was the theme of the birthday party we attended last night for the cutie on the left. I dusted off my skort and Aaron pulled out his best flannel to take us back to '95. He could barely look at me with my mom bangs. But, that's exactly how I used to wear them. I'm wearing a ladies Canadian tuxedo with my Canadian at my side. Classic. Happy Birthday, J! You make work bearable. Thank you!!Editors note: I just noticed '27 going on 40' was the title of my last post. Apparently my age is all over the place these days.
They had two emus in a pen. I am not a fan. The fence only went to the top of their bodies so their long necks could reach over the fence. Not a good idea. They had piercing looks and very quickly Aaron and I were terrified and slowly walked away. I was afraid to turn my back to them for fear of this.
According to Wikipedia, "They are also known for violent behavior towards humans, and may attack without notice". Perfect for a petting zoo...
We cruised around on bikes for a few hours and hit all the major beaches. Here is me on the bike that only hours later a runner would literally knock me off of. Yes, he ran into me, folks. While wiping off the dirt I had to quickly prevent Aaron from coming to fisticuffs with the man.
I still have not mustered the energy to blog about our trip home and short lived detour on Hwy 1, but we were so bored while sitting in traffic that Aaron's orange peel became a man and put on a show for us. Enough said.
This book details the life of a couple who use their zoo to hide Jews during the Holocaust. Diane Ackerman went to great detail to research this true story and the book is woven with facts, actual quotes and pictures. Countless times throughout the book my heart was saddened by the horrors that took place during World War 2, but just as quickly my heart was touched by the amazing courage people had in risking their lives to save others. It's a good read!
These are the lovely holes in our wall. An anchor and a screw is still stuck in the wall. That should be fun to get out!
We are too small to tell in this picture, but Aaron is sporting a freshly shorn head with a Mr. T style mini-mohawk. I was not amused. See what happens when the temple closes for two weeks?
This was a posted warning for the Mummy Returns ride. Yikes. Do people really have to be so graphic? Can't they just say may cause dizziness?
We went to a show where they explained the 3-D effects behind many movies and I randomly decided to volunteer. I never do stuff like that, but I think I just wanted to get out of line and I was able to bring all of Aaron's family with me. They shrunk me down and I had to fight a huge cat, I was in a scene from the Mummy Returns and above shows me eating chicken with the Norberts. It was interesting to see how they make things happen.
Fresh out of the microwave. The instructions note the chocolate will not look melted, but it is. Glad they said that or I would have unnecessarily cooked it longer. Check out the beautiful melt below.
On our way out on Monday, we visited the giant Sequoias in Mariposa Grove. We were tired, had a long drive in front of us, so it was totally amatuer hour and we came unprepared. It was so hot and dusty and we didn't bring any water with us. We hiked to the nearest tree (not this one) on the trail and turned back to the bus. While driving back to our car we realized 50 more yards would have taken us to the Clothespin tree that you can walk through, which is what we really wanted to see! Next time. 
The next waterfall on the trail is Nevada Falls. This one is also amazing, but not as close to the trail. The rock steps on this section of the trail were a only a little sampling of what was to come. Note: all these waterfalls are fed by the Merced River which basically runs through the valley. During the hike we filled up our water bottles from the river and went rafting on it later in the week.
This is at the top of Nevada Falls where the Mist Trail ends and joins the Muir Trail. My tired little smile showing we only have 4.5 miles left to go.
This is the sign at the base of Sub-Dome, which leads to Half Dome (ignore my totally tired mug). In all my research on Half Dome, not once did anyone mention the evil that is Sub-Dome. Well, I'm going to mention it here. It was unbelievably difficult. Some serious switchback steps carved into the granite at a really high altitude, after hiking 7 miles, do not make for a good time.
This picture is at an angle so look sideways until the tree is straight. See the steps next to it? That's what we went up on Sub-Dome. Apparently whoever carved the steps grew tired of doing so because about 3/4 of the way up Sub-Dome the steps stop and you have to make your own way up the steep granite.
Ah, the cables. This view is from the top of Sub-Dome. See the little lines and tiny people in the middle of the rock? Those are the cables you pull yourself up to get to the top of Half Dome. I didn't want to stop at the top of Sub-Dome, but rather just hit the cables right away because I knew I would get freaked out. After Sub-Dome I could barely walk and knew I had to rest before I could pull myself up a mountain. Of course, by the time I rested I was properly freaked out. I would have been so mad at myself if I had gotten that far and not finished, so I said a prayer, instructed Aaron to not talk to me unless he was in mortal danger, and started the climb. It was not fun, but we made it.
I wanted to get down the cables ASAP, but Aaron decided to get out his camera and snap some shots. I was a little mad that he decided to be Ansel Adams at that point, but I'm glad to have the pictures now. I basically did some controlled granite surfing on the way down, but we made it. 
