I flew by myself to Disneyland for a long weekend. Gary, Emily, Ada, and I planned a trip for later in March but I has already bought a plane ticket and reserved a hotel so I decided to go. And now I’m super glad I did because Disneyland closed on the 14th because of the coronavirus pandemic and we didn’t get to do our trip…also missed the one I had planned on my birthday weekend. 😦 As of today it’s still not open (17 May) and probably won’t be for at least a couple more months.
Pommes Frites, beignets, and Mint Julep…doesn’t get better than this Haunted Mansion being refurbished…unusual to see scaffolding at Disneyland It was much colder than usual so I treated myself to a warm fuzzy hoodie 🙂Did a lot of pin trading…completed 3 sets!Finally got in a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance! Flight and travel put me there mid-morning on Thursday, got a backup boarding group on Friday that never got called 😦Rise of the Resistance…even the line was cool! Freaking long though…about 2 hours!I was totally floored by this amazing ride!Got my highest score on Astro Blasters!Earned several new achievements on the Data Pad 🙂The Food and Wine Festival at DCA was excellent as always…plant-based meatball sub complete with adorable Mickey baked into the bun 🙂I didn’t buy this sweatshirt just to match this Rollicking Roadster…but honestly I should have!I went on this ride a lot. And I really mean a lot. Freakiest thing. Got off Rise of the Resistance and the entire land was dark! Heard that maybe it was because of daylight savings and they hadn’t set the lights correctly yet? Not sure but it was surreal…especially after that ride which is just such an experience anyway.
So the world is a very strange place right now. A worldwide pandemic has sent everyone to their homes except for essential errands. People keep a 6-foot distance from each other, wear masks, do lots of video calls, and wash their hands religiously. I have missed human contact so much, especially hugs. I have been doing lots of things to try to compensate for the loss in myself and hopefully in others.
Empty toilet paper aisles. People stocked up in anticipation of hunkering down for extended periods. Also gobbled up…cleaners, hand sanitizer, soap, gloves, medical masks, distilled waterBoggle works really well over video chat. My kids and some of the Taylors and I play each week. I text out puzzles each day (well, most days) for people to figure out. Sun Art Paper is one of the things in the Aunt Jen Adventures surprise boxes I made for all of my nieces and nephews. I do a weekly video call with Christensens and with Taylors and we do an activity together. Fun with colored LEDsThermoplastic polymer is super fun to play withJuni’s creations 🙂Hand lenses give you a different view of the worldSculpture-ades 🙂Roasted marshmallows with my heat gun…perfect!Playgrounds, tennis courts, fitness centers … all closed, but lots of people out on bike trails and walking dogsEaster was super strange. We decorated eggs like usual but no family gatherings. We did a virtual Egg Hunt where families hid their own eggs and then others in the video call told them where to look. Slightly better than nothing I guess 🙂I prepared a Breakout Box for each family where I helped them on a video call as they solved puzzles to open locks to get at the s’mores makings inside. We have built several jigsaw puzzlesOnline tutorials for drawing Disney characters are fun 🙂I made lots of masks and gave them to peopleIt’s a good thing that these PJs were too big…used the excess for a couple of cute masksSteve and I climbed on the roof to watch a flyover that the Air Force did to thanks health care workers all over the state. I admit that I was a bit freaked out Drive-up COVID testing. Totally a thing. Mine came back negative. Teo and I also got walk-up tests another time and those were negative tooSteve bought me a pool for my birthday. Took forever to set up, we had to install a temporary fence (land order a permanent one), and it took a couple of weeks and a solar cover to get it warm enough…but now it’s lovely. With pools being closed, swimming with my swim tether in the back yard has helped keep me sane. Sweet birthday wishes really made my day. Jennifer sent me a skillet cookie from Chili’s 🙂Teri and the Freelands Heart Attacked my house and got me an inflatable lobster for my new pool and nummy chocolate 💚Robin brought me sunflowers and a sneak hugJul brought me the sweetest picture frame and a Me Minifig with a sweet cardUp close 🙂Made from the sun art paper 🙂Ada did lots of cool art on her new iPad Face shields, masks, and keeping 6’ from people is how stores roll nowWent camping at Palisade Lake by myself a couple of times. Easy to social distance and super good for my psyche being out in natureThe second time they had Stand-up Paddleboards for rent. Loved it! 🙂Discovered Diamond Art…love it! 🙂Planted a garden in the front planter area Also planted more vines along the front porch railing. In the back…tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbersAda and I went camping at Snow Canyon. We hiked when there were very few people aroundMade crazy looking firesBought a shade canopy in St George (and spent a few hours chilling on a church lawn) because it was so hotDespite the incessant wind flapping our tent and keeping us up forcing us to sleep in the car the second night, we had a great time together and really enjoyed this beautiful place Oh and we totally saved this cute turtle from being road kill 🙂Enjoyed Disney clothing in lieu of Disneyland 😦Drive-by celebration for Emily’s graduationVoted by mail 🙂Played taskmaster by zoom. This is Isaiah’s longest chain (jackets tied together)Hugs through a giant sheet of plastic! Teri built an airtight pod to visit through 🙂Distanced picnic and outdoor movie nights at HQEscape boxes by zoom call (love the treats at the end!)Intricate leg artScience time with aunt Jen So bored I spent over a week time-lapsing gel beads dehydratingBuilt lots of puzzles including these crazy ones that move around and have a secret piece in the middle even time-lapsed a fewFirst New Year’s Eve with just us and no big party at our house. We did play Zoom Concept with Taylor’s. Played lots of Shapsu while listening to audiobooks
For Christmas this year I got everyone a trip to Disneyland. Steve opted out but we were joined by Gary so that was fun. Gary and Ada drove down on Thursday and stayed a night at the garden inn before me and the boys flew in on Friday morning. We Ubered to the hotel, put luggage in Ada’s car, and parked at the Mickey structure. After a few hours in the park we drove to the condo we rented where we got settled and had naps. It wasn’t a very nice place and the pool was way to freezing to venture into but it was a very short walk to the park. 🙂
We were all together until Gary left us on Sunday morning and Ada on Sunday evening (they both needed to get home for stuff on Monday). We flew out Monday morning.
What an amazing time we had!
Enjoyed drinks at Oga’s Cantina, eating at Docking Bay…
…building droids for the first time (what a cool thing!)…
…watching the fireworks over Star Wars land, and riding Smugglers Run with a really short line 🙂
First time for the boys at Lamplight Lounge! All enjoyed The big comfy couch, the Pixar decor, the cool drink, the delicious food, and mostly the most delicious donuts in the world!
New experience for me…watching World of Color from the restaurant. What a cool experience!
The mornings were INSANE! The new ride Rise if the Resistance requires joining a boarding group as soon as you enter the park so we didn’t get to ride it either day because it took so long to get into the park and they were all gone 😦
I had these made for us. We brought Steve in spirit
Matching Shirts! They’re pretty cute though. You have to admit. The shirts are nice too 🙂
It was way too cold to ride this ride but Teo really wanted to. No line at all…got the log to ourselves…hardly got wet at all.
I really need to live in a more sunny place. It was SO nice to be in California! I drove down on Friday, stopping briefly to say hi to Ada. Got to Disneyland by 3. Left on Sunday after sacrament meeting and some peaceful time on the beach. Got home at 1:45 am.
World of color right at the edge of the water. Best way to watch!
Steve and I did a 7-night Caribbean Halloween cruise on the Disney fantasy. A colleague of his invited us to his wedding in Jamaica during this cruise so we decided to go. Amazing! Never want to do it any other way!
We got in late Thursday night (even later because of hours-late flight) and after a few hours of sleep went to Universal. Lines were really long and it wasn’t really that much fun. We didn’t get to do the new Hagrid ride. I thought all day about how much better disney is at theme parks. 🙂
The Gadget Ride got us SO WET! And I never thought I would be able to extricate myself from the tiny car…my knee was not happy!
Saturday morning we boarded the ship and disembarked the following Saturday. Then we went to Disney world Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday morning before our flight back that afternoon. Steve was definitely Disneyed-out by the end but I was in heaven. 🙂
On the bus ride from Orlando to Port Canaveral
Posed with Pluto while waiting for our boarding time
First order of business…lunch. The food was amazing!
Beautiful ship!
We met in the Tube as a whole big group to get schedules straight, socialize and eat, and get presents. 🙂 I can’t name everyone but on the bottom row left are Brian and Serafina. Steve and I are 2 of the tiny head bumps on the back row.
Heading out!
We had choppy seas the first night which made for queasy stomachs but the coolest waves in the adult splash pool!
Each night when we came back to our room, our cabin person had cleaned for a second time, turned down the bed, and left some cool towel/blanket structure and some mints 🙂
Used my sunglasses a few times 🙂
Night on the boat was equal parts cool and scary
Also a great time to miniature golf in the rain 🙂
Glass-bottom canoeing and snorkeling in Mexico was super cool
We got matching turtle necklaces 🙂
And visited a cemetery…super neat!
Cool freak storm as we left Cozumel
I am totally in love with dolphins. We got to ride belly to belly and get pushed by one in a boogie board. Won’t be forgetting that any time soon!
The second part of our day on Grand Cayman we spent snorkeling out to the Wreck of the Cali (just rented equipment and went right out without a guide). Super freaky and also cool
We stopped for lunch at Rackam’s (yummy snapper and conch fritters which weren’t my favorite) and a jewelry store where we picked up cute caymanite turtle earrings which we later made into necklaces
Costumes were a big deal. Marissa and Steve won the costume contest!
Denise and Gabbie were super cute as Buzz and Woody 🙂
Falmouth has a very pretty port area
The wedding was so beautiful!
We waited for quite a while for it to start and the sun was beating down on us so I and a few others went wading into the ocean 🙂
Brian and Seraphina in front of the amazing falls
The bus ride back to the port was long and the tour guide rambled so much! It was very interesting to see the real Falmouth though…quite different from the port
Coolest detective game on board! We worked on the 3 different cases all week
Disney cruises have you eat at the same table each night so that you have the same servers…they move with you from restaurant to restaurant. We ended up moving around a bit but really enjoyed sitting with this family, Betsy and her kids Deyla and Dimitri
Yes of course fireworks on a ship…Disney, remember?
The view from this hard-to-find adults-only room is breathtaking
Castaway Cay is so amazing! We went parasailing, snorkeling, did the Stingray Encounter, and especially loved the adult-only beach 🙂
I really enjoyed the entertainment. Super interesting variety acts! The disney shows Steve mostly didn’t like, but the Mickey confetti they blew over the audience at the end was, however, a resounding success. 🙂
At Animator’s Palette they turn everyone’s drawings into the evening’s entertainment. So cool!
Aww matching shirts 🙂
Aww Dopey and Donald 🙂
Kennedy Space Center was so cool! It poured rain so that made it tricky but seeing the Saturn V rocket was worth braving any weather 🙂
Steve liked Star Wars Land…
…but did NOT like walking around Epcot doing the Perry adventure. 🙂
The magic carpet ride doesn’t exist in CA
Florida’s Haunted Mansion
Fantasmic was different but still fun
Mostly I like Disneyland better but it was fun to try all the things not found there and I really enjoyed the cool interactive games they have 🙂
I presented a workshop at the NSTA conference so I spent a few days there and saw some cool things. And hung out a bit in my crazy big hotel room.
It was freezing the first night!
The food at this gastropub made up for it. Delicious impossible burger. 🙂
Yeah, so this happened
The art museum was cool. They had some Goya, sculpture by Chagall which I didn’t even know was a thing, neat old maps, and an awesome Van Gogh I had never seen before
I left the conference early on Friday and walked to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Super sad but so well done
The eternal flame overlooks the waterfront
Walked lots through downtown often eating Graeter’s ice cream…ran into this mural of Cincinnatus on one ramble
Way too early for Halloween it’s true. But this was the only time I could get a ticket for Oogie Boogie’s Halloween Bash. And it turns out it was the first one ever! So that’s exciting!
Ada and I found a waterfall by Pooh Corner that we had never seen!
Our first time at Oga’s Cantina…delicious and cool drinks 🙂
Christmas tree growing out of my head…check.
Fireworks Factory complete with singed wreath
Gag Warehouse has chattering teeth and rubber chickens in little Santa suits
Goofy’s Gym…sporting equipment
Red white and blue tinsel and camo for Sarge
Bright orange vinyl at the Cozy Cone
We got fun photos in Toon Town…should’ve sported my sunglasses 🙂
Peppermint! 
TaylorHaps 
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