Hi Amy!

Gobble Gobble

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:32:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!! We got up early, watched the Macy's Parade. After an afternoon of cooking (and watching football), we sat down for dinner:
I made Cherry Jello for Doug - it's a family tradition for him,
And, of course, the Pumpkin Pie & homemade whipped cream. (and coffee)
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Thinking of you!

Christmas Comes Early

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Christmas started on Nov 13th at Disneyland!! I know I have a huge issue with Christmas before Thanksgiving....but Doug and I didn't know how many days we'd have off together (with me having a JOB and all!) so we went. I'd never seen any Disney park decorated for the holidays - it was awesome!!!

I met Holiday Pluto:
and Doug and I took advantage of the photo-area:

It was a really fun day - we rode It's A Small World Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday and saw the "Believe in...Holiday Magic" fireworks. When we walked into New Orleans Square Louisiana Christmas Day started playing - I almost cried. Doug thought (thinks) I'm crazy.

Knott's Berry Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:54:00 +0000

Doug and I finally got to go to Knott's Berry Farm. They're having a huge sale on tickets - for less than a regular one day ticket you got a ticket good through Dec 31. So we got them and will probably go back in a few weeks or so.

They have an awesome Ghost Town area. It's like being in any old Western Movie you can think of! So much fun!! Of course I took a picture with the Cigar Indian:

And we later went ride the Ghost Rider, their huge wooden coaster:

(I love the face of the dude to the right)

It actually goes outside the park proper and into/over the parking lot (as seen when walking up to the park):

We sat in the second to last row. They had two big guys in the seat behind us who were not impressed by the wooden coaster - it didn't go upside down or anything. By the end of the ride I heard one of them say "It was like Mike Tyson punching you in the ribs! It hurts" HAHAHA! That's what you get for underestimating the wooden coaster!

Leaving Laffy

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

I saw Dad briefly this morning on his way to work - I saw him maybe an hour this entire trip. Doubles suck; however, HI AMY! pictures are fun!

And with Mom:

Always a classic:

I didn't fly out until almost 4pm, so we had plenty of time for lunch. Of course I wanted Judice Inn (We talked about Southside Bakery, but when it comes down to it I just want Judice Inn)

It was a very fast, weird, surreal trip. It was good to get back to California.

Who Dat? Dat's Martin! (and the winning Saints)

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:53:00 +0000

The next morning we woke up and went pick up Martin to have an early lunch before we hit the road.We went to a local place Ms. Hesterly had heard of - Broad Street Bakery. It was really good - huge portions. Mom and I each had a quiche (one veggie and one regular and we split) and Martin got a sandwhich. Of course they didn't have Martin's first choice - restaurants seemingly never do for that poor boy.

After lunch we dropped Martin back off at his dorm and got a few quick photos (because how often do I see him?):

Later that evening: THE SAINTS WON!!! They are 8-0 for the first time in their history!!! I mean it's the Saints, it's too early to get too excited but still. How exciting!

Soft Shell Crab & Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:46:00 +0000

Saturday Dad had to work, so the rest of us went eat lunch together: They had soft shell crab! (which was weirdly fishy, but still! a poboy! and soft shell crab! I don't get those things out west). Martin was, of course, thrilled we went to Olde Tyme (why yes he is wearing an Olde Tyme Shirt and he does have his eyes closed. God Bless Him). It was funny - both him and Emily were groaning about the lunch rush and how they don't miss it (I believe Emily but Martin...I think he's sucked into the world of the restaurants. Trust me, it gets under your skin, and as much as you hate it you love it).

We then all went different ways: Emily drove back up to S'port, Jonah stayed home because he had bells/choir rehearsal on Sunday, and Mom, Martin, and I were off to Jackson. We drove up with Martin and back the next day with the Hesterly's.

It was Martin's last game! He played very well:After we all went eat at Five Guys which was
awesome huge burgers. They have a few out here in Cali - I'm pumped!!

Pizza Like No Other

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:06:00 +0000

Dad had to work but the rest of us still had to eat. After Martin yelled Olde Tyme (and the rest of us ignored him) we settled on Deano's Pizza! (Yum!) Not really realizing it was a Friday night, we drive over and had to wait: The wait was only 20 or so minutes, so not too bad.

We ordered the cheesebread (with jalps) and then a giant pizza to split with: “Tee Rex”/Cajun Executioner/Hawaii Five-O/Blackened Shrimp. It was all good!

As usual Deano's was freezing inside - it was cold outside too!

Thinking of You

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Domo-nation

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:02:00 +0000

So this isn't technically a HI AMY! sign - but it looked like you:

Love you! Domo says 'Rawr!'

Happy Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:43:00 +0000

We carved pumpkins this morning!Doug's is on the left (it's the Hatbox Ghost from the Haunted Mansion) and mine is to the right.Spooky!
Doug and I dressed up (with our pumpkins!) before going out for drinks: (the pumpkins didn't come out for drinks)
Happy Halloween! Thinking of you!

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:42:00 +0000

Although Halloween isn't until Saturday this was our last chance to go see all the festivities at Disneyland. We went to the petting zoo (I got to pet a goat and a sheep! and assure a little girl that the goat wouldn't "bite my fingers off". Apparently I look comfortable around the livestock, there were many employees around, she specifically asked me). There's a lady carving pumpkins in the petting zoo :
Inside the petting zoo corral there's a little house that's all decorated in turn of the century Halloween Decorations - I love them! And I made some poker playing friends:

We then went wait for Jack & Sally (who were LATE! but very talkative. They said they were going to see about making a special Halloween stop in Azerbaijan):

After a coffee break we went over to Disney's California Adventure to see Candy Corn Acres. Goofy was there!

He's waving HI!! (so is Doug)

Then, finally, the fireworks. A special guests flies over the castle about half way through the video (I thought you'd enjoy that)

Huntington Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:57:00 +0000

Before the harsh, harsh Southern California winter hits, we went to the beach one last time:

Doug's Birthday!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Happy Birthday Douglas!! We went to Disneyland for the day (he made his Birthday Button into a special combo HI AMY!/Birthday Button!):

We then went eat supper at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner - it's AWESOME and there's a huge chicken in the front! It was a good day.

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:54:00 +0000

JONAH BOY SAYS HI AMY .

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:51:00 +0000

EMILY'S DORM ROOM AND A BIG HI AMY

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:49:00 +0000

MARTIN'S DORM ROOM

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:47:00 +0000

Martin Yes he is s soph at Millsaps. Fresh off the pitch. Not much else changed however.

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:43:00 +0000

51 on 9-9-9 Lots of love AR

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Emily's 09-10 dorm room Hello Amy !!

noreply@blogger.com (Dad) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:34:00 +0000

Hi AMY from Jonah, DAD, Emily and MOM

NL West Champions!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:57:00 +0000

At the beginning of the season Doug and I bought a little mini-season pack of tickets. It was twelve games - and it just happened that the last one was the deciding game of the NL West (against the Rockies)! Super exciting! (even if Manny was on the team)

Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Doug loves Halloween. Looooves it. Like I love Christmas! We don't have big plans for Halloween, so we went to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat party. We got a big discount with our Annual Passes, so this was a great excuse to dress up in costume and get some candy and meet some characters that usually aren't out in the parks. We dressed up as a Film Noir couple - no specific name, just the idea.

We got to meet Jack Sparrow (who was exactly like the movie). He was really really fun to talk to - he asked what was the port in Azerbaijan is. When I said Baku he just looked kinda confused and noted that it was a little far from the Caribbean for him get to easily.He then proceeded to take the HI AMY! sign and say he was going to give it to you. I must have had some look in my eye, because he quickly gave it back. Still, he may be on his way - keep an eye out for him.

After watching the special little Halloween Parade we went to meet Lady Tremain and the Stepsisters (Anastasia & Drizella):They were super super excited to meet Doug and were flirting with him - and not so excited to meet me. Lady Tremain was somewhat miffed you didn't bother to make the trip to see her and expected her to pose for a picture.

A super fun evening. Happy Halloween!

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:20:00 +0000

It's the last full day of Monica's trip. :( We spent our second day in San Diego at the World Famous San Diego Zoo. I'm still amazed how huge the zoo is!

We saw the Elephants:

And a friendly turtle statue:

And camels! I love them! They're funny:

And Monica was a giraffe:

And I was an orangutan: Doug put the sign in my mouth, it wasn't my idea. And I couldn't reach it to pull it out.

After this we drove home exhausted. It's been an AWESOME trip and everyone is dead tired. Another successful vacation!

Old Town - SD Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:16:00 +0000

After Cabrillo we drove over to Old Town San Diego (kinda like Acadian Village) to "learn about life in the Mexican and early American periods of 1821 to 1872." It's kinda cheesy but really really fun! There was supposed to be a tour at 6pm, but of course that tour was canceled that day. So we just wondered about and did a self guided tour.

This little guy was in the main visitor center - I have no idea:

Hanging Laundry (and Mon's feet): Crates of Pandas, Incense, and HI AMY! (seriously, who ships pandas like that?):
Pretty backdrop by the restaurant where we ate. The food's good and cheap - Monica and I split a plate and were still stuffed:
Dia de los Muertos: She looks so happy! I love this imagery.

Finally, we went check into the hotel. There, in the lobby, was one of the greatest things I've ever seen (rivaling the Cozy Dogs).

May I present Sir Waffelot:
(it's way better if you hum Baby Got Back and fill in the words with breakfast items)(And why yes he does have a pat of butter for his nose. and that 'pat of butter' is a piece of Styrofoam with the bottom corner chipped off)

2009 Cabrillo Festival - SD Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Doug, Monica, and I went down to San Diego for the weekend. After our day at Disneyland yesterday, we took the morning easy and didn't get to Cabrillo National Monument until almost noon. After a quick lunch and looking at the little museum, we went up to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse:
We were there on the weekend of the 2009 Cabrillo Festival so there were reenactors!!! This guy was pumped about the whole HI AMY! project.He quite excitedly told us he was in the Peace Corps (of course, that made so much sense). He said he was stationed in Northern Africa. He wanted to know what unit you were in - but none of us knew what that meant so we ignored the question. He was SO EXCITED about this whole thing, yelled at the other reenactors for us to get a HI AMY! picture:The woman with us was really sweet. She said this was her first reenactor gig and was all nervous.

The Peace Corps dude was so excited he almost took off after Miss Cabrillo (the Festival Queen) to get a HI AMY! picture with her. Mon and I talked him out of it - I can't imagine many things would be more petrifying than him running down the hill, yelling, and flailing his sword about.

It was really fun - but we had to leave. Old Town San Diego was calling!