2013 Disneyland Health and Fitness Expo

It's race weekend at Disneyland! The 8th annual Disneyland Half Marathon is coming up on Sunday!
Before I can run though, I have to head to the Disneyland Health and Fitness Expo and pick up my race packet. The expo started on Friday morning, where most of the 5k and 10k runner who were running on Saturday picked up their packets.
From a friend, I heard it was a madhouse with huge lines for everything, a super crowded exhibit hall, and hour long waits for the official merchandise booth.

John Williams conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl

Way back on April 1st I invited a bunch of friends to join Theresa and I at the Hollywood Bowl to watch John Williams: Maestro of the Movies conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Theresa and I have been coming to see John Williams perform at the Hollywood Bowl since 2005, so it's our 8th time seeing him! It's pretty much an annual tradition for us.
Seven of our friends decided to join us and when tickets went on sale at the beginning of May, I was quick to buy them.

Celebrating my 33rd birthday at Club 33

Hold on. Didn't I already celebrate my 33rd birthday at Disneyland already? Yes, yes I did, and you read all about it here. But... thanks to a very generous move by a Club 33 member, they offered to make a reservation for me and a bunch of my friends to celebrate!

Manhattan Beach AVP

The AVP is back! After declaring bankruptcy back in 2010, the AVP was acquired by another group and hosted 2 tournaments in 2012. Now in 2013, the AVP is running 7 tournaments, with the second stop on the tour being in Manhattan Beach!
Theresa and I would have been there watching anyway, but a couple weeks before we received an email asking if we'd be willing to take statistics for the games. Get paid to go watch the AVP? Absolutely! Joining us this year was one of my co-workers Alysa, plus her sister and cousin.

Perseid Meteor shower with friends - 2013

The Perseid meteor shower was being billed as the best meteors of the year and Theresa and I had been looking forward to it since last year! Our last meteor experience was in the middle of December and while it was really cool, we were freezing!
Theresa sent out an invitation to all our friends letting them know about the meteor shower and 7 people answered the call! Cody, Jacob, myself, Theresa, Chris, Eliza, Jackson (not pictured), Steph and Farman.

D23 Disney Expo with a special concert by Richard Sherman and Alan Menken!

Welcome to the D23 Expo!

Downtown Disney with Aubrey, Rita and Theresa

It's Aubrey and Rita's last day visiting from Michigan. When we asked Aubrey what she wanted to do on her last night here, she said Downtown Disney! Good Girl! So she likes Disney, volleyball and photography. Sounds like she's into all my favorite things! She's being raised right.

Same rules apply for these photos as before. If it's got rounded corners, Aubrey took it. Square corners are mine.

Aubrey's photos from the South Coast Botanic Garden

On Sunday, Rita, Aubrey, Theresa and I headed to the South Coast Botanic Gardens. I wrote about the rest of our experience in a separate post here.  Botanic Garden visit with Aubrey and Rita

Aubrey brought along her new camera and came back with so many great photos, I decided to create a post just for her shots!

Botanic Garden visit with Aubrey and Rita

Aubrey has really been enjoying taking photos of flowers with her new camera. What better place to go on Sunday than the South Coast Botanic Garden!

Disneyland with Aubrey, Rita and Theresa - Part 2

Continuing from Part 1, we're still hanging out at California Adventure.
Theresa and Rita both get sick on the swings, so it's just Aubrey and me! She surprised me by taking her camera with her! Good girl! Always carry your camera!

Disneyland with Aubrey, Rita and Theresa - Part 1

What's a visit to California without a trip to Disneyland? On Saturday, after going to the farmer's market in the morning, we all piled into the car to head to the Happiest Place on Earth. Arriving at the parking garage, we were backed up all the way to the bottom of the ramp. This doesn't bode well for the busyness of the park today. It took over 15 minutes to get the car parked.

The tram was crowded as well, but for some reason, the very back car, just behind where the strollers line up is typically less crowded than the other lines. During the drive to the park, we were having fun with the cast member at the back. Apparently someone had taken his cheat sheet for the announcements he was supposed to make.

Over the PA system: "Be sure to check out our new show, Mickey and the um.... Magic....
Um... Mickey and the Magic Lamp?"

Me: "You mean Mickey and the Magical Map?"

Over the PA: "Yes, be sure to check out Mickey and the Magical Map. Also go see Woody... um, and the Rodeo?"
Asking me: "Do you know what this one is called? Someone took my sheet with the names on it."

Me: "Uh, maybe Woody's Round-up behind at Big Thunder Ranch?" 

Once we arrived, he thanked me for my help with the announcements, and suggested that maybe I should work there...  Don't tempt me.

Volleyball practice with Aubrey and making cupcakes

From what I heard, Aubrey had three things she wanted to do while visiting us from Michigan.
1. Visit with Theresa and rub the baby belly
2. Learn how to use her new camera
3. Get some volleyball practice so she can try to make her school team this season

She's already done the first two. Now we're going to start working on some volleyball.

You might have noticed Theresa wearing a hand brace for the past 5 months due to a volleyball injury. After a visit to the doctor this morning, she got the news that she can finally take it off.