Hey everyone, we did it! We made it to California!
Well, metaphorically speaking I guess. I mean we aren’t actually in California. But we did it in theme night years. All I am saying is don’t get too excited. We didn’t accomplish much.
Does that mean we are done? Hm I dunno. You will have to read on to find out. This post totez has a post-credits scene.
Cross-country trip – Day 10 (or is it Day 11? I feel like I missed a day somewhere) Oh well, let’s just stick with Day 10
So yes Day erm….mumble….We last left you in Vegas. If I haven’t gambled away the rest of our vacation money, we will be waking up (IN VEGAS KATY PERRY SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CURRENT EVENTS) and hitting the road early. I would love to grab a nice breakfast in Vegas but we really want to spend some time at our destination today so I think we may just grab something quick.
We will rejoin Route 66 to make our way to the end. I know we will be in a rush, but we MAY have to stop in San Bernadino to see where the McDonald brothers first started making their burgers. Those that have been reading my blogs know we all saw The Founder on one of our road trip nights and all loved it. Plus, I kind of like sticking out my tongue at Chicago, as it calls itself home of the first McDondald’s. This place is now a museum so maybe we can check it out.
Eventually, though, we will make our way to Santa Monica and the end of Route 66. We will most def get pictures with the end of the trail sign and check out some of the other Route 66 stuff there. And then we will spend some time on at Pacific Park and definitely ride the Ferris Wheel.
Then we will head to check into our home for the next five days – the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground. Super excited for this hotel. It’s walking distance to Disneyland, has a water park and I mean…it’s a HoJo’s so. I wonder if I can get the desk clerk to make me some macaroni and cheese.
After we check in, we will have some pool…ahem sorry WATER PLAYGROUND time. Then we will get changed and head to dinner at NAPA ROSE! at the Grand Californian. Yeah this is how we roll. We will most likely hit the lounge first but pretty awesome this will be our first taste of Disneyland.
Oh then, bed.
The Theme night
For this theme night, it was just the four of us. To decorate, we put up some bright lights, hung some foil stars from the ceiling and put a makeshift Hollywood sign on the table. To be honest, we were so back and forth on having this night on this particular day, we had to scramble but I think we did pretty a pretty stellar job:
The food
Anyone who has seen La La Land obviously knows we grilled some chicken on a stick. Anyone who hasn’t seen it has serious issues. To accompany the chicken, we had some chicken rice and corn. I am sure Sebastian and Mia ate both of these things at some point in their lives.
And during the movie, we opened up the candy box and made some popcorn. I ate way too many Milk Duds. Pfft, just kidding. Like there is such a thing.
The activity
Being that this was a musical and that Sebastian is a musician and all that, we played some Rock Band before dinner. We looked to no avail to see if any actual La La Land songs were around, but instead I ended up buying Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.” Close enough.
The movie
So I love La La Land probably a little TOO much. When Nickie and I first saw it back in December, we became a tad obsessed. Listened to the soundtrack all the time. Then we got the kids hooked on it and now we can’t stop. There must be some sort of rehab for this sort of thing.
But we first saw it when it was still in “critical darling” phase. Before people complained about the jazz (http://www.vulture.com/2017/01/what-la-la-land-gets-wrong-about-todays-jazz.html), the ending or the music. Before, shudder, Warren and Anne:
People these days. Love a good backlash.
But eh, I still LOVE it. So take that, society!
I love the music. I love the whole design of the movie. Love Emma and Ryan. LOVE it.
I remember walking out of that movie feeling a lot like I did when I walked out of The Muppets the first time I saw it. I just kind of couldn’t stop smiling. And bah, I know, with the ending (I am going to try my best to be spoiler-free here, but come on…thing came out last year) – how could I be smiling? But look – this movie was a slice of life type of movie set to music. It showed, to me, a real love story. Love isn’t always timeless, you know. Sometimes, in order for life to happen, love has to suffer.
The real story here is two people following their dreams. They fell in love along the way and that love wasn’t fruitless. It helped them realize the life they were destined to have. Whatever happens in the end, they were both good for each other in that they made each other find the best in themselves to pursue their dreams.
Parts of this movie are sad, of course – UGH AVOIDING SPOILERS IS TOUGH. But overall, I think both of these characters end up somewhere they always wanted to be. Life can be sad, but getting to fulfill one’s dream can’t be something that’s all bad. Can it? I kind of like that this movie celebrates love, but also posits that there are other things out there. There are different stories. Different outcomes. And I like showing my children a movie that tells them to reach for their dreams, even if it requires making a difficult or uncomfortable move.
So to you all poo-poo’ing this movie. To you all, I say “Pishy Caca.”
So what’s next?
Well, if you have been paying attention, you will notice we have reached the west coast. So I guess, that’s it right?
So we still have like 5 days left of vacation here to cover. AND that remainder will be spent largely at Disneyland. How could I skip such a thing? What are you, some kind of person who doesn’t know things?
And as you might recall, we are partly celebrating Owen’s tenth birthday on this trip. That being the case, the next set of blog posts will focus on Owen’s top ten Disney movies. Now, things get a little tricky here. First off, we only have five weeks until the trip. How will we do this you might ask? I, I really don’t know the answer to that question. I think we are going to have to double up and do two nights a week. Also, we are going away this weekend so it’s gonna be tough. But we will persevere. We are true heroes so.
Also, there are not ten days left in the trip. There are only five. Pay attention. But I think this is an easy fix. I will split the trip descriptions into halves, focusing on early parts of the day and late parts with every post. Being that much of this is Disneyland (not the whole thing, but most), there should be a lot to cover.
So see you soon, true believers.
WeHeartDisney 
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