California Ballroom Trip!

 This summer is just going by waaaaaaay too fast! Here's the rundown of our California Ballroom trip. It was amazing! The weather in CA was actually 10 degrees cooler than Rexburg that week, so we were all for it!

We started out driving to SLC and staying with Katie and David. They were kind enough to let us leave our car at their house and give us a ride to the airport. It was Cooper's first time flying and Amelia first time remembering flying! It was good practice for her when she goes in Europe later this summer. 

Amelia waiting for the buses to take us to the hotel in CA.

Monday: The first competition was at Knott's Berry Farm. Checking in was insane. There were so many people! It was also really hot. The dancers performed really well, and the rest of the day was spent riding rides, eating ridiculously priced food, and walking through cool shops and stores. However fun the day was, I don't think we'll be going back to Knott's any time soon. Once was enough. 😂

Cooper and his fellow dancers practicing before their performance. (He's in the orange shirt).

Tuesday was Universal Studios. The group performed first thing, and then we hit the park. I've only been once before, but I almost prefer it to Disneyland to be honest. It was so fun to see the behind-the-scene tours about how movies are made, and to ride the different rides. Cooper is not a roller coaster guy, but we talked him into riding the Jurassic Park ride by leaving out the massive plummet that's at the end of the ride. He did just fine. 😄 He really liked the new Mario World, and we explored that while Amelia found a thrill-seeking friend and hit all the other rides Cooper didn't want to go on. 

We all loved Harry Potter land, and wished it was bigger! Cooper loved the rides in there, so we spent a good chunk of time. It was crazy how detailed the buildings and rides were!

I told them to act like they loved each other. 

IBA had their name on the huge billboard!

Outside Harry Potter land.

We went on a tour of Ollivander's Shop. It was amazing!

They are just the best. 

Mario World. It was like being inside the video game!

Wednesday was the beach and then Medieval Times that night. I've always loved the beach, although I prefer the PNW beaches over CA ones. Cooper and Amelia loved playing the waves, and Cooper learned to body surf with some of the other ballroom guys. Sadly, our Idaho paleness suffered and we all got burned pretty good.

  As we were getting ready to leave, Janie, the IBA director, had six boys grab a partner and do T-press together. It was really cool. I posted a video below. People stopped and stared and clapped. It's so normal for us to see boys lifting girls we don't realize it's a sight most people don't see. Cameras and phones were pulled out as people on the beach took pictures and videos. Not that I blame them, it was pretty impressive.

We left the beach late afternoon and returned to the hotel to get ready for the dinner show. It was really cool--you watched a medieval contest between knights while being served food you ate without any utensils. Unfortunately, our knight, the yellow knight was defeated. 

Thursday and Friday were our Disneyland days! Cooper performed Thursday in California Adventure, and Friday was an all-day Disney day. We spent most of Thursday in California Adventure. The Cars ride kept breaking down, so we finally just hopped in the single rider lane to avoid the hour and a half wait time. Cooper and I ended up in the same car anyway! It was a crazy fun ride. 

We also lucked out getting on the new Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride. We were ready to call it a night and saw the wait time was only 30 minutes. Yes, I understand how crazy that sounds, but that was a good wait time. Anyway, it was probably my favorite ride. The attention to detail was amazing, and Cooper was almost speechless with happiness. Friday we took Disneyland a little slower, hitting the Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, and other rides. We explored every inch of the park came home after the fireworks exhausted but happy.

IBA's last performance. Cooper dances front left for most of the song. 

Cooper Flynn!

Had to try blue milk! The Star Wars campus was straight out of the movies. Incredible!

Cooper got his coveted light saber. He's been saving up for months for it. 

                       Thursday was not as busy as Friday--something we'll remember if we go back.

Our hotel was literally across the street from Disneyland. We could see the fireworks every night at 9:30pm from our hotel balcony. 

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I'm so grateful we were able to go. There's no way we could've seen and experienced all we did by ourselves, so I'm also grateful to IBA for their amazing program for youth. Cooper LOVES ballroom dancing and is looking forward to his senior (gulp!) year. 

Next up this summer: dance camp, wisdom teeth removal, and Amelia works her tail off in preparation for her trip to Europe!