Home vs. Home

Yes, I went back to California again. For the second time in less than four months. I can't help it.

Here were some of the highlights:

Randall turned 24 and wanted to take a train to Legoland to celebrate his birthday. (He's just a big kid at heart, who LOVES trains and legos, so why not combine the two?!)

We wanted to take a picture in front of the Jungle made of legos. :0) Legoland was actually pretty awesome! They had a jungle ride, a boat ride, and other attractions that were comparable to Indiana Jones/Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and Mulholland Madness. The last ride of the day was on a boat through the miniature lego world, piloted by a corny-joke-telling skipper. It felt like home. We also got tickets to the aquarium next door to make a whole day out of it. Pretty fun!
Randall is a culinary student, so I thought this birthday chef made of legos was only the most perfect photo opportunity all day.

Of course, if I'm going to fly back down to California, I had to make a least a short trip to Disney. (Although, I'm not as excited to do Disney as I used to be - going there makes me a little sad that I'm no longer part of it.) While we were there, I managed to convince Ryan to commandeer a boat for me! EPIC!!! Here is proof:
While at Disney, I also managed to get Joe to meet for dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney on his day off. (Brian said it couldn't be done.) It was a great day! And we ended it with a viewing of the new World of Color show - uh-mazing!!!!

There was a lot of things I wanted to do while I was in California, and the most important was to get my cartilage pierced. [see previous blog] As promised, here is a picture: Ok, now that I look at it, it's a little harder to see than I thought. But you get the idea. Also, this picture was taken BEFORE it got super infected (once I got back to Oregon) and I was in the worst pain of my life. I was so scared I would have to take it out and the whole process would have been a waste of my time! The only reason I'm taking this sucker out is if Disney hires me back.

Of course, no time in California should be spent without the delicious nutrition of a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. And mine showed a lot of heart. <3
I REALLY didn't want to leave when it was time to come back to Oregon. But following this ridiculously accurate Adam Lambert look-alike onto the plane helped the situation a little.
AND I was excited about the Ghost Adventures marathon that was taking place on the in-flight televisions...until my screen went out. FML.

Now I'm back at home, substituting (a.k.a. not-knowing what I'll be doing from day to day) and missing some pretty special people. One day at a time...