1st Date Anniversary at Disneyland and Expo West

Michael and I had a blast on our Disneyland date weekend! We were celebrating the 28^th anniversary of our first date. On Friday, I got the boys off to school. I didn't plan enough time for packing but it only took me half an hour to get to the airport so I made it to my gate right on time. The shuttle I was going to take to the hotel left without me, even though I was on time, so that was a bust. I just took an Uber instead. I asked the Uber driver if he'd wait for me for a few minutes and drive me over to the convention center. He kept saying that it was so close that it was right across the street. Well, right across the street means a different thing when you're in Anaheim and you have to walk all the way to the convention center, so I almost gave up on him and then he finally agreed to wait for me for a few minutes so that was nice. I got my key, put my suitcase in the room, changed into my pants and different shoes, and went back to his car. He dropped me off close to the badge tent so that was nice. I easily found the booth. Liz, Claudia, Stacey, Sai, Melissa, and Jen were all there today. I talked to people, I wandered around to the other booths, and I came back and stood by the samples to talk to people some more.

After the trade show, we went to a nice dinner right across from our hotel and then relaxed for the night.

Saturday was the official 28th anniversary of our first date. The weather app said it wasn't going to rain, but it was drizzling when we walked over to the convention center. We got over to the booth a little after 10 AM. All the same people were there except for Jen, but it was a much shorter day. One lady that came up looked at me and gestured to my outfit and said, you look so classy! That was so sweet. We were trying to give away all of our samples, including the glass bottles and whole boxes and everything. Michael met with a lady who wants to be on the sales team. Then a guy from a monk fruit company snagged him. Jorge Cruise came by and we talked for a bit. He asked me to be in his video and he put it on his Instagram and he tagged me and SweetLeaf. He also did a link to our website so that was very nice of him. Before we knew it, it was after noon so we got ready to go. We walked back to the hotel. We took a little break and got ready for Disneyland. Emily was having a rough morning because her laptop broke. As in, the two pieces broke apart at the hinge. She tried taking it to Best Buy and then another place and both places said it would be expensive and would take at least a week to fix. We talked to her on the phone while we were at the hotel room and ended up just buying her a new one at Best Buy and she went to go pick it up later. It took us half an hour to get through security. We made it to Jolly Holiday in plenty of time to get the mobile order I had made at around 8 o'clock this morning. I wanted to make sure we got the raspberry macarons and we did. I ordered three of them so that I could take two home to Andrew. While I picked up the Jolly Holiday order, Michael got a violet pretzel from Refreshment Corner. It's one of the hundred-year celebration special food items. It was delicious! The frosting was wonderful and the filling was cheesecake and it was really good.

We also ate one of the three raspberry macaroons I had bought. They were setting up for a parade but luckily, we were still able to get across the street and get a locker and put the food and a few other things in it. Then we went back across the street and got a peanut butter sandwich from the Candy Palace to share. We watched a couple minutes of the parade and then we headed over to Toon Town to ride Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. That was the first Lightning Lane I got. I couldn't resist stopping for a picture at the castle on the way. A nice lady offered to take our picture.

We stopped at the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough along the way. I had read about it online and I was surprised that we never knew about it before. It was pretty cool! There were little vignettes from the story.

This is where it begins 

and this is where you exit. 

When we got to the ride, the Lightning Lane line outside was super long. It was a really cool line, though. I can't remember exactly what the ride was like at Disney World so I don't know how it compares but it was fun. 

There was a part where they show you a little movie where there is a train that crashes and there's a big bang and makes it look like something has shot through the movie screen and smoke came out. A little boy in our group started crying. Poor kid. Next, we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. I couldn't resist stopping at the Red Rose Tavern on the way. We got a Green Stuff treat and some water. It tasted a lot like the Gray Stuff but it was a little minty and green for St. Patrick's Day. I sent a picture to the kids. 

Then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I love that ride! We had a Lightning Lane for it but it still was actually a bit of a long line. Our next Lightning Lane wasn't until 7:10 PM at Haunted Mansion so we rode Pirates. The line looked really long but it moved fast. That was nice and relaxing. After the ride, we took a bathroom break and went to the Royal Street Veranda where we got some Mickey beignets and a mint julep for Michael. We shared the beignets. There was a little spot with tables and umbrellas over by Harbor Galley that I had heard about online. It's actually a really nice area right on the water. We sat there and Michael drank his mint julep and we shared the beignets. I explored the other seating areas, including the one I saw online and I figured out how to get to the more secluded seating area. You exit out a different way and you get to see a different view of Splash Mountain. As we got onto Haunted Mansion, it started drizzling again. It's pretty frustrating because it said there was 0% chance of rain all day but oh well. After Haunted Mansion, we headed over to Winnie the Pooh. I had read online that at a certain point if you turn around you can see the bears from the old Country Jamboree attraction but that was a bust because I never saw them even though I turned around at the right spot. Oh well. Next, we headed over to Frontierland and Michael played at the Shooting Gallery while I went into a shop and waited for him. 

Then we walked over to the princess area. I told Emily I would go to Rapunzel's pole and watch when the hair lights up. When we got there, a little girl was spinning around the pole, looking dejected. She looked at us and she said, “I've been here since 7:20 PM waiting for this thing to light up and it hasn't done it yet.” She said that it happens at random. By then it was 8:10 PM so she'd been waiting almost an hour. I asked the cast member and she said she doesn't really know when it goes off but she had heard that if you touch the hair at the bottom then it will light up. I tried that and it didn't work. I had Michael take a couple pictures. 

Then a security guard came over because he was curious about it and we all tried to figure it out. Michael suggested I knock on it and so I did and right then it started working so either we were really lucky or he was right. He was able to get quite a few pictures next to it being lit up so that was fun. The little girl was gone by then, unfortunately. We went to the Plaza Inn for dinner. It was really nice; we should definitely go there with the kids sometime. I remember it from when Jonny and I went there for a character breakfast and it was a buffet, so I didn't really know what to expect. Well, this was cafeteria style. Michael got fried chicken and a salad and I got the pot roast. I couldn't resist trying both of the desserts, a strawberry layered cake and a lemon cheesecake dessert. I don't know what else to call it. We were able to find a table pretty easily and enjoy our meal and relax a little bit. Then it was time for the fireworks to start and we tried to find a spot outside at the Plaza Inn to watch but Michael couldn't see through the trees so we just walked across to the big circle and found a spot there and watched it. It was pretty cool. It had cool music and beautiful fireworks. It was a bummer, though, because it was so cloudy that some of the fireworks got lost in the clouds. It was still really nice. After that, we headed over to Tomorrowland. I had a Lightning Lane for Buzz Lightyear but the standby line was only five minutes so we just walked on. Then we went to Space Mountain. The Lightning Lane line was actually really long, but it wasn't too bad. Michael and I sat in the back and we decided we were going to try and kiss when it takes a picture. I was worried we wouldn't be able to react in time and that's pretty much what happened. The picture is pretty funny because it was quite a fail. 

We walked back over to Buzz and used our Lightning Lane pass but it was kind of useless because the standby line was still only five minutes so we literally walked right on. Next, we decided to head over to Fantasyland. We rode the teacups and then headed over to Peter Pan. The line wasn't short, but it's the shortest I've ever seen that line so we went on that.

Here are some pictures we had taken by a Disneyland photographer in Fantasyland. 

After Peter Pan, Michael wanted to go to the Shooting Gallery again. I went back to the princess area and barely got a video of the pole lighting up again.

I couldn't resist a Flynn Rider picture 

Then Michael went to get some ice cream and I got another pretzel. We got some more treats at the Candy Palace, including my English toffee, then we went to the lockers and got our stuff and left. We took the Toy Story shuttle which dropped us off way at the back of the lot but I still think that was less walking than walking all the way from Disneyland. It's been a wonderful, exhausting day.

We flew home on Sunday morning. We got up around 8:30 AM and by 10:30 AM called the Uber and got to the airport in plenty of time. We had some lunch at Ruby's Diner and then got on the plane. The plane ride was quick and uneventful, thankfully. Andrew was so excited about his raspberry macaroons that he literally jumped up and down with joy. He ate both of them today already. 

We talked a little bit about our week. I did some unpacking and took a nap. Then we read the Come Follow Me lesson and talked with the boys about being guided by the Spirit. Then Andrew, Michael, and Jonny all got in the hot tub. Daniel took a bath and went to bed.

It was such a wonderful trip! I am so grateful we were able to go!

We talked a little bit about our week. I did some unpacking and took a nap. Then we read the Come Follow Me lesson and talked with the boys about being guided by the Spirit. Then Andrew, Michael, and Jonny all got in the hot tub. Daniel took a bath and went to bed.

It was such a wonderful trip! I am so grateful we were able to go!