This week is the calm between the storms of two vacations, but it's not all that calm. Why?
Because I have a school visit tomorrow and a conference on Friday.
This conference? It's the BYU YA Undergraduate Novelist Conference and it's arranged by my mentor, Chris Crowe. It's today through Friday, and I'm speaking on Friday. But...
LOOK AT THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE SPEAKING, TOO!
Shannon Hale. Ally Condie. Carol Lynch Williams. Kristen Chandler. They are some seriously amazing writers, and wow, it's such a delight and honor to be listed among them. As a keynote speaker.
Am I nervous? You betcha. But that's what preparation is for, right? And practice. Lots of practice.
Anyway, calm between two storms. This weekend, I am leaving for London. I'm excited, but still a little surprised that I'm doing this and that it's coming so fast. But it will be good.
Last weekend, I was in Disneyland with my four siblings!
Here we are in Cars Land in California Adventure. We went because we wanted to, but also to celebrate my sister Chrisanne's graduation. We spent two days in the parks and TORE IT UP.
(Seriously, we rode so many rides. It was great!)
Day 1: Disneyland. We went all over the park, riding Indiana Jones twice, and pretty much everything else at least once. The day was cold and overcast, but we still rode Splash Mountain, working the system to get a FastPass for, like, ten minutes after we got the pass. The ride picture was really good, with all of us clear and lined up, but we didn't get a copy. We did get churros, though.
They are Coco-themed churros, found in Frontierland, and by gum, they are delicious. I've never had a Disneyland churro before this, and I hear they're all good, but this one...this one was amazing. Cocoa powder and salted cinnamon sugar coating, and a chipotle chocolate dipping sauce. I swear, I'm going to figure out how to copy the flavor because dang, that churro was good.
Other highlights included Hyperspace Mountain (surprisingly back in time for our visit), the family of geese threatening a service dog (who looked terrified), the kid dressed as WALL-E, the Jungle Cruise dad jokes, and ALL THE RIDES!
Very cold Pixar show at the castle at night, and after walking roughly 12 miles over the course of the day, we finally called it a night.
Day 2: California Adventure. We started and ended the day with Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!
All in all, we rode it 4 times and heard 3 different songs. That's right: they have 6 different possible drop sequences and ride experiences.
We also rode Radiator Springs Racers a couple of times, and I forgot how much fun that ride is! The theming, the ride itself, the racing your siblings...it's a good one. And we took the single rider line because Mama didn't raise no fools. And we had a lot to do.
Soarin', the pier rides (although the Pixar Pier change closed the roller coaster), and the Frozen stage show. All highlights. As well as the Ghirardelli's ice cream after lunch.
The day was another cool one, but not as bad. The winds weren't as strong, it didn't drizzle, and we didn't ride a water ride, so that helped. And, the sun came out for a little while, which brought up the temperature.
It was a great trip. I loved spending time with my siblings in the Happiest Place on Earth, and we all did pretty much everything we wanted to do. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. I do wish that the pier was open, and that it wasn't so cold.
But hey, I guess that just means I'll have to go back someday, right?
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