So where was I? Ah yes, our respite from the parks. We made our way back to the hotel and decided to take a quick drive to the nearby Target to pick up some necessities (water, etc). Nothing really to remark on except for being blasted by an unexpected windstorm that had shopping carts whizzing all over the parking lot at 25MPH
.
After resting a bit we decided to make our way over to California Adventure. We started our walk and MAN was it hot. It was high over 100 now and I was starting to have a problem. I am prone to heat strokes and actually suffered a mild one while at Disney World visiting my grandmother (did I ever mention my grandmother was the VIP babysitter for Disney World for over a decade?) one summer. So, I have to be very careful. Once we entered the park we immediately went into a store to escape the heat, drink some water etc. This was definitely the worst day of the heat. It was actually a little scary.
However, we started having fun and joking around and in no time I was feeling like myself. Apparently so was Jay.
I even pretended to be a thug.
You know how I get down.
I actually ended up purchasing this hat to help with blocking the sun and we decided to make our way over to the Animation Academy. The Animation Academy is essentially the same as the one in MGM except it's bigger and nicer inside with more hands on activities. This ended up being one of my favorite attractions at the land.
There's little screens set up to take your picture with backgrounds that look really cool!
Then we made our way over to the hands on activities. There were the same sing a longs with Ursula and test your personality but there were also areas showcasing how animation works which were really quite fun. This area was decorated very elaborately which added to the experience. Jay really loves taking pictures, I swear.
We took personality tests and I ended up being most like Cinderbunni (surprise surprise
) and Jay was Hades which is fitting
Apparently he didn't agree.
We proceeded to test out our acting and singing playing the mad hatter. Jay fancies himself the perfect Mad Hatter and would like to quit his financial career to become the character. He's actually pretty good though, all kidding aside. Jeremy good being mad. Nooooo.
We went to Turtle Talk and ended up ducking out early. We always do, I don't know why we go. It's really much more for children.
Once exiting the heat had calmed down so we took it easy walking through the vineyard area and I decided to try a wine from the Napa Valley.
Why is it that I look so much happier every time I have a cocktail?
We took our time here and strolled along checking out the various theming. We went over to bug's land checking out all the spectacle.
We rode Heimlich's chew chew train and the little bug bumper cars and called it a day. It was time to head back to the hotel and change for dinner.
Once returning to the hotel we started getting ready for our spiffy evening at the Napa Rose. The Napa Rose is the
Disneyland equivalent of a signature restaurant at Disney World. It is in the Grand Californian hotel which is a less impressive version of the Wilderness Lodge, although it's nice in it's own charm, it just seems a bit older.
I turned on my flat iron and it didn't turn on. Hm. That was weird. Turned it on again, nothing. God D*mnit!!!
What you don't realize looking at my pictures is I actually have very thick and curly hair that takes an hour and a half to straighten. And I have a flat iron that salons use. This wasn't good.
ME Honey, my flat iron just broke
Jay What? You've got to be kidding me
ME No, definitely not we have to go get one
JAY Too damn bad Kate, we don't have time and it isn't necessary
ME ::in my super sad voice:::: But Jayyyyyyy
JAY Absolutely not!
45 minutes later we find ourselves in the car looking for Orange Street.
ME Why don't we just call the hotel and ask where orange street is
JAY It's got to be here somewhere
....Silence followed by stunned horror....
The "block" at orange was a mall. This wasn't an ordinary mall. This was a mall from every bad CA show I've ever seen. I half expected the characters of the OC to start parading around.
Let's just say this wasn't our thing. When looking back on LA I always thought it would be very similar to NY. I WAS WRONG! It was like NY'rs on drugs (no offense goofster). Everyone's happy and smiling and there's skating parks and so many people are blond and have plastic surgery work. Very different! In NY no one has time to be happy and meander- we have places to go, things to do. This obviously wasn't working. Apples and Oranges.
Anyway, we made our way over to the beauty shop and picked up my flat iron. $200! At home it was practically half that. Ugh. That hurts.
We brought my savings bond over to the counter and proceeded to pay with one of our visa gift checks and pay the remaining balance with cash.
The sales girl blankly stared at us.
....."like what?"
This wasn't going to go over well.
She assisted the assistance of her co-worker
"like oh my god they want to pay using this weird thing and like what do I like do" scratching hair and biting lower lip.
45 MINUTES LATER WE LEFT THE STORE.
We won't be returning to the block at orange.
Anyway we made our way over to our dinner reservation at the Grand Californian and valeted the car (free if you're eating dinner- nice). The inside of the hotel was very nice, I won't say that it isn't. However, somehow it lacks the grandeur of the Wilderness Lodge.
We checked in and were able to be seated immediately which was a definite plus. We were immediately given an assortment of breads which were very good. We decided to split an appetizer which was some kind of seafood crepe which was very good.
For dinner we had steaks which were good but this restaurant wasn't really romantic. It was more California Grill than Artist Point which we were hoping would be the equivalent. For dessert I had a berry wine which I ended up being allergic to and Jeremy had port which was really good.
The berry wine wasn't sitting well. I felt very funny and suddenly had extreme nausea which isn't typical of me drinking. I drink quite often and certainly am aware of my limits but this was something different. When I was a child my parents took an entire watermelon and juiced it and I literally drank the entire watermelon which resulted in me having hives all over my body, while normally I can eat watermelon. I think this was the same effect. Regardless, thankfully it wasn't anything a good sleep couldn't cure..OR WOULD IT.
UP NEXT: The effects of the wine from hell.
I love all your pictures! Considering how tired you and Jeremy were it didn't show on your faces, you guys look great! I feel bad that the weather was so hot! I am sending you good vibes for luck with the job!
HA HA HA More Disney!! 
Here's to many, many happy years together!
