Summer Road Trip- Ben's Irresistible Hair

Whenever we go to a Disney character breakfast, some over sized, fluffy person in a Disney costume has to play with Ben's hair. Even sporting fewer of his trademark curls, Ben head did not disappoint.

 It wouldn't be so funny if it didn't happen every time.

Ben seemed to be a target for other characters as well. While he was off getting something to drink, Tigger decided to steal his breakfast. Ben, good spot that he is, was willing to share. Tigger would have eaten some too, if he'd been able to actually pick up a fork with those furry fingers.

 Lindsey had her fill of Mickey waffles- always a hit!

Bruce getting his head buffed was pretty funny too.

We all had a pretty good time!

Summer Road Trip- Under The Sea!

 I'm sure you all know that there is a new Little Mermaid Ride  that's just opened at Disney's California Adventure. What? You didn't? Well, you need to go. Stat.

It's located in what used to be the California Golden Dreams Theater where they played a movie about the history of California, narrated by Whoopie Goldberg. At the end of the movie there was a montage of people from California who had accomplished great things, accompanied by an inspiring song. That part always made me cry. But that's all behind us now, replaced by an awesome new ride.

With Disney's attention to detail, even when you stand in line you get a feel for the ride. There are shells embedded in the concrete and sea shell-inspired tile work. Even the lights look like seaweed.

Then it was time to load into our traveling clamshells! They have a great Little Mermaid mural in the loading area, the you glide into the the ride through the back of a ship.

 I think this is cute- the kids taking pictures of the ride and each other. Brian seems to be fascinated with Scuttle. I don't blame him.

Then the ride flips you around and lays you backwards as you go down an incline. You see this image on the ceiling. It moves. Ariel is showing Flounder her fork discoveries. Ahh. 

After you pass Ariel's Fork Depository, you enter the "Under The Sea" room. Lots of singing and dancing goin' on in here.

And since there has to be some drama somewhere in the ride, your clamshell passes Ursula who sings about those "poor unfortunate souls" who she "helps". Love that song.

Gotta have "Kiss The Girl" in there somewhere, and here it is, near the end of the ride where there is a big ol' celebration with fireworks and Ariel's buff dad.

But wait! The ride stops, as in breaks down. As in, we're not going anywhere. After sitting for a few minutes, some nice Disney employee announces that we're going to be "evacuated" from the ride. Ok. We were at the end of it anyway. So we patiently waited to be released from our clamshells.

 

As a reward for our patience, Disney gave us a Fastpass for any ride in both parks, well, almost any ride.

We used it for Toy Story Mania. Walked right on in front of all those folks who'd waited in line for 45 minutes.

All in all, Little Mermaid is an awesome new ride. It's one that everyone will enjoy!

Summer Road Trip- Baseball and Jalapeno Dogs

When the kids finally joined us on our trip, we went to an Anaheim Angels Baseball game. We got special tickets that included a hot dog and a drink. I'd been to a Monster Truck Rally at the Angel's Stadium (! so much fun!), but never a ball game.

We tease Brian about having a big head, (really he has a normal-sized head- but he keeps hitting it on things.), but we thought this hat would fit him just right.

Our seats were good- but out in the blazing California sun. I knew I would die of sun exposure in under 3 minutes. Luckily, it wasn't a very crowded game, so we moved into the shade on the very top row. Great view!

When we got hungry, we turned in our hot dog vouchers. Brian went all out and put jalapenos on his. Why? I couldn't tell you. But they were hot.

The rest of us were a little more traditional with our toppings. Even Ben, who doesn't get along with hot dogs, was a good sport and ate his all up!

There was lots of pre-game prep of the field, even scrubbing Home Plate with cleaner:

But the Angels won in the end and there was even a home run!

Our First Tow-Mater!

I noticed this little guy quite by accident the other day. While all of the other tomatoes are green, green, green, without a hint of ripening, this little guy was at that amazing moment of perfection.

It wasn't very big, just about twice the size of my thumb, but it was tow-mater perfection. I was going to pop it into my mouth and eat the whole thing, but then Brian came home and I was compelled to share. But that was ok, because, even half of a home-grown tow-mater is enough. Delicious! All nice and warm and sweet. Hurry up, all the rest of you green tow-maters!

Summer Road Trip- Oh My, Apple Pie!

 One afternoon we drove up into the mountains east of San Diego to a town called Julian. It grew up around some old gold mines and apple orchards that used to gown there, but now it's a old-timey tourist town with antique stores and several cafes that specialize in making apple pie. The main street was charming with it's 4th of July decorations:

Looks like a good place for motorcyclists to hang out on the weekend.

We walked up and down Main Street, poking in the antique shops. Shockingly, Bruce did not explode from going shopping-stir-crazy, which was nice. One little shop was so cute and even had chickens living in the yard:

This awesome flier was posted on the city's bulletin board. Why can't we all shop like this?

A visit to Julian would not be complete without a slice of apple pie! There were many forms of pie to choose from:

 

But we chose the apple pie, with crumb topping, ala mode. Heaven! 

 

If you ever have time, Julian is worth a stop!