As with many of our vacation pictures, this post will probably be more for me than anyone else to remember our trip, so feel free to scan through if needed. No, really, scan through, I won't be offended because I am pretty sure there are close to a million pictures and I know how it is with looking at pictures of other people's vacations.
We celebrated my birthday with my family the day before we left. Jon made me cupcakes and gave me the cupcake holder which I love. Anybody having a party?
Some of my other gifts were cake related as well. Zac enjoyed many of my gifts-
the cupcake pillow, the cupcake cookbook, the new sports bra and autographed copy of Sweating With the Oldies. Really what more could a girl ask for? Oh yea, a trip to Disneyland.
Jon was feeling really sick the first day we were there and decided to stay at the hotel and sleep while the rest of us went to the park. We decided to go to California Adventures until we could all go to Disneyland together.
Luckily it didn't last long and he joined us later that night.
We of course had to take pictures of these things that are such a large part of our lives.
I think this picture is the only one with all of us in it of the whole trip.
Su- baked or wasted?
Megan was my buddy on this trip for taking Kodak moment pictures as well as keeping up with my rigorous Disney techniques. Thanks Megan!
Even posing with her biggest nightmare- now that's dedication!
Captain Eo was back-ugh. I mean- yea. The 3D technology was amusing. And really, these glasses are just made for us.
Such bliss...
(Don't worry, we bought one.)
Mallory stuck with me this afternoon and we watched the parade and rode the train. While waiting for the parade sometimes you get a little bored and take pictures of your toes- that's normal right? And who doesn't need some Mickey Mouse joy on your toes? To go along with cute new green shoes I might add.
Super Hero poses-
We spent the next day at Six Flags. None of us had ever been there before and it was wild. Definitely not for the faint of heart, mind, or stomach. We of course started with...
The rides here are wild! We basically walked on to almost every ride in the park except for about 3 that we waited for about and hour. If you ever get the chance, the X2 will rock your world!
My birthday was awesome. We started out at Goofy's Kitchen for brunch. And really, who doesn't love a good Mac n Cheese Pizza? Seriously, it was delicious.
They have this place that teaches you to draw a character- how fun is that? I think we have excellent Dales.
Jon arranged for us to have an amazing dinner at the Blue Bayou which is the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean. So great!
Definitely a memorable birthday. I'm not sure if it will be topped any time soon with all the parades and fireworks and food. I guess that just gives you something to work towards right Jon?
The next day we went to the beach and got sufficiently red. No pictures. No one needs to see that anyway. That night, thanks to a sprint with Megan, we were the only ones to use our tickets to the World of Color which is the new water show in California Adventures. I can't even describe how amazing it was. Wow! These Disney people seriously know what they're doing.
I cried through part of it. Incredible!
And one last story just to prove how magical our trip really was. We were walking out of the park one night and it was past midnight. We noticed a group of people and realized it was Mickey Mouse- that's right the mouse himself. We went over and everyone was kind of just trying to push their way in. It was a little crazy and we were standing to the side when Mickey pushed through the crowd and grabbed my hand. He chose us out of a crowd. I think Minnie has some competition. It's OK, cause she was nice to us too.
Hmmmm. I wish I were back there right now. Although summer real life has been much easier to come back to than school real life would have been, so I do have to be grateful for that. And really, it just means that I can start dreaming about our next trip there.
We did all the piping work and then painted on the gold. 
We made cakepops that matched the cake for each person.
The final product:
Zac doesn't have a great reputation for his behavior at restaurants, but he did awesome, with a little help from Mickey.
My aunt wrote a 333 word poem for them.
My other aunt had given my grandma a book with questions about her life to answer. She finished filling it in and Cindy then made copies for everyone. It was so fun to read through and I learned a lot about my grandma's life.
My mom made them a wall hanging with everyone in the family's names on it.
My grandparents are some of my best examples of how to have a good marriage. They love each other so much. They also never miss a chance to serve each other as well as their family. My grandma has had arthritis since she was in her early 20's and has lived most of her life in a lot of pain. My grandpa takes care of her daily and does it so patiently and with so much love. They have been to countless dance recitals, games, piano recitals... They are so supportive and our whole family is blessed because of how they live their lives.
We love you so much Grandpa Dan and Grandma Dorothy. Thank you for your great example.
