Disneyland!!

This is a stereopost:

Lisa and I went with her mom, sister, brother, and all of their families to Disneyland and California Adventure for a couple days early in January. Pictures are better than words, so here they are!



James LOVED the rocket ride



On the teacups we asked JJ to smile and he did a simultaneous fish-face and candy sign



We weren't spinning very fast. Joe and Lauren however (up in the upper left teacup) were trying for the nauseated effect!



Fish carousel!



James sure loves his Nana and Grandpa Gary. He almost always had to be holding someone's hand.



Joe and Lauren on Small World.



Linda and Mike on Small World.



JJ and Grandpa Gary on Small World.



Lisa and me on Small World.



There was so much stimulation and so much going on that JJ, without much notice, would just crash when it was time for a nap...and he would be totally and completely out!



That's me in the back with my shirt over my head on Splash Mountain. I'm so proud of myself.



JJ on Lauren's shoulders playing with his Mickey balloon.



JJ using his super-human strength to bend the prison bars!



Everyone in Toontown.



The Finding Nemo submarine ride which replaced the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride...JJ (as well as everyone else) loved it.



We thought JJ looked more like Joe's son than mine this day.



Lisa, JJ, and me in the race car. You can barely see James' little head between the two of us.



Us in the race car again.



I love the Peter Pan ride.



DUMBO! (Which is ironic since we didn't actually go on the ride)



Classic portrait in front of the castle.



Joe, Lauren, Linda, and Mike on the crazy ferris wheel in California Adventure. Oddly enough, this ride almost killed the day for me. I got more nauseated on this ride than any other...it took me hours to recover!



The little kiddie area of California Adventure was "Bug's Life" themed. This was (for some strange reason) by far my favorite of the kids rides. It was just a goofy fat caterpillar eating through different foods...he was hilarious!



We went to a drawing workshop presented by a "real Disney animator" who showed us step-by-step how to draw Goofy. James' is the one closest to the camera on the right.



Awwwww...



I may be 25 years old, but you know what? Mickey and Minnie are still awesome!



The second night got cold and rainy. Not a problem that two well-placed ponchos and a coat can't handle. JJ got all the excitement he could possibly handle!



Since it was cold and rainy, we had the park essentially to ourselves. In the course of an hour (between 11pm-12am) we went on Space Mountain 3 times, Finding Nemo (the most popular ride in the park) once, and the Buzz Lightyear ride once. A great end to a great trip.



What's a great family road trip without a picture of the 15-passenger van? This beast took us safely there and home in ultimate 5-row comfort AND style!

Hooray for Disneyland and hooray for family! It was a great trip!

Hooray for Vacations

So here's what's been going down since finals ended. The good news- well, finals are over. I did well in my classes (A, A-, B, B), but not well enough to obtain early admission to the PhD program. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that one, but am also applying to a couple other institutions.

Also good news, we've spent a week in NJ with my parents and are now in Phoenix, AZ with Lisa's mom and sister and their families. We're off to a couple night stay in Disneyland tomorrow. Lisa's brother and his wife are going to join us for that trip...it's going to be fun!

The not so good- on Christmas Eve I developed a tickle in my throat. That tickle soon progressed to swelling and pain and tightness. Swallowing became very difficult and very painful. Then I developed ulcers (symmetric) on both sides of my tonsil area. Swallowing became very very difficult and very very painful. The doctor told me that I had Strep Throat and for some reason developed ulcers too (not a normal symptom) - lucky me!!!

Oh I also developed a high fever during this time period (it peaked at 103). The doctor gave me antibiotics so that I would be less communicable. I then found out the hard way that the antibiotics induce violent vomiting when taken on an empty stomach. Fortunately I only had this lesson twice before I leaned exactly how to take the little puke pill.

The second time the puke pill reprimanded me, I discovered that my stomach acids are a catalyst for weird sores on my lips...and the roof of my mouth. Sores that don't go away and spread easily.

A week after first feeling the tickling in my throat, the fever and Strep and ulcer pains are all but gone. My lips, however, are like red and white numb balloons. That's right, at least they don't hurt like normal sores on your lips...just swollen blood-and-puss colored numb orbs. Oh yea, and there's also a swollen and inflamed portion of the roof of my mouth and gum line which makes brushing pretty painful.

But at least I can swallow without pain.

I've been asked numerous times whether I'd rather be sick like this or be back doing finals week again. The answer is easy...

Sick.