My first Award!!

Veronica, at Another Suburban Housewife, gave me an award while I was out on vacation.

I'm actually quite stunned, because I feel that there are so many blogs out there that are so much more worthy than mine, all I do is write down the silly and interesting things I have happen to me, and for some reason, folks seem to like it.

There are apparently rules with this award, and they are as follows:

1. Have to post the fabulous Logo (as seen above)

2. Nominate some folks for their blogs.

3. Have to hyper link your nominees.

4. You must tell your nominee that they WON! Hello? How would they know if you didn't comment on their blog.

5. Finally Hyperlink the blogger who gave you such a wonderful gift.

Pretty easy, except that I'm going to have to figure out how to add the stinking logo.. Arrgh!

Ok, nominees...

I nominate Real Live Lesbian, mainly for the fact that she's always an interesting read.

I also am going to nominate my wife, Gottaluvme3, as she's my inspiration for nearly everything that I write.

ASM stole Dana from Amid Life's Crisis, so I'm going to go with Bee, from Bee's Musings

And lastly, I'm going to nominate Brad, from Diaries of the Professor.

Hope that satisfies everyone...

Now.. on to the fun..

Day three of vacation..

TO be honest, we were BEAT. Two days of non-stop walking, fighting with crowds, and just being in a hurry to get things done. It was time for a break.

The nice thing about having a long time to enjoy a vacation is the fact that you can pick and choose your timetable. For our day of rest, it decided to rain in the normally sunny Southern California, so we took the day off to recoup, and just take some time for family.

We played games, slept in, went down and played pool and ping-pong in the recreation room at our hotel, and basically took it easy.

The adults sat around for a while and discussed options for the rest of the week, and we planned out what days we'd be having lunches or dinners at the hotel, and what days were going to be spent dishing out cash for lavish treatment.

The decision was made to travel to Universal Studios the following day, and spend the entire day there. Then the following two days could be utilized to play around again at Disneyland and California Adventure. Everyone agreed with this decision, and ideas were tossed around. One was to spend the first day back to Disneyland early, and have a "Character Breakfast" with some of the Disney Characters making visits to your table while you ate. This was a great idea, and the younger two of my kids adored this idea.

So we went grocery shopping to get food for the times we'd spend in the room, some extra snacks and such for the parks, and then we watched a bit of TV, had some dinner, and played a few more games before calling it a night, and crashing in order to get ready for the next day of fun.. Except for the nasty LA traffic, that is!

Universal Studios Tour is tomorrow.. Don't miss it!!

Vacation day #2

Well, we decided to start early again on day two. It was a Sunday, and to start things off, it really wasn't that bad. A bit overcast, but a nice day overall.

We returned to Disneyland, and ran to a few of the attractions that we hadn't gotten to in our last visit. This also allowed us to kill some time as California Adventure (the Disney park right across from Disneyland) didn't open until 10:00..

So we ran around a bit more, dealing with minor crowds, but nothing even approaching the massive spawn of humanity that we had to deal with the previous day.

We went in and did the Jungle cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and then we took on Splash Mountain. I have to admit, I got SOAKED. There were six of us in the boat, as my youngest son didn't want to go on the ride. So my dad stayed down with him, and they did some more tame rides while the rest of us went on the water ride. My son and niece sat up in front, then my daughter and mom in the middle, and my wife and I took the back seats.

Big. Mistake.

Putting the adults in the back three seats only begged for the boat to swap with water each and every time we turned a corner. Not to mention how much water slopped over the sides when we went down any kind of incline.

At the end of the ride, I waddled out to try to find some dry spot on my clothing, and decided it was best to find a place to camp out for a while, and drip-dry.

So, we had lunch, and then proceeded to cross over to California Adventure!

This park reminds me more of a carnival-type of place, and not really much of a theme park.

Sure, there are themed areas, but for the most part, it's an attempt to combine the fun of Disneyland and the thrill of a carnival ride. I liked the "Soaring over California" ride, the "Tower of Terror" Twilight Zone elevator drop, California Screamin' rollercoaster, and the Mali-Boomer jet ride. These rides more than made up for the line waits, and the pablem of kiddie rides dispersed all through the park.

However, my downfall again on this visit was to be water.

The favorite ride of our family group turned out to be one of my serious nemesis-type rides of the vacation. Namely, the Grizzly River Rapids Run.

Yes, another water ride.

The first time, we found that each "inner tube" raft was capable of fitting all 8 of us in one cart. So we piled in, and I noticed that my wife and my dad were sitting close to me. This became noteworthy in that I got drenched during the ride. This is when I also made the discovery about the drains in the rafts, and that these said drains not only drain water from the ride, but they allow water to shoot into the ride as well!

Yeah. I was soaked.

But it was so much fun that we went again.

Two more times, in fact.

I think I got more water from those three rides than all of the rainstorms I've ever been in combined. And that's saying something coming from a lifetime resident of the Pacific Northwest!

Anyway, at the end of the day I was able to drop dry sufficiently for us to leave, grab a shuttle bus to our hotel, and call it a grand adventure. We topped it off with a view of the Disney Park, and watched the fireworks presentation from our balcony.

We slept good that night, if only because of the sheer exhaustion from being in the parks from open until nearly close two nights in a row.

More about day 3 tomorrow!




Now, a different note:

Veronica (am I the only one who pictures the Archies comic of the spoiled little rich girl??) better known as ASM (Another Suburban Mom) awarded me my very first prize for my blog!

I don't know all of the details, but I'm going to read up on it more, and see about posting it later today or tomorrow!

I'm baaaaaack!

Yes, I survived.

The crowds were insane.

The lines were long.

The heat wasn't TOO bad, and it even rained one day while we were out gallavanting...

But all in all, it was a great time.

We flew out on Friday, the 13th, and arrived into John Wayne airport (or Orange County Air, or Santa Anna International.. Take your pick of what name to use!). Getting the rental was interesting..

There were 8 of us, so a conventional minivan or SUV wouldn't cut it. No, we opted for the 15 passenger econo-van. Yes, this monster wouldn't even fit in the airport parking garage, so me and my family got to stand out in the rain at the loading area while my dad hiked with a rental agent to get the van. I even was able to get in trouble there, since my dad didn't park close enough to the loading zone, and a police officer mistook him for a shuttle driver, and proceeded to chew us out for not obeying his traffic laws. I could have easily gotten ticketed that day, if my wife hadn't calmed me down enough to let me know that spending your first day on vacation isn't so fun when you're in jail. Thanks hon!

We got to the hotel, unpacked, and collapsed into separate piles of mush. I never really noticed before, but packing, travelling and unpacking really takes a toll on the mental and physical fortitude of a person. We anxiously watched the news for weather reports, and plotted our plan of attack for the upcoming days.

For the sake of keeping this blog manageable, I'm going to talk about our first day there.

Yup. Valentine's Day.

We went in when the park opened, and proceeded to swim with the other Homo Sapiens in a massive jumble of humanity. Lines were insanely long, crowds were rude, and as long as you weren't in anybody's way, you didn't run the risk of getting run over while walking through the park. Fast passes are a great idea, but the waiting in line to get one is just incredible. I mean, who ever thought up "fast passes" is a god, but how about a fast pass in order to get a fast pass? Waiting in line an hour to get a slip of paper that's good for a quick line for a great ride, but you have to wait an hour to use is kind of an oxymoron, in my humble opinion.

I mean, with the two hours I've wasted waiting in line to get the slip, and then to wait in order to get on the ride, I'm sure I'd have been able to get in line twice for the same stinking ride.........

Anyway, the day was interesting, my dad and I were able to sneak an order of flowers up to the rooms without my mom or my wife noticing, and the day went fairly smoothly.

Dinner was interesting, but at least food was procured for everyone, and we were then able to head home with little energy left for much else.

However, the hotel we stayed at had an excellent view of the Disney parks, and we were able to watch the firework shows from our balconies instead of rubbing elbows with everyone in the park.

Day two's events will be tomorrow, stay tuned!

Something I raelly don't understand..

Well, I said I wasn't going to write about my family.

I lied.

My wife is a very single-minded individual when it comes to things she wants. This can be a good or bad thing, but for me, I see it as a blessing and one of her best character traits.

This last year, she finally found her half-brothers, and made contact with them, and was able to meet them and their wives.

Myself, I didn't see much in it, because I'd grown up with my family all around me, and not had the supposed stigma of a divided family where my brother is only like 9 days older than myself..

Thus, we get to an issue that happened this week that has really bothered me.

Since reconnecting with her brothers, my wife has been trying to do everything possible to befriend and get to know these folks that she shares common blood with.

I applaud this, and I encouraged her.

However, the more she tried to get to know them, the more we were pushed away.

Now? I'm pissed.

My wife went out this last weekend with the girls. This led to some curious behavior, and high-school drama best left to children, and not adults.

First off, the new additions to the family are drinkers. I don't really have a problem with folks drinking, in fact I have a glass or two myself every now and then. However, it does decrease your mental capacity, and you might say or do things which on a "normal" day you wouldn't think of doing otherwise.

Well, on one such occasion, the two were drinking, and were quite inebriated. This led to a confession from the wife of one of the brothers to my wife about her and some indiscretions she'd taken while being married.

My wife kept it quiet. After all, she wanted to be there FOR her family, not tear it apart.

A few weeks later, at another get-together, the bride of the other brother while intoxicated also admitted that there had been indiscretions committed by the other wife while she was married. I was actually in the room at this time, and heard this confession.

Now, just this last week, the ladies went out again, and got their drink on. Enter in my wife's friend, who is quite the flirt, and also very willing to get her drink on as well. They went to the first bar (yes, I did say FIRST here), and proceeded to have a few, and talk. The two wives decided to go to another place, and my wife and her friend dropped by her brother's house to say hello before continuing on. During this, the wife called, and found out about the visit. Jealousy reigned supreme, and all hell broke loose.

Apparently, when you've cheated on your spouse, you're unable to think that the other one is willing and able to think about nothing but their love and affection for their loved one, and so the assumption is that because they did it, the other one will as well.

My wife and friend get to the next bar, and conversation starts, but there's a lying undertone of malice. One wife leaves the bar for a while, assumed to go out for a smoke, yet leaving her smokes and keys and purse on the table.

I don't know about you, but I find it awfully difficult to smoke when I don't have a cigarette, don't you?

Add to this that these two wives were also shamelessly flirting with men at other tables.

I wasn't there, but from some things I've observed, I highly doubt that my wife and her friend were lying about these actions.

Now we get to the problem I've got.

This family of my bride's is really starting to annoy me.

Now? She doesn't care what they do. They've chewed her out, called her a bitch, and proceeded to erase her from their lives.

Why?

Because they are running away from their problems, and deciding that if they cover it up enough, then they won't have to deal with their ugly and dirty laundry that they've scattered all over this small town.

Now, I'm normally laid back, and reserved. I don't like to get into a confrontation.

However, if I were to see either of these two families anytime soon, I'd be more than willing to give them a piece of my mind.

They've used our goodwill, and our hospitality, and then tossed us to the curb when it got to be something "normal". Now, they aren't willing to talk, and since we know that they're not the stellar people that they've professed to be, they're trying to run away and hide.

For me, I could care.

But I hurt for the loss done to my wife.

It's family she knew that she had, but hasn't really had time to connect with.

Knowing the character of these folks now, I can honestly say "good riddance", but there is a part of me that wishes things could have been different somehow.

Anyway, I'm off after today, and I'm going to be away on vacation.

I'll write more when I get back, and tell you all about our trip, and the fun things we did.. Maybe even some of the drama that I'm suspecting is going to rear it's ugly head, too!

Have a great week, and I'll see you all on the 24th!

Countdown!

It's less than a week now before I take off with the family for Disneyland.

I'm kind of excited.

One, my kids have never been, and it's going to be great to see their faces and excitement when we get there.

Two, I haven't been down there in ages (since I graduated High School nearly 20 years ago) and there's been plenty of changes done since then.

Lastly, there's family of mine that live down here that my wife and kids have never met. I really want to get a chance to see them and introduce them all.

I can remember when going down to California and Disneyland was a "ho-hum" type of trip. I mean, we went EVERY year to visit my dad's family (he's from Southern California), and while there, we'd raid Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and sometimes even go further south and attack Sea World and the San Diego zoo..

My favorite memories were of going to Escondido, and playing around in that family fun center (that's now closed) where the kids would all get like $30, and be let loose to run, play, jump, hide, and just be kids for an entire day. Parents could sit around and gossip and talk, and kids found ways to entertain themselves.

I really want to be able to take my kids to see some historic sites as well sometime.

I loved going on road trips every once in a while, and seeing things like the city UNDER Sacramento, or Alcatraz, Old San Francisco, teach the kids about the Gold Rush, visit ghost towns, that kind of thing...

I have plans also at some point to take the wife along with me to go up to Victoria BC, and just have some alone time.

See the Buchardt Gardens, maybe have high tea at the Empress Hotel, tandem bike through the town, and just see the sights.

There are so many places I've been to and seen that I want to be able to share with my family.. I just don't know how to fit them all in, and still be able to afford it!

Name off some of your most favorite places to visit, and recommendations of things that are a MUST see.