Disneyland!!!!

Yay!! We just got back from our quick trip to Disneyland on Sunday night, and it was such a wonderful experience!! A couple of friends from our ward, Sarah and Jeremy Hrebicek, had been planning a trip to Disneyland to celebrate his birthday since May. Now, he knew that he was going, but what he didn't know was that his cute wife, Sarah, had also invited several friends to show up there and surprise him.

There ended up being six of us there altogether--Misty, Sarah Grow, the Hrebiceks, and Steve and I, and it was such a fun trip--Jeremy was pretty surprised to see us all in their hotel room on Thursday night, that's for sure--but hopefully it was a pleasant surprise. :) I'm afraid I don't have any pictures yet (working on that--Steve and I forgot our camera, so we'll have to wait till someone else e-mails us the pictures that they took), but I can at least describe the trip a little bit.

I was a little worried that I wouldn't feel very good for it (I'm now having more good days than bad, but I still get pretty nauseated, especially if I don't get to sleep in), and I was also worried that I would hold Steve back from riding on all the fun rides that he loves so much...'cause, let's face it, it's really not recommended for pregnant women to ride basically all of our favorites--Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Maliboomer, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc., etc.... So that made me nervous, but luckily, Sarah Grow isn't a big fan of heights, so on some of the rides, she was totally willing to hang out with me, rather than ride the rides, and that hopefully alleviated some of the guilt that Steve was experiencing and allowed him to enjoy the rides with the others. :)

Then, on other rides where everyone wanted to ride, I would just wait in the cue lines with them, and then go straight on through to the exit and wait for them to finish there. It was actually pretty nice--I got some good relaxing time for my feet, and that would usually help me build up some energy for afterwards...I forgot what a wimp I am, but I was really sore by the end of our two days there!!

It's interesting--we have annual passes for Disneyland, which has been quite the experience for me. Growing up, I went to Disneyland a total of four times in my lifetime--including once when I was 3, that I don't remember. However, since my mission, this has been my fourth trip this year!! Ironically, of those four, we've only been able to ride the "fun" rides on one of those trips...but it actually has been fun to experience a different side of the park...a side that I used to be so busy running to and from my favorite big rides that I didn't ever notice the fun little details that are everywhere, or see the characters, or watch any of the parades or big (or little) shows. This trip, in particular, we got to eat at a couple of restaurants that I had never been in before, we saw several new shows (including the Pixar Play Parade in California Adventure--so cute!), and altogether, we found several hidden details that I had never noticed before.

In fact, because we were in such a loud group (I'm probably one of the quietest ones in the group--gives you an idea what we were like) with a "birthday boy" in the middle of it (when you go to Disneyland on your birthday, they give you a big button that says, "It's my birthday" and they write your name on it. The fact that Sarah was wearing a shirt that said "I love Jeremy" didn't hurt as far as getting attention goes, either. So, almost any time we were watching a show, invariably, some character or cast member would comment on Jeremy, and it was really fun to see how personal the cast members in Disneyland make the experience for every person who goes. Really kind of cute.

So this was a nice, relaxed, enjoyable trip. Thanks, Jeremy, for having a birthday!!