Vacation Part I: Disneyland

Andy and I just returned from the most magical vacation...

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure!

After a long season that seems to be getting longer, we were in need of a break.

Andy went away for a whole month in May, leading his training school on a missions trip overseas, 

so we knew that when he got back, we would need time away together.

We normally would desire to be at a beach or at a fancy hotel...

but I think deep down, we were both needing some good, old-fashioned fun!

SO, off to Anaheim we went!

This is us pulling out of the Tempe Public Library.  We wanted to rent a Harry Potter book or two on cd, but they didn't have any!  What a bummer. But the 5 1/2 hr drive was passed easily.  

We love to talk :)

Here is the border of Cali--almost there!

After we checked into our Holiday Inn, we decided to head down to Downtown Disney, pick up our tickets for the parks, and check out the sites.  Disneyland Drive!  YAY!

 Downtown Disney--we made it!  Vacation, here we come!

Downtown Disney is a fun outdoor mall kind of place, but run by Disney.  

Lots of places to eat and shop.  There were several heavenly caramel popcorn stands and cupcake and cinnamon roll stands that tempted me, but we ended up ordering a pizza from a local place and eating dinner at the hotel.  There were SO many people there... not sure how these people afford to feed their families on those prices!

 So here we are Thursday morning, about to enter the park!  

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

waiting for the park to officially open.  Super excited.

 We booked it to Space Mountain.  Love that ride!

Andy had never been to a Disney park before... so he was ready!

Splash Mountain--I got soaked!

Ok, so of course, knowing me, one of the places that was at the top of my lists of things to do

was to visit Pooh Corner Bakery in Critter Country, just past the Winnie the Pooh ride and Splash Mountain.  Jenny Flake from the Picky Palate blog described this place in such detail,
I had to visit!

Excuse me, look at those delicious treats!

Our first time to visit (yes, we went back on Saturday), we decided to get the Raspberry White Chocolate cookie and the Chocolate Covered S'mores bar.

HELLO, fabulous!  The cookies were HUGE and soft and amazingly delicious.

I even found a copycat recipe for this very cookie and am planning on making them and posting the recipe on my blog.  

Incredible chunks of white chocolate goodness.

The second time we went back, we got the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie and this Chocolate and Toffee covered Mickey brownie.  Both good.  My favorite treats, hands down, were the cookies.

We love bears.  All over Critter Country!

About to go onto the 3D Star Tours ride.

I still love this ride, even though it's for kids!

Ok, another treat on my list that I read on the Picky Palate blog was the Dole Tiki Bar.  

There you can get freshly squeezed pineapple juice or an amazing Dole Whip--frozen yogurt whipped with pineapple juice and tiny chunks of pineapple.

We split a Dole Whip float--the whip on top of juice.  Best of both worlds!  And so refreshing on this hot day.  (Ignore the frizzy, pulled-back hair!)

 Here's Minnie, being the lady that she is!  (Quite short and thin, might I add!)

We LOVE big brass bands, so this was a treat to stumble upon as we were killing time before our hotel shuttle came to pick us up.  So fun!

 The perfect end to our first day at Disneyland!