OK, so because of Amanda's Student Loans, our impending tax return, and my job's bright outlook, we decided to go ahead and take a trip to Disneyland. We'll be leaving March 13 and heading home the 17th. Like before, we're keeping this trip a secret from the kids. We'll be waking them up at 6am on the day we leave. We'll bring them out to the front room where their packed suitcases will be waiting by the door, along with some T-shirts I've made. Here's what they look like: Here's Joel's, our Buzz Lightyear/Star Wars fan.
Here's Maddy's shirt--Maddy LOVES the wild rides.
Of course, Abe's has "It's a Small Word" and says "My First Trip to Disneyland"
I also made him one that looks like mine:
In case the image is to small to see the details, My shirt is made up of Disneyland attraction posters.
Manda's looks like this:
Take a wild guess where those antenna topper mickeys are positioned on the shirt...
We are very excited to go, and we're glad it's only a month and a half away. It's going to be so much fun. Maddy will be a little annoyed that her favorite ride, Splash Mountain, is closed for repairs. But she'll be able to go on a lot of rides she's never been on, like Indiana Jones Adventure, Space Mountain, California Screamin', and new rides like Monsters Inc. and Turtle Talk with Crush. So anyway, that's all for now.
From now until the end of April, Space Mountain is "Rockin' Space Mountian," which includes fancy rock-concert lighting and visuals, as well as a Red Hot Chili Peppers soundtrack. You can watch it below, though the video's kinda dark and shaky (it IS a roller coaster after all).
2006 was my second-lowest movie-viewing year since I started keeping track in 1989. I went to the movies 21 times this year (2003 is still the lowest, at 14) which includes the following 18 movies (I saw Cars 3 times and Monster House twice).
King Kong, Munich, IMAX Deep Sea 3-D, Curious George, United 93, Mission Impossible 3, Over the Hedge, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Da Vinci Code, Cars, Superman Returns, Nacho Libre, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Monster House 3-D, Lady in the Water, Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D, The Prestige, Charlotte’s Web
My Top 5 of 2006:
United 93: OK, ignore the shaky camera, already. This movie really affected me. I was able to relive September 11th in a very cathartic way. The story was handled in a very interesting way, and the filmmakers were able to capture all the feelings of the day, from the “everything’s normal” beginning to the “What the crap just happened?” moments of shock to the feelings of nobility and determination that most of us felt the passengers of the flight were feeling. A truly great film, in my opinion.
Monster House: Going in a COMPLETELY different direction from the previous pick, this movie was just plain fun. It really captured those 80’s Spielberg-produced movies of my youth (Gremlins, Goonies, The Burbs, etc.) Funny script and interesting visuals. And the humans weren’t as creepy as on Polar Express.
The Prestige: OK, I haven’t seen “The Illusionist” yet, so I can’t compare the two. But this movie was a fun series of twists and turns. The script and performances were strong, and I liked the sci-fi edge to it. What would YOU do for the sake of success? I admit, I saw some of the twists coming, but others were a complete surprise.
Superman Returns: I admit, I’ve always liked the Superman story. I like the fact that he helps others just because it’s the right thing to do. I like the Christ parallels in his story. And although it’s nice to see him have personal struggles, I ENJOY seeing heroes that aren’t tortured, ostracized, and out for revenge. This movie was a little too long, but then so were the first 2 Superman films. And I still love the “Weren’t there two of those?” line.
Cars: OK, it was a close call for the 5th spot between this and Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s Web was a thoroughly enjoyable family film, and hit the right notes for me. But it doesn’t have the repeat-viewing potential for me that Cars does. And Cars makes me REALLY want to go on a road trip.
My Bottom 5 of 2006
Nacho Libre: Sorry to those of you that liked it. I thought it was a putrid waste of my time and money. We saw this on our anniversary, and it really killed the mood. Not funny.
X-Men: The Last Stand: Sorry, this one was a disappointment for me. Dumb stuff. A couple interesting things with Phoenix, but overall, I was NOT impressed, and we won’t be adding it to our DVD collection.
Curious George: Sooooooo boooooooooring. And maybe I’m just impatient or an overly attentive father, but why do people let George get away with all that stuff? My kids watch the Curious George cartoon on TV, and it frustrates me because people treat George like a responsible child...HE’S A MONKEY!!! Don’t have him pick up a dozen donuts! And you people at the store, DON’T give a MONKEY 100 dozen donuts!!!!! GEEEEEEZ!
Lady in the Water: I know I’m jumping on the bandwagon here, but this movie wasn’t good—not as a scary movie, not as a fantasy film. Interesting characters, some clever moments, but not very good. Poor M. A victim of your own success.
Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D: OK, I LOVE Nightmare Before Christmas. But the 3-D just didn’t work very well. There were a couple spots that looked ok, but overall, I was just sitting in the theatre, disappointed, feeling like I might as well have stayed home and watched the DVD.
There you have it. Hopefully, 2007 will be a good year at the movies, with Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, Harry Potter 5, Ratatouille, Sweeney Todd, and lots of other films that will make it on my list for next year.
Be sure to watch the Musical episode of Scrubs Thursday the 18th on NBC--Here's a clip, which Joel quite enjoys:
2005 included death, a rough pregnancy for Amanda, school stresses for both of us, life with in-laws, and an unsatisfying, low-paying job.
2006 was the year we both graduated college, we got into an apartment, and I got a very promising job that gets better on a weekly basis. 2006 had its low spots, for sure, such as when I was temporarily laid off, when we had to cancel the Disneyland trip, and when we were forced to move out of the McTeers before we were ready (trust me, we wanted to go, but it sure was tough to get out as fast as we needed to--a thanks again to those people who helped us out!)
2007 is looking very promising so far. My job is surging forward at top speed. While we struggled for investors on the animation project, people are coming out of the woodwork to get involved with our political DVD. Investors have been extremely eager to get involved, and public surveys and interviews with candidates have both show a huge interest in the product. Today, we even got our 1st corporate sponsor, with more to follow, I'm sure.
Amanda is taking a physics class at UVSC this semester--her last prerequisite to get into the Master's Program in Occupational Therapy at the U of U. She's sent in her papers already and she'll start in august if she's accepted.
In other family news, our kids are all having a blast with their Christmas presents, and Abe loves walking more than crawling, though he's still pretty wobbly.
For a day or two, we were planning a March 2007 Disneyland trip, but we made a decision to save up for our 2008 10th Wedding Anniversary Walt Disney world Trip. July 1998, Amanda and I went to WDW for our honeymoon, now, 10 years later, we're returning with 3 kids in tow. We're even staying at the same hotel (All-Star Music), but in a family suite instead of a regular room.
Hope you all have a great new year. To celebrate the angst and joys of life, I bring you the opening credits of one of the all-time best TV shows, "My So-Called Life."
