The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland is running a special this year -- everyone gets in free on their Birthday. What a deal? Right? So.. never one to turn down a good deal.. and wanting to go check out all the new 'stuff' since I was there last, which was during High School, Chad and I played hookie from work last Wednesday (Chad's Birthday) and went down and spent a very lovely day at The Happiest Place on Earth :-).

When he got his free ticket, they gave him a special Birthday Button with his name on it and all the Disney employees (and a fair number of guests) were saying 'Happy Birthday Chad!' all day long. Which made Chad feel terribly special and loved.. or at least popular!!

We drove down there fairly early in the morning. It was a really beautiful day.. sunny and 65 and it wasn't terribly crowded, although possibly a tad more than I might have expected for a weekday in April. However, it seemed as if 1/2 the parties there had at least one Birthday Button.. so I'm guessing that little marketing tactic is working out well for them.

We rode all the 'good' rides.. and the longest line we stood in was only an hour.. Pirates, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Star Tours, and even Small World. The most amazing part? The ride that was by far in the most demand was the old classic -- Space Moutain. There just must be something about roller coasters in the dark..

One of the highlights of the day was an exhibit that actually reminded me of Epcot called 'Innoventions' which had a 'house of the future' with all the cool toys and gadgets, etc. They also had a small demonstration from ASIMO -- the 'most advanced robot in the world', made by Honda. He was pretty incredible.. here's a short video of him 'dancing':



We started off our evening with an incredible Fireworks show in front of Cinderella's castle. Only Disney can produce such an amazing production.. Even Tinkerbell was flying around doing her magic:



After the show, we hit a few more rides and then headed home at midnight. It was a long day (and the next day wasn't so good).. but it was a lot of fun and definitely a great way to spend a Birthday!!



Happy Birthday Chad!!

Whirlwind Weekend

We took a crazy whirlwind roadtrip at the beginning of April. I left here on Wednesday, April 1st and drove up to Vegas to attend the Glass Craft & Bead Expo. I signed up for two all-day classes on Thursday and Friday to get some more 'formal' training and gain some advanced skills in glass bead making. The Expo actually covered glass blowing, stained glass, fused glass, and flameworking (beads, etc.). After my classes, I spent a lot of cash on new tools and materials. Chad joined me up there on Thursday afternoon and hung out while I was in class and then came to the show with me on Friday afternoon. Some of the glass artists there were AMAZING and it was fun just to admire their work. My classes were terribly helpful and I learned a ton. Here are some pics of the cool beads I made:





And a few more I've made since with my new found skills:







After the show, we drove to Phoenix on Saturday, stopping in at Grandma & Grandpa Johnston's in Kingman for a short lunch visit on the way. We headed out to Mike & Sharon's on Sunday for the blessing of Joshua and to hang out with the family. We had a beautiful Sunday and even took the kids 'treasure hunting' (aka geocaching). Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the baby (silly me..), but I did take one of Jake & Trevor, so I figured I'd post it just because..



On Monday morning, after helping Mom hang her new pictures and shelves in the Family Room, we made the trek back home, doing a little shopping along the way...

It was a fun little trip and it was nice to get away for a few days..

Spring!!!

I know it's been forever since I posted anything. I applogize. I have not had any time at all. However, my goal this week is to post a few things just to catch up...

Here's the first:

It's finally Spring!! Honestly, the weather around here has been slightly insane the past couple of months -- it started back in early March. We've have beautiful warm days in the 70's and 80's and then crazy cold ones that never got much above 40 (like last Wednesday where I heard stories of snow flurries in town!!).

However, we've tried to take advantage of the warm weather when it is here and have taken several trips out in the jeep as well as a lovely bicycle ride down by the beach.

Recently, I've heard that they are saying that our current warming trend is here to stay. So.. I thought I'd post a few of the pics from the 'nice' days in the past few months in celebration that winter is finally over!! Yee haw! :-)