3rd Annual Pilgrimage to Disneyland

Thanks to Jaclyn and her Dad's family, I have become a Disney enthusist. It all started three years ago, just after we got engaged. Jaclyn's family has always been Disney fannatics and they invited me to go with them as the newest member of their fan club, which I couldn't decline. Each year since then, Jaclyn's family has invited us back. This year was special because it was Austin's first year and the last year the whole family would go together.

We were a little worried this year would get out of hand because there would be 12 of us there: Lee and Jenny, Marcus and Jenn, Michelle and Jared, Michael and his girlfriend Soretta, Alicia, and our family. Traditionally, we stay together in one big group, but as the group was pretty big this year, sticking together was going to be hard. In addition, we found out we couldn't even wait in line with Austin since the waiting in line would be "too loud" for him. Whatever! ;(

All that aside, we had a great time. The weather was less than perfect--overcast and rainy. We almost much stayed dry except for a rainstorm on Saturday afternoon. Austin was protected from the weather because on Thursday night on the road to Vegas, we stopped at the Mesquite Wal-mart and bought a Snugli. It's a pack that you can carry on the front or back-pack style. It was a great solution for Austin because we didn't have to bring a stroller and he could face out and watch what was going on. He is really a people watcher. He was so good the whole trip and especially the first day. He just sat in his Snugli so relaxed and warm. We had to buy him a hat because it was so cold and we didn't think to bring one, but we didn't mind because he looked so cute in it.

We managed to ride on all our favorite rides: Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribbean, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Finding Nemo Submarine Ride, Tower of Terror, California Screamin' Roller Coaster, Bug's Life, and Monster's Lost in Monstropolous. We also met Mickey in Toon Town and got our picture with him. Too bad the line was so long, Austin was falling asleep. ;)

We worked out a system for maximizing our rides. Since we couldn't wait in line with Austin, two people would hang back and then use a "baby fast pass" to go right after the big group got off. We didn't get to ride quite as many rides, but we still had a lot of fun. We had a lot of people stop and comment on how cute Austin was, which made the whole trip better. One time, as Austin was having a fit and screaming (yes, he actually screams), a ten-year-old boy came up to Jaclyn and said, "Wow, he is so cute." That made our day.

After two full days of Disneyland and California Adventure, we made the trek home. We hit some inclimate weather in Cedar City and Southern Utah, but made it home safely about 10:30 pm Sunday night. Alicia had school the next day and I had work, but we made it. With all that went on, we still want you to know, if anybody needs a guide to Disneyland or just some extra friends, we would always be willing. ;)

In other news, I got a nasty cold that put me out for two days before our trip and I have a persistent cough. I managed to keep most of it away from Jaclyn and Austin, but they have a cough and a sore throat.

I have been given a semi-promotion at work too, in other words, a promotion with training wheels. I am now an Account Manager managing 3 positions from end-to-end. So basically, I have to find the resumes, talk to the candidates on the phone, as well as coordinate with the hiring managers at our clients to make sure they are interviewing their ideal type of candidates. If I do well with these three, then I've been told, I will be given another pay raise and some more jobs to manage. I was a little nervous, but am doing better after a few days. I had a mini victory on Friday convincing a candidate that salary isn't everything in a job.

That's about it from my end. Jaclyn has updated her blog as well, so don't forget to jump to her blog and get her side of the story. TTYL.