Ruined Surprises, Birthday and Disneyland!

Whenever Kaleb and I know that one of us is hiding a secret from each other we are super naggy and try everything to pester the secret from the other person. This usually causes fight, arguments and definitely takes the fun out of the secret. We have definitely gotten better at it and either don't give any hints that we have a secret or we try really hard not to bug the other person about it. 

A couple months before my birthday Kaleb was reading an email to me that his sister had sent to him. I was reading a long with him and suddenly he whipped the computer away and quickly shut his computer. I instantly knew that he was hiding something from me. I just tried a couple times to get it out of him but realized what I was doing and tried really hard to just forget about it. About a week later we were getting ready to leave the house, before we left I got out some hamburger meat from the freezer to start defrosting and we walked out the door. Half way down the hall Kaleb said that he forgot his wedding ring and ran back to the apartment to get it (it is very very rare for him to do this, whenever he forgets it, he doesn't run back to get it). While in the apartment I heard him open and close the freezer. When he got back I asked him what he had and searched him. He replied nothing and we continued on our way. It didn't hit me until later that he had put the hamburger meat back in the freezer and that he wanted to take me to dinner. I was so happy but slightly mad at myself for ruining the surprise. While we were in the car we were talking about my work friends and how one of them was talking about their trip to Disneyland! I then exclaimed that we should go their for my birthday!! I was totally joking and figured we couldn't afford it but then Kaleb replied with, "You are ruining all of my surprises!" That is when I found out what he was talking about with his sister over email.

That day I learned that I really need to be patient and stop ruining all of the surprises Kaleb comes up with.

BUT..... We still got to go to DISNEYLAND!!!! The night before... actually the week before neither Kaleb or I could sleep we were way excited! I also made a long list of things we needed to do and downloaded an app that told me ride wait times.We had everything planned out and our little backpack packed the night before so we could wake up early to go. Everything was perfect, now all we needed to do was get a good nights sleep!

The drive wasn't too bad, I think it took us about 45 minutes to get there. The best part was that we went on the Wednesday after Labor Day so supposedly the park was going to be empty, which when we got there we got a really good parking spot so we knew it was the perfect day to go! We hopped on the tram and began our journey to the happiest place on earth!!

We got there before the parked opened and were able to walk right up to buy our tickets without having to wait in line! It was great! We did have to wait in line though for the park to open, but we didn't mind. It was fun to people watch, and see the excited and impatient kids waiting, lots of parents were threatening taking the kids home if they didn't behave, it was great!

Finally it was time!! They opened the gates and we entered Main Street! The rest of the park would open up later. so we strolled around Main Street checking out the shops.

There was already a line forming to see Anna and Elsa from Frozen!! It was nuts how fast it grew! Kaleb and I opted out of trying to see them, we didn't want to miss other things from the park just to stand in line for 2 hours.

Once the main park opened, we headed straight for the Peter Pan ride. I read on several sites that that ride gets the busiest and to ride it first.

It was a terrible ride!! It was so creepy!!! Very dark and the music was weird. We don't know why so many people had recommended it! Luckily we got it out of the way and know not to go on it ever again!

When we got off we just laughed it off and went to enjoy the rest of the park! We rode every ride we could, The lines were pretty short. I think the longest we had to wait was 20-30 minutes. It was AWESOME!!!

We weren't super good at taking selfies on the rides but they sure are funny to look at!

Right after Peter Pan in worst ride is Small World! The song is so annoying!! I knew it was going to be but it is a must ride ride so we had to do it!! Toward the end of the ride, we stopped because they had problems with the loading and unloading zone. We were way backed up so we got to listen to the song Extra long!

We headed over to ToonTown after to visit Mickey and Minnie!!

Minnie's house was super cute! 

She was very nice and friendly! Maybe a little too friendly..... After visiting her, I was looking at the pictures and noticed where Kaleb was looking....

See where his eyes are looking!

And even Minnie was in on it! And for some reason I was enjoying the whole thing!!

Yup! Minnie stole my husband!

Just kidding! We laughed so hard! The picture sequence was so perfect!

After Minnie's we went to Mickey's house. His line was a little bit longer but we got to watch cartoons while we waited so it made it more fun!

Mickey was completely different than Minnie! It got way awkward and I got marker on his glove so I could tell he was a little upset with me... Good thing he has a permanent smile because I can guarentee he wasn't smiling under the mask!

We wandered around for a little bit, ate some snacks that we brought and purchased a dole whip float at the Tiki house!! It was DELICIOUS!!! Especially in the warm weather!

For lunch we went to New Orleans Square. I had read that they serve amazing french fries so we had to check it out! The other things on the menu were quite expensive so we just got the fries and a salad. They were delicious!!! We couldn't stop eating them! Sadly they did eventually run out....

Splash Mountain was ride that I REALLY wanted to ride! I remember when I was a kid and my parents took us to Disney World, I just had to hold my hands up going down splash mountain because that is what I saw in movies and I just about flew out of the seat  Luckily my dad got a hold of me and all was okay! This time I was a little too scared to hold my hands up though!

I love Kaleb's face in the back!! 

After Splash Mountain we went to the Hundred Acre Woods! While standing in line a little girl asked her mom if it was the real Tigger or someone dressed up! It was so cute! The mom just asked her what she thought and she replied that it was the real Tigger!!

He was so bouncy and fun!!

Kaleb decided on this pose and it turned out pretty cute!

The Buzz Lightyear ride was AWESOME!!! You had to shoot the laser beams at the targets, Kaleb wasn't shooting at the right targets at first so I was in the lead at the beginning but he soon figured it out and creamed me! Dang it!

I couldn't miss an opportunity to make a wish at Snow White's wishing well!! 

Luckily Alice in Wonderland and Mad Hatter were there! I think Alice was able to keep her character so well!! She was Amazing!!

Pixie Hallow was awesome!!! I LOVE the Tinkerbell movies and have seen all of them about a dozen times!!

Rosetta was there and of course Tinkerbell.

Another thing on my list to do was get a Mickey Macaroon!

It was delicious and we enjoyed it so much!!

For dinner we went to The Golden Horseshoe for Dinner, while we watched a little show.

We had chicken and fish and chips. For dessert we decided to try out a toasted marshmallow root beer float!! After we had a sip of it we could barely eat the rest of our dinner! It was so incredible! Luckily Melanie bought us toasted marshmallow flavoring for us for Christmas so we can have as many as we want!!

We wandered around the park for a little while more, made sure that we saw everything that we wanted to. We soon got extremely tired and decided to scout out our spot for the parade! While I saved our spot Kaleb went and bought beignets in New Orleans Square. They are in the movie Princess in the Frog.

They were so delicious and messy!! Covered in powdered sugar!! Yum!!

Soon the parade started! Once the music started I knew that this was going to be my favorite part of the whole day!! Since Frozen is a new movie they hadn't put them in the main parade yet so they had made a float for them to go 15 minutes before the main parade! It was so fun to see them!

Once it started for reals! I HAD to film it!! It was so good and I wanted to be able to watch it again and again! Unfortunately I am having a hard time uploading the videos on the blog but once I figure it out I will post them!

We then headed out of the park after the parade. It was a very very sad time! I am so so very excited to be able to bring my kids here one day! It was such a great day and can't wait to go back!!!

September 3 2014

Cat and Fiddle

Kaleb's school decided to have an open house tech expo, it lasted a couple of days and they had various activities. On one of the days we went to the school where they had companies show off their equipment and give their expert advice. It was pretty fun hearing Kaleb talk to other people in his technical terms. He knows a lot of stuff!

The next day they put on a party across the street at Cat and Fiddle. 

Going into the party they had an awesome red carpet so we just had to take a picture!

The main reason we decided to go was because we heard that there was going to be a snake charmer! I do not like snakes at all and neither does Kaleb, but we were really curious to see the act!

We arrived a little later and apparently they had already brought out the snake for a little show but were expecting to have it brought out again. We decided to eat and watch the other entertainers while we waited.

After we ate we got in line for the photo booth!! I wasn't ready for the last picture.

They had a live band that played some crazy music and someone dressed up on stilts dancing around.

The best part was the contortionist! 

It was absolutely CRAZY!! I don't think that she has a spine! 

We found out that she was the snake charmer as well and after waiting for a while we decided to ask her if she was going to bring it out. Apparently the snake was sick so she didn't want to over do it. I then had to explain to Kaleb that snakes can get sick too.

We were a little bummed out, but it was still a fun party!

I made sure to get a picture of Kaleb in front of his school. They light it all up at night which I think is way cool!

It was a really fun night, I was able to meet a few of Kaleb's friends. Which makes it easier to put names to faces during his stories. 

I am glad that Kaleb got into a good school and they have functions like this one.

August 23, 2014

Comic Book Store

The nerd side came out in Kaleb and I. A few months ago we went through a comic book/super hero phase. We decided to look up a store and found a very popular store a couple blocks away from us. 

When we first saw the outside of the store it looked a little sketchy and scary. However, when we entered the store it was super Awesome!! There was a giant Ninja Turtle statue and comic books everywhere! We walked around for a little while just taking it all in. They were actually filming an interview in the middle of the store. When we asked someone what it was for he responded with a really nerdy answer that I didn't even understand so I just nodded and replied with, "Awesome"! 

In the back of the store they had a game section with some of the classics from Nintendo 64. There were also some great board games. Kaleb had been playing a card game online and thought it would be fun to buy one for us to play. We decided to purchase LEGENDARY!!

Its an awesome Super Hero Game!!

It was very complex to learn but once we played a couple rounds it got easier and easier! You have to use the super hero cards to defeat the master mind.

We got to play with Spider Man, Wolverine, Black Widow and many more! 

It is a pretty fun game to play! Luckily we can just play with two players so Kaleb and I can do something inside other than watching a movie or tv show!

Dollar Theater

We hadn't gone to a movie for a long time. All of the theaters around here are so expensive! One of the theaters down the street is $18 a person! Yikes!! In Utah we would go to movies all the time. We were a little scared to try out a dollar theater just because we weren't sure how clean and safe they were. Kaleb did a lot of research and found one with great reviews so we decided to try it out!

It ended up being a great theater. We ended up watching Captain America and it was great! It was so fun being able to be back in the theater!

After the theater we went to Ikea! I love Ikea and could stay there for hours! In Utah we lived right next to Ikea and I missed it a lot. 

This Ikea was extremely busy! We ate lunch there, Kaleb was able to snag a spot near the kids section so we could watch Cars while we ate. It made our meal taste so much better! It was fun to roam around and make a wish list for when we have money. It was exactly like the Utah Ikea, though, no difference at all.

Kaleb let me buy some chocolate before we left and we ate a whole bar before we got home! That chocolate is killer! 

It was a fun day, we realized that we don't need to be scared of California anymore. That it is just the same as Utah or anywhere else. 

August 17

Kody's Visit

Kody, Kaleb's brother, got home from his mission just a few months after we moved to California. We had already taken a trip back to Utah/Idaho for my sister's wedding so it was too much for us to take another trip. So instead Melanie, Kaleb's mom, had planned a trip for Kody to fly out and see us. We were extremely excited for him to come, mostly to see Kody but also to have our first visitor!

His flight was later in the evening and landed at LAX. It was definitely a crazy airport! I thought that the Salt Lake airport was bad! They did have awesome lights everywhere, though, so it was cool to see that.

It was kind of late to do anything that night so we went a got a small snack from McDonalds and went home to chat. 

He came Thursday night and stayed until Sunday evening. 

Friday morning we walked to Taco Bell for breakfast, YUM! We hung out for a little bit and then I had to work that evening so on my way I dropped them off at Jack in the Box for lunch. They walked to Hollywood Blvd and showed him the Hollywood scenes.

I know that they walked a long ways and were pretty tired.

When I got home, I grabbed the mail and we had received our window piece to fix our drivers side window! The window had been broken for a long time. It was a pain to have to open the door all the time. We decided we were going to go to Chick Fil A for ice cream so we fixed the window before we went! We felt like real mechanics! 

On our way out of the garage there were a few fire trucks in the front of our building. At first we were worried it was for our building, we soon realized that it was a car in fire instead! It was crazy in flames!

We made it safely to Chick Fil A, got our ice cream and headed back home to watch Taken. 

Saturday morning we went to the Observatory. It wasn't crazy busy like it normally is because it was early in the morning. It was fun to walk around in the nice weather and see the museum again.

In the basement, there are all the planets lined up on the ceiling. Kaleb wanted to take a picture with Kody, but Kody didn't catch on the first time and looks really bored.

He caught on the second time, though.

I had to work again Saturday afternoon so they just went home and played League of Legends. 

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, thanks Melanie!! It was Delicious!!

That night we watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes and laughed all night long!

Sunday morning we went to Sacrament meeting and then headed off to the beach! 

It was a chillier day so I just waded in the water. Kaleb and Kody didn't let the chilly breeze ruin their day and got all the way jumping the waves and everything.

Before we left, we headed to the showers to get the sand off. Kaleb and Kody used them first while I held our belongings. I absolutely HATE cold water! I would much rather have sand all over than stand in cold water. I asked Kaleb if the showers were cold and Kody replied that they were actually warm. Another lady washing her child in the shower looked at me and said "He's lying, it's freezing!" Its good to know that some complete stranger has my back! 

We got home and showered again. It was nice to be warm again! I made Swedish meatballs for lunch. It is Kaleb and my favorite meal! We were excited to have someone else try them, except the sauce didn't turn out. We were so upset about it, but I quickly made an improv sauce and they turned out alright.

It was time to head off to the airport before long. I stocked Kody up with lots of snacks before we left. We got into the elevator to go to the garage and it decided to break down, while we were in the elevator. We were in there for a few minutes and everyone was freaking out. It was actually really funny! We were finally able to get it moving again just delaying us a couple minutes. 

We got him there in plenty of time. We were just about home when Kody texted us a said his flight was delayed until 9:00 (it was originally 5:30) we told him we could come and pick him up but he said he had plenty of snacks and would be fine. 

Later that night we got a call saying his flight was delayed until the next morning. We offered to go and get him but he got a better offer of a nice big hotel room to himself! He had stayed in our small studio apartment with us for the weekend on an air mattress that is flat by the next morning. I would have taken the hotel option as well, after that.

It was a great weekend and Kody was able to get on his flight okay the next day. We were so glad that we got to hang out with him and show him California!

Japanese Gardens

The day after we went to The Grove, we decided to keep up with the adventures so we went to the Japanese Gardens. They weren't too far away and they said that there was going to be some kind of Japanese party or something like that.

When we were checking in the employees were baffled that we had never been there before and said that we will be coming back many more times. They were so cute and nice to us! Apparently the party was making a wish and hanging it on a tree. I thought that would be fun but the tree ended up being a tiny tree in a pot that had hardly any branches so we opted out of that.

The gardens were pretty big and it was nice to walk around in the warm weather. Everything was so green!

Here is Kaleb showing off the map! 

The gorgeous flowers were in bloom!!

There was a cute waterfall that we fell in love with!

These gardens makes us super excited for when we have a house we want to have an awesome back yard! Some place that will be a little retreat for us! Hopefully we will have a good yard for it!

August 3