Our Sweet 16 Night with Miley Cyrus

The story: We left Az for Disneyland on Sunday and back to Az on Monday morning via Southwest Airlines & Supershuttle. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once we arrived in Anaheim. The event was because Miley Cyrus closed Disneyland for her 16th birthday celebration and we 7 were among a lucky 5000 guests to purchase tickets to attend. All the rides were open, along with some party zones, a concert, fireworks and we also got a goodie bag as we left. The restaurants and stores were open too! It was really great. Lots of celebrities and the parks were really empty with only 5000 people in it. Here are some of our photos.....Myself, Paris, Rose Mary, Jacque, Texie June, Leah and Kenzie. Tonya waited for Texie at Downtown Disney with some shopping and a movie :)

The first photo of our fun 24 hour whirlwind night!


The Princess Suite that was adjoining to our regular room (girls LOVED it)





Picking up our tickets (which required ID and the persons attending to be present for the wrists bands) and getting ready to go inside the 5 hour party!






Going through security and walking in. This was set up in a parking lot. Then like cattle we were allowed in the park in groups to fill in the areas for the parade route to kick off the evening. The entrance was VERY controlled. Oh and for security reasons, the usual dangerous stuff and Sharpies were not allowed in. I was like, Sharpies??????





First, the night started with a parade of stars in cars being driven on a parade route around Disneyland. We could not see well as the front area was taken up and we were in the back standing on a little planter wall. We did see one of the interviews was Cujo from Entertainment Tonight & also got a photo of Steve Carrell (not sure the spelling) from the office. We did hear a lot of familiar names like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, which all the girls cheered for :)




Each of the 5000 guests to the party got a voucher for a cupcake!! It was seriously yummy. Very gourmet. Not an average grocery store cupcake. I can't explain it. Defintely something I would order for parties if I knew how to order more. YUMMY! Pure sugar and calories I am sure....ha!








The concert was this, the opening emcee was Tyra Banks plugging her show "America's Next Top Model". Then the opening act was Billy Ray Cyrus with some new music and of course he closed with "Achy Breaky Heart". Then Miley Cyrus came out to perform for the guests at her part on Tom Sawyer's Island (or whatever they call it now, Pirate's Liar???). A huge stage was built on it and the stage was extended into the water. It was really neat. We got 2 tables at Riverbelle Terrace and ate dinner and watched the concert.
Tyra:

Billy Ray:


Miley:







Decor and photos of the girls inside the park






The Disney and ABC celebrities the kids got to meet and take pictures with. We called it celebrity hunting. They were in the parks just hanging out. Some unnoticed. A few would not stop and/or take photos (ie: Heather Locklear, Zach & Cody characters and some dancing with the stars people). Overall most of the kids below are from Disney shows, 1 from Highschool Musical and then Jennie Garth from 90210.









Signing a birthday card for Miley




Getting ready to walk out the gates before the crowds....

Aiden's 7th Birthday, A Month Ago!

Almost a month ago Aiden turned 7, to not much fanfare :) I am burnt out of the big overdone kids' birthday parties I use to throw. So now I ask them "what do you want to do"? He said Chuck E Cheese, so I complied, but very low key.

So first the usual cake on his actual birthdate, Sept 21st, at the house. Just the 5 of us. I think Robb got this cake from Walmart along with all the Bakugan stuff he asked for....oh boy those Bakugans are soooooo popular. I have no clue exactly what they are, but boy do they get expensive when you buy them for 3 boys! Then Paris chimes in she wants some too!




And a Chuck E Cheese small party on a Monday night (after soccer) for a few family & friends who live nearby....the place was so empty it was actually nice to not have to worry about crowds.











I try and take a photo of Aiden every year with his Papa & Hominee (Robb's parents).


So the parties are getting less stressful and less expensive :) At least for the boys! Ha!!! Paris already has her party planned for January.....I'll let it be a surprise for my blog, but no, not at my house. I am over dealing with 15-20 kids at my house. I am SO OVER class parties, let alone hosting them. I must sound like a grump. I do love bridal and baby showers!! :)

Movie Tour in Hawaii

Ok, any "Lost" fans reading this, I could not wait to post this :) We went on a movie tour in Hawaii on a ranch up on North Shore. Many films are made on this ranch. "Lost" being a TV show with scenes filmed here. Robb and I renacted the "Lost" scene of Jack & Juliet's 2nd kiss in front of the Temptest station. You can see the edge of the old school bus the tour takes us around the property on.



The clip from Lost at the same spot as Robb and I are standing (with more trees in the scene and props)


The Temptest Station looking very "natural" for the taping of the "Lost" tv show:


The Temptest Station in real life is an old war bunker the ranch uses as a museum with stuff inside from past movies. The bunker is a lot bigger then we were allowed to see. It is built into the side of the mountain and is goes up and down 6 stories! Solid concrete! It was also used in "Pearl Harbor" (the movie with Ben Affleck) for a few scenes. Wish my picture was better of the entrance. I do have video to post later!!

Val in Wonderland

My cousin Brecken and I threw a "Val in Wonderland" themed baby shower for my cousin (Brecken's sister in law) Val. She is due in November with a baby girl!!! My grandmother hosted it at her home which we called the "The House of the March Hare" on the invite.....











Val (she is married to my cousin Robbie, or Rob as he liked to be called now that he is an adult, hee hee)


Opening the baby shower gifts



Leah & I

I am home....again!

I am back home. I was in Hawaii since last Wednesday. I had a busy week and just could not stay on top of blogging last week. We got home last night at midnight but did not leave the airport until about 1am because of lost luggage. 3 out of 4 bags arrived home, and of course the one missing bag was my bag. This morning we get a call that my bag boarded the wrong plane :) It's in Portland! Ha ha....so Hawaiian Airlines is going to Fed Ex it to my house. Which will be expensive. My bag was over the weight limit! 58 pounds...yikes!!

Anyhoo, I have a ton of photos from Jason and Nicole's North Shore (Oahu) wedding, which was really beautiful! Also, we went to a luau, Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona, and took a Ranch Movie Tour (which was soooo cool). Then of course I still have all the Miley birthday party photos, and my cousin's baby shower photos. Oh and the MMA fight I went to the night before the birthday party at Disneyland. Whew!!! 10days of nonstop places to be and traveling!!! So glad to be home for awhile.....

Got to go get my dog...she has been boarded for awhile now.

Getting "Lost"

I am so sorry for leaving everyone "high and dry" with my last post. I am busy right now getting LOST and will resume posting Tuesday all my Miley photos, as well as some other exciting photos of my 50 FIRST DATES..........don't worry I am not crazy!!!

PS~ 3 weeks until Uganda!!! Can you believe it?????

Miley's Sweet 16th Concert Video

Here is the video I took with my little Powershot camera (it's not great quality), I did not bring my Nikon in. She did a small concert on "Tom Sawyer's Island", which is now "Pirate's Island" I think. They renamed it. We sat at the River Belle Cafe and ate some dinner and watched this. Her opening act was Billy Ray Cyrus (her dad). For this song she got off the island on the top of a decorated houseboat and sang this song as it glided up and down the bank of the river area where everyone was standing (in front of Pirates of the Caribean all the way to Splash Mountain). I only got a little of the song. My memory card was kind of full, so not much space for videos.

I'm Back!!

I'm Back!!!! Whew.......24 hour trip to Disneyland for Miley Cyrus' 16th birthday party. I will post pictures and 1 video I took with my camera tomorrow. I am so tired. It was SO FUN. The experience in the park and "celebrity hunting" as we called it was a hoot!! WOW, was there so many celebrities out!!! 5000 tickets sold and so the park was at a good capacity for this event. She sang songs, we got cupcakes, rides were open, fireworks, games, parade of stars, stars walking around freely (which was neat), photo opts with cool decor all over and goodie bags to take home. Worth every penny!!! 6pm-11pm last night. Me, Paris, Rose Mary, Jacque, Leah & Kenzie went....flew over and back within 24 hours! We had 1 extra ticket from someone not being able to go with us (sniff sniff), but it's ok because we found the perfect girl to take the ticket!! Tonya's daughter Texie!!! And in her own words "it was the best night of my life"....so she had a blast and Tonya hung out in Downtown Disney for 5 hours while we were in the party!

More details and pics tomorrow...off to bed......oh and we stayed in the "princess suite" at the Disneyland Hotel! Which was a 1st for us. Never even heard of the "princess suite" before :)

Their Style...

I Hope They Make a Doll :)