Hi again!

I KNOW, I KNOW... I haven't posted the end of the story yet! Well, here it is. Sorry, everyone. I'm quite undependable about posting.

This had been a busy week, especially since I haven't had kids or a husband around quite as much. The boys were at scout camp (I know! Can you believe I didn't go? How beat is that? I really missed it.) Frank had a business trip for a few days. So I filled up my time with going out partying every night.... woohoo!

More later. But first, here's the final installment.

California Adventures

 

We started out on Friday at Disney's California Adventures theme park. I really liked this park a lot, and the roller coaster and ferris wheel was a big hit with Frankie. It had a boardwalk feel to it, and it gave me the real feeling of being in California -- there was a winery, shows about California, a sourdough bread factory tour -- stuff right up our alley.

The ferris wheel was kinda like a roller coaster. If you look at it, you can see that some of the gondolas are fixed, and some are on tracks. The ones on tracks slide as the wheel goes around. As you can imagine, Nick and I took a fixed car, and Frank and Frankie were on the sliding one.

Too much excitement

 

The excitement got to be a little too much for Frankie. He was out like a light during one of the shows we went to, even though the show was very interesting. It was a long week!

From California Adventures to Disneyland

 

Frankie waiting for the Parade of Dreams!

 
First thing we did in Disneyland was to watch the Parade of Dreams. I love a parade! Disney was very crowded, but a lot of fun anyway.

This seemed like an appropriate picture...

 
...all the fairy godmothers, making wishes come true!

At the "Make A Wish" Lounge

 

We were SO hot after the parade, and we were curious anyway, so we decided to stop in to the Make a Wish lounge. They had a cute little room for any of the visitors from Make a Wish to take a little break. We just cooled off for a few minutes, and relaxed. The girls there were very nice and made sure we had the correct passes and everything.

The ride actually broke down!

 
It was so funny -- we couldn't believe it! We all decided to go on a ride together, the Indiana Jones ride. We were right at the most exciting part -- where the boulder comes down and almost hits the car -- and everything goes black. Then, a few minutes later, the emergency lights come on. Frank had the camera, so he took our picture. It made the ride even more exciting!

The Airport Bar

 
The end of our trip -- we had to get to the airport early. And of course, I get everywhere early. So we were EXTRA early. But we were fine, we hung out at the airport bar (the same one Frank and Jimmy hung out at.)

It was a great trip, and everything was lovely. We owe a big thanks to everyone at Make a Wish, and to all of the places that donated to Make a Wish!

Thursday, July 5: Knott's Berry Farm

If you are just tuning in, and you are confused, I am posting belated blog entries about our vacation that Frankie was given by Make A Wish Foundation. It's in reverse chronological order; each day is in order, but the days are backwards. Get it??? See???

 

This is a photo of a photo that was taken at Knott's Berry Farm. We had a lot of fun there, but we hadn't brought the digital camera, only the box camera that Make a Wish had bought us, so we need to get those photos developed still, so I can't post them. Knott's Berry Farm had a couple of great coasters, too, and they also had some really good shows. I especially enjoyed the Native American shows. There was a hoop dancer who was phenomenal. Nick liked the shoot out in the Town Square. Frankie, of course, prefered the Coasters, and Daddy Frank liked the beef jerky... and we all enjoyed the fact that you could buy pickles all over as a snack... truly unusual. They also had great gift shops, which I enjoyed.

Wednesday, July 4th, we checked out of our hotel...

 ...and headed for the Sheraton at Anaheim, near Disneyland, where we would finish our week.

We went to the beach at Santa Monica...

 
...and we saw this gigantic cup cake riding down the bike path!


Strange, I know. Anyway, we really wanted to hit the beach for the day. We were all ready with swim suits, en route to the next hotel. We figured we could swim a while, hang at the beach, and then head to the hotel for the fireworks in the evening.

The Pacific Ocean

 
We all got wet. Well, Frankie and I at least stuck our toes in. Frank and Nicky did actually swim, but the water was cold and the weather wasn't the best.

Santa Monica Pier

 
There may have been a roller coaster on the pier, but we never went on that one.

State Park by Laguna Beach

 

In the evening, we took another drive in the convertible, and found this gorgeous state park by Laguna Beach. The scenery was beautiful, and finally the weather was cooperating.

 
There was some beautiful rock formations.

 
We hadn't brought any swim wear this time, so we all just stood on the beach for a while and poked around at the rocks, sand and tidal pools. Even so, it was very nice.

Finally, Fourth of July Fireworks...

 

... and more fire works!

 

Tuesday at Universal Studios

 

We spent Tuesday at Universal Theme Park and City Walk. I really enjoyed this day, and Frankie did too, even though he only went on one roller coaster. We did the studio tours, the Back to the Future ride (which will be closing in September), the Back Draft ride, and a bunch of other things.

the STAR TREATMENT

 

Make a Wish got us some PREMIUM passes to get in front of the line with... We all got the star treatment, and Frankie felt quite important! I hope he doesn't get a big head from his experiences...

Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nickelodeon

 
Nick wasn't into the rides much, so again, Frank and Frankie separated from Nicky and I. I bought him water shorts to go in the Nickelodeon Splash park, but they kicked him out after a while because he was barefoot. I didn't buy him flip flops AGAIN. I had bought him flip flops the day before. C'mon, enough is enough. He didn't mind, he'd had enough anyway.

A Universal Movie at Universal

 
It had been a long, hot day, with a lot of walking. I convinced the rest of the family to go to see Evan Almighty at the movies at Universal City Walk. They had been talking about Evan Almighty all day on the tour. It was a really good movie, and the theater was great! Beautiful seats, not too much air conditioning -- just perfect.

Universal City Walk entertainment

 
There was plenty of entertainment at the Universal City Walk. In this picture you can see both the girl who sang Sheryl Crow songs, and the drummers. (They took turns, basically.) I could have hung out longer, but everyone was hungry and tired, so we went in to Tony Roma's for dinner. We all had the ribs, of course.

Art at Tony Roma's

 

During dinner, Frankie often makes artwork on the placemats. I think he outdid himself with this picture. As you can see, he's drawing two different rollercoasters; he added a third, too. It represented X coaster, Millenium Force in Cedar Point, and Nitro at home in Jersey. For a great review of Nitro, you should check his blog!

It was another lovely evening. No rain, a cool breeze, a beautiful sunset, and we went back to the hotel and went to sleep....

We woke up bright and early on Monday...

 
... ready to start our first full day by fulfilling Frankie's main wish: to ride the X coaster.
This was also part of our view from the hotel. The weather was beautiful, bright and sunny and hot (but it was a DRY HEAT) and a nice breeze.

Frank and Nicky finished off the fruit in the room for breakfast, but Frankie and I went down to eat in the restaurant. (I wanted to be sure he had enough calories to last through the day!)

Then, we headed out.

We drove to Six Flags, and our car was something like four or five in line to enter the parking lot, which is where we sat for about an hour. We met some guy from Canada, who walked over to our convertible and started chatting about how they are drilling for oil in Canada and selling it to the USA, or something like that... I have no idea who he was, but with an open car like that, you're kinda sitting right out in the open. Finally, the gates open, we parked and waited in the next line, to go through the entrance gates.

You could see the X coaster right from the entrance, and I got some good photos -- but I wasn't using the digital camera, we had brought the waterproof box camera that Nancy and Christine from Make A Wish had given Frankie, so I still have to get the pictures developed!