keeping up a fair-ly awesome tradition

so 2015 marked my fourth year of running the OC fair 5K.  seems like i manage to do it with different people every time - 2012, with speedy.  the second time, i dragged the bean and the old lady along.  last year, i ran into my friend the nurse.  this time around...

we got there pretty early, so we hung out and did some peoplewatching at the start line.

i'd busted out my newest pair of running shoes - on, a newish brand from sweden that i'd heard good things about.  they're my first pair of basic black running kicks, and the cute little timing chip added a fun pop of color.

taking off once the gun went off was the usual craziness of weaving through the crowd.  fun runs always bring out all sorts of folks, and for a lot of them it's their first race ever.  this is great, because attracting new folks to the sport is always a good thing...but it also means a huge lack of running etiquette.  generally, if you're walking, you stay to the right and allow the runners to pass on the left.  and you don't walk side by side more than two deep.  but everyone looked like they were having fun, and it didn't take too tremendously long to get through and pick up a decent pace.  and before long i hit the first mile marker.

as usual, the hub and i had gotten separated as we crossed the start line.  i found him ahead of me as we turned the corner and started heading in towards the fairgrounds.

although it was wonderfully overcast, it was still fairly warm and pretty humid down there.  the thought of scurrying in and rolling around on the ice skating rink was pretty tempting.  ha!

the hub continued to maintain a good pace and stayed ahead of me as i struggled to keep up.

a bunch of other folks stopped to get a photo with the fair mascots, but i was satisfied with a quick run-by selfie.

and then the hub finally shook me off for good as he bypassed the first "detour to fun" and i scampered off to play a couple of carnival games.

i'm so sad to report that for the first time ever, i missed both games and scurried away with no prize in hand to bring home to the bean.  i'm actually still really bummed about breaking my winning streak.

2 down, 1 to go.

selfie time with my horsey friends in the background.

time for the next detour of fun - the super slide!

by then, some of the food vendors were already hard at work prepping for the day.  the smell reminded my tummy that it was empty and the rumbling began.

although this was rather a debbie downer moment.

the final detour of fun was at the amphitheater, but from previous experience i knew that involved scampering down all of those stairs and then an icky incline after the photo op onstage.  no, thanks.

at last, mile 3:

as i crossed the finish line, i heard a "team superhero" shoutout from rudy novotny, race announcer extraordinaire.  and then when he said my name and i smiled and waved up at him in the booth, i turned my head and spied the hub snapping photos.  it was kind of fun to have him at the finish waiting for me, since i'm used to doing these solo.

and when the official photos were posted on the race website, i was even more grateful that the was there, since there was a 10-second gap in finish line photos...and of course, my time was right in the middle of it.  no official photos for me.  so sad.

but that's okay.  i had a great time and got this fantastic photo with my husband.

and swag.  i love post-race swag.

and of course, our usual in-the-car bling shot.

see ya next year, OC fair.  i mean, i can't miss it now, right?

disneyland = conquered

one of the things that we'd never done before (or, at least that we could remember) was to arrive at disneyland early enough for "rope drop."  basically, that means getting up as if it's a regular school day to head down to anaheim and be inside the park right when it officially opens.  you go through the turnstile at the gate, walk down main street, and at each "land" cast members are holding a rope, blocking the entrance.  right at opening time, you hear the official voice of disneyland wish you a good morning and welcome you to the resort.  at the end of the announcement, they drop the ropes and then you're free to play.

we managed to get onto the tram about 20 minutes before the park opened.

as much as we were bracing ourselves for long lines to get in, we were through those turnstiles in no time.  the castle is a lovely sight at 7:50 in the morning.

even the disneyland ducks were out and about.

we look ready for a good morning, yes?

as soon as that rope dropped, we went right into adventureland and made our way towards the bean's current #1 favorite ride - indiana jones.  and with a rarely-seen 10-minute wait...why not?

of course, the ride broke down as we were waiting in the short line.  a bunch of people left when the announcement was made, although literally two minutes later, those imagineers did their thing and the line started moving again.

a couple of weeks ago, the bean announced that she felt like she was finally ready to give splash mountain a shot.  that big drop that you can see from the walkway towards critter country has always freaked her out.  and so when we got out of indiana jones, that's where we were off to.

i was particularly delighted at how empty this area was - on any given day, at any other time, it's insanely crowded.

and we couldn't resist this photo op.

the bean balked a little as we made our way through the completely empty line at splash mountain, but we just encouraged her and told her that she'd have a great time trying something new.

when i say "completely empty," i mean exactly that.  we literally walked right through and were seated on the ride in no time.  doesn't she look excited?

okay, just kidding.  she hated it.  and as we were going up the hill towards that giant drop, i heard her behind me tell her sister "i don't want to do this anymore!" but of course, it was too late to turn back at that point.  two seconds later, it was over.

she admitted that she'd liked seeing the ride itself, with the animals and songs and stuff, but methinks it'll be a very long time before she braves that one again.  and because she'd done it, we agreed to go on something that the old lady and i like about as much as she liked splash mountain - the "finding nemo" submarine ride.  ugh.

this pre-ride photo is a little different from the last one, yes?  heheheh.

and yet they both seemed pretty into it as we started going.

look at what we had planned next!

by the time we got off of nemo, it was time for space mountain.  this is probably MY most favorite ride of all time.

i like this hat.  i may have to splurge on it one of these days.

with our fastpasses in hand, we were around 4th in line to get into the royal theater for the "frozen" show.  this got the bean a front-row seat on the floor in front of the stage, and secured spots for me and the old lady on the middle front row bench.  best seats ever.

i love the shows they put in on this theater.  the piano guy is really good, and the guys that run the show are hilarious.  they always tell the story in a way that's entertaining for everyone in the audience.

by the time we got out of there, it was time for our star tours fastpasses.

as we waited to get in, i noticed stormtroopers interacting with other folks in line.

i was literally the last person to head into the ride, and as i did i got this great photo op.

you can totally tell that he had seen me snap the shot and he was striding quite purposefully towards me.  i don't know why, but this completely scared the crap out of me and i literally screamed and pushed the old lady in front of me to get us safely into the ride.  she had no idea what was going on and looked at me funny as i nervous-laughed for the next few minutes.  i'm so weird.

and then as we all glanced back out the doors, a couple of those stormtroopers were standing there, just watching.  when they realized that they'd been spotted, they started dancing, which made the entire audience start cracking up.

we decided to head over to the plaza inn for some lunch.  because it was still early, it wasn't even open yet.  and so while i stood in the line, i sent the old lady over to grab something for me, along with fastpasses for big thunder.  multitasking at its best, folks.

the bean had her usual fried chicken and grape juice, the old lady opted for the pot roast, and i had...this.

turkey leg SO GOOD.

we managed to squeeze in rides on pirates of the caribbean and the haunted mansion before making our way to the final mountain of the day.

and as we were chatting, we realized that not only had the bean finally conquered all of disneyland's mountains (space, thunder, splash, and matterhorn), but that also meant that she's officially been on everything in the whole park (california adventure not included).  YAY!!

sunday...it was a good day.