http://www.theandersons.net/ en-us 2010-09-06T17:35:02-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000410.html Tomorrow is the first day of grade seven!! I'm like the big kid of the school. I'm so excited. Next year I'm in high school, grade eight. The teacher I have this year will prepare me for grade eight. So a lot of home work. Summer has gone by so fast I can't even remember the first of it. I need more summer holiday. The teacher I got is really nice. The teacher I got this year is the one I really really wanted. Have a great school year! Bye,... Chloe Chloe 2010-09-06T17:35:02-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000408.html April Sean 2010-03-12T23:46:05-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000407.html Sam Sam 2010-03-12T09:01:29-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000406.html Today was a break from the wonders of the Magic Kingdom. We were up early once again and outside waiting for our tour bus by 8:00 a.m. Once again the role of Creepy Bus Driver Guy was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman's brother, Hank. The unbelievable luck we have been experiencing this entire trip was still in place this morning, as well. We had been hoping we were going to be first in line for our bus so we could get the top front of the double-decker again. Unfortunately, we arrived to find a long line waiting for a regular-sized bus. So, we figured we would just sit wherever and get to Universal as best we could, no big deal. However, when we arrived at the front of the line, the lady bus driver stopped us and said her bus was full and that another one would be along in a minute. As a result, we found ourselves in the front of the line after-all, and, to top it all off, a big black double decker pulled up in front of us and out stepped Salvador Barta, our lovable driver from our trip to Sea World! Score! Tickets were taken and up we scrambled to our familiar top deck, front row seats. Double score! The ride into Hollywood was pretty neat with all the recognizable sights and signage along the way. We saw the Hollywood sign and all that stuff which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, that's about where all the really memorable stuff from this excursion ends. Universal Studios was...how to put it...a fairly lacklustre affair overall. Kind of like Disneyland without the budget, friendliness, or joy. The difference between the two parks was immediately made clear the second we walked through the front turnstiles and were descended upon by a horde of camera-toting, blue-Universal-polo-shirt-wearing lackeys who were all but demanding that we let them take a picture of us in front of this sign or that building. This wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that we were hit by another wave of them just a few yards down the street. Again and again we were accosted by these guys (and girls) and it fast became old. It got the point where we would throw ourselves behind the nearest cotton candy stand whenever we saw a blue polo shirt in the distance. In terms of the rides we had a couple of positive experiences starting with Shrek 4-D. Of all the 4-D attractions at any of the parks we visited, Shrek 4-D was the hands-down winner. It was kind of like all the humour and excitement in Universal Studios had been used-up on this show and there was none left for anywhere else in the park. Our hopes were pretty high after walking out of this one. The next ride we hit was The Simpsons. I actually had no idea what kind of ride this was and it took us nearly a half-hour in line to find out. Turns out it was exactly the same deal as Soaring Over California at California Adventure. The only difference being that while you soar gently over California in one, in the other you careen with a vomit-inducing intensity over, around, under, and through Springfield. Kids loved it, April kept her eyes closed, and I almost threw-up. The whole experience was not improved by the fact that the kids who were operating the thing were surly and uncommunicative about where we were supposed to go and what we we supposed to do. Definitely not a score. Next, we made our way down the seventy-five escalators to the lower level where our main objective was housed: Jurassic Park-The Ride! We were all looking forward to this one (except Chloe, who was nervous about the 84-foot drop at the end) and luckily we were able to just walk directly onto the ride. We prepared ourselves for the amazing animatronic dinosaur goodness we had read about on the internet all those months ago. Though it wasn't quite as good as we had envisioned, it was still pretty neat. Some second-rate mechanical dinosaurs populated a quite detailed Jurassic Park set and the T-Rex popping out just before we took the final plunge was appropriately scream-inducing. It really helped that we were able to just go around again and climb right back into a boat with no wait. The second ride was marred only by the failure of the T-Rex to pop out at the end. I'm not sure if this was a by-design randomness kind of thing, or a simple malfunction. Either way two go-rounds were enough for us. For lunch we left the park proper and headed over to what they call the City Walk. This is essentially Universal's attempt to mimic Downtown Disney, with it's shops and restaurants, etc. We ended-up at the Hard Rock Cafe which was fine, but a little sad as we were served by a guy named John who was so obviously an out-of-work actor waiting tables to make ends meet. City Walk did provide me with my first souvenir of the trip: a Star Wars travel mug. Yay, me! The afternoon was the classic Universal Studios Tram Tour. I remember this being very impressive when I was a kid. Things change, I guess. It was actually pretty lame, though the kids were impressed by the fact that some of the things on display had actually been used on screen. The earthquake set and, of course, Bruce the shark were impressive, but overall? Meh. After the tour I took off to the House of Horrors and April and the kids went to meet Shrek and Fiona. The House of Horrors was more like House of We Have the Opportunity to Make a Great Attraction but Instead Let's Only Present a Mediocre One. Other than the atmospheric recreation of Dr. Frankenstein's Laboratory, this was a giant miss. Too bad, it could have been great. The last big show was Universal's Animal Actors which was pretty cute and provided Chloe an opportunity to meet the little white dog from The Proposal (which is now a medium-sized white dog). After wading back through the sea of Universal picture-taking zombies, we ended-up waiting outside early for our beloved Salvador Barta to return because we couldn't muster the enthusiasm to be there anymore. I know this post reads as a somewhat down and negative (and I know the kids had a much more positive experience than I did), but i guess there is just no substitute for the real thing! Tomorrow: The Mouse Day 4: The Last Kick at the Magic Kingdom... Sam Sean 2010-03-11T23:21:52-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000405.html Today started very early because we had reservations at the Storyteller's Cafe for breakfast with some Disney characters and we couldn't be late! The restaurant was in the Grand Californian Hotel which is where I'm going to stay the next time I'm rich. We only really saw the lobby and the restaurant but just being in the building made me feel all fancy. Breakfast was a buffet-style affair with an omelet bar and as much as you could eat of every type of breakfast food you could imagine, including the requisite Mickey-shaped waffles. We were shuffling along the buffet line, filling our plates here and there, when Sam saw the giant bowl filled to the brim with bacon and sausages. He turned to me, saucer-eyed, and said, "This...is...the...best...place...EVER!" before loading 3.2 metric tonnes of pork onto his plate. It was all extremely delicious! As we ate, several B and C-list Disney characters worked the room, mugging and posing for pictures. We had Chip & Dale, Kenai and Koda (from Brother Bear), and Turk (from Tarzan). The kids didn't seem to mind the fact that the A-listers were all working a gig over at the Disneyland Hotel and they hugged and high-fived with enthusiasm. After breakfast we were off to get our first taste of Disney's California Adventure. The plan of attack, you ask? Well, the ride that loads-up the fastest and stays loaded the longest is Pixar's Toy Story Mania, so that's where we were headed as soon as the gates opened. This, my friends, is a spectacular ride. You essentially ride in a funhouse cart with a small cannon mounted on the front. As you are whipped around the ride, you shoot at various types of midway-style targets on giant video screens, Pixar characters offering up copious praise as you go, all in glorious 3-D. Very, very fun! We made it there early enough for me to post the second highest score of the day, but as we left the ride, there were hundreds of people in the line. The only downside of the ride? No FastPass! Other standouts were the Grizzly River Run (a whitewater rafting ride), Monsters, Inc. (a funhouse-style ride), and the two 4-D shows: Muppet Vision 3-D and A Bug's Life, It's Tough Being a Bug. Another cool experience was Soaring Over California. In this one you essentially strap yourself into a chair lift and they haul you up so that you are just a few feet away from an enormous concave movie screen. The image fills your entire vision and, as your seats twist and turn, it really feels like you are flying over, well, California. We spent some time in the playground area, with it's rope ladders and rock climbing, but by dinner time we were ready for little more Disneyland action. The girls wanted to watch the Main Street parade, while us boys just wanted to hit some more rides, so we split-up into teams. Sammy and I hit, in order, Indiana Jones, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Roger Rabbit, Gadget's Go Coaster, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We exited our last ride at exactly 8:01 p.m., met up with the girls on Main Street and hobbled back to the HoJo's for some rest. Pro Tip If you don't want to pay exorbitant roaming fees on your cell phone while in Disneyland, do what we did: invest in a moderately priced pair of Motorola two-way radios for those times you are separated. These things are priced at around $40 and we can communicate easily between one in the park and one back at the hotel. They are ideal for reconnecting after solo excursions! Plus you get to say cool things like, "What's your 20?" and "There's a bear trap just past the double nickels on the 105!" Tomorrow: Universal Studios: The Mediocre-iest Place on Earth... April Sean 2010-03-10T21:45:48-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000403.html Well, after our close brush with the Disney cops yesterday, we were determined to keep our heads down and go in with everyone else like good Mouse people, but, try as might to blend in, we once again got to enter the park before the huddled masses. The only difference was this time we did it legally. We were first in line at our gate again, following our plan of attack with Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage as our first-of-the-day-line-beater. A gentleman in a Disney coat approached us from the other side of the gate and asked how many were in our family, we told him, and he asked if we would like to come in the gates a little early and help him officially open the park! We accepted the offer immediately and he cracked the gate, handed each of us an "Honorary Citizen of Disneyland" button, and let us slide through and take our positions in front of gate-after-gate of perplexed looking Disney-ites. At the proper time, after the pre-recorded spiel, we counted down from ten and shouted, "LET THE MAGIC BEGIN!!" and the crowds flowed in. Mr. Disneycoat then shook our hands, thanked us and sent us on our way. It was pretty awesome! (The picture to the left of this paragraph is the view from our vantage point as Honorary Citizens of Disneyland.) The only downside of the the whole park opening affair was that it put us a few dozen yards behind the mob. We followed our pre-planned route, NOT through the main Tomorrowland entrance, which is the route all the suckers would take, but back around behind the Matterhorn, finding ourselves second in line for the ride. We got to talking with the family in front of us and it turns out they were there because they were using the RideMax software, too! It is a small world, afterall. (Incidentally, when we resurfaced and disembarked from our Nemo sub, the line for the ride must have had over 300 people in it. It's crazy!) The rest of the day we devoted to catching as many of yesterday's missed rides as we could. The stand-outs were the Jungle Cruise, Autotopia (which I didn't go on when I was here as a kid), and the best ride of the day, Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters. The kids rode the Teacups (or Mad Hatter's Tea Party as it is officially known) by themselves because I'm pretty sure it would have been bad form for me to spew my sausage McMuffin in a 360° rain of bile on the other guests. We, went through It's a Small World which, oddly enough, I enjoyed way more as an adult than I did as a teenage boy...go figure. We also did a couple of FastPass trips through Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Faces were painted and all was right with the world. We had reservations for dinner at The Rainforest Cafe so we hopped on the monorail around 3:00 p.m. and headed for Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is essentially an extension of the Disney chain hotels housing outlets for a bunch of high-end retailers and Disney-branded stores. We walked around and shopped while we waited for our reservation time to roll around. It was particularly difficult to drag Sam away from the Lego® store, but we managed to lure him with the thought of animatronic gorillas. We didn't sit beside any gorillas, but we did sit next to Tookie, a baby elephant. Every 15 minutes or so Tookie would spring to life and wave his trunk around. There was also a simulated thunder storm every half hour or so. The restaurant really was pretty cool and the food was gigantic, effectively prohibiting anyone from finishing their meal. What it did not prohibit, however, was my ordering the Chocolate Volcano for dessert which we split four ways. Yum! After dinner Chloe and I decided to call it quits and walk back to the hotel while Sam and April headed back on the monorail to take another run at Splash Mountain and Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. Chloe was asleep by 7:00 and the rest of us were out by 9:30...another great day! Tomorrow: No Mouse! (Sort of!)... April Sean 2010-03-09T23:46:46-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000402.html Today was our first day in Disneyland. Today was the culmination of years of dreaming and months of planning. Today was perfect. Except for the part where we were almost arrested by the Disney cops and thrown out on our ears. Before the park even opened. Let me explain... We woke up extremely early today because, well, let's get real, WE WERE GOING TO FREAKIN' DISNEYLAND! It's hard to describe the excitement you feel as you walk toward the gates of Disneyland, the music piping in from hidden speakers along the walkway. It was pretty overwhelming, all of us walking along, hand-in-hand, all vibrating at more-or-less the same frequency of exhilaration. The kids were so excited I thought they weren't going to actually make it to the park, but rather they'd just explode all over the various hotel shuttle buses parked along our route. The gates opened at 8:30 a.m. and we knew we wanted to be at the gates by 7:45 because that's what RideMax recommended for optimal line placement. (Click on the link for RideMax and read about it, it really works!) We ended-up first in line at our particular gate and once we were allowed in, we hung around and took a few pictures in front of the Mickey flower mural. Unfortunately, this put us way back from the front of the roped-off area at the head of Main Street where they hold everyone until the park officially opens at 9:00. This was bad because we needed to get to the Peter Pan ride before the rest of the crowd as it is one of about a half-dozen or so attractions that fill up at opening, each maintaining massive lines until closing. Missing it by mere moments can mean an hour or more in line if you want to see it. To remedy our poor starting position, we relied on a tip gleaned from RideMax which stated that you can enter a store during this time and walk all the way down to the end of Main Street because all the stores are connected to one another. The part I apparently didn't read was that you are supposed to wait at the last door until opening. Instead, we just walked through the door, blissfully unaware that the only people who should be where we stood were those who had reservations for birthday breakfasts at the near-by restaurant. As a result, we ended-up in the park abouty twenty minutes before the official opening and about 100 yards ahead of the crowd. (The picture to the left of this paragraph was taken from our vantage point as Disney lawbreakers.) It was obvious right away that this was not something that should be happening, so, like any good Mouse-fearing citizens would do, we pretended to be waiting in line with the birthday goers and we just kept letting any legit customers into the line ahead of us. The only trouble was all the customers who were supposed to be there had on special badges that identified them as being legit. Really big, obvious badges, but we continued to mingle, even as the line of breakfast-goers dwindled away to almost none. We kept our heads and managed to avoid the Disney PD right up until about two minutes before the official opening. At that point a grizzled Disney smokey came along and decided to ask if we were going into the breakfast festivities. We could tell he wasn't happy when we said, "No, sir," but, to his credit, he simply told us we would need to stay put until the official opening rather than roughing us up and tossing us out. We replied that we had been planning on doing just that and he let us off with a steely-eyed gaze and a no-nonsense, "Have a nice day." A very close call, indeed! So, the park opened and we headed for the Peter Pan Ride. We weren't the first, but we were pretty close! The ride was even more amazing than I remember from my first trip as a kid...the Disney designers and artists are unbelievable. The trip through Peter Pan took about three minutes and, when we emerged back into the sunlight, there were easily 300 people in the line-up...and it stayed that way until closing. Thanks RideMax! One thing that became quite clear very early on was that utilizing the FastPass system is the only way to really get the most out of the park. Another thing that became quite clear very early on was the fact that hardly anyone else in the park seemed to understand the benefits of the FastPass system. How it works is you don't simply go stand-in line and wait with all the unwashed masses, instead, you pick up a FastPass ticket which gives you a window of time in which to return, present your FastPass, and thereby by-pass the entire line-up. The real secret, however, is that even if your FastPass ticket's window of opportunity has come and gone, they will still be accepted no questions asked. For those rides that offer FastPasses, essentially, it's a golden ticket allowing you to walk passed all the sweating, angry slobs waiting in line practically anytime you feel like it. You can only get so many at a time, but if you plan your day out properly, you'll never have to stand in a line for more than a few minutes all day. Our RideMax itinerary even told us the ideal times to pick-up our FastPasses. Fool proof! FastPass availability or no, we hit all the big, classic attractions the place has to offer: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan, Star Tours and more...most more than once. The kids loved them all and we all thought things couldn't get any better...until we went on The Indiana Jones ride. The Indiana Jones ride, my friends is, quite simply, the best amusement park attraction ever made. Ev-er. We rode it three times, which was as many as our FastPasses would let us get away with, and I'm sure we would have ridden it another three if the park stayed open later than 8:00 p.m. It perfectly captures the balance between thrills and humour that Raiders of the Lost Ark did so well. We liked it, it was better than Cats! We closed down the park with a trip down Splash Mountain and we walked back to the HoJo's in an exhausted daze. A daze under the influence of which, I might add, I am currently writing this post, so errors be damned! I have to go to bed now because it's either that or I pass out on the laptop. Just one last comment about how amazing it is to be experiencing these fantastic sights I enjoyed as a kid, only now seeing them through the eyes of my own children. I found myself tearing up every now and then during the day as the emotion of it all kept creeping up behind me and smacking me in the back of the head. I couldn't have asked for a better day than today. The Happiest Place on Earth? Well, right now that just happens to be this hotel room. Tomorrow: The Mouse 2: Electric Boogaloo!... April Sean 2010-03-08T23:55:45-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000401.html April Sean 2010-03-07T22:30:02-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000400.html 3:10 p.m.: Day two of the grand California adventure and things are going according to plan. I'm writing this in the air, en route to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. There is no wi-fi on the flight so I will post this, along with an update, when we get there later this evening. The day started pretty well, albeit somewhat earlier than the time I had set on my watch. Everyone fell asleep last night remarkably easily, but we all ran out of sleep around 5:30 or 6. So, up we got, showers we had, breakfast we ate, last minute preparation and organization we did, and the airport shuttle we took. We ended-up at the airport about two hours before the flight was scheduled to take off, but that's okay, because might have otherwise missed the grumpy ass manning the main entry at airport security had we arrived any later. Officer Barky McJerkface of the TSA was snapping at everyone who came along about how if a single contraband water bottle or non-regulation pair of toenail clippers made it through his checkpoint, then, quite frankly, the terrorists win. I just nodded and said "yes, sir" and put my shoes in my plastic tub, praying to God he wouldn't find the 3.2 ounce bottle of liquid Imodium I had taped to the small of my back. Boarding the plane was a breeze in comparison and we made it to Seattle with no hiccups, just a lot of excitement on the part of the kids. I'm talking palpable, leg shaking, talking a mile a minute excitement. "Gasps!" and "Wows!" from the first rush of acceleration to the last declarative bump of the touchdown. It was pretty cool. We had about an hour in Seattle, where we spent $437.26 for four sandwiches at an airport snack bar. I have a feeling this only foreshadowed what eating in Disneyland will be like. Anyway, as mentioned above, this is just one leg of today's journey and I'll update later on tonight. UPDATE -- 7:57 p.m.: We touched down around 5:30 this evening after being batted around by some turbulence on the way in. It was pouring rain, but that didn't do much to dampen-see what I did there?-our spirits. The shuttle bus process was painless and we are now nestled at the HoJo's right across the street from Disneyland. We can actually see the Matterhorn from our balcony! The monorail has passed by once or twice as well...pretty cool. We opted for a quick McDonald's meal so we could get back to the hotel and settle-in a bit. Tired now, Sea World tomorrow! UPDATED UPDATE -- 9:45 p.m.: The kids are both asleep and April and I just finished watching the Disneyland fireworks from our balcony. This has already been better than we had hoped!... Family Sean 2010-03-06T21:04:57-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000399.html Well, we are officially on our way to Disneyland. We left GF about 8:45 a.m. and are now nestled in our room at the airport Ramada here in Spokane, ready to hit the hay in an hour or so. The plane doesn't leave until 11:30 tomorrow, but I have a feeling that we might get an early start all the same. The trip here was pretty smooth-a couple of frayed nerves here and there-but we managed to do the last minute running around we needed and I think we're ready for the Magic Kingdom. Dinner was a first: Chuck E. Cheese's! The kids had pizza and a couple of fists full of tokens so they were pretty happy. I am a little concerned about the predominance of games of chance in the mix, though. I guess it's never too early to introduce the kids to the joy and excitement that is the life of the degenerate gambler... I wonder if anyone will sleep tonight? (Between April and me, I mean!)... April Sean 2010-03-05T20:29:12-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000398.html I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying that I'm pretty sure we're not going to make it to the 25th without somebody's head exploding, but at least the first couple of days of the holiday have been good. On Thursday, the last day of school, we had an early supper of Panago pizza and then we headed out for our traditional Anderson Family Tour of the Christmas Lights®. The kids had showers and climbed into their PJ's and we drove around the valley ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over the various lighting displays, Christmas music playing on the iPod in the background. This is one of my favourite traditions that we've established over the years. Friday saw the rapid melting of the very little snow we had, much to the chagrin of at least two frustrated toboganners, both of whom just happen to live in my house. If nothing else, the wet snow was perfect for sculpting a multi-layered, tunnel-filled fortress for various army men, giant insects, and Pokemon to wage battle over. Unfortunately, by the afternoon we lost the battle with the temperature and the ice palace crumbled into so much slush. Saturday was the gingerbread building marathon which consisted of 5 cousins, 2 aunts, 2 sleighs, 1 castle, 2 cottages, 1 A-frame and 14,000,000 assorted candies. The end results are pretty spectacular, even if I don't want to see another Reese's peanut butter bell for a long, long time... Pictures of the gingerbread houses are forthcoming, but in the meantime, here's a gratuitous picture of a very cute elf.... Family Sean 2009-12-19T19:31:54-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000395.html Family Sean 2009-12-13T21:56:57-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000394.html Sam was asking the other day why it was exactly that I don't write about the stuff that's going on in our lives anymore. The only answer I could give him was, "Um, I don't know?" So, he suggested that I start doing it again. So, I am. Today was a a pretty big day on the calendar of Anderson family traditions: The BDTA Kids Christmas Party. Every year my union brothers and sisters hold a movie party down at the theatre at which Santa shows up and hands out presents and what not. To get the day off to a special start, I was down at the Overwaitea by 8:15 a.m. picking up the ingredients for breakfast. There's nothing like wandering around an empty grocery store early in the morning, Christmas music piping in, to really get those holiday spirits flowing. A quick trip home, some Huey Lewis and the News on the stereo (not exactly holiday music, but inspirational in its own way), an entire package of Maple Leaf 33% Less Sodium bacon in the pan and soon we were feasting on my cinnammon-nutmeg French toast. Sam and I ended-up being the only one's who went to the movie as Chloe wasn't feeling all the great, but we enjoyed ourselves as best we could anyway. The flick was "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and I'm not ashamed to admit that I was not looking forward to it in the least. I'd like to take this opportunity to issue a formal apology to the makers of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" because it was, in fact, a hilarious movie. The story itself was pretty weird, but the one-off gags were laid on with a trowel and they were FUNNY! The capper was that Santa showed-up just as the credits were starting and Sam received a personal hand-shake from the big guy. Sam's pre-movie wish that Santa would bring him a Bionicle came true as well, so the whole morning was one we could put in the "win" column. At this point in the day, we are waiting for April to finish wrapping the tree with gingerbread man ribbon (note to self: if the wife asks how the tree looks wrapped in gingerbread man ribbon, do not, I repeat, DO NOT tell her that it looks like somebody toilet papered it...trust me) and, when she is done, we will commence Operation: Decorate That Honky MoFo. I'll post some pictures later, once we've got the tree all decorated. Also, Sam wanted me to tell the tale of how we drove up past Phoenix Ski Hill last weekend looking for a choice spot to do some sledding and he ended up doing a massive face plant. So there. Update Sean 2009-12-13T12:13:49-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000393.html Me: Y'know what? I think I might try and grow a beard. Sam: NO! Me: Why not? Will I look horrible? Sam: Well, you'll still be cute, but when you have a beard it makes you look like you're a little old man. Me: Really? Sam: Yes! It makes you look like you're 50 or something!... Sam Sean 2009-04-04T08:47:22-08:00 http://www.theandersons.net/archives/000392.html Chloe Sean 2009-03-28T23:40:21-08:00