Will just sent me this photo from his phone. We love our cat Abby.

Another Birthday Gift for Will

We went to REI tonight after going to our annual Cinco de Mayo dinner - this year at Senor Rics. Afterwards, our plan was to scope out shots for the engagement pics that Will is doing for our friends from the single's ward on Friday. We got a little sidetracked by the REI Anniversary Sale. We started looking at bikes casually - and shortly after Will left with a really nice bike. Again, I think I am more excited than he is! The sales guy really knew his stuff - and with 15% off we couldn't resist. I already have a very nice bike I got for my birthday from my parents a couple years ago, but Will hasn't ever had one since we've been together. Now this summer can be spent riding around the MANY bike paths of Denver. We live SUPER close to several really cool ones. I am excited for this summer. This is especially helpful for our new resolve to be more active together (and hopefully lose a little weight).

Will's New Bike:

Disneyland!!!

May 2nd we took advantage of the "free admission on your birthday" and went to Disneyland to celebrate Will's 24th birthday! It cracked me up because they gave him this giant birthday pin to wear and everywhere we went the Disneyland employees would wish him Happy Birthday ... over and over again. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I hadn't been to Disneyland since I was 2 1/2 either, so everything was new to me and I had such a blast! After this trip we were already talking about going to DisneyWorld next! The whole theme of Disneyland this year is "Celebrate" (if you haven't seen the commercials) and it was really neat since it was Will's birthday. I may have even enjoyed his birthday more than he did!

Main Street when we first got there

Our first ride was Star Tours.

Will was talking about that ride the most

before we got there.

Honey We Shrunk the Audience

in 3D.

This one freaked me out a little!

After riding Space Mountain.

I forgot what this was called -

but it was fun and our tour guide was so funny!

Happy Birthday Will!

We bought a better copy of this one from the Photo Shop there.

Will loves Indiana Jones!

Pirates of the Caribbean was closed most of the day - so we were lucky

we got to ride it while it was open!

Magical Castle

The street parade rocked my socks!

Loved it!

Heading into "It's A Small World After All"

That was the ride I wanted to ride most! Too funny.

The fireworks show blew my mind!

It was totally the best part of the day!

I think Disneyland was by far the best part of our trip! Although everything was really fun - I just can't get over how fun Disneyland really was. We did so many things there - but still didn't do everything. We only went for one day, since our trip was so packed - and we know we'll be back in the future.

We're going to try to take a real vacation - somewhere to go just because we want to - once a year. I have a feeling we'll be going to Southern California for quite a few of those. Places we want to go next: Florida (Disney World) or Hawaii. The bonus is that next year Will is going to be 25 and we won't have to pay a premium for our car rental! yay!

This trip was a blast! We feel so lucky we were able to go!

Friday's Vacation Events

Friday we left lovely San Diego and headed inland to see some of the sights from Will's mission. First we hit up Temecula about 45 min. inland from San Diego. There we drove around and stopped at Will's fav: Old Towne Root Beer. They had so many bottles of root beer of every brand! We opted for the original and it was sooo good. The lady said it was their best in a while because "their honey was just sooo good this time." Yum.

After driving through Temecula, Lake Elsinor, Murrietta, and passing through Corona we ended up at our hotel in Newport Beach - so much closer to Disneyland!

I really like Newport Beach!

Sea World San Diego

Last Thursday we went to Sea World San Diego - I hadn't been since I got lost there when I was 2 1/2 years old! It was way fun - luckily the crowds were low, and the sun was out! Lots of fun!

Will petting the sting rays

Eels!!

This was the set for Sea Lion Live. Such a cute show!

I loved the background of Mission Bay behind it!

The Shamu show was AWESOME! Totally great!

Shamu!

Will was determined that we sit in the Splash zone ...

row 5 at that!!! We paid for it!

After being splashed - notice my glasses are all wet!

One of the cooler things we did was the Sky Tower where you

could see the whole park - and the bay - from arial view.

It was awesome!

The hotel sticking up is where we stayed.

Hyatt Mission Beach - we didn't even know how close

it was to Sea World when we booked it off Hotwire

(well we didn't even know the hotel when we booked it technically).

Lovely view of Mission Beach and the Pacific Ocean

Will outside the Polar Bear area - looking at our map

Flamingos!! They were beating eachother up. I didn't

realize how violent these animals are! : )

In addition to the sky tower we went on a Gondola ride

over the bay. That was cool too!

Taking photos of ourselves in the gondola

And this is what happens when you don't wear sunscreen to

Sea World. It was worse in person - and his neck was even worse!!

We had so much fun in Sea World - well on the whole trip really!! I was in awe of Shamu!

San Diego

Will and I took our first real vacation together last week. We went to Southern California for 5 days and it was amazing! I hadn't been to SoCal for quite some time - so it was nice to see the palm trees!

Flying over the Rocky Mountains - I was

amazed by the view. It was better in person.

As close to the Grand Canyon as I've been.

It was a very clear flight.

First stop in San Diego: Pacific Beach.

I had prepared for this trip by visiting the tanning bed - Will had not ...

and he definitely paid for it. : )

The water was glorious!!!!!

I can't wait to go back!!!

Our trip was such a blast. I'll be posting more (LOTS more) photos probably tomorrow. For now - this is a start.