A TV Education

Was anyone else surprised when they learned that the average size of a seahorse is around 5 inches in length? For me, this picture had a lot to do with that misconception. I'm still under the impression that if I need someone to quickly shut their mouth and keep it closed, I am to give them something called "alum." However, an experiement conducted from the top of my bunk bed when I was five taught me that not only will I not float gracefully through the air if I'm holding an umbrella, but also, the umbrella will do absolutely nothing to break my fall. Who knew! I wonder what other ways pop culture is leading us astray?

And the Winner is....

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. When it finally stops raining kids have to get their outdoor playtime any way they can. The other day, Jonah and his two buddies decided to race slugs down the slide. I'm not sure who's slug won, or if the boys even stayed around to wait for the finish. My guess is that the slugs are either still working their way down the slide, or got eaten by a robin.

Disney Tip #8 - The Final Tip

I’m tired of doing Disney tips so this will be my final Disney Tip post. I’ll never get to the top of the Google search results list with “Disney Tips” because there are just too many “Disney Tips” sites out there already. (Yes, I do check every day to see if one more post gets me into the top ten search results. Kind of pathetic, but what can I say.)

Also, I’ve got a bunch of other things to blog about. The kids have been super cute the last few days and I have some funny stuff to say about them.

I’m not sure what to name this post or what tip to give. Mostly I thought the picture was cute but also a little telling of how we approached Disneyland. Certainly, we were not the only ones to carry sleeping kids out of Disneyland at 10pm, but I can tell you, the last few hours of this night, Jonah didn’t really get much out of his Disney experience except a nifty, overpriced souvenir, and he barely stayed awake for that.

Frankly, I’m surprised that Isaac was still awake and chipper at the time this photo was snapped, but he was sick the first two days so I guess needed to make up for lost time.

So, what’s my tip? Have fun at Disneyland. Play hard because you never know when you’ll be able to come back to the Happiest Place on Earth (unless you live in Southern California and have season passes.)

Disney Tips, Disney Tips, Disney Tips, Disney Tips, Disney Tips! (Take that Google!)

Disney Tip #7 - Take Great Photos

I would one day love to take a photography class and purchase a super fabulous, extra fancy SLR digital camera. Until that day, I must rely on my natural artistic talent and aging camera to capture the happy moments our family will cherish forever. (Unless a house fire or flood destroys all my albums and computer records.)

A flash of photographic inspiration came on our recent trip to Disneyland when I saw a Disney employee take a picture of a family. The Disney photographer, as you probably know, takes a picture, then you can stop by the photo booth on your way out of the park, or log onto the computer later when you get home and purchase prints of your professional Disney photo. Of course if you read Disney Tip #5, you know that Disney will charge you a pretty penny for these pictures.

When I noticed the Disney pro taking pictures, I realized I could set up the same shot and take my own professional looking picture. Ok, I know this has probably already occurred to 98% of you out there, but it seemed like a “Eureka” moment to me.

For the above picture, the tall people knelt down and the short ones stood. The photographer also knelt down so that she could capture both us and the whole Sleeping Beauty Castle in this shot. I never would have thought to set a shot up that way on my own, so copying the Disney pro was very helpful.

Drive Down Memory Lane

Today I am going to take a momentary break from Disney Tips to bring you a little glimpse into my past.

Here we have a picture of my mom and Jonah riding in the “Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies” at Disney’s California Adventure Bug Land. These bumper cars were definitely designed for the 6 and under crowd. There is no need to worry about jarring bumps because the bugs move very slowly.

The thing that caught my eye when I looked at this picture was the location of my mom’s hand, hovering just over the steering wheel. When I saw this, the floodgates of my memory opened and I found myself back in the driver’s seat of a Volkswagen Rabbit (diesel), with mom teaching me how to drive.

My mom’s hand often hovered just above the steering wheel while I was learning to drive. Mom was certainly patient, but definitely panicked during our driving sessions. Most of the time, though, mom’s hand was not hovering over the steering wheel, but tightly gripping the emergency brake, ready to yank up at the first sign of trouble. Her other hand clung to the door handle for dear life. (If we still had that brown Volkswagen Rabbit, I could show you the indentation her hand left in the plastic handle.)

My favorite part about our driving lessons, however, was when mom’s foot would slam down on that invisible brake pedal located on the passenger side of the car. Of course no matter how hard she came down on that imaginary brake pedal, it never seemed to make a bit of difference.

So, evidently, driving in a bumper car with a 5 year old at the wheel is as nerve wracking as teaching a 15 year old to drive a stick shift on the busy freeways of California. Fortunately for Jonah, the bug cars didn’t have emergency brakes!

Disney Tip #6 - Cash for Snacks

Theme Parks are known for many things, but reasonable prices is NOT one of them. So, unless you want to leave the park for meals, pack a little something for your family to eat inside the park, you know, so they don't starve or, heaven forbid, whine.

There are lockers available just outside of the Disneyland entrance where you can stash your snacks, or you could carry them around with you until lunch time. Supposedly, Disneyland has a policy about not bringing in food but we brought food into Disneyland every day, including obvious, plastic water bottles, and never got stopped at the bag check.

Even with your superior planning and foresight, it will be hard to walk by every single food vendor with out indulging. Around 2pm, when you've been seriously attacking Disneyland for 6 hours, your sugar levels will start to falter and you might feel lightheaded. It's possible your pre-schoolers just might be tired of trekking all over the park and need a little break.

At this point in the day, you will gladly pay $3 for a few teaspoons of sugar in the form of cotton candy. More than that, you should pay $3 for cotton candy. And don't feel bad about it either. Cotton Candy will give you a chance to sit for a few minutes. Everyone can share in one, $3 cone of cotton candy and feel like they are getting a substantial snack (if your group consists of one or two adults and a few small children). Most importantly, the sugar rush will give you the energy you and your kids need to get through the next six, fun-filled hours at Disneyland.

Cotton Candy vendors accept cash only, so make sure you have $3 with you at the beginning of the day and you will be ready for your cotton candy break later in the day.

Disney Tip #5 - Free Ride Pics

When you go on those exciting rides at Disneyland, your picture will be snapped mid-ride (usually at your most unflattering moment) and you will have the opportunity to buy a print of your picture at a little booth near the ride exit. The pictures will cost a million dollars. OK, I'm exaggerating a bit: a million dollars is for the 8 x 10, it only costs half a million dollars for the 5 x 7.

Don't get suckered into spending way too much money on a picture of you freaking out on a Disneyland ride. Instead, take your digital camera or your camera phone and take a picture of the picture displayed on the monitor.

Admittedly, it will not look as good as the one you could buy for a million dollars but consider this: Once you walk through the Disneyland exit at the end of the day, you will wonder why you are wearing a mouse-ear hat with flashing lights in the ears. You will also wonder what you are doing with a light up Mickey Mouse spinning thing and a lanyard heavy with $180 worth of Disney pins. All of these things seemed like a really good idea when you laid down your hard earned cash for them, but now that you’ve left the magic of the park, they are really just reminders that you got suckered.

The same will be true of your overpriced thrill-ride photo. So just take a picture of the picture to remember the moment. When you get home, you can have it blown up and put in a garish frame if you are still under the impression that would be a good idea.