Ideal Day at Disneyland Part 2

Here is my long overdue post about the second half of my ideal day at Disney.

Head back to the parks - After we had a nice relaxing time at the pool we would head through Downtown Disney.  We would hit up the Lego store and get the kiddo a bucket of Lego's while the hubby get's a Starbucks at the new one.

Head to California Adventure - We would then head into California Adventure and go watch the Red Car Trolley Newsboys perform and then go see Frozen - Live at Hyperion.  I LOVED the Aladdin show (mostly cause I love Aladdin) so I am sad that they got rid of that show but I have heard amazing things about the Frozen show.

Head to Disneyland - Then we would head over to Disneyland and grab some cotton candy and Mickey Ice Cream Bar and then go ride Buzz Lightyear, followed by Astro Orbiter while the kiddo and I rode Astro Orbiter a few times the hubby would go grab fast passes for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder.  Then you have to go to Star Traders and see what awesome Star Wars items they have.  Then we would head over and go through Tarzans Tree House, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates.  We would so some shopping in New Orleans Square before checking in to our Fantasmic Dinner reservation at the Blue Bayou.  The kiddo LOVES this restaurant event hough the ride is not his favorite.  I really do enjoy it too.  The Filet Minion and Blue Bayou Au Gratin Potatoes are super yummy   

It would be fast pass time for either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder so we would head over there and ride that then we would go chill out for a bit waiting for Fantasmic in the reserved area.  The hubby would probably go grab us some popcorn or ice cream to snack on right before the show starts. After Fantasmic is over they let you sit there and watch the fireworks show so we would hang out there.  After the fireworks we would head over to ride Astro Orbiter one more time before trying to catch the last showing of Paint the Night (although this will not happen again because they are canceling it so sad :(.  When the kiddo found out he cried) Then we would hit up Main Street for some shopping and then head back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

What is your ideal day at Disney?

Health & Life Update

Sorry I have been MIA lately.  After many numerous medical tests to figure out what is wrong with me it turns out that due to my anti-reflux medicine (Priolosec) I am most likely not absorbing iron (and other nutrients) the way I should be.  After figuring out exactly what is causing my acid I had surgery to fix it so I can get off the medication.

The decision to have the surgery was actually pretty quick considering how all of this has been going on for (almost a year!!!!)  I was super nervous because it is surgery but fingers crossed it will fix all the problems I have been having and I can finally get healthy again.

After the surgery they gave me this thing called a TENS unit to help with the pain and it was pretty interesting.  It basically stimulates (or shocks) your nerves so it sends confusion to your brain so you don't feel the pain.   It was really nice to have but then it crapped out on me at 3:30 in the morning.  The poor hubby had to run to the store to get a battery, but it never did work right again :(

Speaking of the hubby he has been so amazing through all of this.  I really lucked out with him.  He has taken such good care of me.  He would wake up every 4 hrs to give me my meds, he went to the store to get me whatever I needed when I asked for it and he even has let me control the remote in the bedroom.  It kind of sucks because this past weekend was out 11 year wedding anniversary and we didn't get a chance to celebrate it.  Once I am back to my normal diet we will hit up the Melting Pot to celebrate.

I am still in a bit of pain which sucks.  I got off the pain meds almost a week ago but I can't take pills yet so I am having to take children's tylenol which doesn't do  much but it does help.    Each day is better than the last so I am hoping that sooner rather than later I will feel 100% again.

I am now on a liquid diet for a while which is kind of nice since I have lost 12+ lbs and I really feel like I have detoxed my body.  They said it will take 2-3 weeks before I can move to the next phase which is slightly more solid foods, and then withing 8 weeks I should be back to a normal diet.
I am taking this as an opportunity to really teach myself how to eat right.  I never really learned to eat right so better late than never right??  I can honestly say though that I am ready for some cheese!!!!

I am ready to get back to living my life though.  Don't get me wrong watching Once Upon a Time & New Girl from the first episode has been fun but I am ready to get back to living my life.

I am a bit nervous for the Avengers Half in November.  My surgeon told me that I should be just fine but right now I am moving very slowly and running 13.1 miles at 16 minute miles seems impossible.

Ideal day at Disneyland. Part 1

I had a friend recently ask me what an ideal day at Disneyland looked like.  After I thought about it I figured it would make a great blog post.  I decided to break it up into two parts since it is pretty word heavy.   So here is my ideal day at Disneyland Resort part 1

Wake up - I would get up around 6:30 am  at the Disneyland Hotel, take my hair out of curlers and Disneybound as Jasmine.  Then I would have some Cereal (most likely Captain Crunch) and some tea.  Then I would wake the family up, making sure the hubby was Disneybounding as Aladdin.


Head to Disneyland - The hubby, kiddo and I would head into Disneyland with Magic Morning at 8 am.  We would ride Space Mountain three times, then Big Thunder two times, Star Tours twice, then Splash Mountain until about 5 minutes before the park opens. Of course you can't forget to stop in front of the castle for a picture..

Head to California Adventure -  We would hightail it over to California Adventure.  We would then go get in line to ride Radiator Springs Racers.  After that the hubby would get us fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers later that night while the kiddo and I rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  Then we would head to Midway Mania and ride that as many times as possible before the line got up to 45 minutes (usually three times)  Then we would do the Wheel of Death (aka Mickey's Fun Wheel), once none swinging then once swinging.  Then over to the Silly Symphony Swings.  Before heading out we would walk past the Once Upon a Time window and I would admire the costumes and book on our way to get fastpasses for Tower of Terror.

Back to Disneyland - We would then head back over to Disneyland to get a few pictures and grab a Mickey Pretzel & raspberry coke at Coca Cola Corner.  Then we would go meet the Princesses, Pluto, and Mickey.  You can't leave without a customary ride on Buzz Lightyear followed by Astro Orbiter.

Eat Lunch - By this time it is now lunch and the park is getting busy.  We would head back to the hotel and go grab lunch at Trader Sam's which for me would include a glass of Prosecco and some Chinese Long Beans, hubby would probably have some Chicken Wings and the kiddo would have Chicken Nuggets.

Relax - We would head up to the hotel room, change into our suits and go for a swim.  I would go down the waterslide a few times and then play "shark" with the kiddo.  Then we would head back up to the room to shower and Disneybound as Ariel and Prince Eric (yes we both have outfits for that as well) While the kiddo watched some Disney Channel we would split a bottle of wine and some Chocolate Covered Mickey Pretzels

Part 2 will be coming shortly.

Star Wars Half

Woo Hoo we got all registered this morning for the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend.  I am so excited.  Last year the web page wasn't working so we had to go through the facebook page but today it worked just fine.  I had everything all set up on the computer at 8:50am and was ready at exactly 9 am.  I had two different web browsers open, chrome and IE so I was able to register me through one and the kiddo through another while the hubby registered himself on a tablet.

We never had to get in a queue to register so that was nice, normally you have to wait in line for your turn but we must have hit it just right.  It took about 10 minutes for all three of us to get registered.  The hubby and I are doing the Rebel Challenge and the kiddo is joining us for the 10K.  Even though it went pretty smooth, right after I got the kiddo registered for the 10K I went back just to see where everything was at and the 10K & the Kids Races were on hold, which basically meant they were sold out.  We were so lucky to get the kiddo registered.  Currently the 5K. 10K & Kids Races are sold out!!!

If you want to register for any Run Disney races I always suggest you be prepared, get the web page up, know your login and password to your Active account, or just be prepared to make one.  Have your credit card ready to go, and know if you are going to order any of the extras.  We usually only buy the pins or necklace..  If I could see what the jackets looked like or if they sold I Did It shirts I would probably be all over it I just don't like not buying it without seeing it.

Now we are looking into hotels.  I am not sure where we are going to stay.  Right now with the discount we could stay at the Grand Californian Hotel for only about $155 more than the Disneyland Hotel and only about $283 more than offsite.  I am not sure if it's worth it or not.  I LOVE the Disneyland hotel and the Grand Californian to me just doesn't seem to have that fun Disney Magic to it.  However, I have never seen such a small difference in the other hotels and Grand Californian.  What do you guys think?  Where would you stay?  Now it's just time to start planning and training.

The never ending health battle

Sorry I have been pretty quiet the past few weeks.  I have been busy with the end of the school year for the kiddo and I am still dealing with the health questions as to what is wrong with me.

My iron levels are still really low although they are not as low as they were.  It is starting to look more and more like my body just doesn't absorb iron the way it is supposed to so I am probably going to have to get iron injections.  I just did a capsule endoscopy a few weeks ago and I am just waiting for the results.  That was a very interesting experience to say the least.  I had to swallow this pill sized camera and just hang out not eating anything for about 8 hours.  They had me hooked up to this small monitor that basically showed the video of my insides.  The nurse was like, look you can watch it throughout the day.  Yeah, not my cup of tea.  It was really kind of freaky knowing that I had a camera inside me.

I met with a surgeon to talk about the hiatal hernia surgery which he said I might be a good candidate for but I now need to have a few more tests done.  UGH I am so done with tests.  They have to make sure that my acid is really being caused by the hiatal hernia and not something like my stomach just doesn't work properly to digest food, that I don't have a weak esophagus, or that it isn't acid but alkaline that is causing the problems because I have no acid due to the meds I have been on for so long.

So the first test they are going to make me eat an egg salad sandwich (one of my least favorite foods EVER!!!  I do not know how I am not going to gag.) and take pictures of my stomach to make sure it is working properly.

For the second test they are going to stick these wonderful tubes down my nose for 24 hours to see what is causing some of my problems.  I am really worried that I am going to pass out for that.

My GI Dr didn't seem to concerned with me being on medication for a while but the surgeon is really worried about me being on meds and some of the other problems I am having.

I know that with time this will all get resolved but it's just super scary to go through all these tests, and the responses I get from everyone is "Your so young" which worries me if I am going to have worse health problems later in life. I just have to keep up on the exercising and eating healthy and hopefully that will help prevent even worse health problems in the future.

Disneyland Planning

Since we booked the Avengers 1/2 we are now starting to plan our trip in November.  We are going to stay at Paradise Pier, we got a nice discount on the room through RunDisney which actually makes it only $250 more to stay onsite than offsite the whole trip, which I think it's worth it.  I really like the size of the rooms, using the secret Grand California entrance and the waterslide.  The only downside for this hotel is the thin walls.  I am hoping that the night before the half the hallways and rooms near us our quiet.

I am now starting to plan out meals for the trip.  We are getting a car this time since we have to fly into LAX since we have a discount through the airline that flies there so we are going to hit up Target once we get there so we will get some healthy snacks (bananas, berries, applesauce, nuts, wine & mimosa stuff of course) so I am thinking the following restaurants which require booking:

Carnation Cafe

Carthay Circle - for lunch

Steakhouse 55 - for breakfast after the half

Possibly World of Color Dessert

I am so excited for the trip.  We are not telling the kiddo that we are going, we are just going to pick him up from school, tell him we are going to the Disney Store and then head up to the airport and see what happens when we get there.

The kiddo has some anxiety so I am a bit worried about that on this trip, but I have decided that we are going to just take this trip and make it about him.  We are hoping to get a sitter for the afternoon after the 5K and have some time just for us especially since we haven't had a chance to ride Hyperspace Mountain..  The rest of the time it will be meeting characters, riding outside rides, swimming, playing games etc. 

I can't believe that it is almost 6 months away :(  But at least it gives me time to plan and most important really train.  I am still having some problems with my lung healing after the pneumonia but the Dr says it will get there I just need to keep working it.  

Do you have any recommendations for restaurants or must do's for Disneyland?

Sephora VIB Haul

It's that time of year again when Sephora tempts me to spend an entire paycheck with their 15% VIB sale.  I got the coupon in the mail about a week before the sale so I had spent a fair amount of time looking at the things I wanted.  So I had a cart full and ready to order then I saw that the Minnie Collection had come out I had to adjust my cart big time.  Here is what I ended up getting:

Just seeing the box makes me giddy

Woo Hoo the loot is here

My three free samples.  They come in handy for travel

I used my points for this, I just couldn't pass it up.  I still have over 1,700 points left over.

I needed some new moisturizer and for the same price I got some really nice travel sizes of my usual face stuff.

My standard tinted moisturizer.  I love this stuff and it lasts FOREVER.

I love these brushes.  They are so cute and super soft.  They might be my new favorite ones.

I just couldn't help myself.  They did a really good job with the detail.  I don't think this will be an everyday pallet but I love it!!!!

I am really pleased with my haul.  I got some gift cards for Christmas and my Birthday so I was able to spend a minimal amount this year which was awesome.

Did you get anything from the VIB sale?  What is your favorite item or go to every year?