December 2008 Disneyland Trip: Day 1 and 2

Man, a lot of catching up to do. Disneyland trip, Christmas, New Years, Watchmen, etc. Well, now that I have some free time…lots and lots of free time…I’ll get caught up on things. Plus, everyone’s been asking when I’d do a new blog entry—including my wife, who knows everything that happened anyway!
Today we re-cap the drive down to California as well as the first day at Disneyland. I’ve set up the blog entry like this: I’ve got pictures and description of the events, then I’ve posted a short video compilation of the highlights of that day’s events.
Now, before the trip, we’d packed the kids’ suitcases while they were at school, and bought them some Disney Gift Cards to use for buying souvenirs at the parks.

Saturday, Dec. 13th, we got the kids up really early—like 6:30am or so. They were really tired, but definitely got excited once Amanda brought out the suitcases—well, except Maddy, who was still pretty unemotional—as she told us later, “I can’t really get excited for anything at 6 in the morning.”
The drive down went quickly and smoothly (much better than the drive home—but we’ll save that for another day). Went through a few stinky patches:

And Abe made himself a fort in the car:


It was REALLY windy through a lot of the trip, and there was a long stretch when we saw tumbleweeds flying across the freeway—including one giant tumbleweed that we totally almost crashed into.
Somewhere in Southern Utah or thereabouts, Maddy got gum struck in her hair:

I told her to bite the hairs off, and Amanda said “You can’t bite through a chunk of hair!” I quickly proved her wrong by biting off a big chunk of Amanda’s hair. True story, and that kept us laughing for quite a while. Later, Amanda cut off the gummed-up chunks of Maddy’s hair with nail clippers.
We arrived in Anaheim mid-afternoon, and we made our first stop at the new Anaheim Gardenwalk outdoor shopping mall, which is just a little east of Disneyland. There we ate Cinnabons (it’s been soooo long…) and we tried to decide where to stay the night. You see, originally, Amanda was supposed to work Saturday, so we were going to drive halfway Sat. night, then the rest of the way Sunday and check into the Disneyland Hotel on Sunday afternoon. Because we drove the whole way on Saturday, we were a day early for the reservation. We drove by the nearby Motel 6, but it looked rather scary. We called the Disneyland Hotel to see how much adding an extra night would be, but couldn’t commit to spending the $$. We went to a Days Inn, but it was booked, then finally, we went ahead and decided to go ahead and spend the extra dough for another night at the Disneyland Hotel. Really, it made it a lot more convenient, and gave us an extra day of Early Entry to the parks.
We checked in, then drove over to nearby Shakey’s Pizza. It was pretty good, (especially their fried potatoes) but kind-of made us sick.
We went back to the hotel for the night: Maddy and Abe sharing a bed, Amanda and I sharing a bed (a double bed—it will never happen again) and Joel on the sofa bed.

Sunday, Dec. 14th
The best thing about going to Disneyland in Mid-December (besides the awesome Christmas decorations) is the fact that you can ride tons of rides without waiting in long lines. With a few exceptions, I’m presenting the itinerary as a list, so you can see just how much we were able to do—and on a typically-busy Sunday, no less. (We’ll avoid listing the bathroom breaks this time).
5:45: Woke up.
6:40: Left Hotel
6:55: In line at Disneyland Gates for Early Entry
7:00: Disneyland Opens
7:10: Peter Pan’s Flight
7:15: Dumbo

7:20: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
7:25: Sword in the Stone

7:30: Looked for hats at the Mad Hatter Shop
7:35: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
8:05: Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters
Score: Andy: 92500; Amanda: 52500; Maddy: 8700; Joel: 7800; Abe: 2500
8:15: Pirates of the Caribbean
8:45: Haunted Mansion Holiday (In case you don’t know, from October through December, the Haunted Mansion is decorated in a “Nightmare Before Christmas” themed overlay, where Jack Skellington and friends have decorated the mansion—totally awesome—we loved it.)

9:00: Amanda and Maddy rode Splash Mountain, while I took the boys on the Winnie the Pooh ride twice in a row.
9:20: We all ride Pooh (no vulgar jokes, OK?)
9:30: Joel and I ride the Indiana Jones Ride
10:00: We all head over to Disney’s California Adventure Park.
10:10: Toy Story Midway Mania (details: A ride where you sit 2-to-a-vehicle and make stops at various midway games (on video screens) hosted by Toy Story characters. You wear 3-D glasses and each rider has a small cannon which you use to shoot darts at balloons, throw rings in a ring toss, throw baseballs at plates, etc.)
Score: Andy: 131800; Amanda: 115000; Maddy: 44900; Joel: 46200; Abe: 1000
11:10: Got Fastpasses for Soarin’ Over California.
11:20: We walked to the nearby Grand Californian Hotel and ate lunch at Whitewater Snacks.

So delicious.

I’d been coveting the nachos, which I’d seen a picture of online. And hey, mine had a Hidden Mickey:

12:00: We each took turns riding Soarin’ with our Fastpasses.
We then shopped for a while, rode the Monsters Inc. ride, and saw Muppetvision 3-D, then at 2:10, we headed over to Disneyland.
2:35: We got a spot for the Christmas Parade (a nice, shady spot between the Castle and the Matterhorn).
2:40: I took the kids to ride the Pinocchio ride while Amanda saved our spot.
3:30: We watched the parade. A lot of fun, but the song got rather repetitive. Before the parade, we saw some high school marching bands, and Prince Caspian rode by on his horse (watch the video to see a special tribute to the pooper scooper lady—she gets her moment of glory).
4:00: We took the monorail back to our hotel for a rest. And to eat dinner (leftover pizza).
6:50: We headed back to Disneyland, via the monorail.
7:10: We took turns riding Star Tours with the kids (Abe’s not tall enough to ride yet).
8:15: We saw the light show on the It’s A Small World Building.
8:30: Pirates of the Caribbean again—the boys’ favorite.
8:55: We found a spot to watch fireworks, but after it got delayed twice, we decided to go back to the hotel. Abe was soo tired—he was screaming, “I just need a place to lay down!!”
We stopped by the World of Disney store on the way to the hotel to get some treats, which made the kids happier, and we wasted money at the hotel buying some really awful burgers at Croc’s Bites.
We got to bed at 11:00.
Wow, a really really long day—but not crowded, not hot, not even that tiring at all.
Here’s a video re-capping the drive down and the first day at the parks. Includes Maddy’s gum-hair, Christmas décor from Fantasyland, New Orleans Square and Main Street, a few short snippets from the parade, and some of the Small World light show—among other fun things. Enjoy!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008


OK, once again, I’ve been really busy with Watchmen stuff and so now while I have a day or two of downtime, I’m finally going to try catching up on the blog a little. Today, I’ll be catching you up on our Christmas activities, but our Christmastime Disneyland Trip Report will not be showing up for a little while—it’s much more labor-intensive and I want to do it right! I’ve got some great video from Disneyland, (as well as video of us telling the kids we’re leaving at 6am). Plus, I’m still trying to recover from our Hellish 33-hour trip home from California.
Early in December, we took a trip up to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.


Abe is OBSESSED with Christmas lights. When driving around, if he sees lights on houses, he starts yelling excitedly. We’ve considered prescription medication to counteract that behavior.
We also made a gingerbread house, using a kit from Wal-Mart rather than going the homemade route.


It went OK, but next time we need to follow the instructions, like where it says “Wait 15 minutes (for the walls and roof frosting to dry) before decorating.” This is what happens if you DON’T wait:


Since we have our own condo, we feel more like decorating, so we put up some decorations above the kitchen:


Of course we decorated our tree, with our ever-increasing collection of ornaments. Obviously, the best ornament of all is my self-portrait head, made in the mid-1980’s:


OK, to Christmas Eve:
Christmas Eve we had a Mexican Fiesta Potluck at Judy’s house (for the Peterson Family party), complete with Enchiladas, Chimichangas, Pollo Mascado (Chewed-Up Chicken), Chips and Salsa, and Egg Nog Cake. We exchanged gifts and had a fun time, overall. Then we headed home and had our own Christmas Eve festivities, including reading the story of the Nativity, letting the kids open up 2 presents each (a new book and a pair of pajamas), and get the stockings ready.


We exchanged names this year, so Maddy bought for Abe’s stocking, Joel got for Maddy’’s, and Abe got for Joel’s (and Amanda and I got each other’s). So on Christmas Eve, they each took a turn going into my room and filling the person’s stocking, then we brought it out to the front room, covered in a blanket:


Then I pulled off the blankets when I went to bed.
We told the kids that they weren’t allowed to get up until 6:30. So wouldn’t you know, at 6:25, Joel comes in asking if it was OK to get up. We were like, “5 more minutes…” so I got up and turned on the Christmas lights and got the cameras ready. As I walked past the boys’ room, I saw Joel sitting on the top bunk of the bunkbed, legs already on the ladder, ready to get out ASAP.
Either Amanda or Joel –or both--woke up Maddy (there’s some dispute on that point between Maddy and Joel)—but anyway, they came out and saw their stockings. Then after a few minutes, we woke up the big Christmas fan—Abe—so he could live out the Christmas fantasies he’d built up in his mind over the past few months of watching our home movies.
He immediately brightened up and started dumping out his stocking.
Some of the items the kids got in their stockings:
GIANT, novelty-size pens
Fake teeth with gangster gold/jewels embedded in the teeth
Hannah Montana trivia cards and jump rope (for Maddy)
Chapsticks and toothbrushes
Tiny washcloths that de-compress in water
Candy and a chocolate orange

Then, I took a shower (no one wants to be around a greasy, unshowered Peterson) while Amanda put the cinnamon rolls in the oven. Remember, Amanda and I met at Cinnabon, and we got the “clone of a cinnabon” recipe off the internet (tweaked by us to be even more Cinnabon-esque). So ours are pretty much the best rolls ever.
Then we opened presents. Most of Madison’s presents revolved around the 2 “H’s”: Harry Potter and Hannah Montana. Because her room is Harry Potter-themed, we got her a Harry Potter broom, some of the books, a wand, a time-turner, a golden snitch, and Gryffindor socks. Plus Amanda made this awesome quilt:


She also got some Hannah Montana stuff that I’m trying to block out of my mind, but I think there was a CD and a Barbie thing, among other drivel.
Joel’s room is space-themed, so we got him a solar system that hangs from the ceiling, and a light-up constellation nightlight that shines stars on the wall and ceiling. Here’s his awesome quilt, made by Amanda of course:


In addition, he got a Zelda game for the DS, the Boom Blox game for the Wii (which is also a present for me, really, cause I freaking LOVE that game!) some action figures, and some other stuff we don’t remember…
Abe’s presents fell into two main categories: Buzz Lightyear and Pirates of the Caribbean. He got some Buzz vehicles and figures and some Pirates weapons (including a very large, powerful cannon that shoots things across the room…not sure what Amanda was thinking…Also, at Disneyland, he fell in love with a small treasure chest full of chocolate coins, which we bought him when he wasn’t looking. And we got him a pirate coin on a necklace, ala the first pirate movie.
Amanda started a clock collection for our kitchen wall, so I got her a “melting clock.”


I also got her an end table, a waffle iron, and a really tiny cheese grater (ok, it’s probably for spices).
I got a Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD collection, the Sweeney Todd Blu-ray, and a razor (those last two aren’t connected…I think…)
My last time shaving with my old razor went thusly:


On Christmas Night we had the party at the McTeers, during which I realized that the White Elephant and Dirty Santa games were a waste of time and money and I never want to do them again.
Hope you all had a great Christmas! If not, the Santa Emperor Palpatine will MAKE you have a great Christmas next year!!!


Now just for LeeAnn who loves this story, here’s the story of “The Little Match Girl,” animated by Disney Studios. It’s about 6 ½ minutes but is well worth watching (including the fairly un-Disney ending), and it’s set on Christmas Eve—plus I’m a sucker for wintry, Russian stories:

Spring Ahead, Fall Back

OK, ok, I’m updating my blog, alright?
OK, first of all, news of the family since last post:

[CLICK on any pictures to embiggen!]

Maddy and Joel started school—Maddy in 4th Grade, Joel in 1st. Here are their school pictures:



Cute, huh? I mean, really, compare them to some of the school pictures of their aunts and uncles:

OK, or compare them to me at their age:


Abe and Amanda had their birthdays on October 10th. Abe got a lot of Pirate-themed presents, as well as an Indiana Jones whip that makes sounds and plays Indiana Jones music when you press a button on the handle. Here’s Amanda’s Ding Dong cake:


And then there was Halloween. Now me, I am not a big fan of Halloween. I like the imagery of Jack O’Lanterns, ghosts, etc. But the whole dressing up and trick-or-treating thing…I’m not a fan. But Amanda and the kids love it, so what can you do, really? Sit around eating candy, that’s what!
Maddy was a 50’s girl:


Joel was an eyeball (sorry about the blurred eye picture):


And Abe was Captain Jack Sparrow:


Joel’s costume was totally his idea. He’s hilarious. I’m looking forward to see what he comes up with next year. It was tough for Amanda to figure out how to make the costume. She ended up using a pattern for some other costume—a bumblebee or something…
Abe was going to be Buzz Lightyear, thanks to the costume we got on clearance last year, but a few weeks before Halloween, he got out of his Toy Story phase and into his Pirates phase (meaning he started watching Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 every day instead of Toy Story 1 and 2 every day). Not long before Halloween, we worried that he was going into his Indiana Jones or Iron Man phases, thanks to us getting Those on Blu-Ray. (Yes, we got a Blu-Ray player—and I LOVE it.)
Maddy WAS going to be Tinkerbell, but changed her mind at the last minute, leaving her Tinkerbell phase as she heads into the…ugh…pop star/Hannah Montana phase…Of course she’s still a Harry Potter fan, too. Which leads to the next news—Amanda painted the kids’ rooms. Maddy’s is Harry Potter themed with Gryffindor colors: Red and Gold:


Joel’s is blue, and we’ll soon be adding stars and planets for a space theme:


Amanda was an awesome painting maniac, and come Christmas, you’ll be able to see the awesome quilts she’s making for each of them that match their room themes.

Hmmm, what’s next?
Amanda’s working a lot at the Disney Store now that the Christmas season is kicking into high gear. On the plus side, she’s got 4 one-day park passes, and should be getting 4 or 5 more in the next month or so. Now, if we could just figure out when to take a trip to Disneyland. We’ve had on-again, off-again plans for a trip to Disney World or Disneyland. Currently, we’re thinking Disney World is going to have to wait until we’re in a better financial situation and when the kids are a little older (and if we wait til 2010, we can visit Universal Studios Florida and see the new Harry Potter land there, in addition to a big ol’ Disney World trip). Our smaller dream is for a Christmastime Disneyland trip, but this year is out, with me working so intensely on the Watchmen Motion Comic.

Speaking of that, Chapter 4 of the Motion Comic is now on iTunes. I worked on about ¼ of the episode. I also did some revisions to Chapter 5 which comes out in a week or so. The animation has been a lot of fun, and it’s been nice to see people enjoying the videos.
I also just quit my job at 8fish, for a number of reasons, most importantly that I’m wanting to focus more on animation-focused work. While 8fish was an o.k. job (much better than a lot, even), and definitely provided for my family, I felt like I was moving further and further from the kind of work I want to do. This was a big and somewhat scary decision to make (especially in today’s economy), but Amanda and I both feel like it’s the right thing to do right now.
Well, that about catches us up. Joel’s birthday was this week—we got him a star wars Lightsaber Duels video game, which he’s been enjoying, and we’re having a birthday party with nieces and nephews and other relatives on Friday.
We’re also gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Abe’s currently in a Home Videos phase, which means he enjoys watching the Christmas sections of our home videos OVER and OVER and OVER—he LOVES watching people dump out stockings and open presents. Then he keeps wanting to wrap up his toys and open them; or, he likes to dump a pile of toys in the middle of the room and cover them with a tote and blankets for a BIG present...he’s cute, but wears me out.
We’ll end with a song. Most of you should know the song “The Girl from Ipanema”
Well, this is a parody of that song called “The Boy From…” (the ellipses are short for Tacarembo La Tumbe Del Fuego Santa Malipas Zacatecas La Junta Del Sol Y Cruz)
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Mary Rodgers.
It’s probably also the only song that mentions the Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch