Australian Invasion: Phoebe & Liam's Visit Part 4...

Phoebe and Liam were on their own for a day while Aaron and I both had to work... so they kept themselves occupied walking to the vintage shops a few miles away from our house. Then that night Elisabeth joined us for dinner at LoLo's Chicken and Waffles! Another true American dining experience of pure southern cooking. Phoebe and Liam couldn't get over Koolaid in a mason jar and having chicken with waffles and syrup. It would seem their trip to the States was all about food and dining out at delicious restaurants that you won't find in Australia!

... again, no pictures :(

BUT the next day I went to work for a half day, came home and we loaded up the car for DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!! This was the best of the best part of their trip and what everything was leading to in my mind! Phoebe had been with me to Paris Disneyland and even when we were there I was trying to explain to her the magic of the original Disneyland. Now that both of us have been to two Disneyland parks together (and I have been to Disney World) the only next step would be to meet around the world at all the Disney parks! YAY! hahaha! I told her that if she and Liam ever got married, I would meet her for a bachelorette party in Japan or China at one of those Disneylands.

Let me back up however... during the time that I was at work Phoebe and Liam were able to participate in another awesome Arizona/American pastime... shooting random stuff in the middle of the desert! Tyler and Jess took them out with a bunch of Tyler's guns, some old TVs and other random stuff they found laying around the desert and had them go to town on shooting! Phoebe and Liam took tons of videos and these pictures! They couldn't get over how awesome it was!

pics

Our journey started right on time when Aaron walked through the door, we loaded up and hit the road! Oh wait, first I'll give a shout out to my mom who got Phoebe and Liam an adorable sign for their home... "Welcome to our watering hole". They opened the gift right as we were leaving.

Thanks mom!!

Along the way to Disneyland we of course took advantage of the desolate desert and did a bit of Dance Video filming! Below is a picture of Phoebe and I between takes waiting for the sun to come out.

 It was so fun for us to have Liam and Aaron there to get to see the process of film making! A lot of standing around waiting for people to clear out of the sun to come out or a whole multitude of other things.

Of course along the way we had to stop at the famous In & Out Burger in Indio, California. Until In & Out came to Arizona year ago, we would always have to stop at this place on the way to Disneyland to eat their awesome burgers! Phoebe and Liam had heard about In & Out from another friend and so they were excited to try it!

Of course we got Phoebe a hat :)

We got to the hotel late and quickly fell asleep to prepare for the big day at the park!


We woke up bright and early and ready for the day the next morning... in fact we were a little too ready, because we were early to the park! We walked up and down Downtown Disney to pass time and get Aaron from coffee... Phoebe and Liam were going to die of excitement being so close and yet so far from being inside the park

Finally we got them their tickets and headed into the land of "Yesterday, Today and Fantasy!"

Liam is more excited than he looked

It was a gorgeous day... colder than this picture lets on, but we took our coats off for the photo

looking cool

It was such a magical day! The lines were awesome, we mastered the park in great time and of course enjoyed the general splendor and magic of Disney

Morning Churro... and popcorn

Mad Hatters Hat shop

Tarzan's Tree House

Alice's House

Winnie the Pooh!

Haunted Mansion

Meeting the big man himself!

Spinning in a stationary tea cup

Storybook Boat ride just Aaron and I

The seedy underbelly and back allies of Roger Rabbit

Toon Town jail

Liam looks so prim and proper as Phoebe drives around the streets of Toon Town

Happy Disney Birthday Liam!

Happy to be in Disneyland!

It was a full first day and we finished it off with the hot tub at our hotel... well sort of. Our hot tub was full of high school and Jr high kids... so we snuck into the neighboring hotel to use their hot tub. Awesome!

The next day was rainy! :( I was so glad the morning of the second day that we were there for 3 days, because rides were clothing left and right because of rain and hail!

We tried to find rest in the Bugs Life 3D show, but it had technical difficulties and they kicked us out into the rain again... needless to say there were little pictures from the second day. We did get some awesome ride pictures though!

Zombie attack on Space Mountain... I have no idea what the lady in the front is doing....

Radiator Springs Racers on a rare sunny moment

Zombie attack on Radiator Springs Racers

Ninja Phoebe

Toy Story!

... and they lived happily ever after, indeed.

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree!

Luigi's Flying Tires

The day was frigidly cold but we stuck it out to see World of Color and then the fire works on Main Street in Disneyland. Because of the rain, a ton of people went home and so the park was nearly empty by night time! Of course I cried at the fireworks :)


Last day in the park and last full day together...

Phoebe and Liam left earlier than Aaron and I to get into the park and ride all the rides they wanted to over again! Mainly Star Tours, which Aaron and I won't ride because it makes us nauseous... We checked out of the hotel, and then had over 2 hours in the park with just the two of us... we did one of our favorite things, which was to walk around and sit on main street and just hang out and people watch. We also got in a few of the lesser Fantasyland rides Aaron had not ridden yet at all... like the Carousel and Casey Jr.'s train.

YAY Carousel!

As soon as we got on the Carousel, Wendy from Peter Pan walked out and stood near the sword in the stone for people to get pictures with her... I couldn't enjoy the ride on the carousel cause I was so worried I would miss Wendy! (I'm a huge Peter Pan fan if you didn't know).

Luckily I caught her right before she left. She asked if I was a Mermaid because of my red hair and if I was a nice Mermaid like Ariel or a mean Mermaid like the ones in Neverland... gosh I love her!

Aaron also of course got to spend time at one of his favorite Disneyland spots - the Shooting Exposition

We met up with Phoebe and Liam and headed over to California Adventure for a few last rides, but the parks had become so incredibly busy (probably making up for the people that left early cause of the rain the day before), so we were pretty done after lunch time.

We left the park, bought a few last souvenirs in Downtown Disney and then headed to Newport Beach to see the Pacific Ocean! Phoebe and Liam had never seen the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, and so that was a treat to watch it with them and honor our last night together in America!

Newport Beach Pier

So sad our friends are leaving!

Just doing what I do... chasing birds.

Sun setting over the water

We grabbed dinner at Bear Flag, one of Aaron and my favorite seafood restaurants! Great food and great conversation! Then we headed for our hotel near LAX. Phoebe and Liam were flying out the next morning for San Francisco and Aaron and I would drive home to Phoenix.
We got to our hotel and discovered that the power had gone out and may not be fully functioning for another 4 hours... this resulted in us cancelling our booking and cold calling near by hotels until we found one! haha... quite an adventure. We got a room at a Marriott Courtyard and slept easy that night.

The next morning was so painful :( Saying goodbye to Phoebe and Liam was so hard! We had talked throughout their visit about all the places we could meet up in the future... but who knows when that will happen so it is always hard to say goodbye. We did the whole hugging and crying by the car... alright that was mainly Phoebe and I... and then we did the whole waiving as Aaron and I drove away until we were truly out of sight... I miss them so much and my house feels so empty without them! I can't believe what a fun fill time we had with them! I can't believe Phoebe was in my house, in my state, in my country! I can't WAIT till we meet again somewhere around the world!!!

Options are:
Thailand
Japan
New Zealand
or somewhere in Europe again

Either way, it was an ABSOLUTE BLAST and we have memories to spare from their time here!