Everybody laughs the same in every language because laughter is a universal connection.

Yakov Smirnoff said it..

Alright.Alright. Got the theme park pics uploaded. The dull ache in the back of my knees is finally starting to wear off.. I should start typing.
I might need to google descriptive words. Seems like words fail me when I spend a day so busy and having so much fun.

So.Saturday early mornin'. Rory had went to bed early we had turned all the lights out and made the house quiet so we could rest, even if we couldn't sleep.
We got up and ready - Ri's mom came to pick up Rory.. which was scary for me- Rory was really excited tho...even though she was a little sad she couldn't go to Universal with us.
Val showed up in the huge Vimo(Van/limo) with a driver.I meant to take a pic inside the vimo, it is very cool. It was a LONG ride there- complete with lots of excitedness, giant sodas, and potty breaks.


Not enough potty breaks because the long walk the the parking lot had me doing the pee-pee dance.Then had to buy our tickets.

Yay we're here too!!..( I wish I had got a better picture)..
I wish I had taken more pics all together. We were having so much fun riding soo many rides and such, I guess I didn't have time.

We went to Universal Studios 1st . -excited to see what seemed like soo few people in the park.
1st stop the new ride . the Rip Ride Rockit..
or the never ending line for it
that is where everyone in the park seemed to be(is that Scooby doo?)... In line, watching the cheesy video report the directions of how to chose a song to play on the ride.(you pick your own music to blare into your headphones) with everyone. .. except our driver Cameron who declared rollercoasters were not for him. Val was nervous.

We finally made our way more than halfway into the line, before the cheesy vid starting playing a new segment that told us we should have put our purses in a locker (or left them with Cameron ).. seriously? Why was there not a sign at the entrance?(there is on other rides) Luckily , they seemed used to the occurrence, when we got to the top a girl was waiting to tell us where to wait, and where to go, I handed my purse to Ri and he ran down to get a locker. .. the girl was really cool too she complemented my piercing and my hair and made silly small talk with us in between helping load people on the ride) .

we chose our cheesy songs and strapped in


This ride went SOO awesomely fast I think I held my breath for the entirety of it ..


and my hair fell down.. it was in these cute side balls/buns
I didn't really expect it to stay up tho.

Aww.. Rory would have loved to see them



Next we rode Twister.. or more we got herded into a HOT theater with a bunch of other people - and then pushed into a replica of a falling down tornado hit house..
- see the car coming in the ceiling



I've always loved the line more than the ride...but twister is a pretty cool-- ride....well, experience is what they call it ,I think.
A little too close to home perhaps as I sit on my step watching the rain writing this..Luckily , it didn't rain then, it was HOT even.
Really really hot. Rory spent the day in the pool with Ri's mom,she can touch the bottom now :)..
anyway

Walking by the mummy, and seeing no line, we decided we would ride it next.Me and Val got our pic with the stilt guard ..dude was creepers, We asked for our pic and he just stared-no answer...
"so, we re gonna go ahead and get our picture with you"


-this is where I suddenly realized I am taller than Val.


See... creepers:
The Mummy was more of a roller coaster than we expected. We thought it would be like kingkong was.. a 3d ride thing. Nope. completely indoor rollercoster. In the dark, going backwards.Mummies popping out at you like a haunted house. .. and we had brought poor Cameron along- but his face in the ride picture was so epic that other people where pointing it out as we got off.
oogling The back to the future car
We stopped and got pizza and drinks at some place in the "new york" area.. I was too hot for pizza , I got some fresh fruit from a vendor outside-and felt like a weird health conscious skinny chick as people stared at me eating fruit in there. I just get soo nauseous when I am overheated.

We rode Jaws next, half hoping to get a little wet, but only our butts got wet.-eww.

Woohoo simpsons ride..



We were all eager to ride the Simpsons ride.. the line was a bit long, and I feared it may not live up to expectations- it did not disappoint. the jokes were very funny- and even though it was one of those 3d rides you really felt like you were falling and spinning.Cameron and Val both said they had to close their eyes for some parts and remind themselves they were in the same room.


Homer was putting his fingers in my ears.
I loved all the cheesy simpsons stuff. Ri kept telling us to wait to buy souvenirs but we couldn't pass up the simpsons kids shirts. Val got Seth a Bart shirt, and we got Rory a pink Lisa shirt that says "Daddy's Girl" (Rory LOVES it)

Poor Cameron(am I spelling that right?) did not seem as amused.
-Oh.while I was standing there taking pics and absentmindedly bobbing my head to "do the bart man" someone came up behind me and said "Rock those locks".. I turned and it was some other guy with dreads.It was weird. I just laughed and waved.

We avoided the kidzone- with all of our feelings of guilt- Rory and Seth would have loved that..
and jumped on ET.
I have been to universal a few times but never rode it. Everyone always told me it was lame and cheesy..

I think I like lame and cheesy though

Rory would have loved it.
..We rode Jimmy Neutron too..do I need to type it again?

Sightseeing in the Hollywood area

we also saw some little mini parades with Scooby and the critters from Madagascar ..
With Marilyn and Lucy


checked out some hats
Val even tried out dreads
we rode terminator- which was pretty much exactly as I remember it 10 yrs ago. and crowded.but at least it was air conditioned.

Then we went to islands of adventure- ready for more coasters and to get wet. Thing about that, I didn't get hardly any pics there. We put our stuff in lockers or left it with Cameron- who did not want to ride the BIG coasters ,or get wet.

We rode the Hulk coaster first. Thankfully, islands of adventure seemed much less crowded than universal studios-there was hardly any line. We waited in the small line to get front row seats. That ride is soooo soo fast,you can feel your face pushed back...and my hair stuck to the seat.
We rode spiderman..which was cheesy.and explored the marvel comic stuff. I bet we would have never been able to drag Seth out of that area.

We headed for toon lagoon next ..
Lagoon is not just a cutesy name. .. place is wet.
1st stop was probably the wettest of all. Popeye &Bluto's bilge-rat barges- we handed our bags to Cameron and jumped in the fast moving line

It is probably a bad sign when the guys you get on the ride with have brand new swim trunks on, and start stripping off their shoes and shirts and putting them in the middle under a tarp. I worried my shoes would get wet, but I didn't want to take them off.. I tucked my feet under the middle.. and hoped it wouldn't be too bad.(my shoes did not get wet.. but my drippy clothes fied that problem later) .
First thing our barge did was turn around so me and Val took the brunt of the 1st splash- right down the back of our pants.-insert new board shorts dudes laughter- Val might have had the worst seat on the boat, she got a spray right in the ear too..
We all got insanely soaked. dripped our way through the park.
We rode a log ride next. I screamed soo loud in Ri's ear on the fall he said it sounded like a horror movie scream.

Jurassic Park was next.. the 1st part is all chill and calm ride talking about dino's.. I am going to say it again...
the kids would have loved it. .. maybe not the 2nd part, and I don't think Rory was even big enough for it.

We rode dueling dragons next- weaving our way through another dizzying empty line. We picked fire instead of ice.Its one of those rides where your feet dangle..so it twirls,spins a lot. AND the "ice" track weaves through it so you pass the other coaster along the ride-
OMG that last spin was enough to make us all feel our lunch.I am not prone to motion sickness but that even hit me for a second. Everyone getting off that ride looked drunk.

it was getting late- Universal closes at 7pm . We peeked in a few shopping places.Drooled over overpriced candy. Detoured through Seuss Landing- I love everything in Seuss Landing

I knew Rory would love this sign- she loves that book.



Rory saw that pic and really wants to ride that one.

On citywalk we stopped and got over priced dinner. Soo sore so tired, but I was also painfully hungry. Moe's was pretty good. It was much better when our taco and burrito fell apart on our chips.
We hurried to get to the vimo and chill. I ended up sleeping in the vimo most the way home. We had planned to drink and stuff, but we never did.it was super nice to have a driver still, and he ended up being really helpful the whole trip.
I jumped in the bath when we got home- cold and sore from being soaked all the way home.
Ri's mom brought Rory home. Rory sleeply looked through pics, told me about her day, and loved her new shirt. We all crashed really early.

Sunday , poor Ri had to work- I felt like i had a heat exhaustion hangover.Rory and I walked to the store of a small bottle of milk, we got some candy and soda too.
I made soup for dinner.Rory went to bed early. It was amazing I started to think maybe a night with her gram had fixed her schedule..but we both woke up at 1 am feeling sick.
..I didn't throw up.. and I thought maybe it wasn't so bad. Monday, I was lazy and dizzy but I felt-so -so.Rory played in her kiddie pool for a little while, while I uploaded pics...

Today,however I am clearly sick. Ri had wanted us to go out on a boat with Kalani and Rita this morn. I couldn't even move. He decided he would go on his own and go to work after. I woke up hours later.. with my entire head stuffy and swollen. Fevers too. and grumpy. nothing is working I can't find anything,we are out of everything, and the child destroys everything as fast as I can clean it.
grr.
Ri teased that I got the swine flu at Universal.
Not funny.
He should be home soon... with groceries. Thank goodness.

PEACE AND TOFU CHICkEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE