Southern California Adventures

My awesome parents decided to take the whole family to Southern California for Fall Break this year. It was a blast, and I loved every minute of it! We spent a day at the beach at Dana Point, explored California Adventure, and then played at Disneyland. It had been years since we had been on a vacation as a family, and it was fun to just be together and have fun. 

 Me and Nicole on the beach

 Me and Kelsey

 Me, Mia, and Emmett

 My favorite little brother

 (he didn't even protest at the request to take a picture with me!)

 Waiting in line for Soarin' Over California

 Fam Pic at the beach

 Can't go to Disneyland without taking a picture by the Mickey face

 We got stuck on Thunder Mountain Railroad. See the fear on our faces? Someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to stand up while the ride was going. Apparently he didn't think of the repercussions of such a decision. The entire ride was shut down and everyone had to be escorted out. Awesome.

 Mia wasn't interested in taking a picture with me. I took one anyway.

Emmett was my car buddy. It made for excellent bonding time. 

The time flew by too fast, and it was hard to go back to work after such a nice break, but I am so glad we all were able to go. We even got to meet up with Scott & Melinda and their kids at both parks and ride some of the rides with them. We learned that Fast Passes and Parent Swap passes are the best way to go. The longest line we waited in was about 40 minutes (and that's because we didn't have Fast Passes for that one). Not too shabby. It was a fun trip and I can't wait to do it again sometime! 

Thanks, mom and dad!

You can see more pictures and read more about it here and here. 

Destination: Omaha

Omaha proved to be quite a happening place to go for Spring Break. The fun didn't stop the entire week we were there. It was certainly worth the adventure we had in getting there. And, I finally made it farther east than Denver! Life is good.

While there, we:

 Pretended to be pioneers while visiting the Winter Quarters Visitor's Center

 Made friends with the gorillas and other animals at the zoo

(Notice how large the gorilla is that I am sitting on? Yeah. It took some acrobatics to get up there. Impressed I made it? Thought so.)

 Saw the Missouri River

 Got stuck on a statue by the Missouri River

(All I wanted to do was sit on his shoulders. Thought it would make a good photo op. Didn't go as I had planned. Here, Teresa and I are strategizing how to get me down...)

 

 Stood in two states at one time

(This footbridge spanned the Missouri River and went from the Nebraska side to the Iowa side)

 Ate at the delicious California Tacos. Yum.

(As featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives)

 

 Ate scrumptious ice cream at e Creamery. Also yum.

Rode the train home. After 23 hours on it, we made it home!

Other activities included sewing projects, visiting Creighton Law School, laughing, eating lots of good food, late nights chatting, sleeping in, playing with William, napping, and much, much more.

Jealous? You should be. :)

A Little Story

Once upon a time, two friends wanted to take a Spring Break vacation to Omaha, Nebraska. The reservations were made, the dates were set, and the countdown began. The day of departure finally arrived and the girls were more than ready to go. As they blissfully set off to the airport to begin their journey, they had no idea what was in store for them. See, the plan was to arrive at the airport at 3:30, check in, fly out at 5:00 and arrive in Omaha by 10:00.... a seemingly simple task. This, instead, is what they experienced:

3:30 pm: Check in, go through security, etc. Wait.
5:15 pm: Find out the plane they were supposed to be boarding had a mechanical issue. No worries... it should be fixed by 6:00.
6:00 pm: Problem is still not fixed. At this point, it is realized that the connecting flight from Denver to Omaha wasn't going to be happening as scheduled.
7:0o pm: Still waiting.
8:00 pm: Still waiting.
8:30ish pm: The problem is finally fixed. The plane was boarded, and off they went.
8:45 pm: Shortly after taking off, the pilot comes on and says, "Flight attendants, prepare for landing."
9:00 pm: The plane lands back in Salt Lake, after a brief tour of the air around the airport. Apparently the problem wasn't really fixed.
9:30 pm: Still waiting for the airline to decide what they are going to do.
10:00 pm: Ticket agents announce that the plane won't leave until 7:00 the next morning. All passengers are to head downstairs to get new boarding passes, new connecting flights, hotel vouchers, food vouchers, etc.
10:05 pm: The girls get in line to obtain said passes and vouchers.
11:00 pm: The line has moved a few feet. There is ONE ticket agent attempting to help the situation. However, the girls have met some new friends to make the time go quicker.
12:00 am: Still in line.
1:00 am: Still in line.
2:00 am: Still in line.
2:30 am: They finally reach the ticket counter after 4 1/2 hours in line, and get the vouchers and passes.
3:00 am: The hotel shuttle comes, and they make it to the hotel by 3:15.
3:45 am: They drift off for a quick nap.
4:30 am: It's time to get up and get ready to be back to the airport by 5:00.
5:00 am: Back to the airport, get checked in, and wait some more.
7:00 am: Sing praises! After 16 hours, the plane to Denver actually takes off and stays airborne!!!
8:30 am: Denver is reached! (and a 6 hour layover begins)
2:30 pm: The girls leave Denver and fly to Omaha.
4:30 pm: At long last, Omaha is reached. It's never felt so good to be to a destination!

Yes, we had quite the adventure getting ourselves to Omaha. Thank goodness for a patient and good friend to travel with, laptops, games, food, and good conversation to make the time go.

This is before we knew what was coming to us.

Waiting for the shuttle at 3 am. You'd look like this, too, if you had been through what we had.

An unlikely combination of friends. They certainly made the night/early morning entertaining and go by a little quicker, though. From left to right: Rachel, Michael, Marianne, Me, Karla, and Andrew.

And there is the story of our adventurous journey of getting to Omaha. It was certainly unforgettable. But we made it out alive and have a great story to tell. Oh, and did I mention the airline gave us $400 toward tickets for another trip? Saweeeeeet. I think we'll be heading somewhere fun.

More Omaha fun to come. Stay tuned.