For Jo's birthday, we went to Disney's California Adventure. We were told to go to 'Customer Relations' to get a Birthday sticker to wear (compulsory, we were told). Everyone said 'Happy Birthday' all day.

Went on lots of rides - Soarin' over California was great - in the third row, got to smell the scents they pipe out - oranges over orange groves, etc. Went on the wild river rafting. Glad we had ponchos - got a bit wet anyway. Went on the Jellyfish ride. Rob went on California Screaming - zero to who knows in no time at all from a magnetic accelerator.

Ate lunch at the Tortilla factory. Got a free bag of tortillas from the factory (very nice). Jo's sister Frances rang up whilst we were eating lunch. Afterwards we went to see Aladin - just like a Broadway musical except 40min long. Included all the well known songs from the movie.

Ate a very nice icecream.

Went and looked in the Lego shop in Downtown Disney - a difficult place to keep the wallet in the pocket.

As it was getting cold we got our coats from the car, and went into Disneyland to see the parade, fireworks, and the laser show. Ate dinner in Disneyland. It was astounding how many people turned out for the parade etc. It was like the Adelaide Christmas parade, in that a hour or two beforehand people had claimed there piece of curb with a picnic blanket. We had asked a Cast Member as they refer to the employees, and he had suggested an order in which to do things to make sure we didn't get too stuck in crowds - aim for the later shows and get as seat after everyone has left from the previous showing. The fireworks were great - we stood where we had the Castle in the foreground. Saw the late showing of Fantasmic a show where Mickey's dreams are projected onto a water spray - very clever though a little cool when the wind blew toward us. It also included sound, lights, laser and fireworks.