Vorst Family Trip to Disneyland + Julien-K at the Viper Room

This month my nine-month-old nephew got to experience his first trip to Disneyland with the entire Vorst clan. We also had some Vorst family cousins from Oregon join us on this trip. Their family has three kids aged nine to twelve and it was also their first Disneyland trip. Lots of firsts this time around. Because Kyle and I go so frequently, it's always fun to see new people experience it for the first time.

First night's dinner was at Rainforest Cafe with the whole clan. This is the menu sign displayed on both sides, but viewed from the side, the frog becomes a weird, conjoined thing. 

A cocktail from Trader Sam's called "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum." 

The first shop on Main Street is decked out to celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Haunted Mansion, which is my personal favorite ride at the park. :) You bet we  bought lots of merch this trip!

The castle is decked out to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the park, but sadly, we visited just a month early of all the 60th celebrations and festivities beginning. :( But Kyle and I will be back in October, so we're not too concerned. We'll see it all then!

This bird made me laugh. He's just chilling there in all those daisies.

One of the Oregonian cousins. We're on the tea cups ride. 

SOOOO much tasty stuff!

Jack Skellington and Olaf candied apples!

Cinderella carriage candied apples.

My little nephew sleeping on his first big day at the park.

The whole clan group photo in front of the castle. We all had matching "Disney Family Trip 2015" shirts on. At least me and Kyle got to make our black. 

Kyle and his younger sister Kacy on Autopia which broke down and trapped them on it for about a half hour. They're the ones in the second yellow car waving. Oregonian cousins are in the car in front of them. 

Kyle is not paying attention.

Siblings.

The first two rows are my sisters-in-law and the Oregonian cousins and me and Kyle are in the back.

At the end of the day waiting in line for one more ride. If you can't tell, my hair has been through the ringer.

Cousins and sisters-in-law about to get on the rocket ship ride for kids. Believe it or not, it was my first time on that ride and it actually goes pretty fast!

Kacy, Kyle, and me at Trader Sams.

This was our first day at the park at the very beginning of the day so we're full of energy. Notice Kacy photo bombing in the back. 

Side view of the castle's decorations for the 60th.

Tea cups! Kyle always skips this ride because the spinning makes him sick.

Behind Big Thunder there's a lake and a cave.

Kyle and Kacy on Autopia when they got stuck. 

Nephew Nathan and his grandma.

Me, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law holding nephew, and my father-in-law. We were all waiting for everyone to get off Autopia because the ride got stuck.

On the Rockets.

Second day of the trip at CA Adventure. Kyle almost got a shot of me with no one else in it. 

My sisters-in-law and nephew meeting Elsa and Anna.

My sister-in-law Korie and I on the Toy Story Midway Mania ride.

Haunted Mansion ride crispy treat. It was delicious.

All that Haunted Mansion merch! 

More Haunted Mansion stuff.

More Haunted Mansion merch. I could've bought the entire store! It was all so neat!

After all the family Disney stuff was over with, Kyle and I checked into a nice hotel in West Hollywood. It was fairly close to the Viper Room, which is where we went to the Julien-K album release party.

Kyle and I have been to a lot of concerts at lots of different venues, including The Roxy, The Nokia Theater, and The House of Blues in L.A. area, but surprisingly not the Viper Room. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it indeed is pretty much A ROOM with two bars and an amazing sound system. Great place to see small bands or even larger bands in an intimate setting. 

Before heading to Hollywood, we grabbed food at The Gypsy Den, which is one of several restaurants Ryan of Julien-K owns. Last time we saw Julien-K we also went to the same restaurant, but at a different location. This is what I ordered for lunch - pita and hummus. 

We walked by this cool cake place on our way to dinner before the Julien-K show.

The Viper Room bathroom. I'm a dork and I took a photo of it.

The El Capitan was all decked out for the release of "The Avengers" movie. We thought about seeing it there, but decided against it because we wanted to see it with friends back home.

My favorite, Tom Hanks. :)

We briefly met up with my sister-in-law and her fiancé Jordan for lunch a brief visit to the Chinese Theater with all the hand prints. Typical (but still fun) tourist things.

That's Kyle's hand in John Goodman's print. He has huge hands!

Interesting to walk by the Scientology building to be handed a movie screening leaflet and see all the books in the various languages. Interesting to note that most religions will GIVE you their printing of the Bible for free, but you have to buy L. Ron Hubbard's literature (at least, that's my assumption).

It was a fun week-long getaway, but we were very happy to get home to our kitties!

Xmas in Florida

My dad's side of my family lives part of the year in Florida and part of the year in California. They've also got some property in Hawaii that will have homes built on it in the future, so I travel a lot to see my Dad and siblings. My older sister lives in West Palm Beach with her wife and my dad, my stepmom, and my two young siblings live about 25 minutes from my sister in Jupiter on a large property that has been dubbed "Millerville" (my maiden name is Miller).

Kyle and I travelled for about seven hours to reach the Fort Lauderdale airport with one connecting flight in Texas. Traveling all day sure is tiresome and although we arrived at a reasonable hour (5 p.m.) and CA time is three hours earlier, it felt like midnight. My sister Amber picked us up from the airport and we grabbed some quick sushi for dinner.

Kyle really liked Cyrus because you can hold him like a cat because he's so small. I'm slowly wearing Kyle down and convincing him we need a small dog. Cyrus helped. 

After dinner we headed back to Amber's for dinner and I met her new dog Xintro. He's a lanky Weimaraner and he lives with their other dog, who is a miniature pinscher named Cyrus. We got caught up on "American Horror Story Freak Show" (sorta!) because Amber has cable and On Demand services which we do not. Sadly we only watched three episodes because we all fell asleep.

The next day Amber had to go to work so she dropped us off at Dad's. First thing was the kids showing us all their toys and outdoor stuff. I have a baby brother, Lucas, who is three, and a little sister, Nikki, who is almost ten. Both have so much energy that they are quite a handful for me and Kyle who obviously don't have kids for a reason. Dad also picked us up a bunch of groceries because Kyle's so stick thin that everyone just wants to feed him when they see him. It had been four years since Kyle had been to see my family in Florida - usually they just see him when they come to California during the summer.

Nikki showed Kyle her pet bird Kiwi, who is a little green love bird. Later we all went to see the new movie "Annie" with Jamie Fox. It's of course not something Kyle and I would see on our own, but with the kids, it was fun. Nikki laughed at all the jokes and now I understand why people like taking kids of a reasonable age to the theater. It's fun to watch them enjoy the movie even if you personally are not digging the film.

Everyone piled into the back seat. 

Nikki playing with Kiwi and all of Kiwi's toys. The bird just walks around the house and sits on people. It can bite, but for the most part is pretty friendly.

Cute little Kiwi.

The movie theater was in a promenade that had pretty Christmas lights with mini light shows, so the kids had a blast running around and playing with the other kids who were doing the same. It was entertaining to watch them wear themselves out while we waited for our table at the nearby Cheesecake Factory.

Nikki & Lucas posing for a photo.

Lucas is clearly wondering when the photo shoot will be over.

I had a pear martini at the Cheesecake Factory. Delicious.

The kids chowing down.

The next day the kids went to a play of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," so Kyle and I explored the shopping district that was just down the street. Later we ate dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with water fountains that the kids loved running through. The shopping plaza also had a "snow show" where Christmas music played and fake snow came out of the high trees and buildings. Nikki and Lucas loved that.

Nikki and Lucas at the fountains.

The restaurant had chocolate lava cake for dessert. 

Dad bought the kids light up swords during the snow show.

The Christmas tree in the plaza.

This make me laugh because kids are weird. Nikki says she doesn't even remember why she wrote that there.

The tree this year was a very lean-y tree. Haha.

Lucas in his skeleton PJs. I love this picture. Hard to believe this is my brother. There's 25 years of age difference between us.

The next day was Christmas Eve and my stepmom's birthday. We started they day off with a haircut for Nikki and a tour of the property. My dad is constantly planting trees and he loves his trees so much, so his favorite part of us coming to visit is the tour of the property.

Nikki getting a trim and Dad watching in the background.

There are wild lizards running all around the property. I believe this is a common anole in its brown coloration. They're green when they're near green plants.

Dad cutting down some bananas. They can't leave them on the tree because critters will eat them.

Dad transferring the bananas.

Nikki playing with the leftover banana stalk. Kyle jut observing. Kids are fascinating to watch.

Nikki showing us her pet tortoise.

A toad we saw while Dad was giving us the tour. 

Lucas picking up the toad.

Dad getting ready to chop down some fruit.

Lucas showing me the toad he grabbed. 

One of the many fruit trees on the property. I know Dad grows avocados, 16 kinds of mangos, jack fruit,  bananas, star fruit, and so many more.

Nikki and Lucas feeding Misty the turtle who lives in the backyard pond.

View of the backyard pond. It was there when Dad bought the property and he will have it landscaped one day after the house is built. 

View of some of the old trees on the property.

Kyle, Dad, Nikki, and Lucas at the pond waiting for Misty the turtle.

Misty the turtle!

Nikki feeds Misty old bread and things. Weird because I thought turtles ate fish. 

Misty, who is not a captive or domestic turtle, eating from Nikki' hand.

One last shot of Misty.

Later on Christmas Eve we met Amber at a fancy new restaurant and ate a bunch of sushi and Thai food. Afterwards we all met up at Dad's again and opened Christmas gifts.

Nikki drinking a small glass of wine before we headed to the restaurant. Her mom is European and it's very normal for children to have small amounts of wine with or around dinner time. Clearly Nikki enjoys it!

Fancy rolls I got for dinner with crab on top.

More fancy sushi rolls.

Lucas got some lumps of coal in his stocking! He's been bad at times and is at the age where he's testing how far he can push things. 

Amber, Dad, and myself. Amber looks like my dad and I look like my mom.

My eyes are half closed because my Dad shakes us and squeezes us when he gets to hug us so I was laughing. 

Dad, my stepmom Jane, Lucas, and Nikki. Now you see where Lucas gets his blonde hair! 

Me and Kyle. 

An adorable one of Nikki and Lucas. 

Me and Kyle all washed out. And not much makeup because we were on vacation and in Florida where it's always warm and muggy, there's no point.

We traveled all day Christmas day so it was an odd way to spend the holiday. The Florida airport wasn't busy at all, but the airport in Phoenix, AZ where we had our layover was so crowded there weren't enough seats in the waiting area so we had to stand. Crazy. Thankfully we made it home safely and our kitties were happy to see us.

Until next time!