Disneyland.

"The happiest place on earth" rings true of this lovely little amusement park once again. I say "little" because D-land is small, people. It's like a little baby. But when it's beautiful, as it was yesterday, it feels teeny tiny because of the crowds. But it's always worth it. It's worth the sore feet (with turf toe flair-ups), sore muscles, extreme exhaustion, sad bank accounts, calories, stress of going through crowds, preparation, loss of time for homework, etc. It's sensory overload for each of the five senses. You're constantly bombarded with the sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and feelings of the rides and of people inevitably bumping into you (often while they're blowing up Instagram with all their artsy pics). But it all works together and it's magical.

Yesterday I spent 13 hours in the park with many of my girlfriends. It was so much fun to get to be with most of my good friends for a good part of the day. There were some that I didn't get to hang out with and some I didn't get to see, but for the most part, I saw everyone! I wanted to do things that I hadn't done in a while and just take some of the sights in and enjoy things other than the fast rides all the time. This trip I was able to see a show, Billy and the Hillbillies, eat places I hadn't eaten before, enjoy a ride on the train with Meredith and Melissa and their 2 year old daughters Karis and Felicity, respectively, and other things like that, as well as ride on the classics like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain. We rode Star Tours and someone forgot their dramamine and felt sick for a while, so she had to miss out on rides for a bit (me). But it was perfect because that's when I met up with Meredith and Jake and everyone else for dinner and a slower experience of the park. I also learned how much work it is for parents of young children to make a day like that enjoyable for their kids. Parents do so much more than we realize.

Unfortunately we completely missed Toon Town, but on the plus side I didn't even get the chance to have my elbow stuck in the fence, and that's always a blessing. As I mentioned, I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends. The group varied throughout the day and it was perfect that way. In the early afternoon, we got our fast passes for Space Mountain - for 830-930 pm! Totally insane right?! Well, we decided to wait until after the fireworks display rather than miss them for a ride we could just do after. Don't get me wrong, nobody does fireworks like Disney. Nobody. But man, did that show last forever! We just wanted to get on that ride like nobody's business, and eventually did. Here's what I learned from both Space & Splash Mountain: I'm not one of those people who can take funny pictures for the camera. I'm too scared to actually succeed, and the result is less than glamorous.

The older I get, the fewer pictures I take. Yesterday I took six. And not many of them turned out great. And one of them was of an elephant on Jungle Tours because I wanted to show it to Holly. I'd love to post pics on here of my day, but I really can't use much of what I have. Maybe I will later, and maybe I'll include pics that my friends took. All in all though, it was a great day! I already am looking forward to Disney Day next spring!