Californians on Adventure

On Friday we headed over to Disney's California Adventure for our second day of celebrating.  It was a day for running into people we knew.  We weren't even in the gates when I heard someone call my name.  I turned to see my friend Christina Calahan, who had moved to Utah, and her family.  It was so fun to see them.  Then, not five minutes later, we walked into the gates and the first person I saw there was my darling stamping friend Morgan, who I hadn't seen since her baby shower.  Her kid wasn't even a baby anymore.  That is how long it had been.  How fun!  Later was saw the Stefani McCune a few times too.  I know Roxy was there, but we never saw her.
The Monsters Inc. ride was new for us.  Very cute.
But of course, our first priority was my FAVORITE ride - The Tower of Terror!  Woohoo!  I was giddy with excitement, especially since there was hardly any line.

So we tell them party of 7, and they direct us to wait at the far elevator.  And who happens to be waiting for the same elevator, but the Calahans.  How funny that we all got to ride in the same car.
They snap the photo during that moment of anticipation, just before the big drop.  And then, suddenly

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ahh!

I absolutely LOVE that feeling of falling!  That stomach up in your throat, tush off the seat feeling!  Love it!

This ride has some significant ups and downs.  I scream on the way down, and laugh on the way up.  So this is what I sound like from the moment after that photo was shot to the end of the ride:  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I might or might not breathe in there somewhere.

We could have gone on there all day, but when we got up to the elevators for our second run, they closed down the ride.  Darn.

The sky looked ominous, with dark and heavy clouds, so we decided to be proactive and get soaked before the rain could do it for us, and we knew just the ride for that - Grizzly River Run.

Look at those boys taking such pleasure in their poor dad's misfortune.

Mom and Caleb didn't fare much drier.

Rope swinging on the challenge course - of course.

Don't look up.  There are some monkeys up there.

Totally tubular!

Climbing the rock wall.  (The pictures look impressive, but they were only like 2 feet from the ground.)

Caleb made it to the finish, but then just hung there.  Now what?

Jumpin' Jellyfish!  Caleb loved this ride.

Mullholland Madness is quite a crazy ride!

We traded in our suburban for these beauties.

Cute as a Bug!

Boys!  Stop bugging each other!

Caleb used his skills he gained yesterday on Autopia, to put the petal to the metal on the bumper cars.  Each man for himself out there.
Typical Derek - freaked out by a ladybug.

Derek was thirsty.  Fortunately, he didn't have to leave the ride to find a drinking fountain.  The sky provided plenty.

It just got wetter, and wetter and colder and colder.  Brrr!  People were flocking out of the park.  That's OK.  All the better for us.

We found relief in the shelter of the Mission tortilla factory.  The fresh tortillas really helped warm us up.  Mmmm.

When we walked out into the cold again, we were immediately warmed by seeing the familiar faces of our friends, the Head family.  We hadn't seen them in an age.  What a fun surprise!  Since Dennis and Chuck are great buds, Angelina and I have been friends since high school, and their son is the same age as the twins, we decided to hang out together and brave the weather for the rest of the evening.  What a happy accident!

Next stop - the new Toy Story ride.  How FUN!  

The technology is amazing!  You shoot virtual balls at virtual midway targets, and win virtual prizes.  Really, really clever, and fun because it seems to last a long time.

Then on to California Screamin' - my other Favorite ride!  It was so fast, that the rain couldn't catch us.  As much as I like dropping,  also love the feeling being shot from a cannon as you start from a standstill to the speed of light in an instant - and then you still get to go up and down, and even upside down.  Man, I love a good roller coaster!

Notice poor little Caleb back there.  Dennis might just be exagerating a bit.

When I saw this picture up on the screen it just made me so sad!  Poor Caleb looks so pathetic.  What are we doing to this poor kid?  Is he having any fun at all?

Alex and the Head girls on the Maliboomer.

Another up, down, up, down ride, only without the Twilight Zone music.  FUN!

A swinging good time on the Orange Zinger!

Dylan and Alex get in the swing of things.

Turtle Talk with Crush was just so very cool!   I think I'll post about this one separately.

 

We finished off the night right with a few more drops into the great abyss on the Tower of Terror!
This whole posing for pictures thing was getting a bit out of hand!

What a gang!

Hats off to California Adventure!  Hats off to fun!

C stands for California, and it also stands Cure (Dylan's), Caleb (his first time at Disney), and for Cold.

We had a great time!  California Adventure is really underrated, but we loved it, even though we got soaked and chilled TO THE BONE!

On the drive home, Dennis was getting sleepy so he turned off the heater and opened the window to wake himself up.  I thought I was going to DIE!  Holy Cow!  When the shivering and shuddering became too much, I decided to drive, just so I could close the window and turn on the heater.  I think I am still thawing out!