Flashback - Veteran's Day 2013 - In Honor of the Red White and Blue

I found a couple more events from 2013 and thought I would post this one since we are nearing another patriotic holiday.

These first photos were taken on what used to be Mather Air Force Base, now decommissioned. However the hospital was turned into a Veteran's Hospital and there is a wonderful plaza in front dedicated to our nation's veterans.

FUN FACT:  My daughter was born in this hospital when it was still an air base.

Veterans old and new were in attendance.

ROTC Color guard.

It's sad that the fear of terrorists both foreign and domestic requires us all to barricade facilities for fear of terrorist attacks like the one in Oklahoma City. But the barricade lends a striking presence in this photo.

Two "soldiers" from the Revolutionary War assisted in presenting the wreaths of honor.

After listening to the various speakers and music by the River City Concert Band, I headed downtown to the Veteran's Day Parade.  I always try to make as many events as possible on Veterans Day.  It seems that the crowds dwindle each year and I feel it's so important to show support for those who have fought for our country.  I was very happy to see a good turnout at the parade.

Those who know me know I'm a car lover.  And one of my favorites is the good ol' American...Chevy Corvette.  The parade featured quite a few of those bad boys.  Here are my favorites:

There was also a motorcycle club representing. Nice.

The firefighters were very popular as well.  In addition to the engines, some of the firefighters were walking the crowds giving away candy and hugs and taking photos with people when asked. 

There were food trucks present so I took the opportunity to get some food from the Drewski's Truck after the parade ended. 

A wonderful end to a wonderful day.  No matter what your feeling are on our government and/or war policy, the people who have served in our military should be respected and appreciated for their willingness to put themselves in danger.  Especially those who had little to no choice.  

As we draw closer to another birthday for our great country, I salute you and thank you.  Say what you will about America, but many, many people have benefited from living in this country.  Many, many people have come here and benefited.  Many, many more try to come here everyday.

Thanks to those who served our country and made it as strong as it became.  Hopefully we don't lose that. 

xoxo

Last 2013 Post! (Maybe!) ~Disneyland Mickey's Halloween Party~TFW

I think...  Maybe???  I just might have finished all of my 2013 photos.  Possibly...

~Shocked Face~

Here is the last installment from the fabulous University of Southern California Trojan Family Weekend (+ two days for us).  

On Thursday night, which was the only night that Adrienne didn't have a ton of homework, we headed down to Anaheim to go to Disneyland and Mickey's Halloween Party.  I really recommend this event.  For us, it was definitely more bang for the buck.  Here's how it worked:

For $56 per person (more this year and depends on the date you attend), you get free parking at Disneyland ($16 value then) and entrance into the main park (no California Adventure).  The actual event, during which the park is closed to everyone not having the special ticket/wristband, was from 6:00 - 11:00 p.m. I believe.  The event ticket allows you to enter the park up to 3 hours before the event without paying for the full day.  

So basically, you get one day (8 hours) with less people and free candy.  And Craisins. #WorthIt

Yes, I said free candy and Craisins.  There were trick-or-treat stations throughout the park where one would walk through a brief line and be given whatever goody that station had.  And there were two trick-or-treat paths with 6-8 stations.

And there are some Halloween-themed parades, etc., but I'm not sure if these are also during the regular hours. Have some parade photos.

 My boyfriend.  I'll let you think about that for now. 

There are no fast passes during the Halloween Party, but it's really not needed.  It was crowded...especially around the Haunted Mansion and Pirates rides.  But most of the other rides were less than 20 minutes wait.  

And the park looks sooooooo cool.  If you love Halloween, as I do, it is definitely a must-do. 

 Keep in mind that this was at 3:00 p.m. when the park was full of the regular peeps. 

We, as I stated previously, got there just before 3:00 which meant that we left L.A. as soon as Adrienne finished classes that day.  She pretty much had nothing to eat and neither did I.  In honor of her attending USC, I had planned something we hadn't done before and that was to eat at the Blue Bayou restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean.  

It was a fun experience although we didn't have the best table.  The food was delicious although a bit overpriced.  Upon review, I think it's worth it once in awhile for a special occasion IF you get a good table.  I don't regret it and we had a great time.

Food porn!

Adie had the salmon and I had beef.  Really big portions!  This is before...

And this is pretty much mine after.  To be honest, we forced ourselves to finish as much as we could because PRICE but it was hard.  

After eating, we proceeded to work off all that food by walking the entire park at least three times over the next several hours.  We rode every ride that was open at least once.  And most we did twice.  The only land we didn't fully hit was Fantasy Land and that was because I was overruled by my daughter.  haha

This is not a real elephant. 

But this is a real duck.  Cute!  He's standing on his own foot.  

Me and C3PO!!!  This is an actual C3PO that was in the Star Wars movies for those of you who didn't know. 

Magic Mountain is another must do.  It was creepy though!!  It's got ghosts and other things to scare you.  We rode that three times.  We were lucky because on our second ride, there was some issue with the people getting of the car ahead of us and it was taking too long.  So the ride operator just asked our car "Do you all want to go again?"  And luckily everyone cheered so she just put us through.  

They had these cool fog-pictures that were coming out of various crevices around the park.  I tried to get photos of them, but couldn't really get one to be clear.  This one was the closest.  And it's not clear.  It says Mickey's Halloween Party. Funny, you can see the projector in the photo, but I didn't even notice it when taking the picture. lol

This is one of the buildings in Frontierland with a spooky spider web on it. 

Back on Main Street!  This time after dark.  

(I wish these photos were better.  I didn't know about aperture 

and ISO etc. in 2013. haha) 

The longest line of the night, by far.  But definitely worth it!

Get ready for some Fireworks!!!  I like how these turned out. 

 Especially this one with the ghostly pirate ship.

 And this one with the not-quite-so-ghostly pirate ship!

And then we went back to the Haunted Mansion.  Because why not?

Then I saw my boyfriend again.  

We've been together for about 25 years, I am proud to say. 

#GirlsLikeBadBoysPirates

And then we finished out the night with the parade.  

 Boo!

 I TOTALLY did this on purpose!  Totally. 

Awww, good times!  Just one more word:  Go!

xoxo

I'm In a Bad Mood; Let's Post Some Photos. 2013 NCAA Women's Volleyball & Christmas at the Grove LA

Someone who shall remain nameless just upset me.  

So I am going to make myself feel better by watching the Athletics and Sharks on TV simultaneously and posting some old photos of volleyball and Christmas!

These are a few of my favorite things.  

Anyway...

In 2013, I went down to LA for a weekend and we wandered about the Grove for a bit.  The Christmas decor is always nice to see.  

It's a TopShop Christmas!

The streetcar and the Christmas tree

It's Santa!

Santa flying through the fountain below.  

In the middle of our Christmas wanderings, we noticed something weird was happening.

We were beginning to run into quite a few people who were a little strangely dressed.  

And a few people who were carrying various signs such as "Free Hugs".

It was a flash mob!  They sang and danced a little, but the main thing was the singing and hugging.  Oy vey!

And apparently one of the main organizers was this dude on the left.  I can't remember who he was now but he was a D list star of some sort.  Maybe MTV?  I don't know.   

I absolutely adore the guy in the glasses who photobombed me.  hahaha

After the singing was done, we made our way over to Sprinkles to buy some cupcakes as I like to do.  But holy moly!  The line was about 25 people.  No thanks.

So we made our way to the car and snagged this gorgeous landscape of the sun and downtown from the parking garage.

We had tickets for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.  And USC just happened to be playing that night!  Yay!  Fight on!

I will unashamedly say that I really love volleyball.  We've gone to college games for years...mainly Stanford, but I'm not allowed to talk about that anymore.  lol  I wish I was still playing and hope to someday get back to it before I'm too old.

But in the meantime, I will be a happy spectator.

Our seats were with a bunch of the visiting Washington parents.  Naturally the mascot had to come and say hi.  And naturally I was dressed in black and purple with purple nails.  #Isuck

We were kitty corner to the USC band and the USC Song Girls.

Let's get it on!  (MXC reference for the cool people)

Blockers up!  Oops.  I just noticed that I didn't keep the color for the middle blocker.  Being a middle blocker myself, I'm really insulted. :( And sorry.

These fans were having a good time.  It was a little cold to have painted-on shirts though. :-) #Dedicated #AndProbablyDrunk

Despite a valiant effort and some very good and looong rallies, the Trojans lost the match.  But not their spirit.  

Fun times.

xoxo