Merry Christmas!

We hope that all our friends and family had a great Christmas this year.
Jeremy and Crystal were so kind to have us over to their house for dinner. It meant that we were able to enjoy great food and to see two cute little boys (three, if you count Jeremy... and there's really no reason why you wouldn't count Jeremy). It also meant that I was able to spend more time with Heather and the kids. I worked Christmas evening, but because the dinner was at JCCO's house, I was able to be there with everyone (as long I was available if a call came in).

Heather and I are always struggling to make Christmas more meaningful for our family and I think that next year we are going to focus more on service to others. We have been reading the book "Christmas Jars" it has been very motivational. I guess the point of the book - and the point of making Chrsitmas meaningful - is that service is not just something that you think about once a year...

- C

Our Big Announcement - A New Addition

After eight and a half years of marriage, we finally broke down and got our first minivan.

On Christmas day, 2002 Heather was shocked to find a silver Honda Civic parked in front of the house with a red bow on it. OK, maybe not a huge shock, because it was almost identical to the tan Honda Civic that I had traded for it. But she didn't know that I had done the deal (and gotten her an automatic transmission, which she would be more comfortable driving), until she looked outside.

Ella, Mason, and Tyson have been riding in the back of a car their entire lives. It's not that we didn't want a van sooner, but we knew that we didn't 'need' a van as long as the car seats all fit and the doors still closed. A family of five in a compact car is uncommon, but it felt, I don't know, like we were treading lightly. Being more economical. More athletic. Staying within our means (and then some).

That came to an end on Christmas day, 2008 when the sun came up on a silver Honda Odyssey parked in front of the house. Almost a repeat of history - but just different enough to symbolize the progress we've made. I feel a certain fondness for the old Civic; not just because it's a cracking example of motorized transportation, but because it has served our family so well, and any friend to our family is a dear friend. Hopefully, this new van will be just as steady and dependable with its precious cargo.

So there ya have it, that's our big announcement. Thanks for sharing in our excitement,

- C

Oh, and by the way... we would have gone on using the car forever, but we recently found out that Heather is pregnant and is due July 11.

Final Two Days

We spent our second last day in Disneyland doing the things that we hadn't done yet. This included, The Matterhorn Bobsleds, Autopia (Mason drove our gas powered car and kept bumping into mom and Ella in front of us), and the Disney Monorail (we were lucky enough to sit in the very front with the captain).







Then we were free to go back and do those rides that were our favorites. It's a Small World, Astro Orbiter, and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.









My favorite might have been Space Mountain, just because it was so cool - but unfortunately no one else wanted to go on it with me again. Splash Mountain was fun, especially because we did it at night when there were no crowds and it felt even more exciting to be on the ride by ourselves in the dark - but Tyson did not like that one either. He did a lot better with Pirates of the Caribbean and we went on it a couple times. Ella and I did the Indiana Jones ride and it was awesome but I have downplayed it because Mason was already disapointed by not being tall enough to go on it (I tried to take him a few times and we always got busted by the height police).

I think my favorite family ride was Peter Pan's Flight; it was simply beautiful and it really looked like you were sailing over London and the starry skies over Neverland. By the time we left the park, we had done every attraction except for: Davey Crockett's Explorer Canoes (closed for the season), Snow White's Scary Adventures (no one liked the loud jerky rides of this type eg, Mr. Toads Ride and Pinnochio's Daring Journey), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (same reason, this one might have been better than the others of its kind, but we had just taken Tyson down Splash Mountain and wanted to give him a break). In hindsight, I probably should have gone on these two rides with whoever wanted too - just so we could say that we had done them all.



We couldn't believe our luck that the Jedi Master selected both of our kids from the audience the second time we attended the training academy (we were worried that one of them would be disappointed by not getting the opportunity). Mason and Ella drew on Tyson's courage and example, and met Darth Vader in combat.



I too was rallied, and managed to get a picture of Darth Maul (even though he was almost looking right at me!)



For our last day we went to DCA and almost had the park completely to ourselves because of a steady drizzle. There were only 20 or so others that entered the park with us and when I took the kids on the Grizzly River Run, the castmembers just let us stay in our tube and go back up the mountain for another whitewater ride. Then Heather and the kids got another double ride while I waited at the bottom with Tyson. Because it was so slow, we took back to back rides through the newest attraction, Toy Story Midway Mania, which usually had wait times of over an hour. That ride was awesome. It was like Astro Blasters, except you wore glasses and shot at 3D screens with 3D ammunition that looked like it was really coming out of your gun, and changed from screen to screen (sometimes you were shooting darts, while other times it was eggs, or rings etc). Like Astro Blasters, it kept track of your scores.

This time when we went to Aladdin, we got seats on the floor right in front of the stage, but the downside is that the performance wasn't quite as good. I recognized some main actors from the first performance filling supporting roles in this performance. I think that because attendance was so low, they used the opportunity for the understudies to play the main roles and thereby gain some experience without the pressure.

This time around Mason joined Ella and I in the Tower of Terror. After the ride, I tried to convince Heather to go on it, but Mason spoke up and warned, "it's horrible!"

We didn't do all the rides in DCA because some of them were the more traditional midway-type rides that didn't look like they would be good for the kids. But we did get to do everything we wanted to do, at least a couple times. Five days in the park turned out to be perfect and we were all ready to go home.

Heather splurged on a couple pairs of headsets in the plane so she, the kids, and I each got to watch our own movies. As a result, now I won't have to watch The Travelling Pant with her, and that alone is worth the cost. After we landed we passed though customs and found Uncle Jeremy waiting to pick us up. He was a welcome sight and we really appreciated his help.

Whew, I'm done. Now I will be able to blog about Christmas.





- C

Newport Beach

After three days in the park, we decided it was time to take a break. We rented a car and drove down to Balboa peninsula at Newport Beach. This place has been home to a number of famous people (don't remember who), and is supposedly the setting of the show "The Real OC" (have never seen it). It is also home to the largest marina of private boats in the world (or something like that).

We spent all our time near the beach and, because of the chilly weather, our only company was the birds and the fishermen along Balboa pier. At one point, we watched as an old man reeled a skate out of the choppy water. He removed the hook with a pair of pliers and casually nudged it over the side with his foot. It looked like a small manta ray and reminded me that we were a long way from home.




At the end of the long pier stands the 1950's styled Ruby's Diner. I understand that this is is now a chain of restaurants but this is the original location. It was a lot of fun to sit in our booth and watch the fisherman and the ocean just outside the window.









These were hands down the best fast-food 'shakes and burgers I've ever had. It pushed Fatburger here in Calgary to a distant second place. This picture shows Tyson with one of our chocolate malteds. I ordered three of these for our family just so I wouldn't have to share with anyone. Is that bad?



This is my Hickory burger. Our time together was short but I still think about it often.



From my research, I knew that we would have to eat at the Crab Cooker. This restaurant was started in 1951 by Bob Roubian. The building used to be a bank and the place-mats proclaim that it is the only fish market/restaurant in the world that keeps its fish in a vault. It is famous for its fresh seafood and casual atmosphere and the food is served on paper plates. Despite this, in 1969 Venture Magazine rated it as one of the top two restaurants in the world! We were lucky and there was no line; however, on some days the line can stretch all the way down the block. I found the following quote from a magazine article in the "Nation's Restaurant News":

"Though he has long since tired of talking about it, Roubian once generated newspaper headlines from coast to coast by refusing a White House request to let the sitting commander-in-chief cut in line for a Crab Cooker table. That man happened to be Richard Nixon, but Roubian points out that any president would have received the same treatment."




Heather and I shared a bowl of their famous Manhattan clam chowder, a skewer of scallops, and a plate of crab claws along with sides of potatoes, rice, and coleslaw. The seafood was fantastic and the price was reasonable. I expected to pay more to eat at one of the top two restaurants in the world (uh, in 1969 that is).







OK, so that was a short recap... but I am trying to get through these posts in time for Christmas. Because who knows... we might have something noteworthy to report.




- C

California Adventure

On our third day, we tried out Disneyland's sister park, Disney's California Adventure. As you can see, it was blue shirt day - this time chosen by Mason. The gates to DCA are across the Esplanade, directly opposite the Disneyland gates. The crowd wasn't as large and when we finished counting down ten, we all shouted "Where the magic continues". I thought this was an interesting difference from the "Let the magic begin" cheer that we participated in the first day. Truely, Disneyland is the place where it did all begin and many claim that it's special charm comes from the fact that it is the only park that benefited from development under Walt's own hand. And DCA could best be described as a continuation of that development; prior to its opening in 2001, it had been a Disneyland parking lot.

DCA has approximately 1/3 of the attendance that Disneyland enjoys, but our family actually preferred this smaller park because of its less-frantic pace. Everyone in the family loved 'Soaring Over California' and the kids really enjoyed the Monsters Inc. ride.



Up to this point we had seen the 3D presentations of "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and "Muppet Vision 3D", but the show "It's Tough to Be A Bug" was the best of all. The theater is underground and is modeled to look like the inside of an ant hill or something. A realistic looking Flik robot peeks out from the ceiling to introduce the movie and there were a lot of other real-life effects to compliment it. For example, at one point a termite mistakes the audience for intruders and starts to spit acid at everyone. You are already flinching backwards because the 3D acid drops look like they are coming right at you, but at the same time, you are sprayed with drops of real water. When debris on the screen appears to shoot past you, pressurized gusts of air accompany it. When an 8' tall Hopper robot suddenly appears out of the wall and tries to pay back the humans for all their crimes against bugs, the audience is blanketed with fog that looks like it is coming out of the bugspray can on the screen. While the fog is still too thick to see through, Hopper orders a hornet attack which comes though the surround sound speakers and is punctuated by screams from the audience as the hornets shout "I got one". Suddenly something in the back of your seat pokes you. Then giant black widow spiders drop from the ceiling and hang just above your heads. At the end of the film, the narrator asks the audience to remain seated to allow the cockroaches to exit the theater. You hear a scuttling of little feet and feel things passing underneath you seat cushion in the direction of the exit doors, eliciting more surprised screams and laughter.

Our kids didn't care if they met the characters or not, so we didn't have to spend much time waiting in line for autographs or pictures; however, they still got to meet a few of them.






It just happened that the day we got there was the first day that the play "Aladdin" was reopened after being closed for upgrades and we were there for the very first show. The people in the row in front of us were all armed with pens and notebooks and accompanied by a Disney cast member. I think they were probably guest reviewers. Tanis told us that we had to see the show and I had read that it was worth the cost of admission all by itself. I have to agree. The actors were fantastic and the sets were elaborate. Price Ali makes his grand entrance on the back of a giant elephant that appeared unnoticed though one of the theater entrances and of course there is a magic carpet ride that takes place over the heads of the audience.



Ella and I did the "Twighlight Zone Tower of Terror" ride. I accidentally grabbed the leg of the guy beside me the first time the 'freight elevator' dropped us. Ella and I both enjoyed a sense of accomplishment for having gone on it. I wish the kids felt the same way about "Space Mountain" in Disneyland, but unfortunately, the roller coaster-in-the-dark was everyone's least favorite experience. When we were on it, I could hear Mason beside me yelling "we're out of control". Heather was sitting next to Tyson and she said that he cried a little.

Since that time, whenever the kids got in trouble, I would say "OK, you just earned another ride on Space Mountain", and I kept a tally of how many turns each of them had earned. Actually no one got in trouble for real - before the trip, I told the kids that they had to remind me, if I ever got upset, that "we're in Disneyland". They used that response a few times and as a result, ended up drinking more pop and jumping on the bed more than they usually would. Here's a shot of Ella and I after the Tower of Terror.



In the evening we got to watch the Pixar Parade before heading to the hotel for some cartoons before bed.






- C

Magic Morning

Or at least that's what they call it when you have a pass to enter the park one hour before the official opening time. We thought it would be a good idea to use this jumpstart to go on those rides that usually have the longest lines... which meant: the Finding Nemo Submarines. It was pretty neat and it was nice to have done it, but it was not a ride that the kids really cared about going back on.



So I don't know why I uploaded two pictures of it.



The kids' favorite rides in Disneyland were Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters, Astro Orbitor, Dumbo, and It's a Small World. They also enjoyed playing around the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.



Here is a picture of us on the Jungle River Cruise which was a great ride for the family. The kids were enthralled and the adults enjoyed the tourguide's funny commentary. You can see that it was red shirt day, as chosen by Ella.



I have a lot of photos of the Jedi Training Academy because it was a real highlight for us. At the start of the show, some real live Jedis come on stage and choose children from the audience to be trained as padawans. Mason was a little too shy to put up his hand and even Ella wasn't too sure, but to our surprise, Tyson was chosen to go up and don the brown robe. The Jedi master was hilarious and really great with the kids as he instructed them in the use of their training light sabers. We were all cheering for Tyson, even though he was always a few steps behind the other students and required assistance each time the command to "activate" their light sabers was given.

Suddenly, the Jedi Master sensed a disturbance in the force and quickly gathered the children together just as two Storm Troopers showed up. Next, the entire stage began to lift up from the ground, revealing Darth Vader himself rising out of the smoke.



Darth Maul also appeared from somewhere but I didn't get a picture of him on this visit because I was a little intimidated by him.




The children formed two lines and each took a turn battling either Vader or Maul with their newly-learned skills. We felt a lot of suspence when Tyson walked up to face his adversary. He appeared to be as surprised as us when his light saber actually extended on the activate command.



Look at this next picture and try to imagine the invisible mental battle that is going on as a Jedi Master and Sith Lord each try to sway Tyson to their cause. Of course, Tyson had already made that decision before he was ever placed in the situation to choose. He surprised Vader with a few moves that hadn't actually been taught and returned to his group victorious. As he did, the Jedi remarked, "not bad for someone who just barely learned to walk".



Vader made one last appeal to the chilren to join him "and know limitless power", but they answered him by activating all their light sabers at the same time. The bad guys left and the padawans were presented to the audience and given their Jedi diplomas. I don't think I've ever been so proud of Tyson (uh, ignore the usafe saber handling you see. He would never do that with a real one.)



This last photo is kind of embarrasing. Here we are riding in a limo to a time-share presentation. A recruiter stopped me on the street while I was looking for icecream after we had finished in the park. The kids watched movies while Heather and I listened to the pitch. We got paid $130 for our time, but I still wouldn't do it again. It was high pressure and the salespeople looked at me like I had a third eye when I tried to explain that if I ended up buying real eastate, when I was really shopping for icecream, it would consitute a record-breaking impulse purchase - something that I have been trying to cut down on. I know that lots of people go to those presentations to get the free stuff - and it did allow us to splurge a bit more on treats and toys for the kids - but it's not for me. Back at the hotel, I apologized to everyone for the two hours of our lives that were lost.




- C

In the park

Because traveling took up part of the first day, we spent the remaining time looking around Downtown Disney (a shopping area between the two parks), buying groceries, and swimming in the hotel pool. The next morning we had an early breakfast at the restaurant next door - all the cereal, juice, and chocolate doughnuts?? the kids could eat. Then we headed to the front gates of Disneyland and waited in line for the park to open.



A few minutes before the park opened, the staff (called "cast members") manned the turnstiles. Each day a family is chosen from the line to stand inside the gates and lead everyone in counting down from ten and then shouting "let the magic begin", thereby opening the park.




We followed everyone to Main Street USA, a re-creation of the ideal small town American main street from the 1900's and is supposedly inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri (also featured in the film "Lady and the Tramp"). The street is lined with old fashioned stores (with modern prices) and the kids had fun climbing on the antique fire engine which was parked between the horse stalls in the fire hall. Incidentally, Walt Disney's private apartment is above the fire hall and even though it is off limits to the public, we could see a Christmas tree through the curtain in the window. During the rest of the year a lamp burns in the window in his memory.

At the end of Main Street stands Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We crossed the moat over the working drawbridge which was lowered once when the park opened in 1955 and then raised and lowered again in 1983 when Fantasy Land was renovated. In researching our trip I also learned that Walt had the spires of the castle plated in gold leaf so they would sparkle, but left one of them unplated as a reminder of his statement that "Disneyland would never be completed as long as there was imagination left in the world".




Once through the castle, Ella was drawn to King Arthur's Carousel so that was our first ride. I had read that all seventy-two horses had been hand carved and no two were alike. The travel literature suggested that these horses receive as much care and attention as the living horse in the park. I have since learned that the carousel originally came from an amusement park in Toronto but was modified to provide more seating and to match the storybook themes of the park. Originally, only one of the horses was white, but that horse was so popular that they were all repainted that colour. Supposedly, one of the seventy-two horses is actually a mule - but I didn't see it.



We next got on the Dumbo ride which usually gets long lines because it is so popular (probably because it has become an icon of the park). The kids loved it - even Tyson, and there were some rides that he did not feel that way about.



Mad Hatter's Teaparty - classic, Heather was acting a little woozy on this one.

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Mickey's Toon Town was neat to see because there was a lot of silly jokes and not a single straight line in the whole place. It turned out that the Go-Go Gadget Coaster was more exciting than people expected (or at least compared to some of the other stuff). I did manage to get a couple pictures with everyone smiling though.







The entire park was decorated for Christmas and most of the rides had a holiday theme added. The It's a Small World boat ride was covered with lights and the theme of it was Christmas around the world. The repetitive song that played throughout the ride was converted to a medley of Christmas carols.



In the evening there was a Christmas parade and a fireworks display (called "Believe in Holiday Magic") which ended with a surprise snowfall of artificial snow and bubbles from the lamp posts along the parade route.




Well there is a lot more that happened that day but I'm going to be late for work (again) and should sign off.




- C