DISNEYLAND!!! (oh and graduation)

so when seth graduated, i wanted to do something fun to celebrate. although he didn’t feel like graduation was a very big deal, janae looooooooves finding things to celebrate, so i planned a trip to our very favorite place: DISNEYLAND!!!

many of you already know that our relationship (or at least the final stages) was a long distance one.  i was in los angeles and he was finishing his computer science degree at BYU.  we only had one weekend a month to spend with each other – which usually meant he came to the city of angels (because utah is not fun.)

having season passes, we spent much of our courting time in the magic kingdom. we sort of joke that at one point in time, half our dates had been to disneyland.  truth be told, that probably 

wasn’t too far from the truth. my first trip to disneyland was only in the summer of 2009, so most of my disney experience has been shared with hubby.   we have a running joke of calling significant places in our relationship “our special place” (thanks to a very funny story told once by my boss in los angeles). the ghetto apartment complex where seth lived when we first met; the domino’s pizza we ate the first time we met; DISNEYLAND. disneyland is our special place.  so, naturally, for Christmas, we bought season passes once again, so the magic wouldn’t end in 2011. 

we spent 4 sun-filled days at disneyland and disney’s california adventure, with momma rogers and family coming to join us on the last day of our trip.  We stayed at a hotel that is suuuuuuuuuuuper cheap.  i didn’t want this trip to count as our REAL vacation (i plan on big vacations – costa rica, hawaii, etc. – disneyland is just a weekend get-away.)  i was a little concerned about how dirty this hotel might be.  i even brought our own sheet, just in case.

Picture of the pool - found online

it wasn’t bad at ALL!  we will seriously stay here any time we go for these weekend trips.  clean (albeit a little old), HUGE swimming pool.  i really felt i had nothing to complain about here.  and it was close to the park, so we went back to the hotel for an afternoon swim or rest (usually both ;)) every day.  it was a good pick. and saved us loads of $$! For what I would guess most people spend on one night a lot of places – we paid for all three nights.  what a deal.

we usually go to disneyland with others (my parents came once, his mom comes with us often) and it was nice to be there together for a change.  BUT. by the third day (when his mom came into town) WE WERE SO BURNT OUT that we were glad some fresh blood had come.  this way, our last day had some renewed vigor and we were our happy little disney-selves :)

all this happened to celebrate seth's graduation, so here are some pictures from that day:

this has to be the cutest picture ever of a graduate.
dont i have the cutest hubby???

seth with his grandfather

seth with his parents 

seth and janae

seth’s parents and grandfather came up from arizona to celebrate with us and be there to see him graduate.  momma rogers went with us to the mall one day and talked us both into buying Keen’s for our disney adventures.  most people who know me know i have a rather strong affinity for shoes and its like pulling teeth to get me into an athletic pair.  i like cute sandals, ultra high stilettos, fun wedges. running shoes are definitely not my thing (i have a hard time spending $100 on a pair of shoes i will ONLY wear to the gym). so uber outdoorsy shoes, like keens are so beyond what i can rationalize myself into buying.  they are not hideous or anything – but i feel like such a dork in them and really out of my element.  anyway – momma rogers is a good convincer (although it probably took her an hour and a few walks around the mall to do it) and seth and i both bought a pair. 

my feet still hurt a lot after 4 days at disney – and i relished the time i spent soaking them in our pool – but all in all – i think they were a good purchase.  and they’ll be fun to have on some of our other adventures to come (like hiking through the rainforest in costa rica!)

see more pictures of our california adventures here, where seth forgets what letter he's supposed to do on  our  my favorite ride ever.

and in particular here, where my artistic abilities are clearly expanding due to disney's animation studios.

LOTS more updates to come.  just wanted to post some of these pix – i hate how bad i am at blogging.

xx