Disneyland Christmas Vacation

Well last night I got back from an eventful trip to Disneyland. My family decided not to do a big Christmas this year. Instead we would go to Disneyland! My mom has been planning it for the better part of 2011.
The trip started at 3am Saturday morning for me. I had to sleep over at my parents. I slept horribly, mostly because I'm so not used to it anymore and I had to be in the front room. Anyways, we were off by 4ish. Travis and Dillon were woken only to be put straight in the cars. I was driving because I had to come back early. Starbucks wasn't even open yet so I had to suffer for a bit.
Our first break was in Castro Valley. I needed coffee by then and I knew they were open. My favorite part of the drive was the Altamont Pass because the sun was beginning to rise and my ipod had the perfect soundtrack.
We made a few stops more for gas and to let the kids stretch out. Rolling into Los Angeles was pretty exciting. I haven't been in years and I'm more familiar with the different areas now that I'm older and pay attention to where things happen & come from. The frustrating part was following my mom. I kept getting separated and didn't really know the way there.
When we finally got there it was so neat because we stayed at the Disney Hotel. All the talk and planning and now it was finally happening. Travis was so excited! We got pins and special keys and chocolates on the bed. The headboards would light up and play a song which Travis wanted to remind me of everyday. We had park hopper passes for Disneyland and California Adventure. We did pretty good and saw quite a bit of both parks. CA Adventure has improved since the last time I was there and by the looks of things they are still working at it. Two new major areas are due to open next year. We saw the World of Color show which is pretty amazing. Fantasmic wasn't playing until after I left but I think everyone else got to see it. We did see it snow on Main St. which was beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. Travis even got to meet Mickey Mouse and go on most of the rides.

It rained on Monday but it actually worked in my favor. A few days before we left for LA I heard about a free show in Hollywood with PAPA and Jonny Corndawg. How fun would it be to see these guys for free in LA! Well, I put in my RSVP just in case it worked out. Good thing I did because Dawes announced they would be Jonny's backing band for the night. I knew I had to try and go. We came back from Disneyland to the hotel early because we were all soaked and tired. I was a bit nervous about driving over there but it couldn't have been easier. We parked right across the street. It was this cool night club type place with a small little stage. Everyone sounded so good! I couldn't believe how many faces I recognized either. Besides the obvious (like all the Dawes guys, Jonny Corndawg, and Darren Weiss) there was Danny Fujikawa from Chief, Ethan Gruska of The Belle Brigade, Alex Casnoff, Jason Boesel, and Jackson Browne! Oh my god, I was star struck. So weird/awesome to see someone you've only seen in the media in the flesh&blood. Anyways, sooo awesome!
Like I said earlier I had to come home early to help with Christmas at the store. The ride home was not as fun as the way there but I really do enjoy driving by myself. It wasn't to hard to get back to normal but I'm so happy to have had a vacation. It was way overdue!