Thanksgiving Week

Whew, it is good to be home!We have spent the last 11 days in California, seeing all the kid sights in the Orange County and San Diego area, and visiting with friends and family. Let me see if I can recap the highlights for you.

We left on Friday and drove with a stop at a rest stop, arriving in Anaheim in the afternoon. After setting up and cleaning up, we headed over to DH's brother's house for dinner. It was great to catch up and see how our kids had grown. We stayed and visited for hours.

The next morning we were up EARLY and off to Disneyland for the morning. It turns out that Myley Cyrus was filming her Christmas Special. We didn't get up by the stage but we did watch her perform a bit. We rode some rides, had breakfast with the characters, and planned on leaving at noon. Turns out the shuttle service takes a 2 hour lunch, and so we couldn't get back to the RV and on down to San Diego. AFter many phone calls, we changed our camping plans and stayed the rest of the day in Anaheim. When we got back to the RV we changed into PJs and then the kids and I went and watched the fireworks while sitting behind the RV on the pavement.

The next day we packed up and headed south to Oceanside. We pulled into Legoland and spent the afternoon riding roller coasters, and buying legos. Then off to our spot for the night.

The next day we drove down to San Diego and spent the day at the San Diego Zoo. That night we had dinner with my college roommate, Karen, and her boyfriend. It was so great to see her again and catch up!
The next day back to San Diego to the Children's Museum, then we drove north to Anaheim. That was an adventure. Traffic was TERRIBLE, and we took 2.5 hours to travel 50 miles. We got there, set up in 5 minutes, and raced to the Pirate Dinner Show. It was so fun! My niece was even taken up to participate in the show, and the acrobatics were fantastic.

Thursday was turkey day. Up early again for early-entry to Disneyland. We walked right onto the Matterhorn, and we met with Mickey himself. Then we took a nap and spent hte evening with Dh's brother and his family. DH's mom's sister and her husband was over and it was crazy how much she reminded me of my mother in law. It was nice to see them all.

Friday we were back to Disneyland for the day. We snuck over to California Adventure and saw Aladdin (very good) and rode Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones. While the twins were riding Indiana Jones with Daddy, a cast member approached Emma and I. Em was kinda sad right then and he started talking to us. I guess Disney is doing 'A Year of A Million Dreams' where they give away dreams. he gave us a private audience with the Disney Princesses in the afternoon.

We raced back over at 3:30 and were met by a page in teh ballroom away from the regular 'meet the princess area'. He asked Vi what her favorite princesses were, and then he went away. he came back and told me that they had gotten those two for us. We were taken back to a private room where the two princesses were waiting for us. We sat with them for a while and talked and visited. It was nice.

Dinner that Night was Medieval Times, where I made a memory by giving my dh a black eye! We were lined up to get a picture taken. For anyone not having been to Medieval Times, they give you all these paper crowns to wear. So I felt mine starting to fall off and I reached out to grab it. I connected with DH's eye. It started bleeding and then eventually he got a pretty solid black eye out of it. DH's brother was worried and it was totally embarassing.

Saturday we drove home and got back last night. I weighed this morning and - ta da - not only did I not gain through all the theme parks, families, etc - I have lost a total of 35 pounds!!!! YEAH!!!!!!

So back to work tomorrow. Pictures later.