Hello. 
On the fourth day of my very exciting summer vacation, the group went to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!
After begrudgingly getting out of bed after only one hour of sleep, and getting dressed, everyone (minus Allyza's mom and grandparents) headed out for Universal Studios!!! The one in California, obviously, not the cooler on in Florida. 
During the car ride there, Allyza, Jona, my sister, and I rode in Allyza's other, smaller car and played this 'Name that Tune' type of game from Jona's iPod. It sufficed as a good pass time in the long drive there.

When we finally got there, we had parked all the way on the top of the parking lot, because the place seemed to be packed. Not too long after parking, another car rolls in... a 1996 Honda Accord. The same exact car that my sister owns. Even in the same color, and with the paint chipping off. My sister posed beside it.

The parental units bought the tickets for the kids, and all the parents chose to stay and hang out in the city walk rather than go inside the actual park. So it was Ashley, Joe, Allyza, Jona, AJ and I all together. At first we were concerned with having AJ tag along, being that he is 10, and may hold us back from going on some of the cooler rides. I had him SWEAR that he will not back out on any ride. 

The first thing we came across inside the park was a House of Horrors. Knowing myself, I was not too keen on walking through this thing. Neither was Allyza. Jona was worried about AJ, and Joe and Ashley wanted to keep on trucking. Despite all the worry, we all went through together anyway. This is what happened, from my point of view.
The line merges into the actual 'house'. The moment I realized that I we were now in the house, I asked aloud, "Wait is this it? Is it starting?" to which Allyza replies calmly "Yeah."
At that moment, an entire wave of NOPE crashed into me. I wrapped my arms around Allyza's neck, and shut my eyes and shoved my face into her back. I also lifted my feet off the ground, so Allyza was stuck carrying me on her back for the beginning of the thing. 
A lot of screaming happened. 
Then we reached some stairs, and Allyza was complaining that I was choking her blah blah blah. 
I then went to my sister for comfort. 
"WHERE IS MY SISTER??"
"I'm right here!"
"Can you carry me?"
"...No!!"
With the rejection of being carried, I latched onto my sister's arm with one arm, and the other, I held hands with Jona.
I didn't see anything for the entire thing. I refused to open my eyes at any time, other than at the stairs. 
My sister kept yelling "RUN RUN RUN!" and the people in front of us were like "Stop pushing." 
Finally after what seemed like forever, the exit was to be seen. When we got close, I opened my eyes, only to have some monster right near the exit jump out and scare us as we screamed and ran out of there. 
The thing is, that monster... besides the jump scare... wasn't that scary. I bed I would've been fine to just walk through with my eyes open, but yeah, I'll save that bravery for another day.
Getting out of there, I see Joe waltz out behind us with AJ on one arm, and Allyza on the other, saying "How did this happen??" (referring to the two people gripping his arms for dear life).
To shake off the nerves of that horrible thing, we went onto a Despicable Me ride. Waiting in line there, I recall at one moment, I went to put my hand down on the arm rails or whatever it's called. At that same exact moment, another guy, probably in his 40s, decided to put his hand down at the same spot. Our hands touched, and I jerked my hand back saying "Oh my-- sorry!" (he did the same), and then the lined moved, and I didn't see him anymore. It was both hilarious and extremely weird. I retold the story to the group, who didn't notice, and Allyza and Joe teased that it was "True Love". Yeah. Okay. No thanks.
Another time, while in line, I was just standing around, and my group of people are looking in my direction... laughing.... and I look around, and see nothing in particular, and was like "What?" They told me not to worry about it. Okay...
Not too long later, the same thing happens again, and I'm like "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT??" Allyza pointed upwards, and said "look". I looked up, and on the edge of a large set of stairs, I see a face. One of the workers there, dressed up in this outfit for 'Super Silly Fun Time' that looked like a singing quartet outfit, looking down at me with the perfect :O expression. And then he was gone. I gave a confused look towards my friends, and then laughed it off. A few seconds later, I'm directed to look up there again, and there he is again. This time making the :D face. It was pretty funny.

After the Despicable Me ride, everyone wanted to go to Jurassic Park. We begin heading our way there, stopping by the Simpsons Ride first. 
When that ride ended, it was around noon, and so we decided to make a food pit stop. First things first, we needed a table. We scanned the entire cafeteria of this one food place and every single seat was full. The group began waiting nonchalantly next to people who looked like they were nearly finished with all their food. After being beaten to tables a few times, Joe and I covered both sides to one booth, and managed to get it before anyone else got the chance. YES. Everyone besides me and AJ went to order the food, while the two of us saved our booth and stuff. 

When we finished eating, we went on that fabulous Jurassic Park water ride. It was AJ's first time on the ride, so I was excited to see how he'd react to everything. On the ride, my sister, Allyza, and I screamed a lot (more than necessary, really). We all got soaked, and it was a nice cool down from the hot sun. 

Our group went on a couple more simulated rides (there are a lot of those in this Universal Studios), and our last ride was The Revenge of the Mummy. The probably only real roller coaster in the entire park. AJ was apprehensive of this ride, because "he doesn't like big drops". We went on anyway, and ahhh so fun. It's been a long while since the last time I went on the Florida version of this ride. There was this one part where it's going at a reasonable speed and then BAM! It's going outrageously fast, and I was not expecting that, which you could see in the picture taken at that moment. I can't remember the faces of the others', but I recall that my eyes were bugging out of my face in shock. Hahahha.

And that was the last ride! After that, a few pictures were taken when we met back up with the parents, and we started to head home. 
As it was now dinner time, we stopped, for the first time, to In-N-Out. My first impression: It had a very retro feel to it. I ordered a cheeseburger and my sister and I shared some Animal Fries. 
While waiting for our food, Jona, Allyza and I sat together, and discussed how 'cute' the guy handing out the food was. Haha. You know, typical teenage girl things. 
We got our food to go, and began driving back home. 
Allyza noticed that we weren't taking the usual route back to her house, and questioned where we were going. Her dad answered "Musical Road". 
Appearently, there is a road in Lancaster, California that, when you drive on it, plays 'music'. It was hilarious. Here's a youtube video to what it sounds like. My sister took video of when we went on it, but we were laughing too much, so you couldn't really hear it as well.
On the way, now, to Allyza's house, her dad started singing 'Staying Alive' by the Beegees, and then said "Do you guys know the story?" Allyza whined because appearently this isn't the first time he's done that. The story he soon told us, to Allyza's dismay, was amazing. For the sake of being a good friend, I won't retell it. 
And that ends Day 4! This was also Jona's last full day for her vacation. 
Thanks for reading!
-Jess

Hello. This is a continuation of my summer vacation trip to the West Coast. On the third day, the party began heading to the Grand Canyon!
But... not before attending worship service in the Las Vegas local. 
I'm wondering who decided that Las Vegas should be in the middle of a desert. It's so weird. It's basically in the middle of no where. Hours of desert and then all of a sudden, you come across a big city???? 
Anyway, the temperature that morning was a scorching 118 degree (more or less), and one of the locals was telling my sister how this weather was 'enjoyable'. Okay.... the desert weather definitely does something to the brain if one begins to believe that such a temperature is acceptable living conditions. 
After the worship service ended, and pictures have been taken, clothes have been changed, we began heading out! Oh wait-- not to the Grand Canyon. We went to a filipino restaurant. I forgot what it's called... I think Maxx? I dunno. I ordered the spaghetti and to be honest, it was lacking. The sauce was watery, and the noodles were too thick.
Meals finished, the drive to the Grand Canyon commenced!!
Again, most of the drive consisted of a few conversations with my friends, who now rode with Jona's and my parents rather than Allyza's car with her parents and grandparents. This was because her younger brother missed his parents or whatever. So the three of us, and Ashley, Joe, and AJ swapped vehicles. (Too bad on them because something pretty bad happened... more on that later). A lot of dozing off happened as well. I recall being at a rest stop, and being asked if I needed to use the bathroom. I replied "No" and put my head down against the window. What felt like a few minutes later, I lifted my head again. The car was still parked... but the building we were in front of was definitely different. 
I said aloud, noticing the change in scenery, "Wait.... where the heck are we?"
My friends laughed at my confusion.
Turns out that the A/C in Allyza's car had stopped working. Despite efforts to try to fix it, it was to no avail. They had to settle with keeping all the windows open. My sister described it like being blown with a hair blow dryer. Not nice. 

Nearing 5pm, the time that tickets to see the Grand Canyon through the Sky Walk(? I believe it's called. It's a glass walk way that goes over the canyon) would stop selling. Some of the parents walk in to buy the tickets while the rest hung out in the car, waiting. When they finally returned, it turns out that the tickets cost $75 per person. Uhm... no thank you. 
What we did instead was just take a bus to the edge, and ooh man, that view. It was beautiful. I would have liked to walk around a lot more if my sister hadn't stopped me ever couple minutes to take her picture. Bleh. At least the pictures came out nicely. 

Hello. On the second day of my summer vacation, my family & friends drove from Lancaster, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada. 
When it came time to wake up, I realized that... I don't like getting out of bed. Despite the efforts of all the other kids, I was reluctant to get out from under the blankets because I was so dang comfy, and sleeping is such a nice thing. Calling my name multiple times and telling me to wake up didn't do anything. Poking and shaking me didn't coax me out of bed either. Eventually they just started stacking as many things on me as I hid underneath the blanket, still unwilling to get out. Apparently, multiple pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals were piled on top of me, and I'm not really sure why the others thought that this would get me out of bed. What did get me out was when the blanket was pried away from me, leaving me cold, and forcing me to finally get up and start being a member of society. 
I got dressed, wearing a blue shirt that I remember being far too expensive (it was a plain blue shirt, and it was, like, 30 dollars. Social anxiety kept me from not buying the shirt), and a new pair of shorts (skorts?) that appear as a mini skirt. 
We left around noonish, after eating lunch. 
The kids split up, Joe, Ashley, and AJ in the rented car with my & Jona's parents, and my triangle of friendship, Jona, Allyza, and I were in Allyza's car with Allyza's parents and grandparents. The drive there was long and quite boring. The three of us managed to keep ourselves some what entertained by playing that Who Am I? game in which we hold up names of people and we have to ask questions to find out what name we are holding up. That went on for a couple rounds, until that became boring. 
The rest, I remember, was a lot of sleeping, and quietness. 
At one point, there was insane traffic. The bumper-to-bumper tail of cars went on into the horizon. Also, at another point, the GPS stopped working, so we had to pull over for quite some time. 
At another point, we stopped at a rest area for bathroom breaks, in what seemed to be in the middle of a desert. I didn't need to pee, so I walked around and found some vending machines where they contained.... the Booty. Excitement filled me because, hot diggity dog, I love me some Booty. I asked my mom for some money, and was able to buy a small bag of it, and some skittles as well. 

On our way there, Allyza was texting a friend of hers, and wanted a picture of Jona and I. We posed to give the best impression to a person who hasn't ever met us in real life.

And another photo from Jona's perspective. I saw her about to take a picture, and this face happened.

At the Jollibee, my sister, Jona, and Allyza and I start taking pictures with the mascot. I tangoed with it.

Hello! On July 28th, Monday, 2 week long vacation trip began.
I had to get out of bed by 4am, but I didn't know this, so the night prior, I stayed up until 3:30, reading a fabulous destiel fanfic, which involved Team Free Will in college, basically. I was just about to drift asleep, I hear my mom yelling "GET UP!"
So, I'm out of bed and in the car before sunrise. 
If you ask me, I like the pre-sunrise sky. The mix of blues of that morning were really pretty.
We drove down to a bus stop or whatever, and were then driven to the airport.
We got there around 6AM. By this time, I haven't eaten... at all. (Besides the chips that I ate while reading that fanfic). For my official breakfast, I ate a bagel...
Skipping the waiting, Jona and her family arrives!! It was great; it's been a while since I've seen her and her family.
~6 hour plane trip later~