Disneyland: The Everything Else

I know it's hard to tell what with all the yammering I've been doing, but we didn't spend our entire time in California on Disney-owned property. Just most of it. We did some other stuff, too. Unfortunately we did not get to spend as much time as we would have liked to doing the "other stuff" -- damn you, airline! -- but the little tastes we got were enough to convince me that, like Jack and the rest of the Oceanic 6, we HAVE to go BACK!

The boy in this picture is Adrian. He belongs to one of my husband's cousins and her husband. They live somewhere in SoCal, about half an hour away from Disneyland. Adrian's parents and his aunt (also G's cousin, go figure, since she's Adrian's mom's sister) came to meet us for dinner at the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney on Saturday night while we were out there, and we had a spectacular time, and it makes me so sad that they're out there and we're out here, because I really think they'd like my family. Shae and Adrian got along famously, of course, and Shae still asks for "her new cousin" and it will never stop being adorable. I wish we had more time to spend with them, because they all made me laugh and made me feel so welcome and made me feel at home. Like Disney wasn't fun enough -- the only thing that could possibly have made it funner would have been spending it with more awesome people.

On Sunday, before the wedding, we met a high-school friend of mine and her husband and new baby for lunch. (Yowza, we ate A LOT on vacation. Like, a REALLY lot, and delicious amazing food, too. Not a cruddy meal in the bunch, not even when we ate at El Pollo Loco that first night, and apparently that particular chain can be sort of hit-or-miss. Thank heavens for all that walking we did or I'd never be able to get my pants buttoned.) It was super-great to be able to see her again, and meet him, and sit there and stare at their delicious baby, and just catch the short version of what's been going on for the last 10 years or so. For the first time in a very long time, I missed high school, although to be 100% honest, what I really miss are my high school friends, who I never see any more. Where are you guys? I MISS YOU! Call me!

They drove all the way down from Pasadena (an hour away, I guess? I have no idea about California geography -- I always thought Anaheim was, like, hours away from Los Angeles, and I always figured that calling them the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" was like calling a team the "Philadelphia Phillies of Pittsburgh," but as it turns out, LA and Anaheim are pretty close -- about 30 miles, I think, but it's like LIGHTYEARS when you figure in the traffic -- OK, so I guess technically Anaheim IS hours away from LA). After lunch we wanted to hang out a little longer, so we asked if there were any parks nearby and we got directed to this mall.

A MALL WITH PALM TREES AND A FERRIS WHEEL RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. I am not even kidding; you can't make this kind of shit up. And fountains that are deliberately designed for kids to play in them. Also: salted caramel Pinkberry. Believe the hype. I think California is my home planet, you guys, I really, really do.

Sunday night was the wedding, which was totally awesome and I cannot possibly overstate how beautiful it was, the setting and the food and those two crazy kids goin' and gettin' hitched, all of it, and how wonderful it was to be there. I am still in awe that we (1) got invited in the first place, and (2) actually got to attend. One of the best weddings ever in the history of weddings, and I swear to God that I am not just saying that because this was the last of our high school friends to get married. It really was just that special.

Oh and at the wedding Shae got dumped for the first time, by the rakish and charming ring bearer, the groom's nephew, who up and left poor Shaezie in the middle of the dance floor for the flower girl. Shae got revenge by boogie-ing with everyone else's date and pretty much being the first runner-up to the bride in the "Belle of the Ball" competition, though, so it all turned out okay. (And, BTW, this was the best her hair looked for the whole trip. You can't see her cute little bling-y barette, and you can't really tell that I let her wear lip gloss and eye shadow, but she partied like a rock star with nary a hair out of place. TRUST.)