The Happiest Place on Earth

Today was one of the best days I've had this summer. There's not a lot to tell you, but it was just amazing. Erin, Austin and I used my free tickets as a Radio Disney employee to go to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park. We got there early and stayed ALLLL day (we're talking 9am to midnight) and we just had the most fantasmic time!!! It was Erin's first time to Disney ever so my innate love of Disney that causes me to be so happy when I'm there combined with Erin's childlike joy over every little thing just made it such a blast. We got on every ride we wanted to get on and none of the lines were too bad. We purposely picked a weekday for that reason. Plus it helped that when we went to Guest Services to get Erin a "1st Time" button and Austin a "I'm Celebrating...being here with 2 girls" button (yes, it was custom written by the cast member; they unfortunately did not have those pre-made), we happened to mention it was my birthday (yeah yeah, it was a lie) and were really friendly to the guy at the desk so he gave us some freebie fast passes to use on any of the rides we wanted. SAHWEET! That's what being nice will get you! That and pretending it's your 21st birthday. :) So while we walked around the park all day sporting our slammin' buttons, we got to use the Fastpass lane for almost every ride. California Adventure wasn't nearly as cool as Disneyland but we spent a few hours there riding a couple good rides they have. We saw a spectacular Broadway-style show telling the story of Aladdin. And of course I made them stop for the High School Musical 3 street parade dance show. :D You know me!
So the whole day was exhausting but absolutely incredible. We even rode our favorites, like Space Mountain, more than once because we had the time. We came away with so many inside jokes from today that we had to write them down so we wouldn't forget them. We jammed hardcore to the Wicked soundtrack the whole way home which was the perfect ending to an insanely fun day. Seeing someone else experience Disney for the first time made it even more magical. We all came away from that fireworks show inspired to believe we can do anything we want. Erin's decided on astronaut, I've decided on ambassador's wife and Austin being the simple one decided on TV show editor. Let's see how we do in ten years.
I also had the wonderful pleasure of seeing my second mother, Mama James, when we left the park. Jessie's mom was in town for a convention and happened to be staying in Anahiem just minutes from Disney so I stopped by her hotel to give her a hug and say "Hi". It was so nice seeing a piece of home even for just a few minutes. I do love her though and she said to tell you (Mom), that she has seen me in person and I'm just fine! :) I'm convinced all mothers have a code reguarding kids or something. (Speaking of mothers and kids, why do they like blocking pathways with strollers and leeshed children? Other families need to take a page from the Noriega book and make a plan...then execute it.) So I sent all my love to all of you back in Florida through Mama James. It will be arriving back in town tomorrow! Now I am completely dead and my feet hurt and I couldn't be happier. More than ever, I am truly convinced that Disney is the Happiest Place on Earth. Remember this, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." -The incredible visionary Mr. Walt Disney.