Disney's Grand Adventure

Today we explored Disney’s California Adventure.  We were impressed with how close it was to Disneyland.  It reminded us of Hollywood Studios, only bigger.  We started with the Goofy Sky Coaster and the Little Mermaid Ride.  Both were a lot of fun.  We then spent time in Pixar Land.  I didn’t think I’d be able to ride it, but I made it on their Mickey Mouse Ferris wheel which reminded me of the one on Navy Pier.  It was a little bit frightening, but overall better than I expected.  We opted out of the swinging carts.  I knew I couldn’t handle that.

Doug and I went to a wine seminar after the rides.  It was a lot better than the mixology one that we attended yesterday.  We both enjoyed it.  While we were there Cam and Meg rode several more rides including the Incredicoaster.  Once we met back up we tried a couple of foods at their International Food and Wine Festival including ghost pepper macaroni and cheese and fried artichokes.  We spent the rest of the day in Cars Land and thought it was a lot of fun, especially their Radiator Springs ride which mirrored Test Track at EPCOT.  The funniest ride of the day was at Mater’s Junkyard where we rode spinning tractors while Mater sang along.  We laughed the rest of the day about that one.

After ten hours at California Adventure, we went back to the Paradise Pier to eat in the lounge.  The appetizers were the same as yesterday, but the desserts made the meal.  The rest of the evening was spent at Disneyland where we were able to get on all of the rides that we missed yesterday.  My favorite was Alice in Wonderland.  There was nothing like it at Disney World.  

Disneyland

We started the morning at La Jolla Cove and could not believe how beautiful it was.  There were pelicans, sea birds nesting, sea lions, seals and seagulls all along the cove.  The sea lions and seals were sunning themselves on the rocks and two even found their way to the sand where we could take pictures within five feet of them.  It was almost overwhelming to see these awesome animals in their natural habitat.  As much as we enjoyed the San Diego Zoo yesterday, this stop may have been the highlight of trip to the San Diego area.

We spent about an hour at the cove before leaving for Anaheim.  It took us around an hour and a half to get to our hotel, Paradise Pier.  While we checked in, Doug returned the rental car as there was an Enterprise within a mile of our location.  Our room wasn't ready yet, but they gave us access to the lounge where we enjoyed lunch.  Once Doug got back we all walked over to Disneyland where Cam and Meg took a ride on Space Mountain.  While they were enjoying that, Doug and I did a walking tour of the park.  It was set up very similar to Disney World, so it didn't take long to understand the layout.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying all that Disneyland had to offer.  I was excited to finally ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride as it was one of my earliest memories as a toddler.  Fantasyland was a lot of fun as it still had the original Snow White Ride that Disney World replaced years ago.  Meg and I also really liked Story Book Land, a canal ride through the fairy tales that Walt Disney made movies about.  We did ride on the traditional favorites from Disney World such as Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise.  All were slightly varied from our trips to Florida, but just as fun.  We tried to make it until midnight, but after Fantastic we decided that we were wiped out and headed back at 11 p.m. happy with our first day at Disneyland.

                        

First Stop, San Diego

Our first stop of Meg's senior Spring Break trip was fantastic.  There were a lot of variables that could have made this day a complete failure, but the only hiccup in our schedule was taking an extra fifteen minutes to get through the Enterprise rental car line.  Our flight was on time and arrived early, all of our luggage fit in the car we rented, the San Diego Zoo was only 5 miles from the airport and the Pandas were on full exhibit.  When we entered the zoo at 12:30 California time I finally relaxed.

In our years together, Doug and I had visited over a dozen zoos.  The San Diego Zoo by far was the best and biggest zoo that we had ever walked through.  There were so many animals to see that I lost count.  The zoo was crowded, but the weather was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Meg's favorite animal was the Babirusa, an Indonesian pig with a face that only a true swine fan would love.  She also agreed with us that the Pandas and the Koalas were absolutely adorable.  We had read so many reviews for the zoo and it definitely did not disappoint.  It took over four hours, but we made it through all of the exhibits that we wanted to see and even had time for lunch and some shopping.

After the zoo we drove to Coronado Island to check out the beach.  Doug had heard that it was the best beach in the San Diego area and we definitely loved it.  The water was too cold for Cam and Meg to swim, but we all enjoyed getting our feet wet, walking the beach and looking for shells.  The only drawback to the journey to the island was the two mile long bridge that we had to drive over twice.  It was well worth it, however, and I was glad to have finally put my toes in the Pacific Ocean.

 

We thought about eating at the Gaslamp area in downtown San Diego, but felt it was more for the over twenty-one crowd.  After touring the streets of San Diego, we decided instead to drive to LaJolla to look for a restaurant there.  By chance we happened across Karl Strauss Brewery which had delicious food and fast service, a plus after a long day of traveling.  We stayed in the Embassy Suites and by nine p.m. Meg was fast asleep.  Cam and Doug watched the end of the Duke game before calling it a night.  Our first day of Meg's senior Spring Break trip was an absolute success.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Let the Tennis Begin

Tonight was Meg's first tennis match of the season.  It was against West Noble and Meg had played their number 1 girl several times during her high school career.  We knew it would be a close match as they had similar games.  Unfortunately, Meg started off slow and had to play catch up from a 0-3 score in the first set.  She did rebound and played very well the rest of the set and well into the second.  It wasn't enough, however, and Meg found herself on the losing end of an 0-2 match.  She was disappointed at first.  She hasn't enjoyed playing this girl and would have liked to have beaten her, but overall she knew that she had improved already from last year and was glad that Doug, Nick, Phillip, Cam and I were there to cheer for her.

As soon as Meg finished and checked in with her coach, we left for home.  Our goal was to get to Chicago tonight in time to eat at Giordano's before heading to our hotel.  I had already packed the Pilot so all we had to do was drop the van off at home and feed the pigs.  We left before 7 p.m.  and since traffic was light we had no issues making it to dinner.  The pizza was as good as we had remembered and check in to the hotel was online making a quick trip to our hotel room.  Cam and Doug had watched the end of the Purdue game at Giordano's and started to watch the Michigan game.  Cam's hope of watching the Wolverines play in Anaheim were quickly dashed as Texas Tech shot out to a large lead early.  Overall, no one was too disappointed as we were ready to call it a night.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Cutes!

Today was Grandpa Cutes' 76th birthday and we celebrated with pizza, cake, pie and a few rounds of Euchre.  Although it wasn't extremely warm this afternoon, he did get a chance to play some golf as well.  Our gift this year wasn't exactly what he asked for, but we liked it a lot.  For several years Grandpa Cutes had wanted a Goofy head cover for his driver.  We had looked everywhere for one, including Disney World, but just wasn't able to find one.  Because of that he said he'd take a Snoopy head cover instead, but the price was outrageous and it didn't fit a driver.  Thus, Meg and I were excited when we found a Yoda driver cover at Dick's last weekend.  The boys thought it was great as well and soon it will be part of his golf set.  At first we told him that it looked like him, but in the end we realized that he was correct - Yoda actually looked identical to Bernie Sanders.  Either way, it will be a fun conversational piece when he plays golf with his friends and he will think of the Heinisch children every time he uses it.  We were happy to celebrate his day with him.

A Rare Night Out

My goal today was to dust the entire house and to get out the Easter.  It took longer than I thought it would, but by the time Doug got home from his meeting at the church I had finished it all.  I was glad to finally put the St. Patrick's away.  The house looked more like Spring with the Easter decorations all around.  With all of the housework that I had been doing these past two days, I not only had a clean house, but had caught up on my Sopranos watching.  I had hoped to finish season two before we left and it looks like I should be able to do that.  I've been texting Cal after each episode to let him know what I thought about the plot and/or characters.  It was one of his favorite shows and I can definitely see why.

Tonight Doug and I went to dinner at The Frog.  We haven't been going out as much because of the expense, but it was half price pizza night and by the time we left our bill was only $25, even including drinks.  I enjoyed talking to Doug and we kept track of the IU game as well.  A win would have put them in the final four of the NIT at Madison Square Gardens.  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.  Cam was ok with it as he felt that there was potential for next year.  We were all sad when we realized that Juwann Morgan had played his last game for the Hoosiers.  Meg had dinner with Nick tonight and hung out at his house for awhile.  They had a nice evening and she made it home in time to pack some more before she went to bed.  

Cleaning Day

Although it has not been my favorite part of resigning from teaching, I have been able to keep up on the routine cleaning that comes along with having a large family and a big house.  Today was my scheduled day to clean and I got a lot more done than I had originally thought that I would.  I did have one more closet door to put a second coat on, but that was easy to finish first thing this morning.  By the time I left to pick Cam up from tennis the house was back in shape and I even had time to go grocery shopping.

Tennis was inside for Cameron today due to lack of court and gym space.  He was more than ready to get out and play golf when I picked him up to take him to Black Squirrel.  He was happy with how he scored today except for the last hole.  Overall, his new clubs have worked well and he has enjoyed being a junior member of the team.  Meg had tennis practice after school as well.  She will be playing number 1 on Thursday against West Noble which she was happy to hear.  She had played the Chargers number 1 several times and was ready for a rematch.  Tonight she focused on packing for Spring Break.  She cannot wait to get to California.  I won't get ours started until Wednesday, but should have time to finish before we leave Thursday night.  We have a lot planned and it should be a lot of fun.