Yesterday, Jen and I celebrated our one year anniversary. It doesn't really feel like a year - it sort of flew by faster than I was keeping track of. But hey, calendars don't lie. A year has indeed passed.

So, in order to celebrate this momentous occasion (paper anniversary... woo!), I ended up playing hooky from work and Jen and I went to Disneyland. Now, this was the plan as of a month or so ago. It's been the plan for weeks. Disneyland on our one-year anniversary.

Mother Nature must have had it in for us.

Instead of the somewhat cool weather that graced the wedding last year, yesterday was scorching. One of the thermometers in Disneyland read - I kid you not - 106 degrees. As Jen succinctly put it at one point:

"I can smell people cooking."

We decided to head into California Adventure first, and do the "Soarin' Over California" ride before the lines got too long. Not like that mattered, since one of the two theatres for it was out of commission, and the lines started backing up anyway. Worth the wait, though, as that's quickly becoming one of my favorite attractions in the new park. Once we were done soaring, we went eating at a burger place nearby.

"We went eating." Okay, now there's an awkward sentence. No wonder I'm not a writer.

*ahem* Sorry. Stream of consciousness crested the banks there for a moment.

As I was saying, food. We ate our burgers, then headed back out into the blast furnace that was the Anaheim afternoon. Gave up on the rest of California Adventure, and decided that the Magic Kingdom itself is where we'd spend the rest of the day.

Observation #1: When it's 100+ degrees in Disneyland, what's the one ride they closed? Yup, Splash Mountain, the ride that could actually cool you off.

Observation #2: For a weekday, there sure were a lot of kids there. Don't they go to school anymore?

Observation #3: The next time I go to Disneyland, I'm wearing cleats. That way, when the little rugrat whose parents aren't watching them invariably charges headfirst into my knees while somehow managing to look directly behind them, I'll just trample 'em instead of having to dodge out of the way every time.

Observation #4: I don't know what sin you must have committed against The Mouse to be the poor bastard wearing the Goofy suit on a 100+ degree day, but it must have been particularly heinous.

Observation #5: The Tiki Room was made by people on acid. LOTS of it.

The two main rides that Jen and I do when we're at Disneyland are Pirates of the Carribean and The Haunted Mansion. Folks, FastPass is the best way to do the Mansion - saves a LOT of time. Especially if you're there on a weekday, when the times are only about 20 minutes away, so you can get a FastPass to the Haunted Mansion, get on Pirates, get a FastPass to Pirates when you get out, go on Mansion, and repeat ad nauseum. :) We also snuck in a ride on "Pooh's Adventures", just for variety.

Dinner was that evening at the Blue Bayou. Great food, but LOTS of it. Jen and I both kind of splurged and got the prime rib.

Ohhhhhhhh, my belly. I think I ate too much of it.

Finally, after gorging ourselves, and making one last trip through Fantasyland (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... and after the meal we just ate, even thinking about the Teacups was enough to make a man feel ill), we headed out. Made a few stops in Downtown Disney - I grabbed some flavored teas at the Disney Store, while Jen got lip gloss at Sephora - then came home.

I know I'm leaving stuff out, and those holes will probably be filled in by Jen when she gets a chance to post (she's not feeling all that hot at the moment, but she'll probably post about it tomorrow). Right now, I'm just slaving to the grind again at work, trying to catch up after the three-day weekend. I just set up one of Jen's presents for me - she got me one of those clocks from Brookstone that's essentially a fast-moving wand with red LED lights on it, that makes it look like the time is floating in the air. She knows I love gadgets. :) She also got me a back pillow for my lower back that has a massage function to it, so I've been using that at work here too.

My wife kicks ass.