I Am Back- And With a MONSTER of a post!!

Separate post to come on Disneyland, otherwise this would take longer to type-and read- than the bible. Seriously, I dare you to read this entire post. It is LONG.

Without further ado, I would like to present "A Peek Into My Messed Up Mind With Pictures Scattered Throughout To Keep It Interesting", or APIMMUMWPSTTKII for short. Someone call me when you figure out how to pronounce that.

First off, we would like to thank Truman for Fielder's gift- it will be worn proudly on his jacket from now on (WAIT! I just realized the pin is a yellow lab like Truman!!!! Wow I am slow..I blame it on the three hour jetlag)

One of the most interesting surprises on the trip was running into a GDB club out for socialization at Pier 39. Gave me quite the heart attack, as I was not watching where I was going, looking out at the pier, and suddenly I had walked into a crowd of puppies. It's really freaky and surreal to literally run into something that you had previously only seen on a computer screen. Alas, the group was already off on its way, but I cornered one poor girl and asked her what club they were. She said they were from Davis, which sounded really familiar. I hope none of you are from Davis because then I would have to be really pissed at myself for missing the chance to meet you. She asked if I raised for GDB since I guess other people don't know they run through clubs (I hadn't known before I knew you guys, I thought there were just foster families like our school) and I said no, but I knew a few people who did, including someone who lives close to here, in Sacramento. Then she was like "oh, cool, I went to a Fun Day there once" *awkward silence* And then she ran off to catch up with her group. But I had noticed that her puppy was a really pretty dark slightly reddish colour, and when I got home, Amber confirmed that it was one of Chris' half sibs, so that was really cool.

I think I need therapy for my shopping addiction. Over the two weeks I bought a pair of shorts, a pair of board shorts, three tshirts, two pairs of capris, a pair of shoes (that would be my fifth pair of shoes in the last month-someone get me help), and four books. Oh yes, and on the last day I blew my remaining thirty bucks at Petco. Yippee.

I am in love with my new shoes. The ones I REALLY wanted are the brown hi top Converses with the blue stripe but the only size they had were children's size 13. I may or may not have tried to squish my size 6 feet in them. But here is Fielder modelling my two favourite purchases of the entire trip:

Also, apparently truckers don't like to honk anymore. However, they are rather fond of waving enthusiastically with one hand while on the cell with the other while the truck drives itself. My record for one day is nine waves and one honk.

I had NO IDEA California was so hilly! I thought it was all flat, but apparently not. Also, Vegas? Is hotter than THE DEPTHS OF HELL. It hit a hundred and seventeen degrees (that is FORTY SEVEN degrees Canada) while we were there, and I now know what it feels like to be a boiled egg, poor things. Lucky for us, Caesar's Palace was very air conditioned and had many floors of shopping.

San Francisco is home to the nicest people on the planet. The bus drivers are actually helpful and friendly, and so are random strangers who offer you directions without being asked. Once, in downtown San Fran, a man in a wheelchair was struggling to cross the road, and a stranger walked up and offered to help push him across. That wouldn't happen downtown Toronto if you were missing all your limbs and were bleeding out of every orifice of your body. Actually, that's pretty sick, and I probably wouldn't either, but the point is, San Francisco rocks.

When you go to Disneyland with a dog, you get handicapped privileges, which means cutting hours off the wait time for lines. In doing so, you expect that everyone in that line will, in fact, be handicapped. So yes, you can go ahead and make fun of the guy waiting behind youfor being in a wheelchair(that tipped over and nearly smothered poor Price) for a BROKEN TOE. That is, until you and Jo realize that, why are you making fun of Broken-Toe-Guy when the both of you ARE FULLY ABLE BODIED with all limbs and appendages attached properly.

Driving past a farm with literally hundreds of thousands of cows? Fills the vehicle with a smell that is NOT PRETTY. It makes picking up Price's ten million poos seem funner than eating ice cream on a hot day, and picking up little Fielder's poo funner than a wild party at Chuck E Cheese when you're five.

Coming home to your own shower, while nice, will feel like standing under a half dead tree while it drizzles compared to the Niagara Falls that is the water pressure in the hotels.

Natalie's Guide to getting the Weirdest Tan Ever: (1) Underestimate San Diego sun, get tanned in tshirt and jeans, which results in the ever-attractive farmer's tan, (2) Attempt to rectify the situation by falling asleep outside in shorts and tshirt, no results, (3) Accidentally get burned in capris, and then board shorts, resulting in two different shades of tan from midcalf to ankle, (4) Wear weird flip flops so the feet don't get left out of the tanline fun, and finally, (5) Fry like an egg in Arizona while wearing a scoopy neckline tank top, but still no tanning of the upper arms and shoulders to preserve the lovely farming look. Recap: two shades of tan on the lower legs, still paler than jellyfish on the upper legs, farmers tan on upper body, plus a tan semi circle from your neck to the edge of the scoopy lined tank top. Thank god the halter top swimsuit didn't also engrave itself in my skin, otherwise I would be a walking exhibition for Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Can someone please explain to me why Nevada is called the Silver State? Is it because California stole the Golden State?

One of the coolest things about going to the Grand Canyon was walking on the new Skywalk that just opened. This is what it looks like:

It's really cool cause it's suspended over the whole canyon, and at a certain point, your shadow falls on the wall of the rock so you are tiny like an Oompa Loompa and you can pretend to crawl up the Grand Canyon like a little midget Tobey Maguire.

Then we went to have lunch, and since I was bored and finished before everyone else, I hiked out to a point on the Canyon. Here's a tip: Don't hike in flip flops. They may get stuck in cracks which might cause you to twist something that will hurt a lot. When I reached the point, the view was breathtakingly gorgeous. I took a million pictures, but here is one of me after I nearly fell over the side:

For Joanna: Next time I come to LA, this will be our field trip, yes? (haha at first I typed fielder trip)
For Emily with Ellis and Angel:

Ellis St. in San Francisco! I couldn't resist. And also, I found the eggplant toy!! But it was the size of Fielder's whole head so I didn't buy it.

The American flag? It is e v e r y w h e r e!!!! And that is an understatement. Also, after spending the Fourth of July in the States, I never need to see the colours blue, red or white ever again. Especially not on hats the size of small children. And the brave man who wore an I Love Canada shirt on the cruise ship on July 4th? I never saw him again. Presumably one of the two thousand Americans on board threw him into the Pacific. I took many pictures of the flag, but here is my very favourite one. I tried to be all artsy fartsy thus the black and white and imposed against the Golden Gate Bridge:

And now, just for kicks:hahaha I heart you guys, don't kill me!

It was a great trip, and I'm glad to be back with Fielder....congrats on making it to the end of this post!!!