I feel the Magic

If you have not had the opportunity to visit Disneyland than you may not be able to relate. It is a feeling that hits you upon your arrival that says "Welcome Home". It can come from a sound (train pulling into depot), a smell (confections abound), hearing (Famous voice saying "Welcome to Disneyland"), touch (green painted fences around every well manicured horticulture masterpiece) or sight (Fireman band on Main Street). I was glad to come home!

Each well placed Imagineering creation beacons you further into the park.

Sight of the Matterhorn and hearing the screams of excitement with each encounter of the Abominable Snowman. Can't get enough!!

Famous Castle of the beloved Sleeping Beauty has shrunk over the years to me...but no less endearing. I was glad to be home to feel the magic once again!

Displays

I loved walking around and looking at their displays. They were all amazing and they had 11,ooo of them. I could not help myself from capturing there charm.

This was at Woody's Halloween Roundup where they had Autumn displays everywhere. I was lovin' it.

Just havin' a good ol' game of Go fish!

I tried so hard to capture how adorable these cases were but my limited photography knowledge and lack of a fab camera were the culprits. Not to mention I left my sweet tripod at home so a lot of night shots were a little crummy. C'est la vie..I'll have to go back some day :)

Off the beatin' path

One of my very favorite pass times is to notice the unnoticeable. Disney is a master at that. It is so fun to look for what most perceive as atmosphere and gets lost in the blur. This picture is one you would find near the hub (place where all lands meet). Several pumpkins were around all with fun Disney cutouts.

This precious little guy is found also near the hub sitting on a little post. I loved the detail of the statue with the yellow in the background. I know, my photography skills (or lack of) are limited, but my goal is to keep improving. I refuse to be an adult that stops learning.

Anyone know where to find this??? I found this darling lamp on a table while in the queue for Tower of Terror. Most do not notice the existence. I loved the detail.

This one you probably recognize from the queue of Splash Mountain. I loved what it says. I think if Elder Worthlin saw it he would have included it in his conference talk.

Silly Pics

Here are a few silly pics from the trip. I know....I am in every one. How can you stand in a net of mackerel and just smile?

Yep I waited in line to pose with the Goof! His costume was sweet!

Just cozying up to the Beasts' fireplace. Up above was the jar with a rose. Every few seconds a petal would fall...I won't give away what happens.

Growing up I used to relate to the white rabbit.."I'm late, I'm late!" But since marrying Mr. Annoyingly On Time Man, I have been cured.

Disneyland in the Fall

Wow pictures of Shane and I without kids...rare in our home! We were able to fine a few people to take our pic

Cute to the 4th power. I loved looking at all of the display cases and the cute things they had in them

They had an area called Woody's Halloween Roundup. It was a quiet corner with a ton of Fall decor and a cute Woody show where the kids could color or decorate a halloween cookie. Since we were kidless we just kicked back and enjoyed the freedom!!!

As you enter the park they have huge pumpkin characters to greet you. At night they have twinkly lights on....such the sucker for twinkly lights. Even though I am exhausted I hate going back to my hotel at night...who am I kidding it is hard anytime to leave.

Zip a dee doo dah...

For our 15th anniversary Shane and I escaped to Disneyland. We had so much fun playing around for four and a half days. This picture was taken in the Blue Bayou restaurant. It is the restaurant attached to Pirates of the Caribbean. We wanted to eat there for our honeymoon but discovered that it does not exist in Disney World. So 15 years later we got to go. It did not disappoint. The food was yummy and the atmosphere was fab!! What a great way to start off our trip.

I took a pic a this sign in the queue of Splash Mountain. I loved what it said..so true with my life! Shane and I grabbed fast passes for this ride and every time we did our wait was 12 minutes max. We watched other people wait 40-50 minutes in the regular line. WHY!!!! I don't get it. My next few posts will be of our trip so if you are not a fan, feel free to tune out.

My First Post

So, I finnally found a picture with which I can post on the family blog site. Having no digital camera I had to scan this one in. I thought a post without a picture would be boring and might as well be an e-mail. This pic is a memento of the New York/D.C. trip Dad, Mom, Jenny, Amy and I took and the end of the summer. When touring the NBC studios we had the chance to digitally put our faces on a movie poster. Jeff and Jenny replaced Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale respectively in Van Helsing, and I replaced Henry Thomas in E.T. Prolly shoulda shaved...

The trip was fun, y'all missed out. Jenny's blue brained travel itinerary left nary an idle moment and Jeff and Justin's B and B services came off like a family sleepover, rather than cramped as we had feared. Dad's travelogue covered most of the highpoints. Just to fill in the gaps, he forgot Alice drawing pictures for me in church, smores in Justin backyard, Mcdonalds inside the Pentagon, The bus driver hitting a lamppost just before embarking, and practically running through the Museum of Natural History to see it all before they closed.

In New York there was the 8 ppl: 1 bathroom ratio, more wads of gum than I'll ever again see on the floor of just one subway station, searching the stands at the US Open to find Justin's bright yellow shirt, crazy ladies getting thrown out of the Red Sox/Yankees game, picking up other ppls empty alcohol receptacles for souvaneers, the coolest musical in the cozyest theatre I've ever seen, Mom forgetting her purse at Jeffs and having to take a later bus with Dad, a political discussion with New Yorkers on Barack Obama in the subway, a tennis discussion with Texas female sycophants also in the subway, running across the Brooklynn Bridge, and Ice cream on a pier along the river with a huge artificial waterfall in the background.

All in all, great trip. Just what I'd always wanted, without ever knowing it. Thank-you to everyone involved for letting me tag along last minute like.

Since it took me so long to post I also had my Birthday. It was cool, even though I had been dreading it. My friends bailed me out of an evening alone with my dark thoughts and the next day J.J. made me dinner, and the sweetest cake you've ever seen. Three snickers mini's each with a candle jammed in them, side by side in a cupcake foil. Truly an oiginal. I got a pic but it's on my phone and I can't upload it. Sorry this was so long, being my first post I had a lot to say.

lata - Jordan