mommy & me fun at the 'land

with the hub away on his guys-only vegas trip and the old lady and her special friend otherwise occupied for the evening, the bean and i headed down to our favorite place on friday afternoon for some mommy & me fun.  i picked her up from school and we headed straight down to anaheim, somehow avoiding traffic and heading through the turnstiles about an hour later.

we decided to stop and grab a few bites at the food & wine kiosks, starting with the orange chicken & rice:

another serving of our favorite thing - the grilled asparagus chicken caesar salad:

she opted for the mac & cheese topped with garlic bread crumble:

and i finally got to try the salt & vinegar parmesan chicken wings.

it was pretty crowded, and we really didn't plan on riding any rides - being so late in the day, there weren't any fast passes available and so we focused on just walking around and snacking on everything that caught our eye.  we did, however, get in line for the fun wheel at pixar pier.  i couldn't even remember the last time i'd been on that ride, and the wait wasn't too bad.  because there were just two of us, we had to share our vehicle with another couple.  i get why they do this, but it does make it a little awkward.  still, we enjoyed our ride and took in the views from the top of the wheel.

we went into bing bong's sweet stuff candy shop, where we checked out all the cute cake pops and cookies in the case:

and the bean decided to grab a slushy that was a swirl of pink lemonade and grape, topped with a cloud of fluffy cotton candy and a cute little flower.

i decided to suck it up and wait in the line at award weiners for an order of the "get your ears on" funnel cake fries.  i've always wanted to try them but the line is usually really long.  with nothing but time to kill and the absence of the old lady, who never wants to wait in lines, i finally got my treat:

so they're funnel cake fries topped with crushed oreos and what seemed like the same thing as the "grey stuff" served at the red rose taverne in disneyland, plus whipped cream, festive sprinkles and two "mickey ears" oreos.  they were just as delicious as i'd hoped, and the serving was the perfect size for the bean and me to share.  i'm kind of hoping to get them again before they stop making them.

we browsed in a few shops before we left, admiring this wall of mickey prints in the animation shop:

and this super cute hat that i was really tempted to pick up for our hawaii trip this summer.

it was a really fun way to spend our friday afternoon and evening.  we didn't have to wait very long for the tram to take us back to the parking structure, and we'd scored a great parking spot.  by 9:00 we were already home in pajamas.  pretty sweet deal.