Family Vacation: Part Three!

Read Part One Here and Part Two Here.

Part Three – California Adventure, burst pipes, IHOP, and DownTown Disney.

OK, so the next morning, we woke up VERY tired and VERY sore and VERY much hurting in every muscle of my body – ok, so that was just me. Everyone else was raring to go! *L* Breakfast in the office, the day’s tram tickets bought, lunches made again, and we were off like a turd of hurtles once more. This time to Disney’s California Adventure!

The very first thing on the menu? the Tower of Terror! Oh yes. Lessa is much excited about this (in that TERRIFIED GOING TO THROW UP kind of way…) and we all bounced over (ok, they bounced, I winced and tried to convince my feet , knees, ankles, back, muscles that they didn’t REALLY hurt that bad…) through the backlot and toward the tower that was well, towering over us. We bopped through the line, into the library, down to the boiler room, and into the elevator where we were told to hold on to our belongings and……our loved ones….. and if we needed anything, not to hesitated to scream….

And scream we did. OMFG. The freefall in the dark is one thing, then they OPENED THE FREAKING DOORS at the top and we were looking out into the unlight just before the whole thing GROUND AND SHOOK AND MADE AN AWFUL NOISE and we were FALLING again! So fast it lifted MY fat ass out of my seat! OH the screams! Oh the horror! Oh the FUN! It was COOL!

And I didn’t throw up. *L* I don’t mind enclosed spaces and freefall – as long as I DON”T HAVE TO LOOK AND FIND OUT WHY! So the doors open at top and Lessa’s eyes SLAM shut. *L* The pictures were highly amusing of that one, though we didn’t buy those.

Then We all seperated again so that I could take the pup to see Playhouse Disney live on stage, and then we went and ate lunch. We saw Santa jammin with his band, and the pup didn’t get to jam that time (they stopped right BEFORE her.. bastards) but we did catch them later on and she got to jam with them. We saw Lilo and goofy and Stitch and a few others headed back stage, so no photo ops there, but they did wave. Then it was on to the pier and rides there.

Which was when TBF got a call and they found out their pipes had burst. They had to take off early, much to the pup’s dismay. Final hugs and picture and we waved goodbye and hit the rest of the rides the kids wanted to do. The maliboomer, Mulholland Madness, the jumping jellies, It’s tough to be a bug – which was highly amusing. We watched the 3d movie they had in there, which was really fun – and the asshole paid for teasing me about Indie’s snake, as the SPIDERS came down from the CEILING in the show… really BIG ones. He was all about to run right on out of there before they retreated. Funnily enough though, in the dark with the stinging hornets, I got ‘stung’ on my finger that was resting on the back of the seat, got poked in the back (asshole thought it was someone sitting behind us, cept there wasn’t anyone, and all of us got poked! *L*) and when the bugs were told to exit first, we had one ‘run’ under our behinds. It was a great little show, interactive and a lot of fun. *grin* A must see! Even if bugs squick you out.

And then…. the tower of terror again!
yes. AGAIN.

Then we rode the Grizzley white water rafting ride, and got soaked, Soared over California, and then headed back across the street to Disneyland so the pup could ride the one ride WE hadn’t even seen, but that SHE had seen, right by the teacups. It was Alice in Wonderland, and we hit that, then the matterhorn one more time before calling our visit to a close. We went across the street to IHOP for dinner, where the kids ate free (good thing, it was still the most expensive meal of the stay) and then we caught the tram for a relaxing evening at the hotel.

The next morning, I had hoped to sleep in, but it was not in the cards. *L* Everyone was up early, even though we didn’t really have anything planned per se. It was our day to relax, and wander through downtown disney, take the girls to get their Build a Bears, and the boy to the Lego Store. We caught the tram, and then explored the stores, including the single most girly store EVER. Oh the frills and frou frou things in there! The girls wanted a makeover, but well, we couldn’t afford it without giving up the bears. So they opted to put it on their wish list for “next time”.

The boy had fun in Lego Store, though we were all disappointed that the brand new bionacle he wanted wouldn’t be in until the NEXT day, when we were leaving, and they wouldn’t pre-sell and send it to us. *Sigh* So he got a different one, and a couple of sword/blade things he and the Asshole could fight with.

There was a little booth that sold pearls and pendants and such, and there were buckets of oysters for sale – a pearl guarenteed to be found in each one. The asshole got himself a Blue Pearl, the second rarest of them all, and then we headed back to the hotel where he made it into a necklace. He grabbed some stones he’d told the lady about, and he and the kids all headed back downtown to do more exploring and let him get his Long Island Ice Tea, as he’d forgotten his ID the first time.

I remained at the hotel, as I was going to take a nap. Never did get around to it, instead watching some tv, worried about all 4 of my kids in the wilds of downtown disney by themselves, and waited for a friend from the very first RP site I’d ever played on to show up. Her sister scored us 4 t-shirts for souvineres for just $30 bucks! I was thrilled! She came down and delivered them in person, and we had a nice long chat, talking about this, that, and everything else, with a few other things tucked in for flavor. She hung around until the kids all got back so that she could meet them and see how excited they were about their shirts – she’d picked perfect ones for each and every one of them! Then she stayed to giggle as they all jumped in the pool again, and we took pictures of their shenanigans.

We spent a relatively quiet evening at the hotel, and I managed to locate a ride to LAX for the next day for a relatively good price. The kids fell asleep early, we followed not to much later.

The kids had caught pretty bad coughs from the smog and such, and I had to keep waking them up to take hot showers and hope to break up a bit of the cough. They’re still hacking a bit even now, but we’re very glad to be back in the crisp clean air of Alaska – even if it’s a GOOD DEAL colder then when we left. The flight and drive home were relatively smooth and easy, and no more overbooked flights which sucked cuz we’d already decided we’d take the deal if they offered it once more. Damn it all. We got to cuddle with the nephew for a little while again before heading home. We then picked up Sacha – who was very happy to see us, and is all freshly groomed and sporting a shiny new bandanna too! The cat hasnt quite forgiven us just yet, but is happier now that I’ve gotten home to turn on her buttwarmer (aka – my computer tower.)

And that brings you to now! We’re home, we’re tired but recovering, and they’ll be more pictures once we get the two disposable cameras we bought down there developed as well. For now, enjoy the ones we’ve got, and i’m off to scrounge up some dinner.

Night!