Disneyland Adventures

I guess it's true - you don't need little kids to have fun at Disneyland. In fact, it might be possible to have more fun there without kiddos - as we learned last weekend when our whole family spent the weekend spinning tea cups, singing Disney songs, and screaming on roller coasters.

The original impetus for the trip came from a desire to share in Disneyland's 50th's Anniversary, but quickly became an excuse to help Angelina (my Little Sister of 10 years!! from the Big Brother/Big Sister program) celebrate her high school graduation.

We even squeezed in a Disney-themed 'portable birthday party' for Matt on the ride out there.

Needless to say, we had a great time re-visiting Disneyland and exploring California Adventure for the first time.

Karen couldn't pass up the opportunity to impress her preschoolers with a photo of her with the real Buzz Lightyear!

Mom thought she'd outsmart Splash Mountain by sitting in the middle of the log ride...

but Briar Rabbit and the rest of the Splash Mountain characters showed her (she got drenched!!)

When we got tired, we rested on the train...

And Preston rested with the Lego man!

Until next time...

76ers party...here we come!

Well - it's official. The 76ers party is on the way. We decided to have a big party to celebrate all of us who are turning 30 this year (i.e. born in 1976). The funny thing is - we don't exactly know what 1976 was like. But we're having fun doing some research. Steph, in particular, has already bought her 'outfit' and modeled it for us - dance moves and all!

(I think Mike D. is still trying to figure out what to wear.)

Stay tuned for more info...

Woods Canyon-Chevelon Creek Adventure

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Chevelon Creek - downstream of Woods Canyon Lake (about 30 miles outside of Payson). Being Labor Day weekend, we got to share the roads with lots and lots of people. But once we finally found a spot to park the car and walked below the Woods Canyon Lake dam, it was smooth sailing. Actually, it was like we jumped into a remote wilderness area because we didn't see one person all weekend!! We had an inkling this might be the case after talking to numerous campground hosts, employees at the lake store and forest service employees and discovering that none of them even knew there was good hiking below the dam.

Our group consisted of the Gidley family (Matt, Julie and Tommy), 2 of our friends (Janice and Daryl) and their 2 dogs (Nugget and Jackson).

The weather was nice and cool with a few scattered showers - a perfect escape from the lingering Phoenix summer heat.

What a gem!