Outing to Spanish Fork

Very rarely do Cory and I both have the day off on the same day, but it does happen occasionally.  Wednesday was another occurrence and Cory had suggested we go down to Spanish Fork to the animal shelter to look at the dogs, and then get some shave ice.  I thought that sounded like a great idea so we headed South.  Once we got to the shelter I realized that it was the worst idea we could have possibly had.  Take these sound words of advice:  Never go to an animal shelter unless you are in a position to adopt a pet, otherwise you will fall in love with one and have your heart broken when you can't take it home.  

This is my best friend.  He is a 2 year old hound dog that stayed perfectly calm the entire time we were there, even when his neighbor hound dog was absolutely beside herself barking like it was the end of the world.  We thought he was so cool!  All the trip did was make me wonder when we could get a dog.  Reality check:  probably not for years.  Hopefully, though we can feel a similar connections next time we go back to a rescue and we are serious about adopting.

To drown our sorrows we went to Lani's shave ice.  It wasn't raining, they had just watered the plants.  It was a little overcast though, and those shave ice helpings were big!  I was freezing by the time we left.

Les Miserables

One of the reasons my parents wanted to come down to Provo to celebrate my birthday was that they found the four of us tickets to Les Miserables in Salt Lake City.  I have only ever seen the movie, and Cory hasn't seen the movie or the play so we were excited.  

I think my parents' expectations may have been a little too high.  This definitely wasn't Broadway, but I was alright with that.  A lot of the performers did a really great job.  I will say, however, that it was much harder to follow the story during the stage production, and a few times Cory had to lean over to ask what was happening.  Overall, though, we really enjoyed ourselves.

24 on the 24th!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!  May 24th was my 24th birthday.  Do you realize that only happens once in a lifetime?  Cory did a great job at helping me realize what a momentous occasion it was, and I was introduced to the term "golden birthday".  She spent weeks brainstorming and planning the party and then hours on top of that to make all the decorations and food.  She is so great at entertaining.  One of her many talents.  We staked out a spot at Rock Canyon park, and with Anna's help, the decorations were up and we were ready to party! 

It was such a nice day and Provo is so green right now.  We couldn't have asked for better conditions.  Cory also made a cool display of some pictures of me from my younger years between a couple of trees.

Not only were the decorations awesome, but the food was good, too.  We decided to keep it simple and grill some hot dogs, but Cory also made an impressive lemon cake (my favorite) for us to enjoy.

Here is the spread of food.  Even though it was so simple, Cory found a way to make it look awesome!

In a surprise turn of events, my parents decided they would make some time to come down for the party and celebrate with us.  That meant one thing: presents.  I got a lot of movies, 1776 (the book), some vinylmations, and a sweet Mike Trout Angels jersey.  Thanks parental units!

All my fellow Forbidden Fruits were there, as well as Tyler and Emma Sabey, so we had a few games planned.  The hula-hooping contest was harder than I thought it would be.

But after we had a good old fashioned egg toss.  The egg toss is my event, I have hands like rolls of toilet paper, but I have never done one with Cory, so I was praying the chemistry was there like it is for everything else we have ever done together.

The competition was pretty stiff for a few tosses, but in the end, we could not be denied.  The Gilmore's took home first place.  Further confirmation of us being meant to be together.

It was a great birthday, and I was glad I have such a sweet wife, loving family, and awesome friends.

Here is the video of me trying to take down my pinata.  It was a pretty efficient outing.

Cinnamon Roll Crunch

Another day, another cereal review.  This week I tried Cinnamon Roll Crunch...yes, more cinnamon.  Literally that is the only new thing people can come up with.  That aside, this cereal was actually pretty good.  Surprisingly, unlike most Captain Crunch cereals, this one did NOT cut the roof of my mouth.  I did wonder though how it was like Captain Crunch at all, other than the Captain being on the box.  Overall I give it a A-.

                                         

Wilma Jean

After three days in the Magic Kingdom, it was an extra treat to get to see my grandma for breakfast on Thursday before the drive back to Utah.  We ate at her favorite breakfast spot on the Marina called Schooner or Later, which she calls, "Schooner's".  It was a fun way to end our California trip.

The Happiest Vacation on Earth

May 6th, 7th, and 8th marked a very important event in our family history.  It was Cory's first time to Disneyland!  After two years of anticipation (mostly on my part) we finally made it down to the Happiest Place on Earth.  We made it a little family reunion, so the whole Gilmore-Huhnke clan terrorized the park for three days.

I'd say it was a successful trip.  I loved being there with Cory and showing her around everywhere.  What I especially loved, though, was that she humored me the whole three days and let me be excited about showing her everything.  She was a trooper, but she did have a great time as well.  After a little while, she seemed right at home in the park.

Cutest Minnie I have ever seen...

One of the things I have appreciated since being married to Cory is getting her perspective and expectations for our experiences.  For example, at Disneyland, I am all about getting on as many rides as possible.  This time was different though because Cory can get motion sickness.  When I think about it, that didn't really hold us up at all, but for the first time I didn't feel the need to rush around to get on every ride five time.  Cory helped me enjoy trying different foods, looking in little shops, and exploring other parts of the park.  Speaking of food...I think we tried everything in the entire park, including, but no limited to:

Mickey shaped beignets!

Bengal Barbecue and Pineapple Dole Whip soft serve!

Mickey shaped pretzels!

Little Red Wagon corn dogs!  Always a Gilmore tradition.  We actually ate these more than once. 

Lousiana Lemonade at the Blue Bayou with the Monte Cristo sandwiches.  They are delicious, and we both needed naps after we tried to finish at least half of the plate.

Mickey shaped sugar cookies!  And last but not least:

The Turkey Leg!!!  That thing is like 20 pounds of meat.  The experience is immortalized on my shirt, which quotes Shane Cason's thoughts on how to describe this culinary experience.  We tried more food as well, but you get the point.  It was relaxing to just find a nice sitting area and chow down on some tasty treat.  Cory brought that out in me when my family couldn't for 24 years.

Another fun thing about Disneyland/California Adventure is the vast number of gift shops there are to explore.  It is especially fun when there are fun things to try on.  Here are Cory and Rhiannon in Cars Land trying on some Luigi Tire hats.

And here I am trying not to draw attention to myself while still getting a picture with Mickey's Sorcerers hat on.

Speaking of Mickey...he lives in Toon Town, and it was so fun to show Cory around there and see all the character's houses.  Here we are in front of Mickey's house.

Then we all met the Big Mouse, himself!

So you may have noticed that on the first day we all wore character shirts.  Cory had Daisy Duck, and I had Donald.  Lacey gave all of us the shirts for Christmas, so when we were picking our characters, Cory chose Daisy.  She made it clear to me, however, that it didn't mean that she was obsessed with all things Daisy, and that nobody needed to point out to her everything with Daisy on it in the park.  I told my mom and we laughed a little because my family is totally like that, but I gave strict instructions to everyone not to do that to Cory.  Anyway, most times when you want to get a picture with a character, you have to wait in a long line, and we always just try to snap a picture from a side angle.  I told you all of that to tell you that when we left Mickey's house, Goofy and Daisy were there waiting to take pictures with people and there was no line.  I immediately shouted at the top of my lungs, "CORY!!!! THERE IS DAISY!!!!"  I would like to say that I did that to tease her, but I cannot tell a lie.  It was a pure, unadulterated shout of excitement that I had absolutely no control over.  I don't even remember her reaction, that is how excited I was.

Here is an example of one of the side view character photos.  I give you:  Captain James Hook.

As I mentioned, I love all the rides in the park.  Even the ones for little kids are fun to go on for me.  I loved going on all of them with Cory and seeing her reaction.  On Indiana Jones, I even made her go through the line with me even though she wasn't going to ride, just so she could see some cool stuff while we waited.  The more I reflect on this trip, the more I appreciate her patience and unconditional love.  Here is Indiana Jones.

We also rode Alice in Wonderland!

We also waited in line for Pirates of the Caribbean!

Here we are in California Adventure on Tower of Terror.  Cory and my mom (the girl with motion sickness, and the woman with a demobilizing back problem) were the only two to brave it with me.  A few others chickened out minutes before we were about to get in line.

I have to also give a shout out to Chris, who survived his second Disney experience with the family.  He has the patience of a saint, and also gave me one of my favorite memories from the trip.

We all were in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride, and already I assumed that we would be splitting up into two cars.  We had eight people and it is pretty clear that the cars are built for six adults.  So we get up to the loading area and the guy tries to fit all eight of us in one, which did not work.  After a flurry of frustration, Chris just volunteered to get out and go in the next one.  So we go through the ride and get off, and then waited for Chris.  After a few cars, he comes around the corner in the front seat with some random people, and I don't know why but it was just funny.  It still makes me laugh when I see this picture.

We also spent a lot of time in California Adventure, which has really been built up since I have been there.  One of the big new things is Cars Land, which was always crowded, but cool to see.

And the classic Mickey Ferris wheel

Like this blog post, the vacation at some points seemed long and tiring, but what family vacations don't have their ups and downs?  Overall it was a great trip, and thanks to Walt for creating such a fun place to be with my family.

By the end of the three days I could tell all of us were a little exhausted, because we thought it was really cool and funny to point out "Hidden Mickeys" that weren't real.  All over the park and in the rides, there are mickeys that you can try and find that aren't very apparent.  Well, here is an example of one of our hidden mickeys.

So finally this post comes to a close, and I have saved my favorite picture for last.  This was on our first day, when Cory didn't realize that the characters don't stop for people because they are hoofing it to where people have been waiting in line.  That didn't stop Cory from having one of her first exciting character encounters.  Who cares that Pooh didn't give her the time of day.  She is having a blast!!!

Zach & Joanna

Cory and I had the honor of attending the wedding of our friends Zach and Joanna in Salt Lake City.  The Salt Lake temple is a beautiful place and I was glad Cory was there with me so we could see it together.  I am also glad they chose Salt Lake because with 4 of the 6 of us down, no one had gotten married there yet, and the classic stair pictures were too good to pass up.  After the ceremony and pictures we had an hour to kill while Zach and Joanna took more pictures.

A group of us decided to spend the time across the street from temple square in the Deseret Book.  I had seen everything I wanted to see there in about five minutes, so I found myself sitting at the front of the store with Cory for most of the hour, and it is a good thing I did.  Not only did I get to converse with my wife, but none other than Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve passed by in front of the store, walking briskly down the sidewalk.  I did a double take and told Cory.  Of course I ran outside only to see him turn the corner at the end of the block.  I just thought it was cool and forgot about it.  At the end of the hour we decided to head back to Brigham Young's Lion House for the wedding luncheon.  You may see where this is going.  As we left the store I jokingly told everyone that I thought I saw Elder Nelson walking up ahead.  After about 2 seconds, I realized it actually WAS Elder Nelson.

Naturally my first instinct was to catch up to him, and seeing as I saw him crossing the street toward temple square, I had to sort of jog to also make it to the cross walk before the light turned.  My friends said I was sprinting wildly, which I was flattered by.  I can't imagine their reaction if I actually ran as fast as I could.  Anyway, I caught up to Elder Nelson, but didn't really know what to do.  I hadn't actually expected to catch him, and I panicked.  I stayed about 10 feet away from him as others passed him and said hello.  It was awkward because I was behind him, and he was already walking pretty quickly, so I couldn't just run up behind him and then pretend like we were just casually crossing paths.  Long story short, I saw Elder Nelson but chickened out when I was close enough to say something to him.

The luncheon at the Lion House was awesome, especially when we chimed our glasses every two minutes and the bride and groom had to kiss.  Congratulations to Zach and Joanna!!!