disneyland 1, disneyworld 0

**i've had this post on hold since June 1st waiting for some palm springs pics but i just don't have them yet so i'll post those pics later...**

42% of the month of May was spend outside of Utah. It just so happened that 3 of my trips fell one right after the other. I started out in Palm Springs, CA with 5 of my girlfriends. It basically was sleep in, lay out, eat, lay out, get Golden Spoon, shower, eat, go to bed. Repeat. We did manage to work out once or twice, go to the Living Desert Zoo and sneak in a hot air balloon ride. It was a great time with great gals.

Then came Orlando with the family. Les has been working on her company's convention for the last few years and it finally went down the first part of May in Orlando and she decided to make it a familiy vaca as well. We stayed at the lovely Gaylord Palms resort and had a great room. Phil, Marilyn, Emily, me, Les, Matt, M, John and Linda (matt's parents) were all there. The boys golfed a lot and the ladies watched the kid. We went to the Kennedy Space Center and saw the shuttle out on the launch pad the day before it launched. (we caught a few seconds of it the next day in the sky--if you blinked you missed it). We attempted Disneyworld (a first for all the Johnsons) but it was so unbearably hot (96 degrees)that the happiest place on earth quickly became the most miserable place on earth. But not before we managed to ride Splash Mountain and the Thunder Mountain Railroad, essential for a first time goer.

i caught phil catching up with the latest US

Kennedy Space Center-Cape Canaveral

future NASA employees

it was 96 degrees and we were done but had to do one more family photo

i love this. little m and p

the whole gang at Disneyworld

m's red face--he was a little tomato by mid-afternoon

splash mountain!

pool time at the hotel

Then round 2 with Disney (PS In all my 29 and 1/2 years, I have NEVER been to either Disneyworld or Disneyland but in a matter of just 2 weeks, i went coast to coast and managed to hit them both) I headed out to California with my friends Jenny and Holly to celebrate Jen's 30th birthday. Jenny and Holly were my closest friends growing up in Texas and two of the few I still keep in touch with. We went and saw Dirty Dancing the Musical and it was awesome. Followed the movie almost to a T-costumes, lines, story, etc... Everyone cheered for "Nobody puts Baby in a Corner". It was great. Disneyland was fantastic and we couldn't get enough-spent nearly 17 hours there over a couple of days. Since the weather was downright pleasant, it was hard to stay away and for a few brief moments, it truly was the happiest place on earth. Space Mountain is officially my favorite ride. (we had the camera on day 1 and didn't take any pics, then day 2, the camera's battery was dead--such a rookie mistake. we went back on day 2 for the fireworks and few last rides and finally had a working camera)

i couldn't help myself--me and the giant N in CALIFORNIA

the goal was to make a ridiculous face when the camera went off. i won.

best. ride. ever.

the tea cups--the pic looks like how you feel when it's over

Cinderella's castle before the fireworks

no words needed

i first saw the movie with jenny when we were 11. 19 years later and we still love it :)

this random dive we ate at before the show-it was excellent

jenny being sly with the camera

happy 30th birhday jen! we sure love ya

I'm headed to Lake Powell this weekend and after that, I should be done for a while. pfew. I'm not complaining about fun trips but for an old lady like me, a weekend at home sounds pretty nice....

P.S-Lake Powell has now come and gone and is a story for another day. Coming up: what i think about the Bachelorette and the Wasatch Back Relay (I am seriously out of my mind)