Fun Times with Good Friends!

With months of planning and much anticipation, the week finally arrived for my friends to fly in!  I made the venture alone to pick them up from LAX and we headed straight to Disneyland!  We spent 3.5 days there and celebrated two very special birthdays!  This was probably the best time to be there.  A lot less people enjoying the parks, which made it easy to ride.  The weather was pleasantly cool too.  This all made for pure fun at the happiest place on earth! 

A few last pointers on Disneyland before I move on to second half of their visit.  Hollywood Tower of Terror freaks me out!  They change the amount of times the elevator drops between Disneyland and Disneyworld.  I was only expecting TWO drops, but experienced ??? more!  The Aladdin musical show and the World of Color water show at California Adventure are definitely worth seeing.  Food is always good at Disney, but two new discoveries for me were the Frozen Apple Juice (located between Fantasyland and Frontierland) and a BBQ buffet at an outdoor restaurant in Frontierland called Big Thunder Ranch BBQ.  So yummy!!!

After Disneyland, we said goodbye to one friend and gained another!  We hung out in LA for a little bit and went to Griffith Observatory Park to attempt to see the "Hollywood" sign...but it was extremely foggy and had to initially guess where the sign stood.  We did get a peek of it though as the fog moved and someone excitedly pointed it out.  This trip wouldn't have been complete for them if we didn't stop at IKEA.  They introduced me to their printed ziplocks, lingonberry juice/jam, and flavored heart-shaped cookies!

 

We also went berry picking!  WE all enjoyed it...well actually three of us did.

Magic Mountain was the next stop.  It was Justin's first time and for most of us we hadn't been in a long time.  There were a lot of new rides and so much scarier!!!  Probably the favorite ride for us, but also one of the scariest ones, was the Tatsu.  You get strapped in, maneuvered into a flying position (legs and arms dangling while lying on your stomach), and ride this crazy roller coaster in that position the whole time! It was so crazy.  Our friend lost his cellphone on that ride and we reported it at Lost & Found.  Fortunately, the next day he claimed it, fully charged with barely a scratch on it.  (FYI, the Lost & Found said they have a 70% success rate and the crew walks through the park every night.)

We went back to Griffith Park and enjoyed it a little more on a clearer day.  We also went to see LA Dodgers play the Colorado Rockies!  Who knew a baseball game could be so fun?!  Maybe because the Dodgers won and we had really good seats.  We even witnessed a proposal a few rows in front.

I was grateful for the precious time I had with these good friends and share a part of our new home with them.  It was definitely sobering to leave the airport with an empty backseat and return to a quiet home.  I couldn't have asked for a better staycation!!!

 
P.S.  I can't take credit for most of these captured moments, so thank you PF, not PW!!! :)