the happiest playdate on earth

during opening weekend of pixar pier at california adventure, the bean and i got to meet up with our friends lilcee, dailygluttony and their minis for a fun playdate.  while we weren't able to get there at rope drop with them, we still managed to get there somewhere around noon.  and when we pulled into the parking garage, i noticed that the $35 preferred parking option wasn't posted on the board anymore.

interesting.  maybe they realized that no one really wanted to cough up that much cash for a parking spot and bagged the whole idea.  who knows.

when we finally got inside the park, the others were in line for a ride and so i decided to take the bean to the animation academy for a drawing session.  we've been trying to get in there for awhile and either the timing is bad or we're with the old lady and she isn't in the mood to draw.

we got to draw dug, the dog from "up."  i think we've drawn him before, but it was fun to do it again.

in the sorcerer's academy, the bean decided to do some drawings of jack jack from the incredibles.

at schmoozies, we finally got a chance to try out one of the pixarfest's special food offerings - a monster mint shake that was pretty darn delicious even though it wasn't anything more special than a mint chocolate chip milkshake.  it was hot, and it hit the spot.

in the guardians of the galaxy store, the bean picked up this super throwback electronic basketball game.  i told her those were the kinds of toys we had when i was younger.

like i said, it was hot.  and so while we were browsing in another one of the shops, i let her talk me into buying this portable mickey fan.

snack time!  the mint julep bar's seasonal offering was a strawberry beignet, flavored with pulverized freeze-dried strawberries.  they were really tasty, especially washed down with one of those refreshing mint juleps.

big thunder mountain is always a good time.

i forgot to mention that mini DG recently suffered a broken toe and was enjoying being pushed around the parks in a rented wheelchair.  this, of course, also got us access to the handicapped entrances to a handful of the rides on the disneyland side.  and it was funny to listen to the girls bicker playfully as they argued over who got to push him.

we had fun walking through the park with them and enjoying a few rides before they decided that they'd had enough for the day and grabbed an ice cream as we said goodbye and went back over to the DCA side.  we wanted to check out pixar pier even though we knew it was too crowded for us to actually experience any of the attractions.

the poultry palace is made to look like a giant kids' meal, and their main attraction is a box with 3 chicken drumsticks and a serving of homemade coleslaw.  lilcee and dailygluttony said they'd had it for lunch and that it was pretty darn good.  maybe next time.

a couple more pixar re-themed snack stops.

all of the boardwalk games had been rethemed as well, using pixar full-length movies as well as the popular shorts.

the bean cooled off a little at the giant pixar ball fountain.

and here's what started off as the sun wheel, then became mickey's fun wheel and is now the pixar pal-a-round.

we'd just missed a performance here:

and on our way out, we stopped to grab some fresh sourdough bread.  while the mike wazowski looked super fun, we ended up with the mickey-shaped bread instead.  it was bigger and cheaper.

i can't wait till we can go back and actually get to ride the newly reopened "incredicoaster" and really enjoy the new offerings on the pier.  i'm pretty sure it'll be awhile before that happens, but that's okay.  we can wait.

if you can't beat 'em, join 'em

considering the number of times we've hit disneyland lately with one (or more!) of the bean's friends, i don't know if she's ever going to be satisfied with going with just me and her sister again.  sheesh.

the school's annual fund gala was on friday, which meant that the kids had a half day and got out before lunchtime.  i picked up the bean, we grabbed some food, and then our friends came by and picked us up to head down for some disney afternoon fun.  with the old lady heading down after she got off work, it was nice to be able to carpool and avoid having two cars down there.

we arrived at the parks around 2pm and found that it was warmer and more crowded than we'd anticipated.  no worries though, the kids were all just excited to be there and ride some rides together.

since the bean is still really leery of riding anything that goes upside down, she passed on the group outing to california screamin'.  instead, she and one of the other kids headed over to ride the silly symphony swings, which almost always has no wait.  today was no exception.

the holidays are definitely coming, people.  the first few signs were visible as we walked through the park:

rides are always more fun with friends.

and waiting in lines together isn't so bad, either.

the twilight zone-themed tower of terror is disappearing slowly bit by bit as they prepare to shut it down and re-theme it into a "guardians of the galaxy" ride.  it'll be interesting to see what they do with it, but in the meantime it's kind of sad to see it go.

and they're doing something called "late check-out" now - which means that the entire ride is done completely in the dark.  they started doing this during the halloween season, but now it seems like it's the only way to keep the ride going while attempting to take down all of the previous theming.  it's still a fun ride regardless:

the old lady did make it, by the way.

while the kids went on "screamin'" one more time, we took in the nighttime scenery around the water.

after grabbing some dinner at pizza port, we decided to make hyperspace mountain our last ride of the night.  i was happy to see it come back after being "ghost galaxy" during halloween.

and this thursday, disneyland officially kicks off their holiday season with themed parades, festivals, food offerings, decorations and holiday overlays on the rides.  i'm pretty sure we're going to immerse ourselves in all things holiday come this weekend.

might as well enjoy it while we can, right?  it usually goes by all too fast.

playdates for everyone!

one of the bean's good friends moved far away over the summer.  she was so sad about it, and i felt bad for her.  i mean, there's always facetime and phone calls and emails and stuff, but it's not the same.  the last time i traded texts with her mom, she told me that they were coming back down for a week in early october.  and so when the time came, i got in touch with her to see if they could maybe squeeze in a quick playdate so that the girls could see each other again.  luckily, we were able to coordinate schedules thanks to a well-timed teacher inservice day that left the bean with an extra day of no strict bedtime.

we decided to meet at the local trampoline park, along with a few other friends who wanted to see their missing buddy too.  and they were just so excited to hang out and play again, even though it was a little bittersweet knowing that she'd be leaving again soon.

while they jumped and ran around and got all sweaty, we moms (plus the old lady, who took this for us) got to hang out, chat and catch up.  it was really nice to spend some time together when we weren't distracted with chasing after kids or supervising activities or anything at all.  i love how awkwardly i'm standing in the middle, heh.

the girls capped off the playdate with a "jam into a photobooth" session that had them all cracking up and falling all over each other.  it was really cute, and they were so sad to have to say goodbye.

the next day, we teamed up with some of those same friends again for a long-awaited playdate at disneyland.  we'd been trying to coordinate schedules for months and months and months with the kids constantly on our asses to get it together, and finally, finally...

these kids, man.  they crack me up.

they've been friends for a good chunk of their little lives, and it's pretty awesome to see how close they all are.  it's very sweet to watch them together.

although not even her closest pals could talk her into the very last ride at the disneyland resort that she has left to conquer - california screamin', with the one teeny-tiny little loop that she's still pretty terrified of.  instead, she watched them ride it...twice.

we did, however, wait out the 60-minute line in order to ride the radiator springs racers all together.

we went on luigi's, too.

we ended up giving up our fastpasses for the frozen show in favor of a turn on the rapids ride, because everyone was hot and wanted to cool off a little.

and what better way to end the day than with a sushi dinner all together?  the hub, the old lady and MIL met us at a spot close to home and we all enjoyed some raw fish before calling it a day.

playdates, man.  they aren't just for kids anymore.