Wow, what a week!! The girls and I spent four days in Rawlins with Lee and my parents (my sister Lindsey also went with us). Then Lindsey and I drove back to Spanish Fork where we met up with my sister Alyson. The three of us left early Wednesday morning for one of the best vacations I've ever had! We went to California to see Ashley, and the four of us sisters lived the life for a few days.
We got to California in time for Derek's birthday (Ashley's husband). Yea! :) Then we spent all day Thursday (8 a.m. until after midnight) at Disneyland. We took bunches of pictures, but I selected only a few to share. The first one is all of us as we arrived at Disneyland. We had Ashley's son, Marshall, with us for the first half of the day. That kid has been in Disneyland more than anyone else his age, I bet! :) In the picture it's Alyson, Ashley, Marshall, Lindsey, and me.
This next picture is of Ashley and me. It was actually taken later in the day --you can tell by the fact that my hairdo has about had it. :) This picture was taken during the one time we stood in line for a long time -- it was the line for Space Mountain and we waited 65 minutes. Other than that I don't think we waited much longer than 30 minutes for most things, and a lot of the waits were less than 15 minutes (thanks to fast passes and staying there late).
Here's Lindsey and I at the beginning of the day. The funny thing is that when I saw this picture, I didn't recognize the dinosaur in the background. I finally figured out this was in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which we rode on three or four different times, but I somehow never really noticed the dinosaur. Oops.
Here's Alyson and me riding on a boat. I think it's the Queen something or other. I'm sure one of my sisters will comment with the correct name. I have an awful memory (and am apparently not very observant either). We rode the boat around Tom Sawyer's Island, which you can see in the background.
And here's a picture of Lindsey, Alyson, and me all together on the boat (I think it's the Queen Mary???). Ashley had gone to meet up with Derek so he could take Marshall, and she got back just in time to snap this lovely picture for us.
After this ride we went to Splash Mountain for our first ride of eight for the day. I'm going to have to do another blog when I get more pictures from my sisters because I don't have any from Splash Mountain. We went on it four times in the last hour, and we all took turns sitting up front and getting drenched. We figured it would be okay to head home totally wet. Very fun!!!!!!
The next day we slept in, went for a run, showered, and then went to watch the Broadway play "Wicked." Alyson and Lindsey have been wanting to go for a long time, and Ashley and I agreed to go along. Little did I know what I was getting into...I haven't been able to get those marvelous songs out of my head since that night. I have got to find a place to buy the sound trek because it's really frustrating trying to sing a song and not knowing the words!!! (Right now You Tube is my best friend!) It was well worth the cost of the ticket and then some -- absolutely wonderful!!!
I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed our trip. I fell asleep at the end of our ride home and woke up about 30 minutes before arriving back in Spanish Fork. When I woke up, I just wanted to smile. I felt so happy as I thought back over the previous days. It was a perfect vacation, and I LOVED being with my sisters!!! (Now, if the transition back to motherhood could go just as smoothly...)
Here's a picture of Ash and me in front of a Wicked ad/sign at the theater. This picture proves that we made it safely even though I was driving. It turns out Utah drivers who learned to drive on their mission to Toronto can really hold their own in the California craziness. :)
And here's all of us again outside the theater. I had no idea how good of a production I was about to see! Alyson had better seats than the rest of us, and we all offered to trade her seats at intermission so she wouldn't have to keep sitting by herself. For some reason, however, she didn't want to trade with any of us. :)
As a side note: I was the only one with dark hair growing up -- all my other sisters had blond hair. In time, however, Ashley's and Lindsey's hair also grew dark. Now we look like triplets with a cute blond sister. :) (Stay tuned for the picture in five years when all of us have white hair...)
