exactly, but apparently I was, LOL. our picture didn’t turn out great, we were in weird positions when the camera got shot (all of my DL shots look like I was bracing for impact, because usually I am.) But it was fun, and it’s nice to get a few moments alone with Scott. He’s a sweetie. 🙂 Sometimes I miss all the time we got to spend together before having kids, but I wouldn’t trade my kids for all the money in the world. 🙂  After we were done, we picked up Scott a new shirt (as he only had black ones) and caught up with DQ and the kids in “A Bug’s World” where they had been riding a few of the kid rides. Audrey apparently didn’t like lady buggies, but they all enjoyed Flik’s Flyers. 🙂 We walked together down to the paradise pier area, and Scott went on Screamin’ California all by himself (the line was short) and I took Katie on King triton’s Carousel and she sat on a gold fish. DQ and I got a fast pass for Screamin’ and headed back to find some food. All of the food in Disney’s California didn’t sound too terribly tasty but I tried something new (as per my vacation rules, all new foods) and had a chicken Caesar salad. I could have done w/o the chicken personally. We jetted back to the pier (which wasn’t incredibly pier like, all the water was drained for construction on World of Color, which I wish we could have seen) and decided to go on the Ferris Wheel. Now… I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no world class parent, but Scott and I believe that it’s better to be scared for a few minutes and be over it for the long run, and honestly, we haven’t Scarred Katie horribly yet. 😉 (hahaha) In any case, we decided to go for the swinging Gondola. I am usually petrified of Heights, but the ferris wheel doesn’t let you look down, only look out, which I don’t  mind. In any case, going up, Katie was happy and excited (as she had been for all the rides) then the gondola started to shift and roll, and Katie threw her hands back (to brace herself) and got that terrified look on her face) While it was straight up funny… it was SO much fun to go on with her. I’m glad we all got to go on it together.  Audrey (who had not enjoyed too much up to this point) had a GREAT TIME on the Ferris Wheel. DQ and I hurried to get on Screamin’ as fast as we could, and our fast passes had expired 🙁 But the Cast Member said to go ahead. WHOO. It was soooo much fun! Then we did a bit of shopping, Met Woody (Katie didn’t want to meet him, she was at her max point…)  Then DQ used her feminine wiles to get a pin (HAHA, not really, she just really wanted this guy’s Eric Pin and only cast members have it) after trading with the small geeky pin cast member he nearly touched her arm, but kept his hands to himself at the last minute. After that, it was time for us to go on Soarin’ over california. In case you haven’t had the pleasure, it’s the experience that you’re flying over california  while you’re sitting in a chair. it’s awesome. Scott chose to stay out with the girls. He said he thought it could have been done better, and didn’t want to go. At one point in the ride you do a fly by on an air craft carrier, and I leaned over to DQ and said “Maverik requesting a flyby” and giggled like a mad woman. They were so UN busy that they said we could go again if we wanted, and so we did. This time on the aircraft carrier I leaned to DQ and said “You’re my wingman goose” and we both died laughing a little. HAHA. Scott was tired, and so were the girls. So they went back to the hotel room and DQ and I decided to do a park hop and went back to Disneyland for the evening. We had to hurry as we had Dinner plans with Scott’s Aunt. We hurried and went for Indiana Jones, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Since those rides went so fast, we decided to hit Haunted Mansion again… and met … the CREEPIEST cast member Ever. SERIOUSLY. He was an excellent host for Haunted Mansion, and made up for the lack luster lady we encountered earlier. Very Creepy. So we got on fast (since there was a parade going) but we got STUCK. Next to the stupid howling door. DQ and I lectured the door that it needed to go to time out, and use it’s words instead of  screaming and snarling. we were stuck there a good 10 minutes I’d say. Maybe it seemed longer since i was stuck by the howling door. But MAN. Seriously. Anyway. After that, we BOOKED it to the hotel. My feet and back were KILLING me. But I had fun, so I was good with it. We had a GREAT dinner with Scott’s Aunt and DQ. Katie was being her regular picky eater (which is a new development) and ran around quite a bit.  We returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. 🙂

THURSDAY:

We did the One magic morning this morning, and got into the park Early. I took Kate on the teacups (with DQ) and Scott took her on Mr toads wild ride, and the carousel again. I caught up with Scott and Kate and went on the Pinocchio ride.  Katie had a TON of fun. Then we went to Star Tours and DQ and Scott went first while I watched the kids. I sat and watched as Katie picked up a stuffed “doggie” (read Chewbacca) and was loving on him. So katie and I waited for Scott (as I didn’t take my wallet into the park) So we could rider swap. After we went on Star Tours, DQ wasn’t feeling great, so she went back to the hotel room. Scott and I stood in line FOREVER to take Katie to see the princesses, and she met Cinderella, Belle and Ariel. then we had lunch and headed over to the Jungle Cruise. The guy who drove us around was VERY funny. LOL. Then we went to the tiki room, which I had never been too, It was fun, I think Katie got up and danced a little too. It was SO much fun. We did a little souvenir shopping at that point, searching down some of the harder to find items. We headed back to the hotel, and DQ was feeling better. So we went out (she and I) to search downtown Disney. It was great. We did a little shopping, and i got Audrey a mickey mouse (as Katie has mine from my first trip to disneyland) and DQ got me a mini wind up alligator (RODRIGUEZ). We had a nice night.

FRIDAY:

I did my best to not think about the fact that this was our last day. we tried to pack in all the stuff we hadnt’ done yet. Scott and Katie split off to go on Autopia, and I was alone with Audrey, so I took her on It’s a Small world and did some window shopping. DQ caught up with me and Scott and I and so we went on It’s a Small world again ( Me, DQ and the girls) Scott has no love for the ride, so he stayed out. We had an early lunch at big thunder mountain ranch, then Katie petted some nice sheep and goats (then thoroughly washed her hands) then we grabbed some fast passes for the Indiana Jones, and headed to Splash Mountain. DQ didn’t want to go on Splash, and instead took the girls on Winnie the pooh (which they BOTH loved) while Scott and I worked hard to get drenched. Let me take a moment here to express my HATRED of people who put their hands up on rides. Go for it if no pictures are being taken, or if you’re at the back, who cares? But if you’re at the front, or even the middle, don’t be a dick, keep your hands down until after the picture, OK? then we Hustled over to Indiana jones and I went with DQ and then again with Scott. So much fun. Heather took the girls on the Jungle Ride (again) while Scott and I went on Indiana Jones. I got to go on two different versions of the ride. One for treasure and the other for the ability to see the future. it is almost exactly the same, except for the beginning. Then be busted a move back to New Orleans square to have katie meet… TIANA. She was GIDDY. So much so, it’s not even describable in words. I think it probably would have been akin to meeting Ariel or Belle as a little girl. I saw those movies in the theatre. Anyway, we went over to California adventure again to pick up some souveniers that DQ needed, and because I was trying to pick something out for myself as well. DQ got what she needed, and I finally decided on getting a handdrawn Snow White (so pretty, snow white is my fav) and picking out some prints for the girl’s room. we had dinner at the French market (Scott’s fav) and headed over to Fantasy land, where we were disappointed to see Storyland boats were closed. So we went on Casey Jr, and then Dumbo again. Katie and Audrey Enjoyed both immensely. We started back over to check out toon town, and it turned out that the story land boats were only closed for a little bit for the parade. I was glad that they got to go on it. then Heather and I ran up and went on Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin. After that… our disneyland trip was at an end. 🙁 But not our time in California!

SATURDAY!

We packed up, and booked it to Scott’s Aunt’s house. We stopped to look at the ocean (over look, we couldn’t go down there) and arrived quickly and safely. We decided to go to the beach and then to a movie and dinner. We had a great time at the beach. I wish we lived there so Katie could go every day, but I suppose if she was there every day she would get bored of it. She fell in once, but she had a good sense of humor, and popped back out fast. I waded in and quickly discovered what I apparently had been ignoring all week… huge open sores on m y feet. SALT WATER. Ouch. So I got back out and fed audrey and relaxed in the sand. Then we went to Alice in Wonderland in 3d. I thought it was good, but mostly all show. Tim Burton is very visual in telling stories, and I found that the story was… sadly lacking. Also it seemed to be a lot about healing after a loss. I think I’ll get into that later in another post. We had dinner, and then decided to head out. I started driving, and we got to drive through off and on rain. Scott and I switched a lot driving back. We had a lot of fun, and relaxed a lot. Best Vacation Ever

Derringer Meryl [happy happy day] Out