Black Butte - So wonderful!

We are having a great time in Black Butte.  It is so nice to have a quiet place to relax and just be together!  We are thankful to the Lovato family for letting us use their super comfortable home.

Today we started out the day with Mike making Belgium waffles in his new Belgium waffle machine.  He also made a wonderful Marionberry syrup.  So the days started with a super yummy breakfast.

 

Then I headed out for a quick run to the Glaze Meadow Recreation Center to jump on a treadmill for about 20 minutes before the family joined me and we went swimming.  The run to the center went well (of course it is only 1/2 a mile)...I was quite surprised because I have not been running in a while. 

Swimming was great!  Tommy is really learning to swim quite well...each time he is in the water, he seems to improve.  Today he would go down the slide (quite a quick slide) and then swim to the side by himself.  That was great to see.  Morgan LOVED the water!  She had such a good time and even went down the slide multiple times - of course with daddy at the bottom to catch her!

Then it was nap time and Tommy and Mike started in on the Black Pearl Lego.  They have most of the ship built and Tommy really wants to keep going.

Tonight we had leftovers for dinner - Mike made really yummy cheesy bread and then we had clam chowder and pizza.  Now I am sitting in front of the fire and just enjoying the sounds of the family chatting and hanging out together.

Cheers to being a family and having some downtime!

Disneyland Advice

Okay so here are the things we would recommend doing and the things we would not necessarily recommend.

Recommend:

1. BRING a stroller if you have kids under 6.  Tommy who is 5 and a great walker, rode most of the time on the front of the stroller.  You can definitely rent strollers there, but you have to keep them in the parks and if you are staying on property, you have a ways to walk before you get to your hotel.  So if you want to carry your kids that far, it is fine, but just be prepared.
2. If you are staying at the Disneyland Hotel, get a suite if you can.  We had a two bedroom suite in the Disneyland Hotel.  We could have gotten away with just a one bedroom suite (because there was a bed in the couch and a Murphy bed in the TV cabinet in the living room), but it was nice to have the two bathrooms.  The concierge lounge - which you have access to when you have a suite - was key to not spending a ton of money on breakfast, beverages and quick pick up items (potato chips, etc).
3. If you don't want to listen to whiny kids asking you for things the entire time you are there, make sure your kids know that you are only getting ONE souvenir before you leave for the trip.   That way you can remind them of that when they are asking for things and they quickly remember and don't whine all that much.  Disneyland has stuff for sale EVERYWHERE!
4. Be prepared for all sorts of weather.  It was 105 degrees when we were there.  It was October.  Bring tank tops and rain jackets...you just never know what it is going to be like. 
5. Reusable water bottles from home were great to have because then you weren't having to buy them all over the place.
6. Having a plan was great for us...we used http://touringplans.com/ to just give us a starting point.  We did not necessarily follow the plans, but they gave us an idea of what we wanted to do.
7. If you want to visit a busy attraction, use the Fast Pass system or go right when the park opens.  We had great success with both of those tactics.  Also you can get a switch pass if you are waiting with a younger kid while a parent/older kid go on a ride.  The parent just asks for a switch pass and then the parent who had been waiting, just takes that pass and goes in the Fast Pass lane.
8. Make reservations for dinner out and a character breakfast once you book your trip.  You can always cancel those reservations, but it is handy to have them.
9. If you want to see World of Color, get reserved viewing...World of Color Dining  We went to the Wine Country Trattoria dinner and then had the "Preferred Viewing" tickets.
10. Go to Napa Rose for dinner.  It is amazing!
11. Get some sort of "line wait" application for your phone, so you can have "real-time" estimates of how long lines are going to take.
12. If you have a kid that is into Star Wars, take them to the Jedi Training Academy.  If they want to be in the performance, sit in front, have a sign and make sure they are yelling, jumping up and down and really excited to be in the performance.
13. If you care about meeting characters, do a character breakfast.  It is the best way to meet the characters, without having to stand in line.
14. If it is your first time there, make that known...if you need something from the Disney staff members, ask...they are all overly helpful!
15. Watch a parade.  It is magical!

Not Recommended:

1. Don't plan on doing everything, just know that there are lines, people and craziness all over.
2. If you are planning on being at the Disneyland Hotel, it might be under construction.  The first floor and pool complex were under construction while we were there. So just be prepared for that possibility.
3. Don't assume October will be a "quiet" time...it was super busy when we were there.  I have heard end of August/beginning of September is a pretty quiet time to go.
4. Stressing out...get done what you can and then know you have something to see on your next trip, if you don't get to it.

Cheers to Disneyland and all the planning that goes with it!

Disneyland - Day 5 (our last day)

I was very sad to say goodbye to Disneyland.  We did not fly out until about 6PM, so we had all day at Disneyland.  So our day was filled with many fun adventures.

We started out the day by heading to Tomorrowland where Tommy and Mike went on Buzz Lightyear's ride again.  Morgan and I went on the spaceship ride. 

Before we left for the trip, we told the kids they could get one souvenier item and we would pick it out on the last day, so they could not ask us to buy them something every time we walked through any shop.  Tommy was pretty consistent from the first day we arrived that he wanted a lightsaber.  So while in Tomorrowland, we bought him his lightsaber on this the last day.  He decided on the model that he used in the jedi training.

We then headed to the Dumbo ride where we waited in line for about 20 minutes and then once we got on the ride, the ride broke so we had to get off and exit the ride halfway through.  Kind of a disappointment.

Here is how we made it through Disneyland the entire trip...Tommy on the front of the stroller and Morgan sitting in the stroller.  I loved the castle, so I had to get two shots.

We rode the Disneyland Railroad around the park, which was really fun to see all of the "lands" and just sit and relax.  We also looked around to see where we should settle down for lunch and try to get Morgan to take a nap in the stroller.

We decided to have lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country because they had a nice deck where we could sit and relax for a while.  Mike and Tommy ordered lunch, while a sleeping Morgan and I found a place to sit. 

Mike also brought me a wonderful Lemon-honey cupcake...

It also gave me time to snuggle with Tommy.

From there, we headed back to the hotel to gather our stuff and get picked up by the limousine.

We took a few photos in front of the hotel.

I really have to say, I could have spent probably about 2 more days there.  We did not get on some of the rides I wanted to get on and visit some of the places I wanted to visit, but it was a great first visit to Disneyland. 

Cheers to a wonderful family vacation!

Disneyland - Day 4 (what I remember)

So as my previous posting stated, we had a bit to drink the third night we were in Disneyland.  Well it effected me more than it did Michael.  So Mike spent the morning with Tommy in California Adventure, while Morgan and I hung out in our room.

Mike and Tommy did so much at California Adventure and took several pictures with characters, so I would say California Adventure had more accessible character pictures than Disneyland.

Here are the pics that Mike captured on his phone:

Mike and Tommy on Grizzly River Rapids (which Tommy LOVED)!

Tommy with Mickey in California Adventure

Tommy with Buzz Lightyear

Tommy eating his frozen lemonade

Tommy dancing with Phineas and Ferb

That night we went to dinner at Tortilla Jo's and I was able to enjoy and hang out with everyone.  Of course I did not have my favorite thing...a margarita, but we will go back!

Cheers to having at least one parent who could hang out with Tommy on Day 4!

Napa Rose Dinner

This dinner was AMAZING!  Any and all foodies that go to Disneyland should dine here.  Even if you just like eating good meal, you have to eat here.  We dined at the chef's counter, which was a wonderful experience, they offer two seatings a night and you must have a reservation to get a seat.  They seat you right in the action.  One of the chefs comes over and asks you your likes and dislikes and then they just cook for you.  I can barely describe how good this meal was, but I will try below.

We started out the night at the bar because we were about 45 minutes early.  Even the bar menu looked tempting, but we had much ahead of us, so we decided to just drink some bubbles!

Our Soter bubbles we started the night off with!  One of our favorites.

Then we were seated in our glorious seats that overlooked the kitchen.  At first it was a bit intimidating sitting right there in the action, but as the drinks kept coming it was easier to be there.  We told the lovely chef who came to talk with us that we liked most things, but we were not huge fans of lamb, rabbit or gamey type meats, but everything else we love.

We started with an amuse-bouche course that was paired with a Belgium ale.

House made pretzel, duck liver pate, chorizo, ham and apples.

A Belgian Ale that is made in the style of champagne and was delightfully light and fruity.

The second course was the salad course:

Pan roasted sea scallop with lobster, lemon and vanilla sauce.

Cured hamachi with confit orange and baby green salad. Meatball with roasted pepper and olive.

Wine for the salad course - Flower's Chard with the scallop and the Chablis with the Hamachi.

This was a great course.  Everything was prepared wonderfully.  And of course by this time, I was starting to feel the wonderful wine courses we were having!

Then we had the third course:

“Smiling Tiger Salad” Tempura Fried Lobster, Spicy Beef, Asian Greens and Coconut-Lime Vinaigrette

Wine Country "Steak Tartare" of Angus Beef Tenderloin and Pumpkin Fries.

Wine for the third course - Riesling with the salad and the Sauvignon Blanc with the tartare.

For those who followed my France blog postings, you know that I LOVE beef tartare.  So I tried that part first and it was silky and incredibly fresh tasting.  Mike started with the "Smiling Tiger" salad and thought that it did not need the beef under the salad.  I disagreed and thought it balanced the dish.

Rabbit meatloaf with mushrooms and carrot puree and pear mustard

Smoked Pheasant dumpling with cranberry lemongrass glaze

The first meat course wine - Sangio with the meatloaf and the Pinot with the dumpling

This course was amazing!  Both Mike and I were skeptical about the rabbit meatloaf, but it ended up being one of the best things that we had! 

We then received a lovely "extra plate" to try:

Bacon wrapped pheasant breast with sweet potato chips and hummus

Then onto the second "meat course":

Skillet seared Angus NY strip steak. Sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and Country Ham

Venison with pumpkin spetzel, roasted squash and pomagranate chimichuri sauce

Second meat course wine - the Zin with the venison and the Cab with the steak

Both of these meat items were phenomenal.  Perfectly cooked and I loved the pumpkin spetzel.

Then it was dessert time!  This is possibly my favorite part of a meal and while my dessert was good, I was really hoping for a bit more.  Mike requested an ice cream sundae to rival Farrel's.  So here they are:

Concord grape panna cotta with sauteed grapes and bread sticks

Mike's Ice Cream Explosion

Desert wine - Late harvest resling with the ice cream and the Veuve for the flan

So to end our meal, I could not get enough of the Veuve, so I had him leave the bottle and we finished that.  So needless to say, we had plenty to drink.

The roses that were at our wedding (Leonadas - as shown above) decorated the restaurant all over.  Our lovely server gave us two of the roses to take back to our room.  We also received a little box of chocolates which we gave to Grandma Jan when we returned to the room for babysitting the kids.

All-in-all it was definitely one of the best meals we have had and there was so much food.  When we arrived back at the room, I apparently was VERY exuberant and told Grandma Jan about the entire meal. 

Unfortunately, I paid the whole next day for the amount of alcohol that I consumed and the evening reminded me that I am not 25 anymore...I am 35 and should act like it!  BUT we had such a fun time, that it was worth it!

Below is a self-portrait of Mike and I at the end of the night, on our way back to the room under Mickey's sorcerer hat! 

Cheers to having so much to drink that you take silly self-portraits.

Disneyland Day 3

The kids were up early again, but on this morning we were going to Minnie's Breakfast at the Plaza Inn in Disneyland (on Main Street).  So we did not go up to the concierge lounge and just hit the park.  Mainly I wanted to get to Nemo's Submarine Ride.  The Monorail did not open until 10AM, so we hoofed it all the way to Tomorrowland and because we were fairly early, we made it on the submarine without too much of a wait.  Both kids LOVED Nemo's Submarine Ride.  Morgan loves the water and fish, but I was kind of concerned that she would feel trapped, but she did not. 

Then we went and got fast passes for Autotopia so we could ride that after breakfast.  After we picked up the fast passes, we went to breakfast at the Plaza Inn (on Main Street).  Minnie's Breakfast was good - a bit chaotic because of the buffet aspect of it, but I think most of the character breakfasts are buffet.  At Minnie's Breakfast we met: Raffiki (monkey from the Lion King), Tigger, Chip and Dale, Eeyore and of course Minnie.  The characters come around to the tables and will pose for pictures as well as sign "autograph" books.  I chose to get the autograph book with the picture inserts (so we can put the pictures with their signatures).  They also just sell the autograph books.  The character breakfast was totally worth it for us because it was where we saw the most characters and had easy access to them.  (Day 4 Mike and Tommy saw a bunch of characters over in "California Adventure", but when we saw characters at Disneyland itself, the lines were really long and with Morgan in tow we were not waiting in them). 

After breakfast, we headed back into Tomorrowland.  We then went to the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage to see the 10:30AM preformance of the Jedi Academy http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/jedi-training-academy/  The 10:30AM performance was the first of the day and I knew we were not going to get there in time to sit in front/wave our sign so Tommy could get chosen to participate in the Jedi Academy, so we went to Autotopia and Tommy, Casey and Mike rode that ride.  Once they were done with the ride, the 10:30 padawan training session was just concluding, so people were clearing out...I plopped down right in the front with my sign and Tommy and we waiting for the 11:35 AM training session.  We were there about 35 minutes before the show start.  Thankfully we had a spray fan (they sell them in the park) because we were sitting in the bright sun. 

Waiting in front in the sun!!!

Mike, Morgan, Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey found a table right in the front of the shaded table area that looked down on the training area.

We all had a great location staked out and now we just had to wait to see if Tommy would get chosen.  I was feeling pretty confident, but then more and more people started arriving.  By the time 11:35 AM arrived, I was very nervous.  I was told to have Tommy be loud, clap, jump up and down as well as have a sign. So that is what we did.

Here is our sign - "I was born to be a Jedi"

So Tommy jumped, screamed, clapped his hands and waived the sign and he was CHOSEN!!!  YAY! 

Tommy waiting in line to receive his robe (he is the little one in the red and blue stripped shirt).

Tommy with his robe on...so happy!

Tommy jumping up and down - he was so excited!!

Here is some video because I am sure my words would not do this justice.  It was AWESOME!!!

This is video of Tommy standing in line after he was chosen.

This is Tommy excited that he was chosen.

Tommy is practicing his Jedi moves.

Here is Tommy fighting Darth Maul.

All in all it was my favorite experience during the whole trip.

Tommy, Mike and I went on the Star Tours ride (because the wait was short) while Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey watched Morgan. Star Tours was a fun ride and Tommy really enjoyed it. 

Sometime around this time, Tommy and Mike rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and Tommy loved it!

We then all headed back to the hotel and went to the pool.  We had some nice adult beverages and snacks.  Morgan and I went back to the room for a nap/down time and Mike and Tommy stayed at the pool and went down the slide. 

After we were done at the hotel, we headed back to Disneyland and took the Monorail into Tomorrowland.  When taking the Monorail, we found out that strollers had to be collapsed to get onto the Monorail.  This was not such a huge deal, but we had some shifting to do because we put a lot of stuff on the stroller.

We then headed to Mickey's Toontown which at that time in the late afternoon/early evening was really crazy!  Then we checked our line-time applications which I will discuss in another blog and It's A Small World was only 15 minute wait, so we went there.  Morgan absolutely LOVED this ride.  She turned around to Mike who was sitting behind us with Tommy and signed "more" while saying "more, more, more."

We tried to catch up with Grandma Jan, Grandpa Casey, Aunt Anne, Uncle Mike and Cousin Emrie to watch Mickey's Soundsational

The park was closing early, so we went over to California Adventure.  I would recommend going through The Grand Californian because going through the main entrance was CRAZY (especially because the "downtown" of California Adventure is under construction, so we were just weaving through brown-barricaded walls). 

We needed to find the group dinner because Mike and I were dining at Napa Rose (in the Grand Californian) at 8:30PM and Grandma Jan was going to watch the kids in our hotel room.  So we went to the StoryTeller's Cafe in The Grand Californian.  If one adult eats the buffet, one kid (I think 2 and under) eats free, so that was helpful for us.  Mike and I did not eat, but everyone said the food was marginal. 

After the group's dinner, everyone went back to the hotel and Mike and I went for a drink in the bar at Napa Rose.  I will write a separate blog about our dinner at Napa Rose, but it was phenomenal!

Cheers to a full day in Disneyland!

Disneyland Day 2.5

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the blog...there has been a ton going on since our return.

Let's see we left off when we were headed to Wine Country Trattoria (at California Adventure Park) for an early dinner.  We entered California Adventure through the Grand Californian Hotel.  We were a bit early for dinner, so we decided to ride, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  The kids both loved it and there was only one part when Ursula was scary looking, but it passed quickly and Morgan was not that afraid. 

We decided to have dinner at Wine Country Trattoria so we could get VIP standing area for World of Color which was happening at 8:15PM that night.  So our dinner was scheduled for 4:10PM and it was a decent dinner...definitely more expensive than it should have been, but it was great to eat and get ready for World of Color.    Here is a picture of us on the way to dinner:

We were done with dinner around 6PM so we headed to A Bug's Land and went to the 3D movie, "It's Tough to be a Bug"...not appropriate for Morgan's age, but Tommy really liked it.  Morgan just hid her head in my lap the entire movie.  Then we headed farther into A Bug's Land and rode: Flik's Flyers (Really slow motion around in animal cracker boxes - Morgan, Tommy and Me), Tuck and Roll Drive 'Em Buggies (Bumper Cars - Tommy and Mike), Francis' Ladybug Boogie (Fast-paced figure 8 spinning - Jan, Tommy, Morgan and Me) and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (Really slow good for all ages - Anne, Emrie, Morgan, Tommy, Mike and Me). 

Morgan and Emrie exploring the cave in It's a Bug's Life

By the time we did all of those rides, it was time to go and figure out the situation with World of Color.  Our tickets said to get there at 7:45PM and we would be taken to the place where we could stand.  We arrived around 7:30PM and there was already a ton of people milling about to try and figure out where to stand.  It paid to get there early because they took us in early.  Here is a picture of us waiting :)

World of Color was totally worth it!  It was an amazing display of a ton of the Disney movies.  Along with fire and fireworks.  It was unbelievable.  There was a part that had Pirates of the Caribbean scenes and fire that Morgan was scared of, but other than that, she loved it.  It was really cool!

Then we headed back to the hotel and promptly hit the hay. 

Cheers to an amazing display with water, fire and Disney songs!

Disneyland Day 1 and 1/2

Here is the beginning of the much anticipated Disneyland trip.  We left our house yesterday (Wednesday, October 12, 2011) around 8:30AM.  We parked the car at Thrifty and the kids rode their first shuttle bus to the airport.  We then checked in and made it through security with little to no hassle.  The single BOB (our stroller for those of you non-kid people) made it through just fine.  And then we were off to the Alaska Boardroom.  The kids adored the pancake machine that spits out two pancakes and I had a lovely glass of champagne.  Which I needed for the mere fact that I knew Mike was probably not sitting with us on the flight. 

Then it came time to board the flight.  We headed on and gate checked the stroller (which again was no big deal - definitely traveling with this one again).  Got on the plane and sure enough there were the three seats in aisle 7 that sat Tommy, me and Morgan.  Then 7D which should have held my husband had a man and his two kids in it.  So there was no switching that was going to happen.  So Mike was about to get comfortable in his exit row, but I saw a stewardess head back to him and usher him up to first class right before they closed the door. 

The flight went fine.  Mike bought me a Bloody Mary and he sat in style in First Class.  This was all fine until of course Tommy had to go to the bathroom and we had just been served drinks, so all the tray tables were down and filled with snacks and drinks.  I had Tommy step behind Morgan and then lifted him into the aisle and told him to run up to his dad.  So he did and that worked out well, which was good because we had to repeat this process about three more times.  There was about fifteen minutes in the flight where both kids were entertained by their iPads but other than that, it was pretty much entertaining the munchkins.  During the last twenty minutes when we needed to have our seatbelts on to land, Morgan refused to sit in her seat and finally I just had to strap her in and listen to her scream :(  That was not my proudest moment, but she needed to get into the seat.

Upon our debarkment from the plane, we found Grandma Jan waiting for us.  They had arrived from Seattle about 20 minutes before our plane.  Mike and Tommy waited in the jetway for our stroller and then we all headed to baggage claim.  On the way to baggage claim, Mike called the limousine company to make sure they were on their way to pick us up.  They said they were not supposed to pick us up until 6:30PM...it was 1:30PM.  They had our correct flight number, but apparently not the right time.  Mike asked them how long it would be until they arrived and they said twenty minutes.  We found our bags, I took Morgan to the restroom and changed her from jeans to shorts, Tommy and Mike went to the restroom and then we were just waiting, and waiting and waiting...

Finally the limo showed up and I figured I would get the kids inside because it was really hot outside and we did not need to wait out there while they were getting the luggage into the car.  So we hopped in...it was really warm inside the limo as well...well turns out the A/C was broken in this particular limo.  REALLY?  Anyway, we pretty much sweated through the limo ride all the way to the hotel.  At one point I glanced over at the front of the limo and the exterior temperature was 103 degrees F.  And let me tell you the inside of that limo was not much better.  I kept putting ice on both Tommy and Morgan trying to cool them down.  Ridiculous.  We finally started to see signs of Disneyland and our driver said he missed the turn so we had to go back...that was the best.  He got lost. 

Stepping out the limo, Morgan's face was beet-red and we were all dripping with sweat.  The driver tried to wait around for a tip, but Mike was fuming and I think he got the hint and left.  Once we arrived at the hotel, things slowly started to get better.  Morgan was exhausted and needed to get down for a nap.  So Mike checked us in and we headed to the room on the second floor.  One thing you need to know is that the Disneyland Hotel is currently under renovation which means there is sawing, hammering and general clatter all over the place but especially on the first floor.  So I took Morgan in the room and she promptly fell asleep on me (which was good), but I could tell Mike was not happy with the room.  He and Tommy left to go exploring.  They found the "Concierge Lounge" which is one of the benefits of having a two bedroom suite.  Mike asked them to help him find a better room location so Morgan would be able to sleep during naptime.  They moved us up three floors to level five.  We tried to move Morgan and keep her asleep but she pretty much woke up. 

I realized I had not eaten and it was about 4PM, so Mike ordered room service, even though we were supposed to have dinner around 6:30PM.  The food was much appreciated and I think we all started to get in a better mood after that.

I unpacked everyone and we got settled and then we developed a plan.  Aunt Anne Bear, Cousin Emrie and Uncle Mike were going to head to the pool.  We all were headed to Disneyland to walk around and maybe ride some rides. 

Stepping onto Main Street in Disneyland was magical!  I honestly started to tear up because it was so wonderful.  I was surprised by the amount of people, but Casey and Jan said that this was not busy at all.  So that was nice!  We headed into the park through Sleeping Beauty's Castle and headed right for King Arthur Carrousel.  I will post video of this when we get home...not sure how to get it onto this computer (I am using Mike's Mac).  Morgan, Tommy, Mike and Grandpa Casey went on the Carrousel.  It was great to watch them go around and around.  Then it was off to the Mad Tea Party.  Tommy, Morgan, Grandma Jan and I braved the tea cups and it was really fun - as long as I either looked at the kids or looked at the round steering wheel.  Looking in to the crowd was when I started to get dizzy.

That is where we met up with Aunt Anne, Uncle Mike and Cousin Emrie.  We decided it was time for dinner and we headed for Big Thunder Ranch BBQ.  That was really fun.  It had started to cool down a bit, but once we sat down I was instantly thirsty.  So we all ordered water and then I had a Sprite which was outstanding.  Everything at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ is served family style and it is all you can eat - we had: chicken, sausage, ribs, baked beans, cornbread, corn on the cob, coleslaw.  It was so yummy and a fun big family meal.

At the end of dinner Morgan started to get a bit feisty, so I decided to walk back with her and leave Tommy and Mike to their own devices.  Anne, Mike and Emrie came back to the hotel with us, which was nice.  Again, I could not believe the amount of people that were out and about on a Wednesday night.

We arrived back to the hotel room, I changed Morgan into PJs and she went promptly to sleep - in her own bed, by herself (I propped pillows under the bottom sheet on both sides of the bed as a nice little bumper).  Tommy and Mike soon followed after picking up ice cream cones on  Main Street.  We put Tommy to bed - he crashed hard - and then we went to sleep.  We all were exhausted.

Morgan woke up at 11:45PM and 2:30PM, but I quickly put her back to sleep and she was fine.  She slept until about 6:30AM and Tommy slept until 7M when Morgan went to wake him up.  We watched a little Disney Channel and then got dressed for the day.  We headed over to the "Concierge Lounge" for breakfast and then into Disneyland to start our day. 

We were in the park by about 8:30AM.  We picked up our free lanyards and pins in Frontierland and then we went to Splash Mountain.  First Tommy and Mike rode the ride and then I rode it with a "Fast Pass" or "Switch" which is where when one parent is left behind with a smaller child, they get to get in the "Fast Pass" lane when the others come out.  So that was nice.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was next with the whole family.  Morgan and I rode in the front with Tommy and Mike behind us.  It was a very gentle ride, but when Pooh started to have crazy dreams of honey (with Black Light and florescence included), Morgan started to get a bit scared.

After that we went to the Haunted Mansion.  Tommy, Anne and I ventured into the house which scared me to death as a kid.  The one scene that I remember as a kid was the ghosts dancing in the ballroom.  The Haunted Mansion, like much of Disneyland at this time in the year, is themed out in Halloween on steroids.  The Haunted Mansion has the cast of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which did not scare Tommy in the slightest.  So that was good.

Onto the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island.  We rode a ferry over to the island and then explored caves and rope bridges all over the island.  It was very fun, but we had started to get hot.  So we took the ferry back across the Rivers of America and headed toward the Jungle Cruise with the idea we would find a refreshing snack before or after the Jungle Cruise.  We caught up with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey on that ride.  The kids were scared of the ride, but after we were off, said it was great.  So who knows. 

We then picked up a snack of fresh strawberries, blueberries and grapes at a stand by Jungle Cruise and the Leepers headed back toward the hotel.  We decided to find lunch and then from there head back to the hotel for some pool time and some nap time.  We had lunch at Jazz Kitchen Express: Tommy had mini-corndogs, Morgan had chicken nuggets and Mike and I both had shrimp po-boy sandwiches with jalapeno bacon potato salad.  It was all pretty good and everyone seemed happy with our lunch choice. 

Back to the hotel we headed to get our suits on and go to the pool.  After slathering sunscreen on, we went to the pool that had 3 waterslides.  Two small slides, similar to the ones that you would find on play equipment at a park, one medium sized slides that were perfect Tommy sized and then a large slide that Mike went on that he said was super fast.  Tommy would only go down the small slides until Morgan and I went up to the room for nap time.  Then he hit the medium slide and apparently rocked that about 20 times, all while Mike watched him from his chair sipping a frozen cocktail. 

Morgan is now currently sleeping in her wonderful cocoon, Tommy and Mike are snuggling in bed and I am blogging.  A great vacation so far and I am so glad we have three and a half more days to go.  We are having an early dinner tonight at the Wine Country Trattoria, so we can get VIP standing to watch the World of Color at 8:15PM.  Should be fun!!

More to report tomorrow I am sure!

Cheers to being in the happiest place on earth!

Chicken, Artichoke and Spinach Calzone

Yummm...This recipe is from the October/November 2011 issue of Cook's Country (one of our favorite cooking mags).  It is called Chicken, Artichoke and Spinach Calzone and it was wonderful!

Here is the recipe:

1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-size pieces
9 oz frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, patted dry and chopped
2 oz (2cups) baby spinach
6 oz low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 1/2 C)
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled (1 C)
1/4 C chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (1 pound) ball ready-made pizza dough
2 TBSP olive oil

1.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine chicken, artichokes, spinach, mozzarella, feta, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl.

2.  Divide dough in half.  On lightly floured counter, roll dough into two 9-inch rounds.  Working one at a time, place half of filling over half of dough, leaving 1-inch border around edges.  Brush edges with water, fold dough over filling, and crimp to seal.  Repeat with remaining dough and remaining filling. 

3.  Brush rimmed baking sheet with 1 TBSP of oil.  Transfer calzones to prepared sheet and cut two 1-inch slits in top of each calzone.  Brush calzones with remaining 1 TBSP of oil and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Serve.

Test kitchen tip: the dough will be easier to roll if you let it sit at room temp for 5 minutes before rolling out.

Here are my pics of it:

Start of the process...I have taken the chicken apart and chopped the artichokes.

Prior to cooking the calzones.

Baked up and yummy!!!!

So cheers to a yummy, fast and pretty healthy dinner!