Kwanzaa begins today! Here is a link to educate you about the holiday.
I was surprised to find that it was only created in 1966. For some reason I thought it was older than that. I wonder if Al Sharpton celebrates?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas List Addition
For those of you who have procrastinated buying me a gift up until this point, you are in luck. Last night helped me realize that there is an item that I am missing. Even though I won't be able to play basketball again for a very long time, I am still trying to keep Thursday night basketball alive. I make sure that the other guys can get into the building and play. At times this requires me to provide a key. Such was the case last night. I was up late waiting for the key to be returned. It got dropped off a little bit after midnight. After taking care of that I started to clean up what I had been doing and attempted to ready myself for bed. I was on my crutches and headed into the bedroom when the power went out. I haven't felt that helpless in quite sometime. It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. Unfortunately for Sara, I had to wake her up and have her bring me a flashlight. After that I was able to go brush my chompers and get into bed. So, the new item on my list is night vision goggles. I know it might be inconvenient to wear them every night just in case the power goes out again, but I am willing to suffer a little bit.
Speaking of suffering, all three of our kids managed to get pink eye. Sara had to take them to the doctor and get the drops to make them feel better. They look great today, so the drops must have done their thing. Sara was quite busy yesterday. Besides doing that and everything else she always does, she got to help jump start my car(apparently the lights don't turn off on their own, unless you leave them on for a really long time). It looks like we can finally start to enjoy the holiday season though. I think we have finished up the gifts, the cards are in the mail, and the decorations seem to be done. So, that is a good thing. We even get to go to my favorite Christmas party tonight.
It is the Ellis' Annual Christmas Party. I don't like the party for the social aspect(In fact, I really don't like socializing at all). But at this party each year they serve some great food. They have chili and some other items, but the highlight for me is the ranch salad dressing. It is so good that it makes saying hi to people whose names I can't remember worth it. So, I am looking forward to tonight.
For those of you who care, tomorrow morning the #5 Georgetown Hoyas take on #2 Memphis at 9 a.m. on ESPN. I may have to drop in for breakfast at somebody's house that has cable just to see the Hoyas dominate.
Seasons Greetings,
Mr. Mustachio
Speaking of suffering, all three of our kids managed to get pink eye. Sara had to take them to the doctor and get the drops to make them feel better. They look great today, so the drops must have done their thing. Sara was quite busy yesterday. Besides doing that and everything else she always does, she got to help jump start my car(apparently the lights don't turn off on their own, unless you leave them on for a really long time). It looks like we can finally start to enjoy the holiday season though. I think we have finished up the gifts, the cards are in the mail, and the decorations seem to be done. So, that is a good thing. We even get to go to my favorite Christmas party tonight.
It is the Ellis' Annual Christmas Party. I don't like the party for the social aspect(In fact, I really don't like socializing at all). But at this party each year they serve some great food. They have chili and some other items, but the highlight for me is the ranch salad dressing. It is so good that it makes saying hi to people whose names I can't remember worth it. So, I am looking forward to tonight.
For those of you who care, tomorrow morning the #5 Georgetown Hoyas take on #2 Memphis at 9 a.m. on ESPN. I may have to drop in for breakfast at somebody's house that has cable just to see the Hoyas dominate.
Seasons Greetings,
Mr. Mustachio
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Scent of Mr. Mustachio
The past two days I have had 2 different guys tell me I smell good and ask me what cologne I was wearing. After being flattered by their unwanted advances I told them that it is a fragrance called Azul. You can find it at Anchor Blue. It used to only cost about $12, but with inflation it now goes for just under $20. Next time you are in the mall, stop by Anchor Blue and experience the scent of Mr. Mustachio.
Christmas is less than a week away!
Christmas is less than a week away!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Top Ten List
Christmas isn't exactly my favorite holiday. Not due to the reason for the season, but because of all that goes along with it. I'm not a big fan of hanging lights and getting a tree. Getting gifts can sometimes seem laborious too. However, there are some things that I really like about Christmas time. I really like looking at other peoples' Christmas lights. Some are super awesome like this one:
Some of the other things I like are seeing the look on the kids' faces when they open up gifts that they have asked for, Christmas ham, and getting together with family. Those things are the finale of all the madness that leads up to them. The one thing that gets me through all the unpleasantries is Christmas music. I love Christmas music! In fact, I sometimes listen to Christmas music at other times during the year. I have already changed my music player to include many great holiday songs, but here are my top ten favorite holiday songs:
10. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) - Alvin and the Chipmunks
I remember listening to this song on an 8-track. It instantly brings back childhood memories of Christmas.
9. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
This was the first really "alternative" style of Christmas song I remember. It used to be a holiday regular on KROQ. I don't listen enough anymore to know if it still is.
8. Baby it's Cold Outside - Various artists
This is probably the most recent addition to my list. Maybe the movie Elf had something to do with it? I don't have a particular favorite version of this song, but James Taylor does a pretty good one. In fact, James Taylor's Christmas album is a must listen during the holidays.
7. Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys
It's always good to think about the beach in the winter time. It may even keep you a little warmer on a cool night.
6. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Whenever I hear this song, I get the image of a cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan going around a model train track.
5. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
I liked this song way before I knew what it meant. I vaguely recall Pee Wee Herman saying, "Feliz Blah Ble Blah" on a Christmas special. This was actually my ringtone on my last cell phone.
4. Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney
I don't know how anyone could hear this song and not have a wonderful Christmas time. This song is so good that De La Soul samples it in one of their songs.
3. Marshmallow World - Bing Crosby
It makes me wonder what it would have been like growing up where it snowed in the winter.
2. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
The sound of Motown is awesome, and adding that sound to a Christmas song just makes it even better.
1. Last Christmas - Wham!
I think this is because of the time period that I grew up in, but I could listen to this on rotation for hours (insert obligatory statement about not being gay here). There have been many different versions made since Wham!, but none of them compares. So what are your favorite Christmas songs?
Almost a week until Christmas is here.
p.s. Don't forget that Kwanzaa is on the 26th.
Some of the other things I like are seeing the look on the kids' faces when they open up gifts that they have asked for, Christmas ham, and getting together with family. Those things are the finale of all the madness that leads up to them. The one thing that gets me through all the unpleasantries is Christmas music. I love Christmas music! In fact, I sometimes listen to Christmas music at other times during the year. I have already changed my music player to include many great holiday songs, but here are my top ten favorite holiday songs:
10. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) - Alvin and the Chipmunks
I remember listening to this song on an 8-track. It instantly brings back childhood memories of Christmas.
9. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
This was the first really "alternative" style of Christmas song I remember. It used to be a holiday regular on KROQ. I don't listen enough anymore to know if it still is.
8. Baby it's Cold Outside - Various artists
This is probably the most recent addition to my list. Maybe the movie Elf had something to do with it? I don't have a particular favorite version of this song, but James Taylor does a pretty good one. In fact, James Taylor's Christmas album is a must listen during the holidays.
7. Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys
It's always good to think about the beach in the winter time. It may even keep you a little warmer on a cool night.
6. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Whenever I hear this song, I get the image of a cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan going around a model train track.
5. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
I liked this song way before I knew what it meant. I vaguely recall Pee Wee Herman saying, "Feliz Blah Ble Blah" on a Christmas special. This was actually my ringtone on my last cell phone.
4. Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney
I don't know how anyone could hear this song and not have a wonderful Christmas time. This song is so good that De La Soul samples it in one of their songs.
3. Marshmallow World - Bing Crosby
It makes me wonder what it would have been like growing up where it snowed in the winter.
2. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
The sound of Motown is awesome, and adding that sound to a Christmas song just makes it even better.
1. Last Christmas - Wham!
I think this is because of the time period that I grew up in, but I could listen to this on rotation for hours (insert obligatory statement about not being gay here). There have been many different versions made since Wham!, but none of them compares. So what are your favorite Christmas songs?
Almost a week until Christmas is here.
p.s. Don't forget that Kwanzaa is on the 26th.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Pasadena Bunny Museum
A couple of weeks ago we took the youth from the church to visit the world's largest bunny museum. It is located in Pasadena, California. It is run by Steve and Candace. It began with him giving her a bunny and now they give one another a bunny gift every day. The tour is free and their website describes it much better than I can. Here is where to find them. It was an interesting experience and I recommend you pay them a visit at least one time in your life. I have included a few highlight pictures below, but there are a ton more if you are interested at my photobucket page. Enjoy:
This bunny is in the front yard and used to be a part of a Rose Parade float.
Every visitor has to sign in before entering. They keep track of how many visitors they have had. I was visitor #13,485!
I think these
were my favorite of all the bunnies on display.
Skyler got to come along for the trip too.
With Steve and Candace (Candace really wanted to have the Bugs Bunny phone in the picture).
This bunny is in the front yard and used to be a part of a Rose Parade float.
Every visitor has to sign in before entering. They keep track of how many visitors they have had. I was visitor #13,485!
I think these
were my favorite of all the bunnies on display.Skyler got to come along for the trip too.
At the Bunny Table
With Steve and Candace (Candace really wanted to have the Bugs Bunny phone in the picture).
This is the bunny that started it all!
They even had a few live bunnies hopping around. That's all for now. Have a hoppy Friday!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Injury Report
It was the evening of November 30th. It also marked the first basketball game of the Tuesdays vs. Thursdays (the guys who play on Tuesday night against the guys who play on Thursday night). The game was going quite well. For some reason we were playing with 20 minute quarters, but we still seemed to have energy going into the second half. The Thursdays(my team) took an early lead in the beginning(being up by at least 20 points at some point in time), but the Tuesdays were making a huge run. They had cut the lead to single digits a few minutes into the 3rd quarter. It was at that point that I took a jump shot from around the free throw line. As I came down, the spot on the floor my left foot wanted to land on was already occupied by my defender's leg. The result was my foot landing on his leg and making a popping sound. I went to the ground and let out a nice growl. Jed was there and told me to stay on the ground. I looked at my leg and saw my ankle trying to look back at me. This was obviously not your typical ankle sprain. Surprisingly, I was not in pain and think that I was pretty calm under the circumstances. We gathered my things, loaded me into Jed's truck and headed to the emergency room.
They got me in immediately and laid me in a bed. One of the nurses recognized me from our last place of residence, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with an old acquaintance. They cut off my shoe laces removed the shoe and cut off my sock. After that, this is what we saw:
It appeared that I had dislocated my ankle. Luckily, it didn't look like I had broken any bones. And, although the bones did rip a couple of holes in my foot, they didn't burst out. So, it seemed like there were some positives to the situation. After doping me up and trying to get government secrets out of me (why else would they be twisting on my foot?), it was determined that they weren't going to get my foot back in. A surgeon was called and in the mean time my wife, parents, and father-in-law all made an appearance. Xrays were taken and the surgeon, wearing a sporty L.L. Bean fleece showed up. He said that I had a very rare dislocation of the joint just below the ankle. I believe he called it the subtaylor joint. They were going to take me up to surgery and knock me out. They hoped that the muscles would then relax enough to be able to slide my foot back into place without having to cut me open. The surgery was a success and I came away with no stitches. I am currently using crutches and a walking boot. The swelling has gone down significantly over the last couple of days, and I am gradually applying more weight to it. I have another appointment to see the doctor in a week and a half or so.
Initially, the doctor said that I would not be able to play basketball again. However, when I saw him last, he had changed his tune a bit. I will still have to do physical therapy and it will be a long process to get to that point. It is still frustrating not being able to do much during the holidays, but a lot of people have helped us out. I am hoping that I will be in decent shape before Bodie comes. This seems like a reasonable excuse for the huge gap since my last post. I do have some events in the past to report on, so check back over the next few days to learn about my Disneyland trip with Skyler and my visit to the world's largest bunny museum.
They got me in immediately and laid me in a bed. One of the nurses recognized me from our last place of residence, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with an old acquaintance. They cut off my shoe laces removed the shoe and cut off my sock. After that, this is what we saw:
It appeared that I had dislocated my ankle. Luckily, it didn't look like I had broken any bones. And, although the bones did rip a couple of holes in my foot, they didn't burst out. So, it seemed like there were some positives to the situation. After doping me up and trying to get government secrets out of me (why else would they be twisting on my foot?), it was determined that they weren't going to get my foot back in. A surgeon was called and in the mean time my wife, parents, and father-in-law all made an appearance. Xrays were taken and the surgeon, wearing a sporty L.L. Bean fleece showed up. He said that I had a very rare dislocation of the joint just below the ankle. I believe he called it the subtaylor joint. They were going to take me up to surgery and knock me out. They hoped that the muscles would then relax enough to be able to slide my foot back into place without having to cut me open. The surgery was a success and I came away with no stitches. I am currently using crutches and a walking boot. The swelling has gone down significantly over the last couple of days, and I am gradually applying more weight to it. I have another appointment to see the doctor in a week and a half or so.
Initially, the doctor said that I would not be able to play basketball again. However, when I saw him last, he had changed his tune a bit. I will still have to do physical therapy and it will be a long process to get to that point. It is still frustrating not being able to do much during the holidays, but a lot of people have helped us out. I am hoping that I will be in decent shape before Bodie comes. This seems like a reasonable excuse for the huge gap since my last post. I do have some events in the past to report on, so check back over the next few days to learn about my Disneyland trip with Skyler and my visit to the world's largest bunny museum.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Fighting the Bad Guys
Geronimo is a very obsessive person. Once he finds a movie that he likes or a toy he enjoys he will constantly ask for it. His current obsession is, "fighting the bad guys". At Disneyland they have a Jedi Training Academy, where you can train to be a Jedi and take on Darth Vader. Geronimo has been through the training and that is all he can talk about. He asks to go to Disneyland and fight the bad guys constantly throughout the day. I thought I could tide him over by popping in some Star Wars movies, but that only intensified his obsession. It even started making its way into his prayers. After hearing, "please bless that I can fight the bad guys and go to Disneyland" enough times I decided I would take him. Besides, I don't want to discourage anyone from enjoying Star Wars and things affiliated with it. So, yesterday I took the day off of work, put him in my car and surprised him with a trip to fight the bad guys. Here is a summary of our day:
Here is something I haven't noticed in prior years' holiday decorations: There is snow on the castle. The Christmas fireworks show is highly recommended by me.
Upon entering the park, I thought we might have a short wait if we went to Finding Nemo first. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with this idea and the line was about an hour long. I knew we wouldn't get through the line and be able to make it to the first Jedi Training in time, so I asked Geronimo what he wanted to do. He wanted to ride Nemo. As I stood in line I began to ponder my view on people who hold a place in line for the rest of their family while they go on other rides. I didn't really have much of an opinion on the matter in the past, but since I have grown older and more ornery I don't really like it. It screws up the all the signs that tell you how much longer of a wait it is. Unless Disneyland has already adjusted for that. I just am not a fan of little Billy getting to go on 3 rides while my kids and I stand in line. But at the same time, if it is their family's only time going I wouldn't want them to miss out on rides because of a long line. I still don't know how I feel.
I liked the old submarine ride and this still has some of the old ride in it. I think it is a good ride overall, but do not recommend waiting in line for over an hour. Hopefully one day soon, the line will get shorter.
Here he is waiting for the training to start. He has gone to a standard two thumbs up pose for all of his pictures. I don't know where that came from, but I had to tell him to put his thumbs down multiple times during the day.
And here is the purpose of the whole trip:
He still has trouble activating the light saber.
After finishing with his training, he was presented with a certificate. I had also stashed away a Darth Vader action figure (not a doll) in the stroller and pulled it out for him. He was very excited and wanted to hold it for the rest of the day. I am very happy that we share an appreciation for Star Wars.
I wonder if they get to take their costumes home with them? That would definitely be a bonus.
I asked Geronimo what he wanted to do next, secretly hoping that he would not say, 'fight the bad guys again". He said Buzz Lightyear, and all was well with the universe. For those of you unfamiliar, on this ride you get a laser gun and have various targets to aim for throughout the trip. It keeps track of your score and takes your picture. At the end of the ride you can go to a screen and find your picture that includes your score and email it to yourself. This all seems like a good process, unless you are about 40 inches tall. In that case the picture will only contain a little hand holding a gun. We went on Buzz twice, which was fine because the line was only 5 minutes long.
I have discovered that there are some targets worth a lot more than others. I have also discovered that I don't know how to aim these little laser guns. I am skeptical about the whole ordeal. As long as they light up and make noise, Geronimo is fine with it.
Next up was Star Tours. I keep hearing rumors that they are going to update this ride. I am all for it. I still like riding it though, and am happy that the kids like it too. I think they will like it even more after having watched a few of the films.
There was no line for the rockets, so we jumped on. I miss the rockets being higher up. Maybe one day they will move them back. Geronimo, like almost all kids, loves being able to drive things on his own. This made me wonder why he didn't want to go on Autopia.
After Jedi's, Geronimo's next favorite people are pirates, so we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. He made me wave to grandpa and proceeded to point out everything throughout the ride. He has particular things he likes to point out. It is one of my favorite rides to go on with him. I think the people in front of us didn't like his commentary, which made it even more enjoyable.
Just about next door to Pirates of the Caribbean is The Haunted Mansion. It is decorated for the holidays from October to January. They seem to make subtle changes each year, which keeps it interesting. Plus, the holiday decorations make it less scary for the little ones. After visiting with Jack Skellington, Geronimo dug in to his lunch as I strolled him over to Winnie the Pooh. That ride is never crowed, probably because it is terrible. It is the only ride that looks like something I could do myself. I will miss The Country Bear Jamboree that was demolished for Pooh to move in. Most of the stuff was transported over to Splash Mountain though, so it wasn't a total loss. Speaking of Splash Mountain, the wait to go on it was only 5 minutes! I have never seen the line so short. Geronimo has never ridden it before, so I asked him if he wanted to go. He said no, and I didn't pursue the issue. I would have liked to have gone, but I didn't want to deal with a drenched, unhappy-with-the-final-plunge son for the rest of the day.
After finishing the rest of his lunch we jumped aboard a raft to head over to Tom Sawyer's Island. It is now called Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. Like most things Disney these days, they have pirated up the island. I hadn't been there since they made the changes. I really liked the things that I saw. It used to be a bit less crowded, but there was still plenty of room on the island, and the additions didn't ruin the experience for me.
There were a lot more interactive things to do on the island. There are things inside the caves now, and other things around the island like this sunken ship.
There were a couple of these pumps next to the sunken ship.
If you pump hard enough to drain the water, you get to see the hidden treasure, along with some sleeping skeletons (they can hold their breath for a long time) .
If you turned a wheel fast enough, you lift a treasure chest, and it's former owner, out of the water.
We were privileged to witness the very rare island moose come for a bath and a drink of water.
Next on our journey was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Little did I know at the time, but Geronimo ended up wanting to go on this ride 5 times. I kept getting looks from the workers as though it was me dragging him on the ride all those times. If they only knew. I think he would have been satisfied going on this ride over and over again until the park closed. I think he liked riding it because people were screaming and he wanted to scream too. Plus, there are turtles and snakes and birds and dinosaur bones. I didn't realize how much he liked this ride. I thought he would want to do the Jedi Training multiple times, but my thoughts deceived me. Today was all about riding the choo-choo train.
At the end of the exit line from Big Thunder Mountain is this little publicized ride. I believe it is based on the rarely mentioned Disney film, "Westward Ho!". An animated story that chronicles the travels of a New York prostitute who decides to move to San Francisco. (I may be getting some of the details mixed up).
After having been in this line for 5 times, I had come up with an innuendo for each of these signs.
This is my random photo of the day. I saw this guy and remembered the last episode of My Name is Earl. Randy called a guy similarly looking a magic genie. As a side note, thanks to the wonders of digital cameras and immensely large memory cards I am able to take a lot of pictures and not worry about wasting film. Because of this, I will take lots of random pictures and not care. I took over 250 pictures during our trip. Sara does not share my love of random picture taking and gets a bit bothered having to look through all of them just to see the good pictures. Sometimes her hatred of things makes me enjoy them more. This is one of those times. So after the 5th time on Big Thunder Mountain, I finally convinced Geronimo to pick another ride. He said he wanted to "go on the airplane". I eventually deciphered this to mean Soarin' Over California. I was a little disappointed, because it meant we would have to go to California Adventure. It was almost 4 p.m. and it closed at 6, so I thought we were going to spend our whole trip in Disneyland. He was pretty set on going on the airplane, so we headed over there.
After Soarin' Over California we headed over to Monsters Inc. This picture is for Knick.
Next up was A Bug's Land. We were able to walk on all of the rides there, which included flying around in circles, spinning in a lady bug, bumping into other bugs, and riding around in an over-eating caterpillar.
I noticed some of the Christmas decorations on display at California Adventure. I don't remember these from last year, so I think they are new. I like the little touches they add during the different seasons. It helps make things seem new after having gone many, many times. After leaving A Bug's Land, Geronimo wanted to ride The Golden Zephyr, which is one of my all-time favorite words.
The last ride of the evening was The Floating Jellyfish, or something similarly titled. I had never been on that ride, or plan to in the future. It took longer to strap everybody in than the actual ride lasted. I wasn't a big fan.
California Adventure closed at 6 p.m., which was perfect for Geronimo because he was starting to doze off during the stroller ride back to the tram. Overall, I think it was a great time. When you start having multiple kids, it is harder to have special one-on-one time with each of them, so I really enjoyed the trip. I was surprised at some of the rides Geronimo didn't want to go on. He almost always asks to go in The Tiki Room, but he rejected my offerings to go there. He also bypassed going on The Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, and The Matterhorn. If it were up to me, we would have gone on those rides (especially because the lines were like 5 minutes long for all of them), but it was Geronimo's day. I guess I will have to go on those next time. For anyone who is still reading this and cares, here are a few pointers I have learned: The Parks are least crowded on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you go with a group that has children that aren't tall enough to ride some of the rides, taking advantage of the rider swap passes is a big bonus. In some cases, it enables your kids to go on rides multiple times. If there are rides that only one adult wants to go on, some rides have single rider lines that are quicker than Fast Passes. The following rides are good to get Fast Passes for, when they are available: Autopia, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Soarin' Over California, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. The following are rides that don't give you much of a benefit with a Fast Pass: Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Mulholland Madness (I know I am forgetting a couple, but some of the Fast Pass lines don't get you ahead of many of the people standing in line. Indiana Jones is the worst of these). If you are going to go frequently or are on a multiple-day stay, take advantage of the interactive areas. The kids can spend lots of time at these places and really have a good time. Some examples of these are Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Brother Bear, Tarzan's Treehouse and the area where you can learn to draw a Disney Character and Talk to Crush. Searching for Hidden Mickey's can keep parents entertained during the multiple times through various rides. There are lots of other things I can think of, but this post is already long enough. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Until next time.
Mr. Mustachio
Here is something I haven't noticed in prior years' holiday decorations: There is snow on the castle. The Christmas fireworks show is highly recommended by me.
Upon entering the park, I thought we might have a short wait if we went to Finding Nemo first. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with this idea and the line was about an hour long. I knew we wouldn't get through the line and be able to make it to the first Jedi Training in time, so I asked Geronimo what he wanted to do. He wanted to ride Nemo. As I stood in line I began to ponder my view on people who hold a place in line for the rest of their family while they go on other rides. I didn't really have much of an opinion on the matter in the past, but since I have grown older and more ornery I don't really like it. It screws up the all the signs that tell you how much longer of a wait it is. Unless Disneyland has already adjusted for that. I just am not a fan of little Billy getting to go on 3 rides while my kids and I stand in line. But at the same time, if it is their family's only time going I wouldn't want them to miss out on rides because of a long line. I still don't know how I feel.
I liked the old submarine ride and this still has some of the old ride in it. I think it is a good ride overall, but do not recommend waiting in line for over an hour. Hopefully one day soon, the line will get shorter.
Here he is waiting for the training to start. He has gone to a standard two thumbs up pose for all of his pictures. I don't know where that came from, but I had to tell him to put his thumbs down multiple times during the day.
And here is the purpose of the whole trip:
He still has trouble activating the light saber.
After finishing with his training, he was presented with a certificate. I had also stashed away a Darth Vader action figure (not a doll) in the stroller and pulled it out for him. He was very excited and wanted to hold it for the rest of the day. I am very happy that we share an appreciation for Star Wars.
I wonder if they get to take their costumes home with them? That would definitely be a bonus.
I asked Geronimo what he wanted to do next, secretly hoping that he would not say, 'fight the bad guys again". He said Buzz Lightyear, and all was well with the universe. For those of you unfamiliar, on this ride you get a laser gun and have various targets to aim for throughout the trip. It keeps track of your score and takes your picture. At the end of the ride you can go to a screen and find your picture that includes your score and email it to yourself. This all seems like a good process, unless you are about 40 inches tall. In that case the picture will only contain a little hand holding a gun. We went on Buzz twice, which was fine because the line was only 5 minutes long.I have discovered that there are some targets worth a lot more than others. I have also discovered that I don't know how to aim these little laser guns. I am skeptical about the whole ordeal. As long as they light up and make noise, Geronimo is fine with it.
Next up was Star Tours. I keep hearing rumors that they are going to update this ride. I am all for it. I still like riding it though, and am happy that the kids like it too. I think they will like it even more after having watched a few of the films.
There was no line for the rockets, so we jumped on. I miss the rockets being higher up. Maybe one day they will move them back. Geronimo, like almost all kids, loves being able to drive things on his own. This made me wonder why he didn't want to go on Autopia.
After Jedi's, Geronimo's next favorite people are pirates, so we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. He made me wave to grandpa and proceeded to point out everything throughout the ride. He has particular things he likes to point out. It is one of my favorite rides to go on with him. I think the people in front of us didn't like his commentary, which made it even more enjoyable.
Just about next door to Pirates of the Caribbean is The Haunted Mansion. It is decorated for the holidays from October to January. They seem to make subtle changes each year, which keeps it interesting. Plus, the holiday decorations make it less scary for the little ones. After visiting with Jack Skellington, Geronimo dug in to his lunch as I strolled him over to Winnie the Pooh. That ride is never crowed, probably because it is terrible. It is the only ride that looks like something I could do myself. I will miss The Country Bear Jamboree that was demolished for Pooh to move in. Most of the stuff was transported over to Splash Mountain though, so it wasn't a total loss. Speaking of Splash Mountain, the wait to go on it was only 5 minutes! I have never seen the line so short. Geronimo has never ridden it before, so I asked him if he wanted to go. He said no, and I didn't pursue the issue. I would have liked to have gone, but I didn't want to deal with a drenched, unhappy-with-the-final-plunge son for the rest of the day.
After finishing the rest of his lunch we jumped aboard a raft to head over to Tom Sawyer's Island. It is now called Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. Like most things Disney these days, they have pirated up the island. I hadn't been there since they made the changes. I really liked the things that I saw. It used to be a bit less crowded, but there was still plenty of room on the island, and the additions didn't ruin the experience for me.
There were a lot more interactive things to do on the island. There are things inside the caves now, and other things around the island like this sunken ship.
There were a couple of these pumps next to the sunken ship.
If you pump hard enough to drain the water, you get to see the hidden treasure, along with some sleeping skeletons (they can hold their breath for a long time) .
If you turned a wheel fast enough, you lift a treasure chest, and it's former owner, out of the water.
We were privileged to witness the very rare island moose come for a bath and a drink of water.
Next on our journey was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Little did I know at the time, but Geronimo ended up wanting to go on this ride 5 times. I kept getting looks from the workers as though it was me dragging him on the ride all those times. If they only knew. I think he would have been satisfied going on this ride over and over again until the park closed. I think he liked riding it because people were screaming and he wanted to scream too. Plus, there are turtles and snakes and birds and dinosaur bones. I didn't realize how much he liked this ride. I thought he would want to do the Jedi Training multiple times, but my thoughts deceived me. Today was all about riding the choo-choo train.
At the end of the exit line from Big Thunder Mountain is this little publicized ride. I believe it is based on the rarely mentioned Disney film, "Westward Ho!". An animated story that chronicles the travels of a New York prostitute who decides to move to San Francisco. (I may be getting some of the details mixed up).
After having been in this line for 5 times, I had come up with an innuendo for each of these signs.
This is my random photo of the day. I saw this guy and remembered the last episode of My Name is Earl. Randy called a guy similarly looking a magic genie. As a side note, thanks to the wonders of digital cameras and immensely large memory cards I am able to take a lot of pictures and not worry about wasting film. Because of this, I will take lots of random pictures and not care. I took over 250 pictures during our trip. Sara does not share my love of random picture taking and gets a bit bothered having to look through all of them just to see the good pictures. Sometimes her hatred of things makes me enjoy them more. This is one of those times. So after the 5th time on Big Thunder Mountain, I finally convinced Geronimo to pick another ride. He said he wanted to "go on the airplane". I eventually deciphered this to mean Soarin' Over California. I was a little disappointed, because it meant we would have to go to California Adventure. It was almost 4 p.m. and it closed at 6, so I thought we were going to spend our whole trip in Disneyland. He was pretty set on going on the airplane, so we headed over there.After Soarin' Over California we headed over to Monsters Inc. This picture is for Knick.
Next up was A Bug's Land. We were able to walk on all of the rides there, which included flying around in circles, spinning in a lady bug, bumping into other bugs, and riding around in an over-eating caterpillar.
I noticed some of the Christmas decorations on display at California Adventure. I don't remember these from last year, so I think they are new. I like the little touches they add during the different seasons. It helps make things seem new after having gone many, many times. After leaving A Bug's Land, Geronimo wanted to ride The Golden Zephyr, which is one of my all-time favorite words.The last ride of the evening was The Floating Jellyfish, or something similarly titled. I had never been on that ride, or plan to in the future. It took longer to strap everybody in than the actual ride lasted. I wasn't a big fan.
California Adventure closed at 6 p.m., which was perfect for Geronimo because he was starting to doze off during the stroller ride back to the tram. Overall, I think it was a great time. When you start having multiple kids, it is harder to have special one-on-one time with each of them, so I really enjoyed the trip. I was surprised at some of the rides Geronimo didn't want to go on. He almost always asks to go in The Tiki Room, but he rejected my offerings to go there. He also bypassed going on The Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, and The Matterhorn. If it were up to me, we would have gone on those rides (especially because the lines were like 5 minutes long for all of them), but it was Geronimo's day. I guess I will have to go on those next time. For anyone who is still reading this and cares, here are a few pointers I have learned: The Parks are least crowded on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you go with a group that has children that aren't tall enough to ride some of the rides, taking advantage of the rider swap passes is a big bonus. In some cases, it enables your kids to go on rides multiple times. If there are rides that only one adult wants to go on, some rides have single rider lines that are quicker than Fast Passes. The following rides are good to get Fast Passes for, when they are available: Autopia, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Soarin' Over California, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. The following are rides that don't give you much of a benefit with a Fast Pass: Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Mulholland Madness (I know I am forgetting a couple, but some of the Fast Pass lines don't get you ahead of many of the people standing in line. Indiana Jones is the worst of these). If you are going to go frequently or are on a multiple-day stay, take advantage of the interactive areas. The kids can spend lots of time at these places and really have a good time. Some examples of these are Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Brother Bear, Tarzan's Treehouse and the area where you can learn to draw a Disney Character and Talk to Crush. Searching for Hidden Mickey's can keep parents entertained during the multiple times through various rides. There are lots of other things I can think of, but this post is already long enough. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Until next time.
Mr. Mustachio
Halloween Costumes
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
A New Blog
I have recently become displeased with MySpace's blog and decided to try this one instead. The main problem I had with the MySpace one was that non-MySpacer's couldn't post comments. Hopefully with Blogger that will change. If you are not familiar with my previous blog posts you can find them here: http://www.myspace.com/knowone725
It is officially Halloween! Although it isn't my favorite holiday, it does rank pretty high up there. I like raiding the kids candy for chocolate goodness and blow pops. I also still like to dress up when I have the time to put together a costume. I originally wanted to be Gumby this year, but just didn't have the time to put an effort into making the costume. Instead I went with a much simpler costume. I will post a photo of it sometime in the near future, and you can try and figure out what it is. My favorite part of Halloween is definitely carving jack-o-lanterns. I think I have gotten better with each year. I also learn new things that help me each year. This year's main tip that I learned was to give the pumpkins a bath after cleaning them out. The moisture does the pumkin well, and helps it last a couple days longer before turning into mush. Be sure to dry the pumpkin off after giving it a bath. Also, after the carving is all done you should spray it inside and out with some Lysol. It helps keep the fungi and bacteria away for a while.
This year I was feeling very ambitious and decided to try and carve pumpkins of the kids. I tried Geronimo's first and this was the result:
After two days the inside looked like this:
I was forced to trash it and try again. Here are the rest of my carvings of real pumpkins this year:
Madison
Geronimo
Skyler
Sasquatch
This is from one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone called "Eye of the Beholder". That is all I have for now. I carved some fake pumpkins too, but I wasn't too impressed with them. If you are interested in knowing how I carved the pumpkins, let me know and maybe I will post a step-by-step process in the future. Until next time, Have a Happy Halloween!
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