Land to the D

Here are a couple of pics from that crazy week of my RS Activity/Disneyland/MtBiking hills of DEATH and so forth (yes, I will milk that trail title while I can).
And yet, is Disneyland much different than nearly escaping death? I do believe we can have a similar comparison on the matter. The crowds, the saccarine marketing, the fried food, the lines...they should sell oxygen masks with the Churros.

First off, the RS Activity grub. How about them cupcakes? My great presidency baked the recipe from scratch (I don't like cake mixes and they we so supportive- what gals!) and I frosted w/ homemade buttercream. I was supposed to contribute chocolate ones but they, ah... were awful. It's true. I modified the vanilla recipe for Lemon by having them add zest to the cake batter (and I added zest and fresh lemon juice to the frosting) which worked great. SOOO fresh and lemony. I recommend if that's your gig.
Now- Disneyland!
The great new things we did this go-around were:
*Go on tons of rides. Man, going mid week in Spring is a good way to spoil other trips. We probably didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes for ANY ride.
*Meet up with friends who happened to be there the same day which made (little) line waits more fun and humiliation more extreme while squeeling like little girls on CA Screamin' (Totally Scott.... OK, and me.).
*Ate at the "Pirates of the Caribbean restuarant, you know the one you pass by on the ride?" Yes, that is the title of the place. But now you know to where I am referring. Last time we tried to go I got this stink eye look and was told reservations are made weeks in advance. This time we tried it right before lunch and got in. Take that, Ms. Stink eye. In all my years I have never been there. It was fun to have that curiosity cured.
*And the best for last. We all, the entire family, did the Tower of Terror ride. None of us knowing what was in store. The kids kept asking us if everything was going to be okay... if the ride was scary... were there monsters?... which we dismissed because we didn't know. So here's to finding out! The funniest thing is we were all put on the FRONT row. As we put on our seatbelts, Luke, sensing that we were on the verge of something fearful cries from his end of the row with a face of worry, "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!". It was so funny (and cute, of course). It was really fun and Sadie liked it most of all. I wanted to curl into a fetal position and laugh at the same time. Kinda weird. The coolest thing though was going on an all-new ride. Do you remember that feeling as a kid?