Friday, April 18, 2008
Tom's Toon of the Month April 08
This month we take a look at the Haunted House starring your favorite character and mine, Mickey Mouse.
This particular toon is a great example of Mickey's early inspiration from Charlie Chaplain. Disney worshiped Chaplain and I suspect Ub Iwerks admired him too. For good reason. Chaplain was a genious. He embodied comedy in Hollywood's halcyon days. He could be a foil for a gag, but you still liked him. You still rooted for him, even if he looked foolish sometimes. Mickey is here in this role. His roundness, his diminuitive size, and his vulnerability make him easy to identify with.
What stands out to me about this cartoon is that deep down inside, I find it genuinely scary. When I was a little kid I used to have nightmares that played out a lot like this cartoon does. The intimidating hooded figure, the horrifying revelation of walking dead, the nature of Mickey's predicament trapped and enslaved all add up to my worst childhood fears. This is all juxtaposed with goofy gags with dancing skeletons. There aren't a lot of belly laughs in this one, but there's the usual attention to quality and detail. The movements are fluid, weighty, and dimensional. I especially enjoy watching Mickey pump the pedals on that organ. The lighting effects are awesome. The scene where Mickey lights a match in the hallway is breath-taking to me.
For all this, Roy's cost-cutting measures are also evident. Some of the animation of the skeleton dances are directly recycled from a Silly Symphony entitled "The Skeleton Dance," a title I'll be featuring at a later date.
In classic Disney fashion, the nightmare ends and Mickey not only survives, but gets away. Mickey's fear seems to walk a line between the comic and the sympathetic. Whether we laugh at his fear, or share in it, we identify with it. That's the genius of Mickey Mouse as a character.
-Tom
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spring update
Things are going much the same here at the Gunn household. I feel bad we haven't been very good at updating the blog, so mostly I'm writing to let you know we really are still alive. We got to go to Tom's mission reunion last weekend, and of course we forgot to bring along our camera. Really smart, that... We had a really nice time. Tom got to see people he hasn't seen since his mission, and we finally caught up with friends we've had the good intention of inviting over but never do. Tom's phone died about the time we moved up here to Midvale, so he didn't have any phone numbers or contact information for many of these people. We're looking forward to spending time with these friends in the near future (and already have dates set, or it wouldn't happen, lol).
We've had a long, harsh winter here in Utah, as a lot of you would attest. For awhile there, it seemed like Spring would never decide to grace us with her presence. It seems however, that she is finally here to stay (Okay, I realize that means it could snow tomorrow, but I'm finding the silver lining here!). We just had the most beautiful weather this weekend, it was in the 60's and 70's the whole time, and we actually had our windows open all day Sunday.
Ash was sick during the week, so she needed us to run her down our three flights of stairs about every hour for a full day so she could do her business outside. I'm so grateful she's so well-trained! This could have meant some pretty serious scrubbing, but she never once in her illness had an accident. She's feeling much better now, and is back to her old antics of begging for any scrap of food she thinks she has a chance at getting. We love having her around, and I'm enjoying taking longer walks with her now that the weather is getting nicer. She loves any excuse to be outside, especially if it involves being with us, her pack.
We love you all and wish you the best! We'll at least be posting more photos for my birthday soon, and I'll try to be better at updates.
-Amy
We've had a long, harsh winter here in Utah, as a lot of you would attest. For awhile there, it seemed like Spring would never decide to grace us with her presence. It seems however, that she is finally here to stay (Okay, I realize that means it could snow tomorrow, but I'm finding the silver lining here!). We just had the most beautiful weather this weekend, it was in the 60's and 70's the whole time, and we actually had our windows open all day Sunday.
Ash was sick during the week, so she needed us to run her down our three flights of stairs about every hour for a full day so she could do her business outside. I'm so grateful she's so well-trained! This could have meant some pretty serious scrubbing, but she never once in her illness had an accident. She's feeling much better now, and is back to her old antics of begging for any scrap of food she thinks she has a chance at getting. We love having her around, and I'm enjoying taking longer walks with her now that the weather is getting nicer. She loves any excuse to be outside, especially if it involves being with us, her pack.
We love you all and wish you the best! We'll at least be posting more photos for my birthday soon, and I'll try to be better at updates.
-Amy
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tom's 'Toon of the Month March 08
Disney Silly Symphony - Flowers And Trees
My apologies to those who loyally read TTOTM for my complete no-show last month! I hope you enjoy this month’s toon twice as much.
Flowers and Trees was the first Technicolor cartoon ever produced. Color films had been created before, and even a few using the patented Technicolor process, but this was the first cartoon. Flowers and Trees started life as another in the long series of Walt Disney Studios Cartoons under the banner of Silly Symphonies. It wasn’t until very late in production that Walt decided to make Flowers and Trees a Technicolor picture. The ink and paint girls had to clean the black and white paint from the back of the cells and completely repaint them.
Few films had been produced using the new Technicolor process because it was so expensive. Much to the chagrin of his brother, and business partner Roy, Walt signed a long-term contract with Technicolor to have shorts filmed using this new, expensive process years and years into the future. The studio, though nationally known and successful at this time, was always strapped for cash. Throughout both of their careers in show business, Walt seemed to come up with new ways to spend money in the name of quality pictures as easily as Roy found ways to cut costs in the name of keeping the studio financially solvent. To put it another way, it was often said that Walt dreamed things up, and Roy dreamed up ways to pay for them. It wasn’t just the filming and developing process that was expensive. The studio had to completely re-tool, replacing their black, white, and gray paints with a whole spectrum of colors. In spite of all this, Walt believed in the future of color in movies generally, and was convinced that the Technicolor process resulted in the best colors. Walt aspired to be the King of Animation, and believed his pictures deserved nothing but the best.
This short is the forerunner of the celebrated Disney features in several ways. This early experiment in Technicolor was an essential achievement to the production of a first-class color feature, Snow White. The Disney animators also learned lessons in combining artistic excellence with crowd-pleasing gags; a cocktail that remains the signature of Disney features. In the case of Flowers and Trees, the whole tone of the film is akin to an ancient myth or fable. It feels like it could be based on the work of Virgil, Aesop, or Homer. Yet, the gags are frankly expressed and elegantly executed. My personal favorite is the flower dragging himself up to perch on the chest of the defeated villain-tree. The emotion is unmistakable. Every plant or animal in this short is alive somehow. Nothing is used merely as a moving prop. The details pass quickly, but the care, devotion, and attention are on every frame, right down to the leafy “hair styles” of the tree protagonists.
Walt was right about the future of color in motion pictures. His perfectionism also paid off. Flowers and Trees won the Oscar for Best Animated Short that year. In fact, Flowers and Trees invented the category.
--Tom
Friday, March 14, 2008
Master Ron Heimberger
Ronny Layne Heimberger Obituary:
So far, the life of Ronny Layne Heimberger has been filled with vision and purpose. He set out to become a great student, but continued on to become a great teacher. One of the quotes he embodies was penned by Tzu-kung who said, "Not to tire of learning is wisdom; not to weary of teaching is benevolence." Once he realized that the foundation he laid for his work in mortality was strong enough to be perpetuated by others, he was allowed to move on. He got up on the morning of March 9th, got dressed and said he "had to go." Soon thereafter, he was called away by his Heavenly Father and continues his eternal work in the Celestial Realm.
Ronny was born on March 7, 1956 in Nampa, Idaho to William Charles Heimberger (deceased) and Lucy Elaine VanSickle-Heimberger of Richmond, Utah. Not many years after his birth, he received three siblings, Chrystal Hallam of Las Vegas, NV; Gwyn Hammer of Lewiston, UT and Adam Heimberger of Logan, UT.
He met Lisa Dee McGoldrick in Idaho and married her on April 30, 1980. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls Temple on May 19, 1983. Ronny admires Lisa for her work as a midwife and herbalist. He and Lisa have five children: Nicole S. Heimberger of Phoeniz, AZ, Chantel Heimberger-Hilsmann, Cody Heimberger, Garrette Heimberger and Aubrey Heimberger all of St. George, UT.
Ronny served in the Army National Guard, fulfilled his callings in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, traveled the world, and speaks several languages. He is widely loved, and most well-known throughout the world, for his work as founder and director of the world-wide Wing Chun Kung Fu Council. He is, to countless of his loyal students, simply known as "Sifu," their mentor and guide. To read Ronny's memorial or find out more about his work visit www.wckfc.com.
Viewings for Ronny will be held this Friday evening on the 14th of March from 6-7 p.m. at The Spilsbury Mortuary and on Saturday morning the 15th from 9-10:30 a.m. at the St.George Fifth Ward chapel on 85 S. 400 E. in St. George, UT. Services will commence at 11:00 a.m. A short grave-side service with bagpipes and military honors will immediately follow at the Tonaquint Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff Street, St. George, Utah.
"Wherever the Superior Man passes through, people are transformed; the place where he tarried is spiritualized and Heaven and Earth blend harmoniously. How could you say 'he is gone'?" - Mencius
Sifu with his Sifu, Grand Master Ip Ching
Sifu playing the blues with Si Heng Carlos
Sifu dancing in the hay after a Kung Fu training camp. This was the side of him most people never got to see.
Sifu presenting me with a camp certificate
Sifu, you will be missed by all who had the chance to know and learn from you. Thank you for touching our lives!
--Amy
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Star Wars according to a 3 year old.
We don't know this little girl, but found the vid on youtube. Couldn't resist sharing.
The title says it all... Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A week in Utopia
Now my head is just crammed with Disneyland and it's all just busting out at the seams. I even had dreams of it last night. I dreamt that we won a full tour of Disneyland from Walt himself. He said, "Yeah, I know I'm dead but this is my park and this is your dream."
I marveled at the control that the park exercises on its guests. Waiting on Tom Sawyer Island for a ferry, the crowds got restless because one of the ferries broke down and there were a lot of people waiting under the glare of the sun for the return ferry. To help mollify the crowds, they sent Captain Jack Sparrow down to the dock and everybody walked away smiling. Ya gotta love it. I would feel a lot more cynical about it if it didn't actually work. But it really works. That's the magic of that park. It feels completely safe because it is completely safe. There aren't armed security guards on every corner to spoil the show. If they are needed, of course, they'll appear in force. But they aren't ever needed. Kim was marveling at how secure the strollers are outside attractions. One can just park it there and one's possessions are relatively safe. Again, just because the security measures aren't totally apparent, doesn't mean they aren't there.
There is nothing of the present at Disneyland. At the California Adventure park I saw someone reading a newspaper. Amy pointed out to me that maybe they were just annual pass holders waiting while their kids stood in a particularly long line but I said to Amy "If I had my way, reading a newspaper would be grounds for immediate expulsion from the park." When I lived in that area as a teenager, I saw such a thing unfold one night while my family was visiting the park. In this case I would not have been so lenient, but I took a lot of comfort in what happened. Around that time the Goth kids were a fixture of high-school life; black-wearing, perennially depressed strongsads starving for attention (who took their introspection to such an extreme that even I found them off-putting). It became ironic and cool for them to hang out at the Happiest Place on Earth. This particular group simply stood in clustered together at the statue of Walt and Mickey at the end of Main Street USA just looking sad, and even a little threatening. My family was near by when they over-heard a security guard come out of the woodwork and approach them, letting them know that if they didn't ride any rides they would be asked to leave. They were not going to be permitted to disturb the other guests, passively or otherwise. I'm willing to bet they wound up discussing existentialism at an all-night diner somewhere, bad-mouthing the corporate machine of Disneyland. They're probably all CPAs now.
As Amy mentioned, we took my Dad along on a special tour of the park. Along the way, we learned some things about Disneyland you may not have heard. Disneyland is the home of a private dining club called Club 33 (named for it's address in New Orleans Square) where Walt used to entertain visiting VIPs away from the tourists. The formal club still exists and still boasts VIPs, including Johnny Dep. We had the privilege of seeing the foyer of the club that features a replica of an incredible antique elevator that really works. The Haunted Mansion didn't always used to have a ride in it. Walt had it built along with New Orleans Square. It had originally been intended to go on Main Street, but Walt, and company realized it would be out of place there. It stood for years with no apparent purpose while guests speculated. Was it actually haunted, or maybe even cursed? Had somebody died there? The stories abounded. Walt took that and ran with it, claiming that they were preparing the mansion for ghostly guests from all over the world. Nine hundred and ninety-nine actually showed up. But there's always room for one more. Any volunteers? MWAHAHAHAHAHA!! We also spotted a special caboose car exclusively for Club 33 members and their friends called the Lillybell (for Walt's wife Lillian). One last thing: there's a lamp in the window of the firehouse on Main Street that is always on. The Firehouse contained Walt's personal apartment at the park. Every time he came to visit, he would come in and turn that light on. The light became a code for the staff to be on their best behavior because the boss was on the premises. It's been lit ever since Walt died; a symbol of Walt's continued presence in the park.
Anyway, the appeal of Disneyland for me is simple; Disneyland is a reminder of Zion; that shining city on a hill the pilgrims came for and failed to build. The reason this Zion works is because the only man who ever lived there, Walt Disney, is now dead. The point is not to live there, but to visit; to see what's possible. That's why I came, and that's what I found. I felt such a ubiquitous and reliable sense of control that, like so many visitors, it was very difficult to leave. As we walked towards the exit of the park, I turned and blew a final kiss to Main Street USA. After we had walked through the turnstile, Amy said there was a woman behind us who was in tears. Contemplating the unpredictable, fickle, and threatening nature of the world we were about to re-enter, I think I know why she was crying. We've already started planning our next pilgrimage
--Tom
I marveled at the control that the park exercises on its guests. Waiting on Tom Sawyer Island for a ferry, the crowds got restless because one of the ferries broke down and there were a lot of people waiting under the glare of the sun for the return ferry. To help mollify the crowds, they sent Captain Jack Sparrow down to the dock and everybody walked away smiling. Ya gotta love it. I would feel a lot more cynical about it if it didn't actually work. But it really works. That's the magic of that park. It feels completely safe because it is completely safe. There aren't armed security guards on every corner to spoil the show. If they are needed, of course, they'll appear in force. But they aren't ever needed. Kim was marveling at how secure the strollers are outside attractions. One can just park it there and one's possessions are relatively safe. Again, just because the security measures aren't totally apparent, doesn't mean they aren't there.
There is nothing of the present at Disneyland. At the California Adventure park I saw someone reading a newspaper. Amy pointed out to me that maybe they were just annual pass holders waiting while their kids stood in a particularly long line but I said to Amy "If I had my way, reading a newspaper would be grounds for immediate expulsion from the park." When I lived in that area as a teenager, I saw such a thing unfold one night while my family was visiting the park. In this case I would not have been so lenient, but I took a lot of comfort in what happened. Around that time the Goth kids were a fixture of high-school life; black-wearing, perennially depressed strongsads starving for attention (who took their introspection to such an extreme that even I found them off-putting). It became ironic and cool for them to hang out at the Happiest Place on Earth. This particular group simply stood in clustered together at the statue of Walt and Mickey at the end of Main Street USA just looking sad, and even a little threatening. My family was near by when they over-heard a security guard come out of the woodwork and approach them, letting them know that if they didn't ride any rides they would be asked to leave. They were not going to be permitted to disturb the other guests, passively or otherwise. I'm willing to bet they wound up discussing existentialism at an all-night diner somewhere, bad-mouthing the corporate machine of Disneyland. They're probably all CPAs now.
As Amy mentioned, we took my Dad along on a special tour of the park. Along the way, we learned some things about Disneyland you may not have heard. Disneyland is the home of a private dining club called Club 33 (named for it's address in New Orleans Square) where Walt used to entertain visiting VIPs away from the tourists. The formal club still exists and still boasts VIPs, including Johnny Dep. We had the privilege of seeing the foyer of the club that features a replica of an incredible antique elevator that really works. The Haunted Mansion didn't always used to have a ride in it. Walt had it built along with New Orleans Square. It had originally been intended to go on Main Street, but Walt, and company realized it would be out of place there. It stood for years with no apparent purpose while guests speculated. Was it actually haunted, or maybe even cursed? Had somebody died there? The stories abounded. Walt took that and ran with it, claiming that they were preparing the mansion for ghostly guests from all over the world. Nine hundred and ninety-nine actually showed up. But there's always room for one more. Any volunteers? MWAHAHAHAHAHA!! We also spotted a special caboose car exclusively for Club 33 members and their friends called the Lillybell (for Walt's wife Lillian). One last thing: there's a lamp in the window of the firehouse on Main Street that is always on. The Firehouse contained Walt's personal apartment at the park. Every time he came to visit, he would come in and turn that light on. The light became a code for the staff to be on their best behavior because the boss was on the premises. It's been lit ever since Walt died; a symbol of Walt's continued presence in the park.
Anyway, the appeal of Disneyland for me is simple; Disneyland is a reminder of Zion; that shining city on a hill the pilgrims came for and failed to build. The reason this Zion works is because the only man who ever lived there, Walt Disney, is now dead. The point is not to live there, but to visit; to see what's possible. That's why I came, and that's what I found. I felt such a ubiquitous and reliable sense of control that, like so many visitors, it was very difficult to leave. As we walked towards the exit of the park, I turned and blew a final kiss to Main Street USA. After we had walked through the turnstile, Amy said there was a woman behind us who was in tears. Contemplating the unpredictable, fickle, and threatening nature of the world we were about to re-enter, I think I know why she was crying. We've already started planning our next pilgrimage
--Tom
Disneyland trip February 2008--Amy's travel log
Okay, I know I've been awful at updating the blog. Now you have to suffer through a huge post talking all about our trip to California last week :D. I'll try to add photos throughout so it's not quite so boring....
On the Saturday night before our trip (February 9th), Tom and I took Ash up to board with Jeff and Crystal in Logan. Their kids were really excited to get to play with her. They love dogs, but she's not so sure she enjoys their love, lol. Of course, Murphy's law caught us when we realized Ash was in full heat and bleeding everywhere the day we were going to take her up there. Great timing, Ash! Poor girl, she had to wear little boys underpants throughout her already uncomfortable stay with the kids. It was hard to leave her there. When we were getting ready to go out to the car, she started freaking out and shaking like she was terrified. I don't know how it is, but dogs really seem to have a deep sense of everything that's going on around them. When Tom went to take our stuff out to the car, she bolted out the door and ran the half-block to the car. She waited there for Tom to arrive, like she was saying "Please take me with you! I'll never be naughty again." (Like we'd ever believe that, lol). Tom had to pick her up and carry her back into the house, and we left her in her carrier so she wouldn't escape again. I called later to see how she was doing, and apparently she was playing with the kids and enjoying getting so much attention. Silly doggy!
We left our place in Midvale about 5:45 am on the 12th. Tom hadn't gotten home from work the night before until about 11:00 pm, and of course there was a lot of last-minute packing and panicking to do. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night. We packed some caffeine in the cooler with our sandwiches, and boy we were grateful for it! We stopped in Nephi so my parents, Devin, Summer and Tanner could meet us there and caravan. It turned out it was really unfortunate we had gotten up so early, because they finally showed up about an hour after we did. I was glad we had some blankets in the car. We just laid back and took a nap while we waited for them. In fact, I was pretty boring and dozed most of the way down. I couldn't even stay awake long enough to relieve Tom as the driver. It was really funny. (boring for him, though).
That night we all went out to dinner and met Merrill (Tom's dad). After dinner we all went over to Downtown Disney, where there are a lot of fun shops. Among these is the Lego Store. This is one of our favorites, hehehe. We always get a little something lego whenever we go to California. Since we've gotten Tanner hooked on legos, we had to take him to visit the store. He wasn't disappointed. Besides the fact that it's an entire store devoted to legos and lego products, there are cool huge models all over the place, some even life-sized.
Our hotel was only about two blocks away from the entrance to the park, so Tom and I were able to walk over there every day. Disneyland was tons of fun. My favorite part was seeing how much fun my family was having, since this was their first visit to the park. I know Dad was concerned it would just be an overpriced Lagoon trip, but it did my heart good when every time I looked over at him he was grinning. Both he and my mom had sick spells and he even had to stay at the hotel for a whole day before he was feeling well enough to get out again, but everyone had a great time.
Deneal and Ashton met us at the park our first day. Ashton kept talking about how excited he was about going on the "Caterpillar ride", since that was the only thing he remembered from his previous visit a year or so ago. We ran across several Disney characters in costume. Some of them he really wanted to meet, even though he made funny faces whenever we took a picture.
It was the perfect time to take newbies to Disneyland, because there was no wait for anything that first couple of days. I have NEVER seen the lines so short when I've been there before. Most of the major rides had less than a five minute wait, and most of that was just walking through the line. We all got to go on whatever major rides we wanted to go on, so even that first day was pretty full.
Since this is the "Year of a Million Dreams" at Disneyland, the cast members around the park go around and give away random dreams and prizes that money can't buy. One of these was even a night's stay in the "dream suite"--an apartment in New Orleans square above the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride that was created from a design Walt Disney planned to use before he passed away in the 60's. We saw people with special "Year of a Million Dreams" Mickey Mouse ears that they had won, and other people had special fast pass cards that let them get onto every major ride in the park without having to wait. On our first day at the park, Tom and I were grabbing lunch and we noticed a nice table right near the counter that had a "reserved" sign on it. It had a nice white tablecloth, cloth napkins, nice flatware, and even gourmet condiments. It's difficult to get a table in this area of the park, so it was a great surprise when the cast member helping Tom told us that we had just won that table for our meal. She had us go sit down, and she brought out our drinks in tall glasses, and our burgers on nice plates, instead of having disposables. It was a silly little thing, but it was so much fun that she kept coming out to check on us, fill our drinks, and make sure everything was okay. We got the best table in the whole area!
For Valentine's Day, Tom got us reservations at Blue Bayou, an upscale park restaurant that you can actually see from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We were lucky to get our reservations, even though we ended up having to get them for the day after Valentine's day. They apparently get booked weeks in advance. It's got fun ambiance--it feels just like you are outside at night next to the water. The ceiling is too high to see in the dim lighting, so if you went in for lunch, you would forget it wasn't dark out. There are candles at every table, and little Chinese lanterns hang overhead. You can hear the friendly sounds of crickets and water lapping nearby, and every few minutes when a new boat on the ride is launched, you hear a new set of soft voices over the water. Every once in awhile you can hear screaming as a boat plunges down the first waterfall in the ride, but somehow this still doesn't bring you out of the calm fantasy this restaurant radiates. The food was excellent, although Tom was much more wildly ecstatic about this than I was (To me, meat is pretty much just meat. So call me crazy!). It was a pricey meal, but very fun for a special occasion.
On Saturday the 16th Tom, Merrill and myself went on the "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour at Disneyland. I sort of went to humor Tom since I knew he loves Disney history and would really enjoy the tour, but I really loved it as well! They take you all around the park and talk all about Walt Disney's contributions to everything and all sorts of history of the park and company.
So basically, we had lots of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure. Obviously :D.
On Sunday, Merrill took us out to the beach and then over the Long Beach where we saw the Queen Mary, an old WWII troop ship that later was used as an upper-class cruise ship. We didn't take the tour, although looking back we wished we had planned the time (and money) for it. It's supposed to be haunted, and the tour talks all about its history (Maybe my history-obsessed husband is finally rubbing off on me since historic tours are sounding fun these days).
We left to come back up to Utah that evening, and just took turns driving through the night. We got back here Monday morning (the 18th), and then went up to Logan to pick up Ash yesterday.
We and my parents had gone in together on some Mr. Potato Heads for Leo and Ella at one of the toy stores at Disneyland, and we brought them up to the kids. Boy, they sure loved those things. It was funny what different pieces we were able to get--Ariel hair (from little mermaid); Mickey Mouse ears, gloves, and even a Mickey shaped ice cream bar; Sleeping Beauty crown; glass slippers, and you name it. They sell Potato Head pieces separately--you just fill a box as full as you can, and as long as it closes you pay just a flat rate for whatever you fit in there. I was proud of the box I filled--no rattling when we shook it, lol. I couldn't believe how much was stuffed in there when it got dumped out. Leo was nervous Ella would take some of his pieces, so he took his into the kitchen to work on while Ella stayed here in the living room. I wish I had gotten a good picture of the "tato" he had created... It had "Incredibles" arms and pants, Pirate boots, a Peter Pan hat, a big red nose and a mustache. It was hilarious! Ella was putting things like bows, hair, and pretty shoes on her "tato". It's funny how early our male and female traits start to show up.
Ash is being so very good today. I think she's worried that we're going to send her back to the kids for more hugs if she does anything remotely bad. She's enjoying being back home, and I'm liking having my shadow again. I miss her when she's not here to keep me company while Tom's working.
Well, I guess that pretty well sums it up. I know Tom's planning to do his version of the trip on here as well, so you're going to be overloaded with Disney, hehehe. To those of you who have expressed interest, the new 'toon of the month ought to be up this week as well.
On the Saturday night before our trip (February 9th), Tom and I took Ash up to board with Jeff and Crystal in Logan. Their kids were really excited to get to play with her. They love dogs, but she's not so sure she enjoys their love, lol. Of course, Murphy's law caught us when we realized Ash was in full heat and bleeding everywhere the day we were going to take her up there. Great timing, Ash! Poor girl, she had to wear little boys underpants throughout her already uncomfortable stay with the kids. It was hard to leave her there. When we were getting ready to go out to the car, she started freaking out and shaking like she was terrified. I don't know how it is, but dogs really seem to have a deep sense of everything that's going on around them. When Tom went to take our stuff out to the car, she bolted out the door and ran the half-block to the car. She waited there for Tom to arrive, like she was saying "Please take me with you! I'll never be naughty again." (Like we'd ever believe that, lol). Tom had to pick her up and carry her back into the house, and we left her in her carrier so she wouldn't escape again. I called later to see how she was doing, and apparently she was playing with the kids and enjoying getting so much attention. Silly doggy!
We left our place in Midvale about 5:45 am on the 12th. Tom hadn't gotten home from work the night before until about 11:00 pm, and of course there was a lot of last-minute packing and panicking to do. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night. We packed some caffeine in the cooler with our sandwiches, and boy we were grateful for it! We stopped in Nephi so my parents, Devin, Summer and Tanner could meet us there and caravan. It turned out it was really unfortunate we had gotten up so early, because they finally showed up about an hour after we did. I was glad we had some blankets in the car. We just laid back and took a nap while we waited for them. In fact, I was pretty boring and dozed most of the way down. I couldn't even stay awake long enough to relieve Tom as the driver. It was really funny. (boring for him, though).
That night we all went out to dinner and met Merrill (Tom's dad). After dinner we all went over to Downtown Disney, where there are a lot of fun shops. Among these is the Lego Store. This is one of our favorites, hehehe. We always get a little something lego whenever we go to California. Since we've gotten Tanner hooked on legos, we had to take him to visit the store. He wasn't disappointed. Besides the fact that it's an entire store devoted to legos and lego products, there are cool huge models all over the place, some even life-sized.
Our hotel was only about two blocks away from the entrance to the park, so Tom and I were able to walk over there every day. Disneyland was tons of fun. My favorite part was seeing how much fun my family was having, since this was their first visit to the park. I know Dad was concerned it would just be an overpriced Lagoon trip, but it did my heart good when every time I looked over at him he was grinning. Both he and my mom had sick spells and he even had to stay at the hotel for a whole day before he was feeling well enough to get out again, but everyone had a great time.
Deneal and Ashton met us at the park our first day. Ashton kept talking about how excited he was about going on the "Caterpillar ride", since that was the only thing he remembered from his previous visit a year or so ago. We ran across several Disney characters in costume. Some of them he really wanted to meet, even though he made funny faces whenever we took a picture.
It was the perfect time to take newbies to Disneyland, because there was no wait for anything that first couple of days. I have NEVER seen the lines so short when I've been there before. Most of the major rides had less than a five minute wait, and most of that was just walking through the line. We all got to go on whatever major rides we wanted to go on, so even that first day was pretty full.
Since this is the "Year of a Million Dreams" at Disneyland, the cast members around the park go around and give away random dreams and prizes that money can't buy. One of these was even a night's stay in the "dream suite"--an apartment in New Orleans square above the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride that was created from a design Walt Disney planned to use before he passed away in the 60's. We saw people with special "Year of a Million Dreams" Mickey Mouse ears that they had won, and other people had special fast pass cards that let them get onto every major ride in the park without having to wait. On our first day at the park, Tom and I were grabbing lunch and we noticed a nice table right near the counter that had a "reserved" sign on it. It had a nice white tablecloth, cloth napkins, nice flatware, and even gourmet condiments. It's difficult to get a table in this area of the park, so it was a great surprise when the cast member helping Tom told us that we had just won that table for our meal. She had us go sit down, and she brought out our drinks in tall glasses, and our burgers on nice plates, instead of having disposables. It was a silly little thing, but it was so much fun that she kept coming out to check on us, fill our drinks, and make sure everything was okay. We got the best table in the whole area!
For Valentine's Day, Tom got us reservations at Blue Bayou, an upscale park restaurant that you can actually see from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We were lucky to get our reservations, even though we ended up having to get them for the day after Valentine's day. They apparently get booked weeks in advance. It's got fun ambiance--it feels just like you are outside at night next to the water. The ceiling is too high to see in the dim lighting, so if you went in for lunch, you would forget it wasn't dark out. There are candles at every table, and little Chinese lanterns hang overhead. You can hear the friendly sounds of crickets and water lapping nearby, and every few minutes when a new boat on the ride is launched, you hear a new set of soft voices over the water. Every once in awhile you can hear screaming as a boat plunges down the first waterfall in the ride, but somehow this still doesn't bring you out of the calm fantasy this restaurant radiates. The food was excellent, although Tom was much more wildly ecstatic about this than I was (To me, meat is pretty much just meat. So call me crazy!). It was a pricey meal, but very fun for a special occasion.
On Saturday the 16th Tom, Merrill and myself went on the "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour at Disneyland. I sort of went to humor Tom since I knew he loves Disney history and would really enjoy the tour, but I really loved it as well! They take you all around the park and talk all about Walt Disney's contributions to everything and all sorts of history of the park and company.
So basically, we had lots of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure. Obviously :D.
On Sunday, Merrill took us out to the beach and then over the Long Beach where we saw the Queen Mary, an old WWII troop ship that later was used as an upper-class cruise ship. We didn't take the tour, although looking back we wished we had planned the time (and money) for it. It's supposed to be haunted, and the tour talks all about its history (Maybe my history-obsessed husband is finally rubbing off on me since historic tours are sounding fun these days).
We left to come back up to Utah that evening, and just took turns driving through the night. We got back here Monday morning (the 18th), and then went up to Logan to pick up Ash yesterday.
We and my parents had gone in together on some Mr. Potato Heads for Leo and Ella at one of the toy stores at Disneyland, and we brought them up to the kids. Boy, they sure loved those things. It was funny what different pieces we were able to get--Ariel hair (from little mermaid); Mickey Mouse ears, gloves, and even a Mickey shaped ice cream bar; Sleeping Beauty crown; glass slippers, and you name it. They sell Potato Head pieces separately--you just fill a box as full as you can, and as long as it closes you pay just a flat rate for whatever you fit in there. I was proud of the box I filled--no rattling when we shook it, lol. I couldn't believe how much was stuffed in there when it got dumped out. Leo was nervous Ella would take some of his pieces, so he took his into the kitchen to work on while Ella stayed here in the living room. I wish I had gotten a good picture of the "tato" he had created... It had "Incredibles" arms and pants, Pirate boots, a Peter Pan hat, a big red nose and a mustache. It was hilarious! Ella was putting things like bows, hair, and pretty shoes on her "tato". It's funny how early our male and female traits start to show up.
Ash is being so very good today. I think she's worried that we're going to send her back to the kids for more hugs if she does anything remotely bad. She's enjoying being back home, and I'm liking having my shadow again. I miss her when she's not here to keep me company while Tom's working.
Well, I guess that pretty well sums it up. I know Tom's planning to do his version of the trip on here as well, so you're going to be overloaded with Disney, hehehe. To those of you who have expressed interest, the new 'toon of the month ought to be up this week as well.
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