SELFIE FEST WRAP UP

Friday dawned and we were all feeling it. My cold was getting worse by the day. My sinuses were starting to receive their share of the joy. Mom seemed to have hit her leg on something every day. You could map out the trip on her legs by the bruises there. Tim had a pretty bad sunburn and opted for a long sleeve shirt. (Read: Hot) And Miranda was more tired than usual from the extra walking the day before.

Luckily, we had done most of what we wanted. This day was just to go on our favorites. We started at Cars. I don't know about the others, but that is Miranda and my favorite. We got fast passes and then decided to wait in line. Might as well go twice. Mom is scooter ready as usual.

You can't see it well, but the pump behind us says 'Butte' Gas. It made me think of Tyler of course. He enjoys that type of humor.

Tim is hanging in there. I love this picture because Mom did a photo bomb. Way to go mom!

I only sat in front one time on the ride. I was usually the backseat driver.

Often when you are in a wheelchair, you don't get back up to the picture place in time to see the picture they take. (We never made it on Space Mountain.) But on Cars, it is right there where we get out.

Tim, Miranda, and I wanted to go on Tower of Terror again. We talked him into going a previous day and he really enjoyed it. I used to be a little leery of the ride, but I agree with Miranda that it is my second favorite. Miranda actually lost her hat this time around. It flew off into the lap of the lady behind her. We even got out in time to see the picture. I look nervous.

I had to take a picture by the fake street while we were walking by.

Before we went on Cars again, we were shopping around Radiator Springs. I found a shirt I liked for Tyler. And then I found this weird tire thing. It had an elastic string on it and a hole in the middle. (As most tires do.) It wasn't soft enough to be a pillow. I thought maybe you hang it up as a decoration, but that didn't seem right either. I finally gave up. Then these two ladies came in and one put a tire on her head. That's a hat!?! Apparently they used to have the cone hats but now they have tire ones. I pretty much looked fabulous in it, but didn't have the extra cash. Too bad.

Back on Cars, we were debating about whether the left car wins. Mom said it does periodically, but I had NEVER seen a car on the left side win. We had won twice on the right and lost twice on the left. So while we waited in line, we watched. Sure enough, the left car does win every once in a while, but not often. On the left side you get a better view of your car in the mirror, which I tried to get, but didn't quite accomplish.

But it doesn't really matter to me whether we win or not. That ride is just fun.

Back over to Disneyland after that. We got a return time for Space Mountain and went on Astro Blasters in the meantime.

I sure love spending time with my sister. It was really nice to have almost a week to hang out with her.

(p.s. We lied about our scores to make Tim feel better since he wasn't happy that we beat him over at Midway Mania. Tim...you don't read the blog do you?)

Our other choice of repeat ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When we went over it was closed, so we had lunch instead. By the time we finished eating, the ride was up and running again. Tim thought the dinosaur was pretty cool, so we took a picture. He looks so hot in his long sleeves.

We got on the ride and it started out, but only made it into the first tunnel with the first incline. Then it stopped. Luckily the fake bats next to us were turned off after a minute or two. Here they are stationary.

We listened as they asked us to remain in our seats. They cleared out the line first, having everyone turn around and exit the attraction. Then they came and got us out. One car at a time was unloaded. This was our view from the train. There are actually stairs by each incline since that is where the ride often breaks.

Once we were all out, we exited as a group. It was kind of exciting. They gave us free fast passes for any ride, although we just came back and used it on Big Thunder when it was up and running again. That was a new one for me. (Reminder to myself. There is that cool leather works shop near Big Thunder where they etch names on leather items. Pretty cool.)

From previous experience, we knew that it was crazy crowded at night for the parade, so mom had a brilliant idea to get a bench early in the day. However, the only bench she could find was in the sun. That meant someone had to hang out and bake. Mom took the first shift. She looked so content sitting on the bench reading, but I knew better. It was crazy hot.

Miranda and Tim couldn't handle the heat, so they headed back to the motel. I sat with mom and luckily there was a parade in the afternoon to break up the monotony. It was so bright though, I couldn't see anything on my phone. I was taking blind pictures...just point and shoot. Like this selfie here, right before the parade. I couldn't see that my finger was in the way.

Despite not being able to see anything, I still got some fun pictures. This banana guy following Abu was pretty funny. He yelled, "How is everyone doing?" There were a few woops from the crowd, but not much. He tried again, "I asked how you all are doing?" Mom yelled at the top of her voice, "I'm fine." I think it startled him. He said, "M'am, I'm not sure about the rest, but I know how you are doing."

Here are some of my other favorites. I would want to be Mary Poppins in a parade.

After the parade, mom went back to the motel to talk to others and drop stuff off. Also, she was going to get a towel so we could maybe save seats without having to endure the constant rays. I took my turn baking for an hour or so. I had prided myself that up until then I did not even have a hint of a sunburn. I wore sunscreen every day and reapplied at lunch so Tyler could not give me a hard time. But sitting on that bench, I could feel my feet and cheeks burning. (Yes, I did get a slight sunburn on my feet*, but it went away very quickly.)

Eventually mom returned and Miranda and I went off to do a couple more rides. We were trying to get on Alice in Wonderland, but we got a return time. I actually didn't mind too much. I love hanging out with her.

I don't spend a lot of time in Fantasyland, so I completely forgot about these bathrooms by Alice in Wonderland. I think they are really cool.

While waiting for Alice, we went back to Small World. There was a dad and his young son in the row in front of us. As the ride commenced, he was holding his phone to take a selfie. At the last second, I made a face. I have NEVER deliberately photobombed someone before. It was so funny. The dad was not very appreciative. Even though I apologized (while laughing) he took the selfie again making sure I was NOT in the picture. (And I ducked down for him. Common courtesy you know.)

We eventually made it onto Alice. It was broken down for a while, naturally. I sat in the back, so that made it a little awkward for taking a selfie, but I was not to be deterred.

By the time we got back to mom, the sun had gone down...blessed day. Then it was rather nice to sit and wait for the parade.

We used up some time playing the Costco game. There are so many people at Costco that the kids and I sometimes give one another an item to find and see how long it takes, such as a red hat, or polka dot shirt. At Disneyland, you just chose Disney items if you want. I spent a LONG time looking for Maleficent and finally found it on mom's hat. Miranda found crazy dyed hair after a bit and I thought I could stump her with Cinderella for a while. Right after I told her to look for Cinderella, this little girl walked around the corner dressed as her. Rats. (Other things we looked for: Cars, Nemo, Goofy, Mickey ears with flowers, someone dressed in costume, and a pig.)

I didn't take any pictures of the parade the second time around. It was nice just to sit and enjoy the lights. We had already planned an escape route for mom's scooter afterward so we could see the fireworks as well.

After the fireworks, they play music for a little while and then they come on the loudspeaker again and talk about how Walt Disney wanted to have the fireworks every evening, kind of like a kiss goodnight. The idea is a nice one, but the way they presented it was pretty cheesy. There was even a whole song to go with it. A little over the top if you ask me, but I'll just take my kiss and go. Thanks for everything Disneyland. You are always great, even when you aren't.

I packed up when I got home because I had to be at the airport early. (No sleeping in for me the entire trip.) Miranda came with me to say goodbye. It was sad to leave Mom, Tim, and Miranda. It was so nice to have that time with them. Thanks again Mom, it was fantastic! Although I was very happy to be seeing my family again. I had gifts all ready for them. I told Mom at breakfast that I was leaving Disneyland and traveling to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Saturday was unpleasant in many ways though. My cold had gotten worse. I was really feeling icky. I wasn't excited to go sit by people on a plane. (Poor people.) I thought this would be my last picture of the trip. One more airport selfie.

It wasn't quite the last. As we took off through the clouds, I forgot how awesome it looks from the top side. It is like looking across a field of marshmallow fluff. If I ever get a chance at making a world, I'm going to make my clouds solid so you could walk across this amazing sight.

I had a connecting flight (joy) so I stopped in Denver for a while before continuing to Utah. It did mean that I was coming from a different direction than usual. As we got closer, I heard someone mention Spanish Fork Canyon. It stirred my attention and I wondered if you would be able to see the 'Y' on the mountain. Sure enough, I looked out just in time to see this come into view.

It was awesome. But not as awesome as seeing this when I arrived.

Man, I missed my kiddos. It was kind of a strange transition. Tyler was headed up for his weekend in Idaho, so he brought the kids, but continued on with the car and I took the kids home on the train. (Front Runner.) He made sure we had tickets and were all set to go. We said goodbye. A sad parting for me since I couldn't even get a goodbye kiss. (Darn you cold.)

The ride wasn't bad. We had to switch trains (half hour wait) but I entertained the kids with stories of my trip. Before I knew it, we were back home.

I gave out presents and let the girls see the cool things mom bought me. (You'll have to wait to see them. I haven't taken pictures yet, but they are so cool!!)

It was the fourth of July, but I'll admit that I wasn't up to doing ANYTHING. I was so tired. I let the kids stay up and watch a movie, but everyone was in bed around the time fireworks started. I went to sleep to dulcet booms in the distance.

It was a crazy, whirlwind week, but I'm so grateful for the generosity of my mom. She is such an amazing lady. I hope she enjoyed her week as well.


* I'm not sure where to put this, but one of my memories was people stepping on my feet the whole time. It is something about flip flops. I think it is because the flip flop doesn't come up with your foot, so the person behind you, when they step into that spot, collides with your shoe which is still there. I probably was stepped on over two dozen times. Twice it took my shoe off. Mom even scootered onto my flip flop once. Tyler calls it a flat tire. (Not sure if that is accurate for flip flops, but I sure had a lot.)