Kobe and Elphie and Mickey! Oh, my!

It's not hard to explain how cool my job is and how fun my coworkers are. My team and I headed to SoCal last weekend for some boring Finance Training (GAAP refresher and Sales/Use Tax) and some fun watching a Lakers game, Wicked (the musical), and hanging out with Mickey at the Disneyland and California Adventure.

I haven't been to Disneyland in about 20 years simply because I am not a big roller coaster fan. But being with my co-workers, I had to act tough. So I gutted it out and rode The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn. If they tell you that I screamed like a girl, I was just trying to fit in (all my coworkers are female).

Also, even though I was against Disney acquiring Pixar, I was glad to see how much of an imprint Pixar's characters have on today's Disneyland. One of my favorite rides during this visit was Toy Story Mania. It's a 3D ride where you compete against your partner by shooting objects on a screen. Of course I let Jenny win. =P

Here are some photos from the trip.

Here is my coworker Kelly answering a question from the instructor. As you can tell by my face, I am not buying it one bit!

The Wicked playbill

View from inside California Adventure

During the Halloween season, Disneyland is decorated with thousands of pumpkins. At the entrance, all of the characters are made of pumpkin. Jenny liked how Minnie's bows leaf-shaped.

Candy Corn Acres

Candy corn carrots!

Birds of Paradise

As a spoof, I told my boss's husband that Kobe sat next to us. He was bummed he didn't know we went to a Lakers game.

Souffle for dessert. Can't go wrong with that!

Sun setting beyond the Mickey Mouse roller coaster. I took this shot while my friends were searching for our car in the parking lot for 10 minutes.

Night time outside California Adventure

The fireworks show at Disneyland

Traditionally, I like to end my photobooks with a shadow shot. Because my boss and her husband weren't around for the shot, I decided to go with the Disney theme:

"Honey, I shrunk my boss!" =P