The cold stretch that we were having lasted into January.
It was so cold that we actually had icicles.
We never have icicles.
And because the cold prevented the snow and ice from melting, the first day of school after Winter Break was cancelled.
There was no complaining about an extra day of sleeping in.
Katie's hair was getting a bit...uh....unruly.
I swear there are people that would pay money to get their hair to look like that.
All she has to do is sleep.
I have to admit that the month of January was really nothing special.
It was mostly a lot of the same old, same old.
A meeting here, an IV infusion there.
Lots of Dungeons and Dragons for the kids.
Work for Huzbend.
And more meetings for me.
Mikey was able to get his COVID booster.
Katie was able to get her COVID booster (meaning four total vaccines for her).
Speaking of COVID, the variant of concern at the time was called Omicron.
Omicron produced less severe infection, especially in those vaccinated, but spread much more easily.
COVID cases exploded.
Our district had implemented a batch testing strategy in the Fall for all students and staff.
There were so many positive batch tests that then required individual kids and staff to get a verification test that the lines at our district COVID testing location were hours long.
I took a day to volunteer to help direct traffic at the testing location.
A few of our districts larger schools shut down for about 10 or so days (Katie and Mikey's schools did not).
Mikey was in a positive batch test twice. He did not test positive on any of his follow up tests. Phew.
The Omicron threat lasted throughout January until cases finally started to level off right at the end of the month.
January brought with it the end of the first semester of learning for both kids.
They had to work hard to finish all of their projects and such before January 28th.
Weekends in January were spent huddled inside watching anime, movies and playing video games.
Katie began to move through her backlog of monthly subscription bake kits.
Monkey Bread.
Allergy and restriction safe, of course.
It was just as good as last time.
Don't' be fooled by the not-so-smiley face...she ate half the plate.
The kids were bored enough to break out LEGO sets!
Mikey had some from Christmas.
Katie brought out this set that she got LAST Christmas (2020).
She received a light kit to go along with the set.
It's a set of famous Tokyo landmarks.
At the end of December, Katie decided to begin taking a medication to help with her EOE.
Through all of the experimentation (elimination diets and endoscopies), we found that Katie's esophagus is allergic to dairy.
One way to combat this problem, besides not eating dairy, is to take a swallowed steroid medication.
The low dose steroid (not the type that grows big muscles) coats the esophagus and stops the allergic reaction from happening.
After taking the medication for a few weeks, she was ready to add some dairy back into her diet.
The number one thing on her list that she wanted to try was boba tea.
So we found a local place and let her pick one out.
She picked chocolate.
She was so excited to see what all the fuss was about.
She really liked the chocolate.
She figured out pretty quickly that she didn't like the boba pearls very much.
They had a weird texture.
On the advice of friends, she has since tried taro flavor, which was "way too sweet".
Shocking, I know.
She also tried peach which was "just okay".
A random photo of Ralph looking all cozy.
A good representation of January.
The last week of the semester (and January) was a little rough.
Projects, quizzes, tests, presentations and all that.
We were able to fit in a hair cut for Katie.
I had a bunch of meetings.
We all looked a bit like this carrot at the end of the week.
Those are eyes by the way.
Sheesh.
We were so done that we got on a plane and went to Disneyland.
Seriously.
Okay. Okay. It wasn't that spontaneous.
We had planned a surprise weekend trip to Disneyland for Halloween weekend.
But, if you remember, a certain someone caught a cold and was coughing like crazy.
We couldn't bring him on a plane like that, let alone into a theme park, so we had to cancel.
We rebooked the trip for the end of January because the kids get a three-day weekend after the semester ends.
The trip was a complete surprise. They had no clue.
We packed while they were at school.
When they got home, we told them to grab a backpack and put some stuff in it and then hopped in the car.
They figured out where we were going when they saw where the plane was headed.
We scoured the airport for food that our kids could eat for dinner and lucked upon a bar serving Mexican food.
Katie decided to try nachos WITH TOPPINGS in addition to the cheese for the first time ever.
She wondered aloud why she had never tried toppings before.
Mikey watched 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' during the flight.
We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at about 10pm.
We were in Adventure Tower.
Which brought back a flood of not great memories from the last time we stayed there.
Noone was even remotely tired.
Well, maybe Huzbend was.
So, guess what they watched?
I warned them that they would have an early wake up the next day.
They fell asleep a bit after midnight.
I was awake first.
Surprise, surprise.
We ate breakfast in the room picking through the food we packed from home.
We were inside Disneyland Park and ready to rope drop by about 7:45ish.
Not bad.
As soon as one enters the park, they can purchase a ride reservation pass called Genie+.
Genie+ allows you to select a return time for a ride one time during a day.
You can then return at that time and experience a shorter wait.
This is a picture of me doing the "Disneyland Shuffle".
I'm looking down at my phone, while purchasing Genie+ and walking towards our destination.
It was Mikey's job to make sure I didn't run into anything or anyone.
We were ready and waiting for rope drop with our first "lighting lane" (or LL for short) reserved for Space Mountain.
Lightning Lane is what the reservations you make on Genie+ are called.
Confusing. I know.
The first ride that we actually did that day was Star Tours.
The second ride was Space Mountain.
It still retains its "BEST version" status.
The photo light is SO bright.
I seem to always have my eyes shut for this ride photo.
Rope dropping is the real deal.
The parks are best in the early morning.
Noone is there.
Sadly, the Matterhorn broke down.
But not before this family selfie.
Next on our schedule was a visit to Batuu/AKA Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge/AKA Star Wars Land.
We'd never been there.
We made a quick detour to the Tea Cups.
Huzbend and Mikey were in charge of spinning our cup.
Wheeeeeeeee.
(Internal monologue: "Don't look straight ahead. Don't look straight ahead.")
After spinning in our tea cup, we passed through the magical portal located under the Disneyland Railroad tracks and lo and behold.....
WE WERE ON ANOTHER PLANET!
With, like, The First Order and stuff.
This "land" was amazingly detailed.
The rockwork was incredible and the sightlines were flawless.
The first stop of our galactic adventure was a ride on the Millenium Falcon.
Say hello to R5-P8.
And to his legit* business owner, Hondo Ohnaka.
(*your mileage may vary)
There are 6 seats in each Falcon cockpit.
A mom and her daughter, who was about 6ish, joined our party.
We let the two youngest fly the ship.
The little girl was so short that she couldn't reach the lever that put us into hyperspace.
(Don't worry. We still got into hyperspace.)
Katie and Huzbend were our gunners.
The other mom and I were the engineers.
Each of us had a job/button to push that would help accomplish the mission.
Here's an example of the cockpit chaos.
Me. It's me!
I did good at engineer.
Actually, I have no idea what I did as an engineer.
I think I hit buttons to fix the ship and I know that I fired a harpoon or two to get the coaxium containers.
We captured two containers of coaxium.
SUCCESS!
Mikey and our Minnie Eared Co-Pilot flew well.
We got kicked out of the cockpit by a patient yet pushy cast member.
Both kids enjoyed the ride and stopped for a picture in the exit tunnel.
Our return time for Rise of the Resistance arrived.
To maximize our time and our chances of riding this ride, we went ahead and paid for Individual Lightning Land entrance.
It was an extra $20 per person.
Yikes, Disney. But it was necessary.
I am happy to report that the ride lived up to the hype and it did not break down!
(Spoilers Ahead)
BB-8 had a mission for us.
Holo-Rey told us the deets.
We headed to our shuttle to join the fight.
We walked through a X-wing parking lot where we saw Poe Dameron's ship.
Our shuttle arrived and we walked aboard.
Admiral Akbar...oh wait...sorry...Lieutenant Bek was charged with getting us where we needed to go.
Shockingly, something went wrong and we got caught in a tractor beam.
This was the first "How Did They Do That?" moment.
Everyone expected that we would exit the shuttle through the door that was opposite from where we entered the shuttle. I mean, that would make the most sense to get us to the next scene.
We didn't. We exited through the same door that we entered.
What?
And we were on a Star Destroyer now and prisoners of the First Order.
Someone in the picture below was having a blast.
That someone also shouted the location of the Resistance base to Kylo Ren during the ride.
Traitor.
As we shuffled closer to our holding cell, we were placed into groups by the First Order officers.
We watched an officer destroy a group of teenagers because they couldn't give a straight answer as to how many were in their group.
"Can you even count? What is wrong with you?
The Resistance has certainly lowered its standards as of late."
Here we are awaiting our doom in our new home-away-from-home holding cell.
Don't count out the Resistance yet.
Finn had a rescue plan.
With the help of some repurposed First Order droids, we rushed to get off the ship as it was attacked by Resistance forces.
Here we go!
The ride gets a little frenetic at this point.
FULL of "How Did They Do That" moments.
For example, laser blasters are being shot at you.
You SEE the shots and then they hit the wall and leave marks.
A few more run-ins with Kylo and General Hux...
...some explosions, Storm Troopers and space battles.
We made it to the escape pod and back down to Batuu.
Phew.
That was a close one.
We survived.
What an amazing experience.
Definitely would do that again...
If the wait wasn't two hours or we had to pay $20 each to ride it.
After all that intergalactic excitement, it was time for a snack.
What better way to chill out than to eat a Dole Whip at 10am on a cloudy California day?
Mikey and Katie had raspberry and pineapple swirl.
I went with the classic Dole Whip Float.
Huzbend picked up some savory bao buns to hold him over until lunch.
We spent a little time wandering Disneyland and doing some rides before heading back to Batuu.
We had a table waiting for us at Oga's Cantina.
We enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.
DJ Rex was playing some galactic tunes.
Here's a look at the bar from where we were seated.
We placed our orders.
Huzbend ordered some kind of Star Wars beer.
I don't remember the name.
Katie ordered "Moogan tea".
(Unsweetened tea, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate milk with whipped cream on top)
I got myself a "Fuzzy Tauntaun".
(Peach vodka, peach schnapps, Simply Orange, tangerine, sugar and 'Buzzz" foam)
The foam on top made your lips and tongue tingly and numbish.
Mikey ordered a "Cliff Dweller".
(Orange, pineapple, and lime juice with grenadine, cream of coconut & ginger ale)
Cheers!
Pinkies up!
After finishing our beverages, we stepped out of Oga's and wandered around.
We made our way through the marketplace and stepped inside some of the stores.
Mikey had to make a "pit stop" and Katie picked up some chocolate popcorn at Kat Saka's Kettle.
I think our favorite store was Dok Ondar's Den of Antiquities.
Here are some snapshots...
Lunchtime!
We opted to have burgers and fries at Hungry Bear.
They had a dedicated fryer and Katie could have GF fries.
Ugh.
Shoulda eaten in Galaxy's Edge (or literally anywhere else).
Talk about unmemorable food for exorbitant prices.
Oh well.
Katie got to eat lots of French fries.
Mikey thought the food was okay.
Unfortunately, what was not okay was giving him a large root beer with no lid.
Talk about disaster waiting to happen.
Yeah. Disaster happened.
That's my leg wet with spilt root beer.
It also got on Katie's mask.
I was able to jump out of the way, with most of it landing on the ground.
We decided to head back to the hotel for a swim break.
We would be back after dinner.
As you can see, it was a little cloudy.
It was warm, but not THAT warm.
And, there was a slight breeze.
I was cold just sitting there watching them.
Katie was brave and got out to do the water slide.
Darn. I always take the photo a second too late.
After this, she ran over to the hot tub.
Mikey soon followed.
Slide and then hot tub.
Eventually, they all ended up in the hot tub.
Katie decided that she was done and took a little nap on a deck chair.
Mikey and Huzbend continued to goof around in the pool for a bit longer.
After pool time, we headed to dinner at Tortilla Jo's, a Mexican restaurant.
Katie gave nachos with toppings another try.
Again, she lamented never trying toppings before.
After dinner, we wandered back into Disneyland.
We headed to Buzz Lightyear first.
I think...for the first time ever...I beat Huzbend's score.
Sadly, I have no photographic proof because I was sitting with Mikey.
Here I am trying to get a nice photo of the castle at night with no people in it.....
What the actual f....
Oh.
On our way across the park, we stopped and did something that we'd never done before.
We did the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough.
There was nobody in there.
There were a lot of stairs, and these really cool 3-D dioramas portraying scenes from the movie.
Family picture time!
We rode some rides.
I know we did Big Thunder.
(It's best at night)
We did Indiana Jones somewhere in there.
(I remember because we had to wait for Katie to use the bathroom and then Huzbend bought some fruit to eat)
And, of course, the bone clattering Matterhorn.
(We waved and hollered at the other train)
We headed over to find a spot to watch the fireworks.
But, before we did, I picked up my mobile order of Mickey BEIGNETS.
We found the perfect spot to watch the show.
I'll have to remember it for next time.
We could see the castle, the Matterhorn AND the fireworks.
And, best of all, we were right up against a rope so no one could stand in front of us.
That green thing on the right is the Matterhorn.
They have projections on it for fireworks shows.
After waiting for the crowds to clear out after the fireworks, we headed back to Batuu to see what it looked like at night.
It didn't disappoint.
We noticed that there was a very short wait for Smuggler's Run (Milennium Falcon ride), so we hopped in line.
This time it was just us and one single dude.
We let Katie and Huzbend be the pilots.
Katie was the right pilot.
She controlled the vertical position of the ship and would put us into hyperspace.
Huzbend was on the left and controlled the horizontal movement of the ship.
Mikey was a gunner and I was as well.
We once again secured two coaxium containers.
Yay us.
At the end of the evening, we decided to ride the train back to Main Street Station as our last ride in the park.
It took forever for the train to get to Tomorrowland Station.
So, we sat there listening to the safety spiel for Autopia featuring Bird.
Because you can never get enough of a great thing, I present for your listening pleasure....
Bird's Safety Spiel.
Katie thought it was hilarious that he introduced himself with "Yo soy Bird".
The train arrived and we hopped on.
The track from Tomorrowland to Main Street is the most interesting section because it incudes "The Grand Canyon" and "Primeval World". Yay!
When we got off the train and headed down the steps, we noticed that Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy were waving and interacting with guests as they left the park.
It was just about closing time.
Katie and Mikey posed for a super socially distanced picture with Mickey and Minnie.
We made sure to show Goofy the love before we walked out under the train tracks.
We got back to the hotel a little before midnight.
Everyone was pretty exhausted, and we hemmed and hawed about getting up in time for rope drop the next day.
It was decided that we would indeed do rope drop.
As you can see, I was the first one awake. Again.
It was hard to get everyone up and walking.
We were able to make it to California Adventure in time for rope drop.
Most people were either going to fast-walk to Radiator Springs Racers or to Webslingers in Avengers Campus.
We decided on Webslingers.
We made a quick pivot when we realized that Webslingers was not open yet and headed to Soarin' since it was close by.
On our way out of Avengers Campus, we stopped for a quick photo session that produced this gem....
Noone was very excited about riding Soarin' (except me).
We hopped out of line and decided to make our way over to the Incredicoaster because it had a nonexistent wait.
BUT, then Webslingers opened and so we fast-walked back over there.
We waited about 20 minutes and we were in.
Katie and Mikey really enjoyed all the Marvel-y details in the queue.
Peter Parker stopped in to say hello.
In the midst of his welcome, we learned that the facility was being overrun by Spiderbots.
We got to help him use some new tech take them down.
We were able to sling webs just by moving our arms.
It was wicked fun.
We successfully cleared the Spiderbots out of the facility and decided it was time for a snack.
It's a lot of work waving your arms around.
The kids said a quick HI to Hope van Dyne (AKA Wasp) who was hanging out in the plaza.
We stopped in at Pym Test Lab Kitchen for a bite to eat.
Mikey and I shared a Pym-particled pretzel.
Katie opted for a beverage from the Coke Freestyle machine.
She made some sort of peach concoction.
After snack, we stopped in to say hello to the Marvel Universe's bestest boy, Cosmo.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your tolerance for zero g's), that meant that we helped the Guardians of the Galaxy escape from Taneleer Tivan.
I love hate this ride.
Crowds were kicking up a bit, so we headed over to the Incredicoaster because the wait was not that long yet.
The Lunar New Year Festival was in full swing at DCA.
Katie had her mind sent on getting a Mickey Purple Sweet Potato Macaron.
We looked at the line for the food booth. It wasn't too bad when we passed by, so we opted to ride the ride first.
Incredicoaster.
After the ride, Katie and I decided to get her macaron.
Sadly, the line had grown tenfold.
Ugh.
And the registers in the line that we were in broke down.
Double Ugh.
I remained in the line and I sent Katie to another line.
We would see who got to purchase it first.
Meanwhile, Mikey and Huzbend rode Mickey's Ferris Wheel of Death.
Finally, after about 30-40 minutes of waiting in the super-hot sun, we got one.
Katie was ecstatic.
It was a red macaron with purple sweet potato butter cream and a creme fraiche center.
It was gone in about a second.
We re-connected with Mikey and Huzbend and got on Toy Story Midway Mania.
Another head-to-head competition between myself and Huzbend.
Who would be the victor?
I'm red, he's blue.
I just barely, barely snuck out a win.
I think he's learning my secrets.
We walked around Paradise Bay and over to the Little Mermaid ride.
It is always a good choice for tired feet and for escaping the sun.
Guess what?
The ride stopped.
It always happens.
H-E-L-P.
"I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty...."
"I've got whozzits and whazzits galore..."
After another stop or two, one of which happened to be at the transition point of Scuttle talking aimlessly at the same time Sebastian was saying goodbye (one could literally lose their mind if they stayed at that spot for too long), we finally escaped Ariel and headed to lunch.
We had some yummy Italian food at Wine Country Trattoria.
Katie, in true Celiac fashion, had steak.
After lunch, we found a spot to watch the Lunar New Year Procession.
It was the year of the Tiger.
Tigger was joined by Chip and Dale for a little procession mischief.
The procession was very short.
(Huzbend was very happy)
The costumes were beautiful.
Mulan and Mushu were featured on the main float along with some traditional drummers.
The back of the main float featured crowd favorite, Goofy.
It was getting hot - for January - and crowded.
We decided to head back to the hotel for a swim break.
As we left out the Grand Californian hotel exit of the park, we found ourselves hiking alongside some Country Bears.
They were goin' fishin'.
Katie was exhausted.
She decided to forgo the pool so she could chill in the room.
I decided to stay with her.
The boys headed down for a swim.
It was much warmer this day because the sun was out.
Katie ended up falling asleep.
With swim/nap/Food Network time ended, we headed back into to DCA for dinner.
On our way to check in, we said hi to Flapper Minnie.
Dinner was pretty good.
I wouldn't say great.
We ate at Carthay Circle which is usually a favorite of Katie's due to their GF bread service.
Sadly, they didn't have that this time around.
Stupid COVD and its supply shortages.
Huzbend liked his pork chop and Mikey and I had some sort of meat ravioli that was good (although they only gave, like, 5 ravioli).
Katie tried duck. She didn't like it. Neither did I.
Ew.
There really wasn't much on the docket for the evening, so we just decided to do whatever we felt like in the moment.
We stopped into Mickey's Philharmagic and it was empty.
Mikey got his own photo shoot in front of the Donald photo backdrop.
I'm sure the few people that were in the waiting area were amused by his antics.
After enjoying the old school 3-D presentation, the family decided to ride Guardians.
Again.
Sigh.
A good time was had by all.
Again.
I screamed a lot.
Again.
(You can't really see us. We're in the middle row on the left. You can see Katie best.)
Not having a plan, we continued our wandering and found Loki holding court in Avengers Campus.
I prodded the kids to stop and have a chat with him,
He was more than willing.
Upon being received, they both bowed to his greatness.
He was honored that Katie was wearing a Loki shirt.
We had a good discussion and he granted them a photo.
We decided to visit an ancient sanctum and learn about the mystic arts from Doctor Strange.
Because, why not?
He even had a special guest. The OTHER Price of Asgard, Thor.
The show was entertaining and had some cool special effects.
Remember how we got out of line for Soarin' earlier in the day?
Well, I had booked a return time for Soarin' at night.
We started to head that way and realized that Webslingers had a really short wait.
So, we let Soarin' go and got in line for Webslingers.
Each person gets a score which is added together at the end of the ride.
As you exit the attraction, there is a leader board of the best of the day.
We did not make the leader board.
(But, I got high score for our car! Tee hee.)
Everyone thought that Webslingers was super fun.
Thanks to us (and thousands of other guests) the world is safe from the pesky Spiderbots.
Closing time was ticking closer and we decided to "haul ass" across the park to make the Incredicoaster our last ride of the evening.
We made it!
It was a great way to end our night at DCA.
As we left the park, we could see the fireworks from over at Disneyland.
It was pretty early (only a little after 9pm) so we stopped in some Downtown Disney stores on the way back to the hotel.
Mikey distracted himself by playing with this display in the Star Wars store.
Katie had her heart set on having a Mickey ice cream bar, but we couldn't find them anywhere.
Which was weird.
When we got back to our hotel, we hit up the quick serve food place.
Not only did they have the Mickey ice cream bar, but they also had frozen lemonade.
We picked one up for Mikey.
Katie ate her bar in the bathroom.
First, she pulled off the chocolate topping and then she ate the ice cream.
The kids settled in to watch some Food Network.
Huzbend and I had a date!
We headed over to Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar for a beverage or two and some conversation.
I guess it's not what you would call a romantic setting.
There's a lot of yelling, sirens, rainstorms and displeased Tiki gods, but it's definitely entertaining.
Huzbend got himself some sort of beer.
I opted for a cocktail called Piranha Pool.
It was delicious.
So delicious that I had two.
We also got an order of panko-crusted long beans. These were ridiculously yummy.
Who knew fried green beans could be so good?
We essentially shut down Trader Sam's.
After we left, we found an outdoor fireplace and sat in front of it to keep our tushies warm.
We were out so late that we saw two Disneyland kitties AND we were asked to show our room cards by a Disney security guard.
Yikes.
The next morning, we were able to sleep in a bit.
We dropped our luggage off at Guest Services and headed over to Storytellers at the Grand Californian for our brekkie buffet.
We had to wait for the chef to walk us through the buffet line before the kids could go up.
While waiting, they were able to order beverages.
Only at Disney could Mikey get away with ordering a root beer at breakfast.
Katie ordered a hot chocolate.
There were quite a few options on the buffet that the kids could eat.
The chef also said he would get them safe cookies, muffins and waffles from the kitchen.
While waiting for their "direct from the kitchen" bounty, Katie went up to the buffet and came back with this.
Yep. That was bacon and two raspberries.
Mikey didn't do much better.
He had the same but added blueberries and sausage.
Sigh.
This is my first plate (yes, I had more than one plate).
Yum.
I'm hungry just looking at it.
Katie and Mikey's "from the kitchen" plates were delivered.
The kids didn't like the waffles.
They weren't cooked all the way through.
Bummer.
This breakfast was a character breakfast.
But that meant something different during COVID.
Character interactions were distanced.
The characters paraded around the restaurant every 20 minutes or so and did not stop at each table.
We waved hi and danced along with....
...Mickey.
Minnie.
Chip and Dale.
And, last but not least, Pluto.
Mikey created a new sandwich.
After breakfast we had some time to kill so we hit up some stores.
We once again ended up at the Sar Wars store where Mikey assumed his rightful place as his Eminence of Tatooine.
Sadly, it was time to go.
We had to wait for our Uber to show up.
Mikey watched Mickey cartoons while he waited.
Katie chose to wait outside.
It was a whirlwind but much needed trip.
It was great to get away and not have to worry about anything except what we were going to ride next or what to eat for our next snack.
The kids were sad that they had to go back to school the next day.
