stuff by mr slurpee

2008-11-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

Chris Cornell - Red Robinson Theatre Coquitlam, BC
Nov 6, 2008
I was so excited when I got 2 Row 3 center tickets to see Chris. It was going to be awesome. I love his solo stuff, Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog. I went with my Bro John, we hooked up around 6:30 in the parking lot. We downed some beers and listened to tunes in the van before heading in.
I was at the Burnaby casino the night before and lost a few bucks so wasn't that interested in gambling again at this one. The place was very quiet - John wanted to check out the horse racing and I liked this monte carlo machine I've won at before. I walked up to it and in 4 spins I turned my $20 into $115. I cashed out and went to the bar. The winnings covered my ticket to the show and beers. I was set.

The band Mobile opened up for Chris. They were really good - we really enjoyed them. They've got some good tunes and their sound was perfect. Catch their videos at http://www.last.fm/music/Mobile/_/Out+Of+My+Head?autostart and

http://www.last.fm/music/Mobile/_/See+Right+Through+Me?autostart

John and I met up with the band after their show - great young guys from Montreal. Security was all over everyone that had a camera so I didn't take a shots of Mobile live in the fear that I would lose my camera before Chris came out. When someone pulled a camera out, they would shine their flashights on the person and security would give them a talking to.

We then went to our seats for Chris but instead went right ot the front on the floor. We were a couple of people deep but after a few songs, made it to the railing front and center. The crowd was much more civilized than most show so I had no problem squeezing myself in there. Chris is a cool guy. He came out very casually and started singing a few tunes. It took me a couple of songs to get right into it but once I did, I was hooked. He was brilliant and the songs he played were fantastic.

He brought his kids out (2 and 4) and they had their little earphones on to dampen the noise danced around the stage a bit and sang you know my name.

I high fived him a few times, he came over to me sang with one foot on the railing in front of me and it was awesome. I got some great shots and video. Security didn't like it when I videod but shots were OK.
Chris did an amazing solo acoustic set of a few songs. I got some great shots.

I got a few guitar picks from the band and one of the guys came over directly to me and gave me the setlist. That was cool. After the show, we went back intot he casino and we met the guitarist for a kodak moment for John. We threw $25 away at the roulette table and headed home.

Some videos of the show
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KueYoXdOHUU

Chris played for 2 and half hours I think and the brilliant setlist was as follows: 27 songs !!!

Searching with my Good Eye Closed
Rusty Cage
Gasoline
What You Are
Gun
No Attention
Moth
No Such Thing
You Know My Name
Arms around your love
Cant Change Me
When I'm down
Watch Out
Set it off
Exploder
Acoustic
Black Hole Sun
Call me a dog
Fell on Black Days
I Am the Highway
Like a Stone

Part of me
Blow Up the Outside World
Superunknown
Be Yourself
Scream

Encore
Ground Zero
Like Suicide
Show Me How to Live
Another great show - fantastic artist.

2008-07-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Judas Priest July 24 GM Place

It hasn’t been good times lately so I wanted to treat myself to a concert. What better band to see than Judas Priest once again. They were playing GM Place and they had open general admission seating on the floor. My first task was to score a ticket. I put an ad in Craigslist for a single ticket below cost. They sold for $85 retail from ticketmaster, I scored one for $50 so I was pleased with my approach.

I went out with a few people from work first to have a few drinks beforehand. Me and a couple of the guys snapped back a can of MGD on the street before heading into Chill Winstons in Gastown. I didn’t like the place. No MGD, Stella, Canadian, Coors, Corona or anything else remotely like that. Needless to say, I didn’t pound them back. Their calamari is pan seared and not fried, not a fan. From there I parked near tinseltown across from a park. Scary area, as I was getting out of my car, a homeless dude on a bike full of cans and bags did a complete wipe out next to the sidewalk. This guy was out cold and wasn’t moving. I’m afraid to say that I didn’t inquire about his health, I took off. He landed on grass so it couldn’t have been too bad. I just didn’t know if it was a setup or not.

Got in 45 minutes before the show. This is a change for me as I usually get there late but I thought I would check out the opening band Testament. Nah, didn’t need to after all. Not my band of choice. After Testament I started to trek to the front railing. Lots of jockeying for position but by the time Priest came out, I was right behind a guy at the railing front and center. He was a solid guy and not going anywhere so I was happy where I was.

I saw priest 3 years ago and loved them. They were at the coliseum and I had row 2 seating – no pushing a shoving like this. They opened up with Prophecy from the latest Nostradamus CD which was good but not old school like the next song, Metal Gods from British Steel. The crowd was pumped and the mosh pit was brewing. They did a few more new songs but had some killer oldies which I loved. Hell Bent for Leather, Painkiller, Green manalishi, electric eye, sinner, eat me alive and a couple of my favs, Breaking the Law and they closed out with You Got Another Thing Coming.

The band is still playing great and Rob still sounds awesome hitting those high notes. They are aging though and seeing them in their leathers is cool and retro but not necessary. Rob’s back must be bothering him a lot as he’s less limber now than 3 years ago. He used a cane a few times and even sat in a large throne chair for a break. The other guys moved around a bit but I guess in your late 50’s and early 60’s, what can one expect. I am still happy they tour and play their classics. I’m always going to see them when they come to town, just like Ozzy and Maiden. It’s what I do.

2008-07-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

REST IN PEACE DAD

We Will Always Love You

We Will Always Remember You

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little--but not too long

And not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that we once shared,

Miss me--but let me go.

For this is a journey that we all must take

And each must go alone.

It's all a part of the Master's plan,

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.

Miss Me--But Let me Go!

2008-07-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Billy Idol July 4

I bought Linda tickets to see Billy at the Red Robinson Theatre just down the street from us for our 14th wedding anniversary date. She bought me Cirque de Soleil Corteo tickets, I bought Billy. Our seats were row 4 on the aisle so they were going to be great. He was Sold Out. I bought them as soon as they went one sale through ticketmaster. There was no opening band and Billy came out right on time.

I’m a front row center guy so I grab Linda and we rush the stage right away as did others. We were right there in the front holding onto the railing. The best place to be. Billy came out and he looked old. He seemed completely out of it. He opened with Cradle of Love and then afterwards said to his band members and audience “I shouldn’t have smoked that before coming out”. This made sense why he was white and seemed out of it. He was stoned. After a couple of songs though he was right back into and rocking and sounding great.

He played all the hits we know him for and a couple of new ones off his greatest hits CD. Rebel yell, Flesh For Fantasy, Mony Mony, Dancing With Myself, Hot In The City, White Wedding and one of my favorites, his rendition of the doors LA Woman.

The audience was mostly women. They love this 53 yr old who still looks good, is in shape and has this bad boy image. The girl next to me (not Linda) was swooning for him and almost in tears. Billy would come close to us and shake all the ladies hands but would skip over me. I guess guys aren’t welcome at the front. That’s OK, Linda and him touched. Linda also got a drumstick and guitar pick.

It was also the Steve Stevens show. Lots of solos and Steve was front and center as well. I like Steve, he an awesome player and entertainer. Just a bit odd though, a bit too much makeup. He smokes a heck of a lot too. Good venue, good sound, wished the show was 3-4 more songs but it was worth it. We had a babysitter so it was time to go home anyways.

2008-06-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Corteo - Cirque de Soleil - Vancouver June 27, 2008

What a great show. Linda bought me tickets for our Anniversary last November and gave them to me for Christmas. I didn’t know what to expect until the big top but it was better than I expected, that’s for sure. They set up a big tent for about 1,200 people I think and we had front row on the side. I was skeptical on being front row for a circus theatre show like this but it was great. I love being in the front for anything but movies and this turned out to be great seats. No one on either side of us. The stage and performers were right there in front of us. At one point as a girl was doing her act and swinging, we ducked thinking she might hit us. She didn’t and we nervously laughed. The trapeze, jugglers, dancers, acrobatics and music was just amazing. Watching these amazing athletes perform such feats with such strength and grace really makes one feel a little inadequate. The guys had muscles on their muscles and the women could bend and stretch in all sorts of ways. They received a well deserved standing ovation when it was over.

2008-05-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

Rush May 29th GM Place

This was my first Rush concert. Been listening to Rush for over 30 years but never had a chance to see them. Some friends invited me along and we headed out to GM Place. Had a fancy dinner at the Costco food outlet and headed inside for some beers. There was no opening band so the show got going right on time.

Rush is Alex Lifeson on Guitar, Geddy Lee on Bass and Vocals and Neil Peart on Drums. They are all around 55 years old. Neil is the lyricist and considered one of the best drummers in the world.

They played a lot off their Snakes and Arrows CD and then some of their hits over their long career. They originally formed in Toronto back in 1971. The crowd was right into them and knew most of the songs. We were up on the sides in the middle a few sections back. I had a different perspective from here, I’m usually in the front in some mosh pit fighting to keep my spot but this was civilized.

They had three huge screens behind them which were used to show videos and live action. They were so crisp and clear. Each screen at times would show each member individually. Even though we weren’t right up front we felt that way. Rush has quite a sense of humor as well. They’ve been on and off the road for over 30 years and they seem like they’re still having fun. They had a huge rotisserie of cooking chickens on stage as well. I thought it was a prop but a chef actually comes out and bastes them. I heard later that the band and crew eat them after each show.

They started if off with Limelight and I was hooked from that point forward. Seeing three old guys up there rocking it out and hitting every note to perfection was a sight to see. Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, 2112, Passage to Bangkok, YYZ, Trees and Freewill. It was seeing them play Spirit of The Radio which gave me goosebumps. I was totally impressed by the sound at GM Place as well. Some bands just don’t get it right but Rush sure did. Each member also had their own solos which were brilliant.

Rush played for 3 hours !! Who plays for 3 hours anymore, I was most impressed.

(The up close pics below are not mine - they are from concert but from the Rush Site)

2008-05-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Dream Theater Review

I’ve been a fan of Dream Theater for the last few years. My buddy Garrett introduced me to them and I really got into them. Garrett was very generous and invited me to the show with him at the Orpheum. I tried to get my camera in but security wouldn’t let me. One of the only few times where I’ve been denied my camera. The tour was a progressive rock tour with Opeth and Dream Theater headlining. Opeth was good – better than what I expected. They can be a pretty loud and noisy but they were good live.

Dream Theater was way better than I expected them to be. They were probably the best bunch of musicians I have seen on stage at once. Each band member had their own special moments which were brilliant. The Orpheum is a great venue for any band but this was an exceptional place for DT to play since acoustics are key to appreciating their every note. James LaBrie on Vocals was crisp and clear and and in fine form hitting and sustaining the long high notes in many of their songs. Guitarist John Petrucci was out of this world. Watching him play guitar gave me a whole new appreciation for the craft. Brilliant.
John Myung on Bass, Jordan Rudess on Keyboards and Mike Portnoy on drums were all fantastic. I loved just standing there listening to the music, it was different from smashing around in the mosh pit which is what I’m used to.

Some of the great songs they played included "War Inside my Head" , "Sacrificed Sons" , "The Spirit Carries On" and "Vacant", “Octavarium” and “Metropolis”. Would definitely see them again.

I ripped these pics off someone else who saw the tour

2008-04-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Airbourne Concert – The Plaza Club, Vancouver

I’ve been following Airbourne ever since I heard “Too Much, Too Young Too Fast” on CFOX. I loved it right away and needed to hear more. Their whole album Runnin’ Wild is excellent. Not in a technical musicianship excellent, but in a Let’s Party and Rock !! excellent. When I heard they were coming to town, I bought 2 tix right away, I wanted my Bro John to see them. They sold out the Plaza club right away, only room for 400. I got there early and into my MGD’s and watched 2 great opening bands, Endeverafter was one and I forget the other now. John jammed on me so I sold his ticket out front. He wanted to watch UFC instead. This show blew the doors off of any UFC fight.

I wanted to be front and center so I made my way through the small crowd to the front and held onto the front monitors. The boys came out with “Stand up for Rock and Roll” and blew the roof off the place. I was in awe with the amount of energy these boys were putting out. I was a kid in a candy store, jumping up and down smiling and laughing and singing along to all their songs. They have one album (that I know of) and I listened to it day and night for weeks. These young guys from Australia sure know how to have fun on stage. If one can imagine AC/DC 30 years ago, seeing Airbourne is probably close to how they would have been. Airbourne acts, looks and sounds a lot like AC/DC but they have their own new brand of Rock and I love it. It’s straight up good ol hair rock. These guys have the songs and the hair to pull it off too. They played every song off “Runnin Wild” like “Hellfire”, ‘Fat City”, Girls In Black”, “Diamond in the rough”, “Cheap Wine”, “Runnin Wild” and my fav “Too Much Too You Too Fast”.

I was right there high fiving the band and pumping my fist in the air. The lead singer Joel kept shaking and spraying good ol Pilsner beer cans into the crowd. At one point I was distracted and looked away and at that exact point, the guitarist I think was pouring Jack Daniels into everyones mouth. Well, he poured it in my eye and holy crap, that hurt like hell. It was stinging and I couldn’t clean it out, the crowd was pushing me and I couldn’t use my shirt to wipe myself as it was covered in Jack Daniels and Beer so I just stuck it out until the pain subsided. I wish I had had a shot of JD to ease the stinging. It all worked out though and was fun.

What a great venue to see them too. Near the end of the show however, I experienced nothing like this before, you know when you speakers go and you just get static, well, that’s what happened to my eardrums. After the show, I walked around the bar and couldn’t hear a thing. I guess hanging onto the monitor for and hour and a half wasn’t just a brilliant idea after all. The band came out after to meet their fans and of course, the groupie that I am, I got pics with them and chatted about the tour and their first trip to Canada. It was a great night. I had a lot of fun. My hearing came back a couple of days later.

2007-11-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

Kid Rock
John and I went to see Kid Rock Saturday night. I was really lucky online to even get tickets to him at the Commodore. He sold out in a couple of minutes and I was just online at the right time and able to get 2 tickets. They were selling for anywhere between $300-700 each before he hit the stage. We headed down early so we could enjoy a nice dinner and a bunch of drinks beforehand. We hit Jesters Pub and the Lennox pub. Kid Rock didn’t hit the stage until 10PM so we stayed in the pub until 9:45 and then headed in. You have to coat check at the Commodore which is fine going in but getting out is a real drag.

Kid came out with 8-9 band members and got right into it. He was a presence on stage. The commodore is a small venue – not proper seating and about 900 people. It was a real treat to see him in such a small venue. I left John right away and fought my way to the railing in front of Kid. Great place to stand but lots of shoving and surfing above me. Security pissed me off a lot though – everytime I pulled my camera out, he would roughly block my view and act very angrily towards me. The funny thing was that the girl next to me was using her phone for pics and video. In hindsight, I wish I had stayed back with John and enjoyed the show with him and I would have been able to take video and pics. Being up front was great but in such a small venue, a few feet back is not bad either.

Kid did a variety of great songs from hard rock to countryish to hip hop. He was really good. He had a huge tattoo on his back – American Badass. I loved the show and we headed out afterwards to more pubs. Around 2:30AM we jumped in a cab and headed back to our folks place for a late night dinner in their kitchen eating moms leftovers. It was just like old days, 3AM and making a mess in their kitchen. I had a lousy sleep, only a few hours. Haley missed soccer as I wasn’t feeling too good to rush out for a 10AM game.

2007-10-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

Led Zepplica
One of the premier Led Zeppelin tribute bands hit town last night at the Red Robinson Theatre in Coquitlam. I went with my buddy Dave from Williams Lake and we went to Sammy J’s first for some fantastic food and beers. We got to our seats carrying a couple of beers each just as the band was finishing their opening song – Rock’n’Roll. They were awesome and I’d see them again in a second. They hail from California and were just completing a 17 city tour.

The singer was a replica of Robert Plant – same mannerisms, body, hair and especially the voice. The guitarist played Jimmy so well and the drummer nailed Bonhams hard hitting style. We were in the raised 4th row facing the guitarist and Dave was in awe at how well Lenny played the axe. Dave is just getting back into learning Led Zep and I think he enjoyed watching it and picked up a few pointers.

They played a lot of great songs with some of my favorites mixed in there – Whole Lotta Love, Ramblin On, Kashmir, Moby Dick, Going to California and Dazed and Confused. It felt like we were watching the real thing. After the show Dave and I went to the casino. I found a machine and dropped 20 bucks into it. After just 4 pulls, I was up $80 and I quit and we went to the bar. At the bar we hung out with Lenny the guitarist from the band – he sat at our table as we had some beers and ate our nachos at 1:00AM. He was a good guy, tired from the tour I think and looking forward to going home to see his family and 2 young kids. I think I finally hit the sack around 2:30AM only to wake up parched and hot at 4:30. Not a good sleep. Poor Dave had to drive all the way home first thing in the morning.

The Red Robinson theatre is a nice theatre with good angled seating but I wish people stood more and rushed the stage. Sitting for a show, any show, but especially this one, I really wish we were rocking at the stage.

Up next, Kid Rock at the commodore !!

2007-10-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

Ozzy – Rob Zombie Concert
I picked up John and Doug and drove downtown to get the party started around 4:30PM. Show started at 7:30 so we had lots of time. I brought a cooler with ice cold MGD so I filled my pockets with a bunch of beers after I parked in a dodgy party of town. It was free though. Powered back some brew and we all went to the fabulous nightspot called the Cambie in Gastown. This bar consists of lousy service, big wooden picnic tables and draft beer we buy by the pitcher. I didn’t have tickets for the show so I left around 6:30 to go find Ozzy tix from a scalper. The other 4 boys stayed behind drinking. I couldn’t believe how many people were outside GM Place. The place was almost sold out and there were no good cheap singles available. This never happens at an Ozzy show. This was probably my 10th show and I’ve never seen so many. Maybe it was Rob Zombie that was the draw as well.

I struggled trying to find tickets and then met the guy I met at Godsmack who said he could get me in for free. Well I followed him through his secret way and he got in !! I tried the same thing and before I knew it I was in but had a security guard picking me up and throwing me back out. This guy was huge – remember the big black guy from The Green Mile – this was him. We never spoke words, I knew I was busted and went back to the scalpers. The show was getting close to starting and the line up to get in was huge – 30 minute wait and I started to panic so I bought a Row 14 for $100 and then proceeded to bud in line to get in. When I got to the front where my ticket was scanned, the lady there said, sorry this ticket is no good and it has been reported stolen in the mail Crap, was I just scammed ?? I found the scalper and he said, no biggie, here’s another. I budded back in line and just got to the floor as Rob Zombie had started. So my lesson is get there earlier and deal with only reputable scalpers (if there is such a thing). While I was trying to find a ticket, I dropped my cel phone and lots of little pieces fell on the ground and I tried to put it back together. I left the SIM card on the ground before going in. Between Rob and Ozzy I tried to make a call and the phone message said I didn’t have SIM card – I knew it was outside but where and how do I get out. I found an awesome security guy who escorted me around the area with a flashlight and we found it !! I was so relieved to find this little 1cm square card 2 hours later.

The show was great, Rob is so good to see live. I didn’t like the seating and being on the floor – row 14 is just too far away for me – I like to be no further back than row 4. Rob did all his hits and had a great stage and lots of pyrotechnics. He just has so much energy and really gets into bouncing around the stage and standing on speakers. Ozzy and Zakk kicked ass and Ozzy’s voice was great. He didn’t move around a lot but he was still the great Ozzy. He did some tunes from his current Black Rain CD all the way back to 3 songs from Blizzard of Ozz. Suicide Solution, Crazy Train, I Don’t Know. I loved it. The only Sabbath song he played was closing with Paranoid. John missed Ozzy’s show. He spent his time being sick and sitting outside in the hallway. Seems us brothers have a history of missing Ozzy shows. At least John didn’t need St. Johns Ambulance.

We hit another great place after the show. Not. Doug wanted more beer so we went to Dennys for beer and food. The problem was that they stopped selling beer at 11PM. We ate food and drank shakes and I drove everyone home. It was a great night out with the boys and to see 2 classic bands.

2007-10-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

Bellingham

We went to Bellingham for the weekend – I took Friday off and the kids had a professional day and we headed to the USA for 2 nights. The line up at the border was crazy so we went through the duty free hoping to beat the lineup as we have done in the past. When we got in there, we saw a huge lineup just to get out of the duty free parking lot and merge back into the main lineup. I bought some smokes for some buddies – this duty free store offers 2 cartons for $80US or $110CDN ?? The dollar is at par – what a rip and they said they wanted to cater to their American customers. I paid in US$ to get the deal. We left and waited 2HOURS!! Just to get out of the parking lot and back into the line.

We spent 2 nights at the Comfort Inn in Bellingham. We liked it there as they have free breakfast which includes homemade waffles and they have an indoor swimming pool. The deals weren’t so great but we found a way to spend a fortune nonetheless. The drive back was a piece of cake and took only 20 minutes to cross. We had to leave Bellingham at noon to make sure I got downtown for Ozzy in time.

2007-09-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

KoRn Concert

I entered a contest on CFOX to win a chance to meet and see KoRn at the Coliseum. They were looking for fans to mash up their own KoRn songs. Take a KoRn song and add your own twist to it. Well I made a song on my camera using the video/audio function and won. It was pretty lame and I think they felt pity and gave me tickets to the show. They played it on the radio a few times-I laughed to myself and was a bit embarrassed. The CFOX morning show with Jeff, Scotty and Charis is a blast to listen to in the morning. Best rock morning show hands down. I was very impressed on how much effort some people put into their songs. One guy spent 3 nights recording his song and it sounded so professional. There were 5 winners in all of a pair of tickets. I went with my buddy Costas. We had tickets already to the show and I just posted them on craigslist to unload them since we won new ones.

We met at the Fox van and they brought us in through a back door area into the coliseum into a special room. The 10 of us entered the room and there was KoRn !! There was 10 chairs for us and we sat and watched KoRn do an on air interview with CFOX. Then they played 2 live acoustic songs – the sound was awesome. I videoed most of both songs. Fieldy the bassist played guitar and instead of drums, there was a keyboard. They played Coming Undone from their last album and Kiss off their new one. It was such a cool experience. Afterwards, we were told to line up to get autographs. Jonathan Davis, the singer, took off quickly though so we missed out with him but Fieldy and Munky signed a couple of things and I got a picture with each of them.

click here for VIDEO COMING UNDONE and KISS I took with my camera

We had the chance to go to the front of the floor before the doors opened to the public but we decided to go out and have a few drinks. We checked out Droid which was the opening band. They were extra loud and heavy. Then HellYeah came out. The singer and guitarist from Mudvayne are in HellYeah and Vinnie Paul, the drummer for Pantera. HellYeah is a nu-metal band as well. My fav 3 songs are, You wouldn’t know, alcohaulinass and Hellyeah. Great songs. The floor was rough and squished for them, usually isn’t like that for an opening band but they have a lot of followers for one cd. We were in the front though getting smacked around. They were awesome live.

KoRn came out and played for 100 minutes. They were fantastic. The sound could have been better though I think. We had a lot of fun being pushed around. I spent most of the time in the front and center trying my hardest to keep my hands on the front railing. I tried to take more pics and video but everytime I’d get the camera out, either security told me to put it away or some crowd surfer was flying over my head or I was getting smashed into from behind. I didn’t get as many shots as I wanted to. I’m always amazed that I can get to and stay in the front despite being 20 years older than 90% of the audience.

KoRn played most of their hits and a lot of old school KoRn. I love their new tune Evolution. They had a great laser show happening as well, it was sweet. Jonathon's Mic is cool, a big metal mic stand shaped like a woman. We were so soaked and sweaty after the show, it was beyond gross. Ozzy, Rob Zombie and Kid Rock are next up. I’m passing Michael Buble.

2007-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Camping Harrison
We decided since the weather was so nice that we go camping for one night at Harrison Hot Springs. We left right after work and got stuck in our wonderful Port Mann bridge traffic for half and hour and then crawled for another half hour trying to get out of the city. So what should have been a 70 minute drive took 130 minutes. Very painful. We camped right by the center of Harrison about 100 yards from the beach. We were the only tenters but the weather was fine and not too cold at night. I setup everything and made dinner and then Linda and the kids crashed early just after 9PM. I stayed up and opened up a 6 Pack of MGD just to watch it die (I love that line J) We weren’t allowed a fire so it was pretty quiet and at 11:30 I called it a night.

We had a good breakfast at the site and then packed up and hung out at the beach for 3-4 hours. We saw the sand castle contest but didn’t pay the $19 they wanted for our family so we just looked through the fence. We made our own sand art – a turtle and lizard. We checked out the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel and we really want to stay there next time. It’s a full resort with pools and spas. Very nice. Too bad it’s so expensive. We checked out Tug Boat Junction and played some mini putt afterwards. It was a short and sweet trip.

2007-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 6AM to looking out the window as we passed under the Lions Gate Bridge heading into port. What a sad sight to see, coming home. Haley cried saying she didn’t want to get off the ship. We had a good breakfast in the buffet area and prepared to get off the ship at 8:30AM. We didn’t actually get off until about 8:50AM and then waited about 8 minutes for customs and were free to go. Our bags were all there waiting. Way easier than I expected. We took the Seabus and bus back to my parents place. It was all easy but next time I’ll take the $20 taxi ride. It just seemed like a fun thing to do, take the seabus with the kids.

For dinner we had Campbells Chunky Soup – eats like a meal though. Sigh, we sure were spoiled and it’s sad to be home. We have 2000 pictures and 90 minutes of video though to go through now. The memories will last a lifetime.

Cruise Notes
Celebrity Cruise Lines are awesome.
Bring walkie talkies to communicate with others so you don’t walk around for hours looking for people
Bring your own booze on, 6 packs and small bottles of booze will save you money
Take advantage of the kids factory
Bring lots of money - some excursions can be very expensive - we didn't do those ones
Use the dining room often
Eat as much as you can and enjoy it
You can never take too many pictures – bring lots of memory cards – back them up if you can using a laptop
Bring really good binoculars
Get a room with a window
We didn’t care that our room was down below
Go to the midnight buffet
Get to the departure port to board early to board early
Get back on the boat last – enjoy the port
Get the professional pictures taken – even if you don’t buy them
Spend time outside watching for wildlife – we saw grey whales, orcas and lots of dolphins
Try do your tour planning from shore – haggle for a better price
Sleep when you get home

2007-08-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

It’s Thursday morning and I had almost 4 hours sleep before racing out of bed to head to a lineup for getting the kids into tonight’s slumber party. I got there 45 minutes early for a 9AM opening. Just like trying to get tickets to a concert. We really wanted the kids in this party from 7PM to 1AM and it’s all free. I’m a tad tired. When the girl showed up at 8:45AM, she was amazed I was there and told me she will sign up the kids. Turns out I didn’t need to be there that early, no one else was.

Today was a day at sea. Linda did bingo 3 times. The prize was $2300 and she never won. The kids played in the pool a bit and John and I looked at pictures. The kids also had a talent show which we went to, Both Carter and Haley were in it. The other day they were all priates running around the ship singing "We are the Pirates !!". Everybody that was relaxing sure heard them.

We watched a couple of guys sculpt fruit and veggies and were amazed what they could come up right before your eyes in just a couple of minutes.

Our final dinner was more tenderloin beef with a chocolate sundae for dessert. We walked around and went to the nightclub and packed our stuff. When we picked the kids up at 12:45AM, Haley was a sleep on the floor and Carter was asleep at a desk. Too cute.

Tonight is the night we tip the room attendants, waiters. You think we wouldn’t have to tip considering the price but we do. It is optional however. The service was exceptional and they really do spoil you.The Kids fun factory was the best. The staff were great and our kids loved it. Carter never wanted to leave. They take the kids for free 9 hours a day and then for $6 an hour, they’ll take them even longer. We just wanted to spend some time with them too :)

2007-08-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Happy 49th Anniversary Mom and Dad
We went to the buffet this morning for breakfast. This time we had the waffles on the outside deck and were they good. Covered in strawberry and whipped cream. Yummm. Linda played bingo and I did a scavenger hunt with the kids. We raced around the ship for 45 minutes trying to get various items like a toothpick, autographs of staff, safety pin, postcard, birthday card etc.. Well we did excellent but arrived 4 minutes late and were disqualified. I was disappointed but mostly just sweaty and hot from all that running around. Well it was time for lunch in the buffet and then off to Ketchikan. There were 4 other ships at port so we had to tender in and wait for one of them to leave before the ship docked. Tendering was easy and fast. Mom accidently went to the wrong location and I once again found myself running for another 45 minutes up and down, front to back looking for her.

We didn’t know what to do so we hired 2 cabs for the 10 of us for $200 for an hour and a half tour of the town and rainforest. Being from Vancouver and a camper, seeing a rainforest isn’t the top of my list. The totem poles around the park were 150 years old and cool but it was raining and we didn’t stay long. Our first and only experience of rain. One of the highlights of the tour was visiting the smallest Wal-Mart. The tour guides thought we were freaks having them pull into a Wal-Mart so John and I could do a photo-op. We also had them take us to the fire dept. so John could buy a shirt. The tour was OK – I wish we did the Duck bus/boat tour instead as the kids were bored in the taxi vans. The town was small but neat. The creek street shopping area was quaint. All the shops on stilts around a creek. The creek was fast moving with tons of salmon swimming up it and we even saw a seal swimming with them having a nice salmon lunch. We took a tram ride up the side of a cliff to go for a beer up top. I dragged Carter around a few shops and picked up another 6 pack for the boat. We went into a bar and as long as Carter didn’t sit at a stool in the bar, he could come in. That’s a great rule I wish Vancouver would adopt.

I think you need to spend the big bucks and go on a float place to see the whales and bears. Unfortunately, we didn't have the resources to do that but that's the way to go in Ketchikan.

We had another fabulous dinner and the staff sang Happy Anniversary to my parents. I had some prime rib beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding which was done to perfection. Just love it when the meat melts in your mouth and you don’t really have to chew even. We saw the evening show and it was hilarious. The comedian told cruise jokes for 45 minutes. Making fun of cruising and the Alaska ports – we laughed non stop. Linda put the kids to bed and I went out with my mom to the casino and then to the main dining room at 12:15AM for the midnight spectacular food presentation. Everything was edible from the ice sculptures to animal shaped food and desserts. It took the staff 45 hours preparing for it. Chocolate dipped strawberrys that looked like mice, weird jello things, cheesecake and they had my new favorite food. Beef Wellington. Wow – I went back 2 more times and was so blown away by how delicious it all was. I wasn’t even hungry after our huge dinner. I then went to the nightclub where John and Shelly were and hung out there until 3:15AM.

2007-08-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hubbard Glacier

Woke up to look out the window to see us heading towards the Hubbard Glacier. Beautiful mountains right at the sea going straight up. I was in awe of the beauty of just entering the Yakutat bay area. Once we saw the glacier you just wanted to clap and give it a standing ovation. Going through the iceberg filled bay to get close to the massive wall of ice was just a phenomenal experience. The ice is a moving river 13 miles long and 400 feet high at some points. That’s huge !!. Ice takes about 400 years to move through the 13 miles. Listening to the ice crack and fall (calving) into the ocean was like hearing a cannon or thunder. The skies were blue and the temperatures were warm and watching huge chunks of ice the size of houses fall was just the best experience. Sometimes the chunks are the size of buildings creating massive waves and icebergs. To me, watching this and hearing the sounds, I knew why people come to Alaska. It was a thing of beauty and I could have spent all day there just looking and watching in the warm sun but after a few hours, the ship did a 360 degree turn so everyone had a good view and then headed back out to sea. A ship was already there when we got there right beside it and then another was coming in as we were leaving. It’s all very well timed so everyone gets up close and can enjoy the experience. The comedian made fun of people just watching ice melt, well, I could watch this ice melt all day. If I ever get an opportunity just to come back here, I would take it in a second.

Linda went to the Aqua Spa for a manicure and enjoyed that. Tonight was Lobster night. We dressed up in our finest duds and had a delicious lobster dinner. I had our waiter bring me a filet mignon as well and the thing was huge. It was done to perfection but about the size of 2 hockey pucks stacked upon each other. I was stuffed – I almost didn’t eat all my dessert.

The captain warned us of bad weather and to be prepared but nothing came of it. The seas were never very rough.

2007-08-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

Woke up to us coming into port at Skagway – A goldrush town from the 1880’s now serving cruiseship tourists. The town is home to about 800 locals but 10,000 people a day during the summer. The town has kept their wild west look and feel. The wooden buildings are now jewelry shops and art shops. Not my kinds of shopping. We left the kids on the ship for the whole day today while we went to town. We docked right at the towns edge so it was only a 10 minute walk to the heart of this 5 block town.

John and Shelly and the girls took a tour of the area in an old 1951 caddy. They enjoyed it. Dad and I took a bus tour up through the white pass Yukon trail to Canada. We were 100 miles away from Whitehorse. Dad and I really liked this tour cause the guide really knew the area and loved his wildlife. We would stop every 10 minutes on this 3 hour tour looking at something. We saw spectacular scenery along with some distant views of mountain goats. He set us all up with binoculars and telescopes to see families of mountains goats on the sides of the mountains.
Back from the tour, Dad and I hit the brewery of course. Had a few pints of Alaskan Ale and then headed down the street and found John and Shelly in another bar hoisting back a few pints. We joined them for some $2 pints and stumbled out of there to return to the ship. We had a really fun day and had just enough drinks to be in a really good mood. Another great dinner in the dining room.

2007-08-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Slept great. Linda got up right away and got a latte from the Cova café. I got ready quickly and when Linda came back she told me that she saw whales. So I raced out the door with camera, binoculars and video camera to the deck. I saw many whales swimming around breaching and blowing water in the air and showing their tails. It was such a cool sight to see. The kids saw the whales from our window so everyone started the day very happy. Went to the Dining room again. More French toast and perfect eggs Benedict. I lost a game of shuffle board to John which I will want to seek revenge on.

We watched the ship dock in Juneau at 1PM just like they planned. Lunch was a bit crazy – everyone wanted to eat before they got off the ship. So we headed off at 1:30 and found a tour of Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier. When you get off the ship, there are lots of tours to choose from and cheaper than on the boat. It was a good tour. The 45 minute tour of the city was informative and the 1.5 hours trek to the glacier was just enough time to experience it and snap a bunch of pics. After we got back, Linda took the kids to some shops to her chagrin and John, Shelly and Dad and I went to the Red Dog Saloon for a few Alaskan Ales. Yumm. We went back on board and had supper at the buffet – some sushi, pasta and pizza. Dropped the kids off and then went back out to shore. Had another drink at the Red Dog Saloon and did a few shops and picked up another 6 Pack of MGD.

I really enjoyed Juneau and would like to visit it again - seemed like a great place to go off into the wilerness and camp and hike and explore.

Around 11PM I went up to the nightclub and wrote all this up and checked out my pics of the trip. The tunes started out as Motown and a few oldies but now they’re playing Nickelback, G’N’R, ACDC and Shakira so I’m diggin it. John was supposed to join me but he never showed up until much later.

One thing I would change is everyone carrying walkie talkies. You spend so much of your time looking for people. Up and down 10 floors and back and forth between the front and back of the ship. It’s a lot bigger than I thought and hard to find people. These peanuts I’m munching on at 1:30AM are going to kill me tonight. Must stop eating them.
Tomorrow is Skagway. We arrive at 7AM and leave at 5PM. Wonder how the day will pan out. We have no plans right now. Hope the weather was as perfect as it was today. Funny, we packed gloves and sweaters and winter jackets for the day in Juneau and we didn’t even need jackets. Sunny warm skies sure made it a fabulous day.

2007-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Woke up early at 7AM – too early for me but we got up and started our day by going to the dining room for a nice breakfast. The French toast was awesome as was the sausages, bacon, pancakes and salmon on a bagel. The service is just so good in the dining room – they make everything perfect and make you feel so special. Cruising is such a spoiled way to travel.

Today was a day at sea as we travelled north. The day flew by. The kids go to the Ship mates Fun Factory. They go for free from 9AM-12PM, 2PM—5PM, 7PM-10PM. Any times other that than is $6 per kid per hour. They play games, video games, tunnels and ball pits and crafts. They really enjoy it and there are a few dozen kids in the area. We went to the pool and the kids swam there for an hour and a half. They use heated sea water. Played in the casino and lost. Slot machines bad. Played bingo and paid $30 for a few cards and that wasn’t very successful either. We saw the broadway show and that was good but not really my kind of entertainment. I appreciate my music a bit more aggressive. Dinner was a fabulous tenderloin steak with French onion soup, crab claws and Caesar salad.

2007-08-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day. We’re off to Alaska on the Celebrity Cruiseship Mercury. We leave Vancouver Canada Place and return next Friday after 2,200 miles to the same place. No airports or issues getting to the port. Couldn’t be easier. I went to work for a few hours and Linda and the kids drove to my mom and dads and got a lift to the port by cousin Susan. I brought my big heavy bag on the bus and train with me to work. Would have been too much for Linda. The boat said we don’t need to be there until 1PM for our 5PM sailing. We got there at 10:45AM and were sure glad we did. We were first in line to board the ship. We waited about 20 minutes at customs and then another 10 minutes by the ship and were the first ones on. Glad we did because everyone goes to the buffet for lunch right away so being first, we had no wait or problems getting a table. We were really hoping being first to board meant an upgrade or some bonus but that didn’t happen.

Our room was great. It was a quad room on the lowest level near the front but had a great window and the bonus of being lower was that there was very little motion or rocking. The beds were bunk beds which folded down from the side of the walls and the kids slept up top and had their own little ladders. There was storage under the bed and lots of closet space so the room was more than adequate for us.

We sailed out of Vancouver under warm blue skies and enjoyed a nice prime rib dinner in the dining room. I brought a 6 pack of beer in my carry on and Linda brought 2 bottles of champagne and we had no questions or even anyone look at them for a matter of fact. Our Steward put the champagne on ice which even had some extra room for my beers. Beers are only $5 each but my 6 Pack was $6 so I enjoy saving a few bucks here and there to splurge on other items – and I get to have my MGD which they don’t have on board. I otherwise drink Corona, Amstel or Bud. John and I were outside later in the evening as we passed through Campbell River and enjoyed the peaceful sail. Didn’t sleep very good – not relaxed yet.
Ship Details:
Celebrity Mercury
77,713 Tonnes
866 Feet Long
105 Feet Wide
10 Decks – 10 Elevators
1870 Guests
845 Crew
944 Staterooms

Sample of how much food is consumed during the cruise – not all by me:
38,000 pounds of beef
14,000 pounds of chicken
45,000 pounds of vegetables
50,000 pounds of fruit
900 pounds of ice cream – our family accounted for 50 of those pounds
1,600 pounds of cookies
12,000 fresh eggs
2,700 bottles of wine
200 bottles of champagne
180 bottles of vodka
8,000 cans of beer

2007-08-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Williams Lake
We spent the long weekend visiting Dave and Elisabeth in Williams Lake. We had a really nice relaxing time up there. Lots of food and the kids were going non stop playing with each other. The drive up was about 7 hours but the drive home was a very long 7.5 hours. We hit traffic in Chilliwack and crawled along for 1.5 hours.

Lost pictures – the memory card in our camera became corrupted and we lost all our pics from the weekend. I was choked. I took a ton of great pics and they’re all gone and the card is now useless.

Dave and I went mountain biking down one of the local hills. At first I was apprehensive - they put all this protective gear on me - leg pads, gloves, elbow pads - huh ? I'm not hardcore. We went around all the tricks and advanced stuff. We’re not at that level but we had a good time and I sure worked up a sweat for an hour and half.

Their house is great - nice log cabin on 5 acres - so private and a view of the lake. Kids played on the trampoline for hours and we even roasted marshmallows in their yard. He's now got a beer fridge on the deck - how great a place is that to live. The commute to downtown Williams Lake is a whopping 5 minutes.

2007-07-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Camping Weekend
I got Linda to go camping at Camperland in Chilliwack. This is the site next to the Transcanada waterslides. I like the location because it’s directly beside the slides and has all the amenities. They have a pool, hot tub, store, washrooms and even a games room with pool and video games. Not really roughing it. The site itself is nestled in beautiful mountains and quite nice except the tent area is basically just a big field with tents surrounded by big camper buses. Linda and Haley sleep in the van and Carter and I in the tent. We spent 2 nights there. About 6 hours at the waterslides and 2-3 hours in the pool. It was a long fun day in the water.

2007-07-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Carter Goes To Camp
Carter had a great week at Camp Howdy last week. A bus came by in the morning to pick him up at 8AM and return him each day at 4:30PM. The weather was great for him and he did all sorts of fun outdoor activities. They went in a big canoe, archery, played capture the flag, and all sorts of crafts and generally running around. Thursday night they had all the parents for dinner and an evening around the campfire and we had a great time.

I think Camp Howdy is being sold to developers though and is closing down. What a shame after almost 100 years there. I can understand why developers want to build. It’s a massive piece of land with spectacular ocean and mountain views.

2007-07-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Going Cruising

Alaska Here We Come

We’re going on a cruise !!! We can’t believe it. The 4 of us and my mom and dad and John and his family. 10 of us ! It’s going to be great to be all together enjoying the cruise and Alaska for 7 days. Mom doesn’t like to fly so this is a great way to vacation together. The ship leaves from and returns to Vancouver – how great is that ! August should be a great time to be up there as well. They have a kids program which I’m sure will entertain the kids to no end. I need to get in shape beforehand. I don’t want to say no to the buffets or dinners or beers. I can’t believe I’m going on another cruise. It all seems so decadent. Going with the whole family is just too great an opportunity to pass up. We’ll worry about the funds at a later date.

The ship is in port every Friday so we all checked it out last Friday. Wow – what a great ship it’s going to be. I sure hope the weather is better when we leave than it was last Friday. Weather in Vancouver continues to suck. We set rain records every month since last November.

2007-07-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Company Picnic
We had our company picnic down by the Barnet Marine park by the ocean and everyone had a great time. Good BBQ, the kids played with their super soakers and got everyone wet , weather was perfect and I played a bit of bocce ball and tried Ultimate (Frisbee game) for the first time. That seems like a cool sport I’d like to try again. Kids loved playing by the water – there were tons of starfish by the dock which they found fascinating.

2007-07-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

Comedy Night in PoCo
Linda and I took my parents to the Giggledam Friday night and had a great time. The Giggledam is located in downtown Port Coquitlam and they have a dinner and show most nights. The dinner is from 7-9PM and the show from 9-11:30PM. The food was good (We had the Roast Beef - dad the salmon) – the beer in a bucket was cold and the “Dam Size” Strawberry Daiquiris almost had Linda on the floor. They had 3 shots in them !!

There was a lot of audience participation and many of us were picked on or mentioned during the show. The skits and songs were lots of laughs. My favorite was the Celine Dion song “My hear will go on” done in French. All she did was mix in a random French words to make up the song and it was brilliant. The theme was about Cruise Ships and their tag line was “When you trip turns to ship”.

One of the comedians reminded us of Will Ferrell – he was just so goofy. The pic of him in these tight tiny yellow shorts is hilarious. One of the girls doing a cleaning maid skit came up to dad and you can tell he loved it.

Overall a really fun night

2007-07-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

Reluctant New Fence
So we go to Oregon and come back to find our new neighbor changed the landscape around their house. We shared a huge tree between the 2 houses. Poof – they cut it down while we were away. We liked the tree but the trunk did sit n their property. Then we go to the back and the hedge between the 2 houses is gone. We’re talking a 14 foot hedge !! We loved the hedge and it was on their side but was one of the reasons we bought the house. Total privacy with these huge hedges in the back and side. We were not happy.

The new neighbors came to us when we got home and expressed their sorrow for doing what they did without consulting us first. We were gone 5 days and they couldn’t wait any longer. It was tough to be mad at that point. We had 2 choices, either be mad or work together in making a new fence. They had already started a home made 5 foot fence which wouldn’t work for us. We worked together and decided to build a new solid 6 foot fence. We bought the panels from Rona and rented a UHaul to transport them. Uhaul note: They charge $19 for the truck but $15 for insurance and 50 cent a kilometer. $65 is more than $19. Oh well we got everything and built the fence in 7 hours and it turned out great !! We’d prefer the hedge but this is the next best thing. We worked well together and we’re going to like our new neighbors. Kind of funny – Hey nice to meet you – can I build a 6 ft fence so I don’t have to see you :)

2007-07-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

Squishees at 7-11
The Kwik E Mart from the Simpsons TV Show has moved to my hood. 12 7-11’s across North America have been converted to Kwik E Marts and the only one in Canada is in Coquitlam. MrSlurpee and family checked it out. We waited about 10 minutes in line to get in since it just opened and everyone bought a Squishee. Unfortunately the Buzz Cola and Krusty Os and Duff Beer weren’t available. Just a fun thing to do on a Tuesday night.

2007-07-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Oregon Coast
The coast is awesome – just so beautiful. I made a good breakfast for everyone and then we headed off to Fred Myer to get a new air mattress for me. They exchanged my leaky one for a new one so that worked out great !! Got to love them for that. We went to Seaside and went on the bumper cars and Haley went on a hand powered little train. Lots of shops at seaside which Linda checked out. Both Cannon Beach and Seaside are just loaded with gifts shops. The kids and I love the massive beaches and making sand castles. The water is a bit too chilly to swim in but fun to play up until your waist.

Drive Home
The drive home was brutal. What usually takes 7 hours took us about 10 hours to get home. A motorcycle accident closed the I-5 in Olympia WA for 4 hours. The guy was taking off on the police and was doing over 100MPH when he clipped a car and killed himself. There was nothing left of the bike – just small pieces scattered all over the highway. We hit another accident area and then the border. We took the truck crossing border which was lined up on the I-5. The wait was about 2 hours. About 20 buses for the Van Warped Tour were in line taking up a lot of space. After about 30 minutes I got impatient and did some tricks and we went down the shoulder, got gas, bathroom stop, duty free and was across in just over an hour. So I saved an hour. The kids were not happy campers. I did stop for a slurpee as soon as we crossed the border. I missed them for 5 days.

2007-07-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Long Weekend
I left work a bit early and we headed south for Seattle Thursday night. The drive was a breeze and we stayed at the Hilton Doubletree by the Airport. I really liked the room we got – big room with 2 queen beds. Nice pool and hot tub. They give you hot fresh cookies when you check in. Great deal from priceline for $62. I called afterwards and the best rate they would give me was $155 so Priceline rocks once again. We enjoyed the hotel until 11AM and headed south to Cannon beach Oregon.

The drive was terrible, lots of traffic and the rain was just coming down in buckets. We weren’t looking forward to tenting it in this weather but we were going to do our best. When we got to the coast, the weather had cleared up and was blue skies. Our site at Sea Ranch Park was perfect. The edge of the campground with lots of trees around us. Carter and I slept in the tent and Linda and Haley in the van. It got chilly at night in the tent. We had a great Saturday at the beach and played a lot in the sand. Linda checked out all the gift shops. We fed the bunnies at the campground and pet the horses. We roasted marshmallows at night. Awesome day.

The night was the worst ever. I was asleep around midnight and then up at 2:45AM. The friggin air mattress leaked. I had to get Carter off it and blow it back up with my lungs. Got it going again but couldn’t sleep. All the huffing and puffing woke me right up. I watched the movie the Libertine with Johnny Depp (too weird) and then I watched 10th and Wolf. That was alright. Now I’m sitting outside at the table at 7AM writing this up and looking at our pictures. My head hurts.

There is another family awake and they have been since 6:30AM and they are the loudest rudest people. They scream at each other and their dogs bark. There’s another 200 people around the campground trying to sleep but they are oblivious.

It's July 1st - Happy 13th Anniversary to Linda and I !! Happy Canada Day !!

2007-06-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Crummy Weather
The weather for June has been lousy in Vancouver. I went to the beach he first weekend in June and it was hot and sunny and every weekend since has been crap. We haven’t done much of anything. The long weekend for Canada Day is supposed to be bad too but we’re still going to try camp – all 4 of us.

2007-06-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Weekend

Was supposed to go camping Friday night but that ended up not working out. I then decided to make the most of the weekend so I just pretended we were on holidays. Out the door before 9AM Saturday and dropped Linda off at the Cancer Relay Stadium by our place. Me and the 2 kids headed to White Pine Beach about 15 minutes away from home and since we were there so early we got our pick of spots and overtook a large area for us to play in. The weather was fabulous and hot and spent a bunch of time in the water and making sand castles. The place was packed by the time we were ready to leave 4 hours later. We then headed to Camp Howdy where Carter is going to this summer. Really nice people and camp area. I hope the weather is good for him. Big field to play in, canoeing, crafts, games, archery, rock climbing. Fun stuff for a 7 year old.

We then headed to the stadium where Linda is spending 14 hours of her Saturday raising money for cancer. She’s doing this for my late Aunt Sally and some of our friends parents who have passed or have cancer now. Her team was great and raised over $12,000 – 11 of them !! The event raised over $750,000. Thanks to all who donated to Linda’s fund raising.

Sunday was another hot day – biked around with Carter and ate DQ Blizzards and then popcorn at the theatre watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was good – almost 3 hours. I wouldn’t run to see it again – kind of confusing but good big screen movie. Not as good as the first 2 though. We’re Pirates, Disney and Johnny Depp fans though.

The rain is back this week – sigh

2007-05-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Funny Email from Linda
While we were away, Linda was home alone and when she came home to the empty house around 10:30PM, she heard a loud ruckus and noise coming from the garage. She was freaked out and shaking. She thought there was someone in the garage, what’s she going to do or is there some creature in there like one of our rabid raccoons which hang out in our yard. Panicked, she found a nice couple walking down our street and she had them wait by the front door while Linda scanned the house. All was clear. What’s funny is she finally figured out what the noise was. I have a mini fridge/freezer in the garage for beer and pop and a diet coke can froze and completely exploded. I’ve never seen anything like it. When it exploded, it bounced off an MGD beer can which also exploded. Well, that explains the ruckus and the huge mess left behind in the fridge. I’m sorry I was away to miss that clean up. Not. I didn’t think the freezer worked. I guess it does now.

2007-05-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

Camping Weekend
Linda was busy this weekend with her friends and I wanted to go camping so I rented her a car (very cheaply at $12.99/day) and packed up the van and took the 2 kids away with me for a couple of nights.

The weather was supposed to be rainy Saturday and Sunday – so I changed plans of going to Cultus Lake or Harrison and went local to Golden Ears Provincial Park which is only 45 minutes away. I lucked out as I didn’t have reservations but they had just opened up a new area and I got a great big spot. We were late getting there at 8:30PM and the kids were restless and tired and I had a bunch of work to do. Camping with the 2 kids was going to be tougher than I thought. I had to set up camp, feed them, start a fire, change them, put them to bed. Carter was writing a diary and wrote: “No fun, bad night, no fire, bored.” The wood I paid $20 for from the park ranger was damp and they had no kindling which seemed like a rip off.

By 11PM I was under control and had the fire finally going and was able to kick back with a beer and watch a flick. I watched half of “Letters From Iwo Jima” outside by the fire and really enjoyed it before packing it in.
The washrooms were closed by our site but with a little investigation that made sense. There was a big bear trap on the other side and they were trying to discourage campers from going near it. The bear was spotted 3 sites over a few days earlier. Oh joy. I’m in a tent and there’s a bear close by.

Haley was afraid of the dark several times throughout the night and woke up crying and upset. Sigh. Then at sunrise which is early this time of year she woke me up saying “It’s morning time, let’s play”. Sigh. I put a video on for her and lied there trying to sleep but no luck. The weather was nice though and we had a great day. Lots of biking, running, eating, playground, playing at the beach on Alouette Lake. I got a good fire going that night and we all watched Harry Potter Goblet of Fire outside by the fire. I watched the rest of “Letters from Iwo Jima” and it was an excellent flick which I recommend. Being completely in Japanese with sub titles, you’re really forced to pay attention to everything. See “Flags of our Fathers” first. I had all the tarps up and it did rain a bit Sunday morning but that didn’t affect anything. We all had a great time and I look forward to camping again this weekend when the weather is supposed to be hot and sunny.

2007-05-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Home From California

What a great trip we all had

Dropping off the damaged car at Alamo was easy - no big deal there
We were 3 hours early for the flight and it was delayed 45 more minutes which made for a long wait. I put "Over The Hedge" movie on for the kids to watch int he waiting area which kept them busy.

We flew back in a small Air Canada Jazz Plane - like 100 passengers 2x2 seating and I thought it would be a drag. Turned out great. Little screens to watch movies and surprising comfortable. The kids quickly fell asleep as did I for 45 minutes. Luggage was there when we got to the baggage carosel which is a first. Drive home took forever - I was still in San Diego mode where traffic moved at 80MPH and now it's doing 25MPH.

Time to catch up on Heroes and American Idol TV Shows.

2007-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Legoland

We got to Legoland which is 30 minutes north of us - before the 10AM opening and there a lot of people there already – hundreds – like a Disney opening. We were like “huh – Monday should be a slow day”. Turns out home schooled kids get in for 75% off on this particular Monday. Once the crowds dispersed – you never saw a crowd again.
I bought our tickets on eBay and they weren’t working in the scanner. I was getting choked thinking I got ripped off and then Linda opened the stroller entry gate which no one was manning and we all just walked through not even showing our tickets to anyone. Anyone need 4 tickets to Legoland ? Selling them for $125US. I’m quite pleased that our day was free. Legoland is over $200US to enter which is pricey considering the park caters to 3-9 year olds. Parents should be cheaper not more. And they also get you for $10 parking when they own the whole massive lot.

We liked the park a lot since it was perfect for Carter and Haley. We just love seeing them happy doing fun stuff. One of the highlights was the Volvo driving center. 2 Sections one for 3-5 yr olds and another for 6-9 yr olds. Kids get a little car shaped like Lego pieces and drive it around a track – they have complete control which makes it a lot of fun. The older kids also get stop signs and red lights which makes it more interesting. Some kids drive like Yolanda and drive into the back of other kids.

We went on a few small roller coasters and then went on the Pirate Ship which had squirt guns all around it and we squirted people and they squirted us and explosions in the water soaked me good.

We saw a couple of 4-D movies, shops, playgrounds, rides and Mini legoland. This is an area which has reproductions of other areas in the world. We saw, New York with all the buildings, New Orleans with the Mardi Gras, Las Vegas Strip, San Francisco and Washington DC monuments. Overall a great time was had by the kids and I bought a couple of Lego clothing articles and we closed the park and shopped until 5:45PM. I’d get a discount before paying full fare though

On the way home we stopped at In/Out Burger and that was pretty good. After midnight now and time for bed – early morning and flight home at noon.

2007-05-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Bumper Cars on I-8
After writing my Blog and working on the computer across the street at the Best Western who had FREE internet, I decided to take a drive East to see where the Frys Electronics store was – I was planning on checking it out today.
I’m putting along doing 60 in my new Rented Chevy Impala in the right lane of the 5 lanes ready to exit and this car I see in the distance isn’t slowing down. She creams right into the back of me while I’m doing 60 !!! WTF ? A million things go through my mind as I see her headlights about to smack me. Why isn’t she slowing down or changing lanes, what’s going to happen to me when we hit, am I going to hit another car, are airbags going to be deployed, will the car turn sideways and flip, oh crap, there goes my vacation, uh oh, Linda’s going to be mad at me, damn, I wish I bought insurance through the rental company and Hold On tight this is going to hurt.

So we both pull over on this busy highway which makes our highway 1 in Vancouver look like a side street. My lower back is sore and I’m shaking like a leaf on a fall day. I run over to Yolandas car – I know all about her now and give her this “WTF” look and ask why ?? She doesn’t speak English and I don’t hablo de espagnol . She reaches into her purse and I’m thinking uh oh, crazy Californian with a gun – I’m in trouble now. She’s just getting her license though – I’ve seen too many weird movies lately. She must have kids cause she had a whack of crayola pens which I used to write details on. I don’t have a phone and neither does she – I try flag cars down but they don’t even slow down to 80. This is like a racetrack afterhours. Unbelievable. Even 2 cop cars drove by me jumping around to get their attention.

Then a car comes within inches of our 2 cars and now I’m freaked. I’ve seen too many Amazing Car Crashes TV Shows to know that when cars are pulled over, they are like magnets to crash into. I began to freak and we said our goodbyes. Never got to see where Frys was.

I later found out that there are Call Boxes every half mile on highways which allow you to call police. I don’t think I would have wanted to walk along that highway though. I met with the on duty hotel manager and he helped me find some phone numbers and calm me down. He was so nice and even threw in free buffet breakfast for us all today. Nice guy. I didn’t wake Linda when I got back to the room – I didn’t sleep though. The car was still drivable, I was safe at the room and that’s all that mattered. VISA Insurance on my credit card will take care of everything.
What would a holiday be for me if there wasn’t some drama ? Everything was going so smooth until Yolanda came into the picture.

Lessons learned – stay at hotels that offer free internet, don’t look for Frys Electronics stores at 11PM at night and drive faster than 60MPH or you’re gonna get creamed.

2007-05-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

San Diego Day 9

Today was our most kicked back day. I’m finally in complete vacation mode and unfortunately, only 1 day left now. I’d love to extend the trip 3 more days even but flights are too hard to move.

Happy Mothers Day

For Linda we splurged and went all out. No free hotel danishes for her – we went to IHOP at 9:30AM for a delicious breakfast. We then went to Starbucks and walked along Pacific Beach. Checked out the beach shops and walked along the seawall a bit and then hung out in the sand and ocean with a Shaved Ice. Watched the surfers a bit. Afterwards we went to Mission Beach and walked around there for a bit. There was a great outdoor bar called the Wavehouse. They had a live singer doing Jimmy Buffet songs and a wave machine. People could go with their wake boards and ride the waves – it was a very cool. They even allowed kids in the bar but we passed on it as the kids were getting bored. I’d have love to have gone in though and had a few drinks. We went to Belmont Park which had a midway but we didn’t go on any rides. Nothing jumped out at us except the Roller Coaster. We would have stayed longer but the sunburns on everyone was a bit much and we needed a break. We played in the pool for quite awhile and then headed out to see “Meet the Robinsons” movie in 3D. It was an OK movie. The kids seemed to like though. I expected more from the 3D effects but it was still well done. The Westfield mall by Mission Center was quite nice, 20 screens, outdoor mall and everything you want. The Fashion valley Mall by the hotel here is very similar – I was surprised to see 2 big malls within a couple of miles of each other. Afterwards we shopped at Target again for our second time this trip. I haven’t bought myself anything yet. The kids and Linda have no troubles shopping though. We still have a day left for me.

San Diego is so easy to get around – our hotel in Mission Valley is very central to highways and we can be at 2 malls, beaches, downtown all within about 5-10 minutes. I was mixed up one night though with Dave and didn’t know whether I was coming or going on the highway – my lefts and rights and east and wests were all messed up.
Carter and I went swimming again in the evening while Linda started to pack things up. Tomorrow we go to Legoland – Carter doesn’t know yet and I can’t wait to take him there. He just loves his Lego more than anything.

2007-05-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

San Diego Day 8
Another day of sunshine – we woke to cool clouds so I was thinking the worst at first and then it just heated up like it has every day on our trip. A little windy and cooler by the ocean but nothing that bothered us.
It was sad to see Dave and Elisabeth and their girls go home this morning. We’ve been having such a good time and we all get along so great. Carter and Bridget are a perfect match as are Haley and Bronwyn. They got along so well – not one incident or issue. I miss my beer buddy Dave. Dave where are you ? it’s 9:30PM and people are in bed here.

The day started with us having to move to a new room. I was nervous cause with Priceline, you don’t always get what you want, you just a get a good price. Our room has been fine, 2 queen beds, good linen. Our tower was in the far back and we didn’t feel like it was a 3 Star hotel. They cater more to Conventions and big groups more than families I think. We couldn’t stay our next 3 nights in the same room – 2 different reservations so I was hoping we still got 2 queen beds. We lucked out. We got put in a much nicer tower, bigger room, 2 sinks and a balcony overlooking the pool on the 8th floor. We didn’t know that the rooms were so nice outside of our tower. We saw some rooms on the lower floor with chandeliers even. I wish we all had the same rooms when Dave and E. were here. One thing that followed us from one room to another in a different tower was this picture of a young girl. Linda thinks it belongs more in the Haunted Mansion that a hotel room and they have it in every room. Must be the owners daughter or something. Kind of a creepy picture.

We headed out to Seaport Village in San Diego and walked along the seawall and Linda checked out the shops. They have several buskers/entertainers doing shows around the village. We saw a great juggling, comedy gymnastic act and a neat magician while eating our Ben and Jerrys ice Cream. We walked around the outside of the Aircraft Carrier Midway but didn’t take the tour as it was going to cost us at least $38 and Linda and I have already done a Carrier tour in the past. I love downtown San Diego – it’s so nice and clean and just has a good vibe to it. I love Vancouver and they are similar in many ways. No begging bums though like Vancouver.

We then went to Coronado beach across the water. They don’t have a toll on the bridge anymore which is good. I’d love to live on Coronado – would move there in a minute I think. The beach is spectacular and so vast and clean. We drove up on a Saturday and found parking right away. We built sand castles and played in the water and then went back to the hotel to play in the pool.

For dinner we went upscale – we went to Hooters in Mission Bay. I’ve love their chicken wings, what can I say. The kids quickly fell asleep in the car.

Tomorrow is mother’s day and we’ll go out for breakfast and I don’t know what next yet. May Old Town, some rides at Belmont Park at Pacific Beach, maybe walk around Balboa park or hang by the pool. Only 3 more sleeps – I love being on vacation.

2007-05-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

San Diego Day
We spent Friday touring San Diego. We first went to la Jolla which is about 10 miles away – north west of us on the coast. Very nice town – very upscale – very affluent area. Walked around the village a bit and saw the beach cove and some seals hanging out on the rocks and then headed back to the hotel. The adult girls went to the mall which is within walking distance, Dave and the older kids went to the pool and I took the younger ones to Ocean Beach about 10 minutes from the hotel. We had a good time playing in the sand just hanging out in the sun. Afterwards we headed downtown for dinner. We walked around Gaslamp Quarter a bit and ended up at Dick’s last Resort which was a lot of laughs. The place basically has no rules so the kids could do what they want and our waitress made the evening very interactive. At one point she had all 4 kids on the floor of the entrance to the restaurant coloring and working on a big piece of paper. Guests had to walk around them. In the end, they made mother’s day cards for Linda and Elisabeth. The kids had balloon hats and were tearing up the place.

I ate way too much – chicken and ribs and appy’s and a big ass 32oz MGD. I was done. The food was excellent– kind of pricey though. One fun thing they had besides their lack of manners is a machine which you put your money in and it’s a crane like you pick up stuffed animals but instead you pick up lobsters. If you get one, they cook it all up for you with the extras as well. Fun stuff. I’d love to see a Dicks in Vancouver, been to others in Myrtle Beach and Chicago in the past and always have a great time.

On the way back we hit Target for some shopping and had a hassle buying gas. It seems that you have to prepay your gas but when you are filling it up, you don’t know. If you say $50 and you need more – you have to start over and prepay more. Not a great system.

Dave and Elisabeth leave in the morning – we’re going to miss them – it’s bee a faboulus time with them and all the kids get along perfectly – not one squak from any of them. I don’t know what our plan is for Saturday and Sunday – weather is going to get cold so I don’t know what’s in store for us yet.

2007-05-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

SeaWorld San Diego
Up and out the door at 8:30AM for SeaWorld. The plan was to catch some breakfast and some groceries and hit the park by 10AM. Well, no sooner had we left did Dave and I split up. I lost him I the rush hour traffic and didn’t have my cell phone with me. I could find him or call his cel – you can’t call a cel collect unfortunately. So we went grocery shopping anyways and then headed to the park. I saw Dave right away waiting for us and he was waiting by the park the whole time – we just missed each other. He even called 911 to see if there was an accident and why we didn’t show up. Unfortunate but it all worked out.

SeaWorld was fantastic. We did Journey to Atlantis which is a roller coaster/flume ride. A thrill ride and you get soaked. We saw Beluga Whales, penguins and Polar bears and aquariums which were all fun. The big stuff though was Shamu the whale show which is an excellent show for everyone. The trainers riding on the whales snout was cool and I’d love to try that. The Dolphin show was up there too as excellent. The Pets rule show was very impressive. Making all those different animals do cool tricks. Dogs, Birds, Cats, Pigs – all did fun tricks – lots of laughs. I’m OK with whales and dolphin shows as they allow us to view and love these animals and hopefully learn to appreciate them more.

We got to do a Dolphin Encounter – this is where a dolphin comes up to the side of the tank and allows people to pet them. The kids and I loved it. In the pic – you can see both carter and I with our hands on it. I’m holding Haley right over the water almost so she could have a chance. It was all very exciting for them.

The Shark Encounter was cool – Carter loves his sharks and this was a great exhibit. Big nurse sharks and black tip and other fearsome beasts with huge teeth. SeaWorld has a walkway on a conveyor belt inside the shark tank all in glass so you can see sharks everywhere, up, left, right and up close. They also have a 4-D movie – The Haunted Lighthouse which was also very good. The problem was that as soon as the kids saw 3-D glasses and a theatre – Carter and Haley starting crying their eyes out. They were terrified before the movie even started so Linda took them out while I watched it. That ‘Honey I shrunk the Audience’ really messed them up. The movie was great though and I jumped several times out of my seat.

SeaWorld was great but too pricey. I bought my tickets on eBay so I saved about 70USD off of gate prices which was good but they still nailed you for $10 parking. Their parking lot is massive and almost empty and they have the nerve to charge $10 after wanting over $200 at the gate ?? Good show though and would do it all over again in a second. Something you only need to do once though – not like Disney where you need to go every year if you can :)

We had dinner at Chilis which was very tasty. Good service – good food. We then went swimming in the pool and everyone crashed. Except me of course. I’m across the highway at a Best Western doing laundry at 11:30 at night. They also have free internet here. The Town and Country charges me $9.95/night which is just silly. Doing laundry since the kids have been playing in the wet sand on the beach and destroying all their clothes. We have a few more days here and with the heat wave here – we need fresh clothes all around.

No beers or karaoke bar tonight for us.

We were supposed to all go to Legoland tomorrow but instead we’re going Monday after Dave and Elisabeth go home Saturday. We’re going to tour around San Diego and forget theme parks for a couple of days. It’s just too much with kids with how much we pack into each day. We’re all just pooped.

I’m beat now – laundry almost dried and security is sitting here with me at the table – I guess he’s keeping an eye on me – not saying anything – odd.

2007-05-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

Day 4
I’m tired – it’s been a long day

We had breakfast at our hotel and then went to get the rental cars for Dave and I. Took a cab to Dave’s and in just a few minutes he had his PT Cruiser. We then went searching downtown Disney for Alamo to get mine and finally found it. They were out of cars so I had to wait until one was delivered after 25 minutes. I got a new Chevy Impala which I’m thrilled with – huge trunk space too for all our bags and stroller.

We hit the road around 11AM for LA. Holy traffic. We hit traffic all day everywhere we went. We took the I5 to the 101 and went through Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Holly is kind of a dive and not that impressive and Beverly Hills was not that spectacular either. I think we expected more wow factor. The areas is nice and the landscape of the city is unique but overall, nothing special. Nice cars though everywhere. We drove up Beverly Drive to Mulholland drive but nothing special to see. We didn’t have a map of the stars homes so we missed out.
We did see a naked guy pose on rodeo drive giving the rich a big hello. That was hilarious. I saw a Whisky a gogo bar and wanted to buy a shirt but they were closed. This is the club where the Doors, Motley Crue, Guns and Roses, Vanhalen all made their debuts.

We then headed to Santa Monica and enjoyed the ocean and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The kids loved the beach and playing in the water. The beach though was kind of littered with some garbage and peoples discarded clothing. We must have been in the non tourist section as we were the only non Hispanic people playing at the beach.

We took a short drive to Venice beach and the girls and kids stayed in the car. This was a weird area – seemed kind of tough and ghetto like. Saw muscle beach and we took off.

Drove for hours just to get through the traffic to get to the highway. That wasn’t fun. By 8:30 we are all beat and tired but still had another hour 15 to go. Sigh. Finally found the Town and Country Inn in Hotel Circle in Mission Valley just north east of San Diego. Got 2 connecting rooms with queen beds and the comped us on the $14 parking so that was great. Priceline sure worked out for us on this trip. They do charge 9.95 for internet though which makes me unhappy. Sigh. Dave and I had a few beers in the piano bar and it’s now 12:45AM and gotta go to bed. Big day at Sea World San Diego tomorrow.

I'm glad I saw those places but they really weren't that special. Driving fromj Anaheim to Santa Monica and then the 405 to San Diego wasn't a brilliant move on my part.

2007-05-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

Disneyland Day 3
We didn’t have early entry for Disney today so we didn’t have to be there until 8:30AM. We got sleep and extra hour. Shuttle bus was packed and we left others (not our group) behind – always be early for the shuttle. We did an hour of Disneyland going on a few rides in Fantasyland and headed over the California Adventure (CA) for their 10AM opening.

I hadn’t researched CA like I had DL and were just winging it. I was happy at times I didn’t know what was there and at times wish I knew more about it so I could have planned our time better. We were pretty exhausted from 2 days of DL and the heat was killing us so we just took it easy and rested more.

I loved this park. We went on Monsters Inc twice with no lineups and then onto Hollywood Terror Hotel. Dave and Haley stayed behind. I thought the kids would freak on this one but they loved it. I guess they are getting used to these huge rides. We then participated in an animation class drawing Donald Duck and then did “Talk with Crush” the turtle from Finding Nemo. This was awesome. The turtle is an animated sea turtle on a big screen and is interactive with the audience. The guy doing it in the background is very witty and it really looks like Crush is doing the talking. We all really enjoyed this one.

We waited to watch High School Cheer show to be front and center but the kids didn’t participate like we thought they might. The heat was a bit much I think. We did Soaring over California and that was way better than any of us expected. It’s a big Imax type movie where you sit high in the theatre in ski lift type chairs. Brilliant ride. Had some lunch – sandwiches since we are tired of pizza and burgers and fries. Did the Grizzly river raft ride. 25 minute wait – no fastpass today for this one. Our longest wait of the trip. All 8 of us in one raft – we got soaked and had a blast.
Did Mulholland madness a few times – no waits and then headed over to the swings for the kids and then got some fastpasses for California Screamin’ Roller coaster. We saw the movie “It’s tough to be a bug” and all the adults really enjoyed it. The kids not so much but nothing like the “I shrunk the Audience movie” reaction. This Bugs Life movie was better and scarier I thought. The kids played in Bugs Land while I took Carter and Bridget individually on California Screamin’. I had fastpasses so I beat the lines – only 10 minutes for me and 1 kid as opposed to 40 minutes. I took carter and I was really worried about how he would handle it but he loved it !! – It was “sweet” and “wicked”. It’s probably up there as one of the best coasters I have ever been on. I loved it. I loved the speed of it and the rush and the fear it gave me.

We headed to downtown Disney again at 6PM after CA closed. The moms shopped some more and Carter got something from the Lego store. Caught the bus and had dinner at the hotel where kids eat free. Another spectacular day and sad to see our 3 days at Disney over. We could have used an extra day. 4 days would be better.
Tomorrow its LA. We’re renting a couple of cars and off to LA and San Diego. Hope to see Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Sunset Blvd.

2007-05-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

Disneyland Day 2
Another spectacular day. Went to bed a bit late last night. Dave and I had a few beers in the bar so never got around to updating the days events. Monday was the days we were getting into the park an hour earlier than the rest of the crowds. We caught the first bus at 7:20AM to the park and boy was it busy compared to Sunday morning. We were about 15th in line this time. We went straight back to Fantasyland going on all the rides there.

We then had breakfast at 9:20AM with the Characters at Minnies Breakfast just and the end of Main street. We had so much fun there and so many laughs, it was the best time. The place wasn’t busy yet so the food lines were empty and the characters spent a lot of time with everyone. Captain Hook was very funny, especially since there was some Tinkerbell stuff around our table. He had us all howling. Then the Fairy Godmother showed up and then Dale, Brer Fox, Tigger and Eyeore and Pooh and Max – Goofys nephew, Minnie and Gepetto. Tigger spent a ton of time with us and mostly on Carters hair – he kept taking ice out of Carter Sprite drink and putting the ice in his hair and making Carters hair spiky. Carter was a good sport and we all had a great time and the food was even good too.

More rides and fun at the Magic Kingdom. Some highlights were getting the kids on Space Mountain twice !! They loved it as did I. What a great ride. Scoring 115,000 on Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters ride, Having my picture taken with Jasmine. I stalked her as she was trying to leave the park area and I handed my camera to her handler and she asked me ‘Where’s your Daughter ?” – I just said, it’s just me and they all looked a bit odd wondering what’s up with this guy ?? I wanted to show Haley that I met her. We did wait to see Ariel and I wanted my picture with her too but I passed on that and wish I didn’t now. She’s quite attractive.

The kids played a spontaneous game of Musical chairs with Alice in Wonderland and the Mad hatter – that was fun for them. We all did Big Thunder Mountain a whole bunch more times as well as the Haunted House and Pirates. It was too bad Splash Mountain was down – I love that ride. We had a great day since we accomplished so much on the Sunday that Monday wasn’t as rushed.

After the park closed at 8PM we headed to Downtown Disney with the thousands of others leaving the park. The World of Disney store was a complete zoo and the kids were burning out. We headed to the Lego Store after and hung out there for a bit and then took a cab back to the hotel. We were sure bagged. It’s so hot here during the day and not much of a breeze – we’re always looking for shade and taking a break with $3.00 water / $4 slurpees everywhere. Had some beers and went to bed.

2007-05-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

Disney Day 1
We left Saturday afternoon for our flight to Los Angeles. We told the kids we were going to Disney when they saw their friends at the airport who were going with us. All 4 kids had no clue what was going on and why their friends were at the airport. Carter didn’t believe us at first and thought we were teasing him but they were all excited once it sank in. The flight was a breeze – I watched the movie the Illusionist on my laptop and Carter kept himself occupied. It’s just over 2 hours flying time so not a big deal.

Dave lost their car seats and we had to stick around the airport waiting for someone to find them but they never showed up so we left without the seats in the hopes they will arrive by Wednesday when we rent a car. We took the Super Shuttle van to our airport and it worked out great. About a 45 minutes drive to our Hotel the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort. Check in was easy and we got 2 double beds and both rooms on the 8th floor so Priceline.com worked out once again. I figure we are collectively saving $90/night.

We ate in the hotel restaurant and called it an early night. We were up at 5:45AM and I had a terrible sleep but away we went for some breaky and catch the 7AM shuttle. We were 2nd in line and waited about 40 minutes for the park to open. Everything was great and everyone was totally pumped on Disneyland. We headed straight for Fantasyland and knocked off all the rides there. Peter Pan, Dumbo, Carousel, Snow White, Mr Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Tea Cups, Pinocchio, Matterhorn, Small World. Quite impressive to get done before 10AM. No major waits at all. Then came the Princess meet and greet event and they all waited almost 60 minutes to get in to see princesses and Carter and I headed for Toon town and met Goofy and went on some rides there. Carter is cute and so good - he really didn't want anything to do with the princesses but never complained. He would look but keep a solid 10 feet between him and them. We headed back to see all the others and they were next in line so the timing was perfect. I got to see Haley meet Belle (wowza) and Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. She loved it but then started to go quiet – I think the excitement of it all was overwhelming and she even said she wanted to go home for a brief period. After 2 hours there we had lunch and then hit more rides. Autopia (won’t do that again) Buzz Lightyear Blasters, and then Honey I shrunk the Audience. Ooops – bad idea. Both Carter and Haley freaked out at the 3D movie and were very terrified and cried. The rats at the feet and snake and air was all too much. That was sad to see them cry at the Happiest Place on Earth.

We met Mickey and then headed to more rides. Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion which surprisingly wasn’t too bad for all the kids. We then Took Daves Daughter 8 and Carter onto Indy Jones ride – the 4 of use and the other girls stayed back. Mistake 2 – they were once again terrified of this ride – I loved it though – what a blast it was. Took them on Jungle cruise and then headed for the Parade. We waited for almost an hour for the parade and saw a great show. The kids loved it and seeing their favorite characters was fun. We then did Big Thunder Railroad which was loved by everyone and did some shopping so the kids could get some stuff. Mistake 3 – we didn’t have dinner. We waited for 30 minutes for the fireworks show to start and 10 minutes before they were about to, we had 3 crying kids and one sleeping kid at 9:15PM. We took off before the show which was a great idea since we just caught our shuttle bus and were able to get back to the hotel to watch the remaining part of the show from our room. The kids promptly passed out.

What does MrSlurpee do at 10PM when he’s exhausted ? Go find a 7-11 and get a slurpee – wild cherry at that. Also bought $30 worth of groceries from there to make up for some of the ridiculous prices Disney charges for things. Only about 2Km away so I walked. Now – 11:45PM and I’m in the lobby checking out my pics of the day and writing this up.

What a great day – the weather is smoking hot and sunny – so nice – almost too warm – around 82F. Tomorrow is another great day – breakfast with the characters and we get in an hour early. Another 5:45AM wake up call. This time we keep the kids fed and hydrated much better. Now that we nailed so many things, the pressure to see stuff and go on rides isn’t there. It was good jamming this all in on the first day. I even had fast passes that I didn’t use.

2007-04-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

Disneyland
We’re off to Disneyland in May for 10 days. 3 days at Disney and 6 days in San Diego. Can’t wait. After the terrible gray rainy winter we had, I’m looking forward to the beach. The kids don’t know we’re going yet so it will be a huge surprise. We’re going with our friends Dave and Elisabeth and their 2 girls so it should be a blast for all.
I’ve been using www.Priceline.com and www.biddingfortravel.com to get cheap rooms and using www.eBay.com to buy park tickets. We’re going to do Disney, SeaWorld and Legoland. I’ve never been to Legoland and Carter loves Lego so it should be a fun place for all of us. Got our car using www.kayak.com which a great place for cheap stuff.

2007-04-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hitchin a Ride
I love the train but today it didn’t run. I had 2 options – go home and get the car or hitch a ride to the Skytrain station. I chose option 2 and stuck my thumb out on Lougheed and in a few minutes a nice couple drove me to the station. I’m not a fan of Skytrain though – jammed in there like sardines. Yuck.

2007-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Easter
The kids had a blast Sunday running around the house looking for eggs hidden everywhere. We then went to Grandmas and Grandpas with everyone and had a great ham dinner and dessert and more Easter egg hunts. Mom even put on a hunt for all us “older” kids.

2007-04-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Camping Fun
Went with Carter and a bunch of others (John and his family and friends) to Klahanie campground which is located right across from Shannon Falls near Squamish. The weather was spectacular for April. Shorts and T-Shirt weather and we stayed outside til 2:30AM playing Poker and Name That Tune. Carter and I explored Shannon Falls and we all played a bit of Bocce Ball. Was thrilled to get out for our first camping trip.

2007-03-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

Another Ski Day
Carter and headed out for our second ski day together at Cypress. It was warm and sunny so we couldn’t resist. Carter was awesome again and we were on the big green runs in no time. None of this bunny hill stuff. We had a blast and he was bombing around everywhere. I think the season is over now. I’m hooked and want to go again.

2007-03-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

Raccoon Fun
Caught another raccoon in our cage. Packaged him up in a cage and tarp, secured it tightly so he didn’t get out and traumatize me like last time and disposed of him humanely 7Km away. Haven’t seen one around the house since.

2007-03-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

Carnival Day
The carnival came to the mall and we all had a great time going on the various rides. Poor kids, they don’t get to do much. One trick to going to these things is getting the discount coupons from the mall. You can ride for half price with these coupon books. I like the pic of Carter outside the Rock N Roll house. Iron Maiden rules.

2007-03-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: Shooter
Another movie last night – Milestones for dinner and then a bunch of popcorn and Shooter will Mark Wahlberg. The movie was OK – predictable but we enjoyed it. I like sniper movies – made me think of my raccoon issue. I thought of it as a modern day Rambo. I give it 6 MGDs. We went to Cactus club afterwards and spent a few hours there into the wee hours. Good times.

2007-03-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Raccoon Hell
We had another raccoon on the roof Wednesday night so I threw a few small pebbles at them to scoot him off. We set up our trap and within minutes we had one trapped and 4 others hanging out in the back yard. The others were just hanging out walking around picking fleas off each other and scratching themselves. Each time I would walk by the cage – the rodent in there would growl real loud and lunge at me with his teeth and claws. I would jump everytime – he was pissed.

So I do what I normally do and wrap the cage in a tarp and we head out on a 5Km trek to some other place. Driving along he is growling and ripping at my tarp which stresses me. The growling freaks me out and my tarp is (was) almost new. His claws were doing a number on it. I start screaming hoping to spook him and have him stop but that only antagonizes him and his aggression escalates.

The tarp starts to shake even more and I look in the rear view mirror and I see him. Big furry ears and a growling mouth staring back at me. Holy S**t !!! I slam the brakes on and fly out of the van shutting the door panicking on what to do next. I walk to the back and the coon follows me and then walk tot the front and he jumps to the front. The friggin’ guy was following me and wanted a piece of me. I was the one scared now.

A lady saw me running around my van from her home and came out to ask if I was OK. I told her I had a raccoon in my van and she was like “Why is there a raccoon in your van ??” “How did you trap it ??” “Why are you trapping raccoons ??”. This lady, older than me with booze on her breathe took control of the situation. She had one of the driveway gates that had wheels to open and close it. She had be stand behind the gate and watch her walk over to the car and she opened the passenger door and then ran back to the gate with me and we closed it and watched. The raccoon “I call him the rabid flea infested rodent” carefully walked across the dashboard and onto the door and down the front hood and into a bush. I was only a few kilometers away so there is a good chance he will find his way back to harass us some more. The sage continues.

2007-03-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Raccoon Crap
What do I do on a rare sunny Sunday ? I’m up on the roof cleaning loads of raccoon crap off the roof. A big bag of it. They like to camp out up there and dump all over it. They have to go.

2007-03-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: 300
Decided to do dinner and movie with some buds – Cactus Club and Sammy Js and saw 300
This movie was a bit odd but great – same guy that wrote Sin City which was an awesome weird flick. 300 is a period movie dating back thousands of years which had the Spartans on Greece battling the invading Persians. The battles had a lot of CGI in them and were big violent scenes. The whole feel of the movie was unique and we really enjoyed it – 7.5 MGDs. We did however feel like fighting and killing after watching it – nonstop action.

2007-03-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Concert Review: Christina Is In the House

So I’m tired and had a long day at work and it’s time for a second concert in as many nights. Last night was Christina Aguilera Sold Out at GM Place. Linda and I started out at the Shark Club and had a great steak sandwich and some drinks before heading over to the show. We were an hour before start time – I’ve never done that before – I usually get there when the opening band starts half in the bag. Early was good though– we had time for more drinks and people watching. The first thing I noticed was how many attractive girls there was at the show. The next thing was how many girls there was and how few men there was anywhere. We’re talking empty mens rooms with 20 minute waits for women. At one point the girls started using the mens rooms because there was no one in them but security put an end to that. All the men in the whole stadium only needed one washroom, not 20. There were lots of young girls, kids, teens with their moms buying all the overpriced paraphernalia.

I’m happy that I filled up with all the testosterone from Sunday night’s Sabbath show to handle all the estrogen Monday. We had good seats on the side and waited for the show.

The Pussycat Dolls opened up – 6 scantily clad women singing and dancing around the stage. I don’t know about you but this is a good thing. I enjoyed their show – I like many of their songs – Don’t Cha, Stickwitu, Buttons and like the big screens focusing of them and their talents. I had binoculars and got to zoom in on Jessica (one of the Dolls).

When Christina came out, I was absolutely surprised at how loud 18,000 screaming girls could be. The high pitched screams forced me to cover my ears initially. I just came from a metal show and the high pitched screams would have drowned out any metal show. I’ve never heard a louder show from a screaming point of view.
Christina was way better than I thought she would be. She sang amazing and her voice and sound were brilliant. After each song she would take a minute or 2 to change and the stage would change. The stage was impressive. This was a full show as much as a concert. There was a big band playing jazz and blues, there were many dancers writhing around the stage and many stage props. The floor had an area in it where Christina would rise and descend into the floor and a staircase the moved forward and back.

She looked great as well and the big screens were really good to watch as well. She had different themes going on throughout the show, some Jazz stuff, blues stuff, circus stuff, cabaret stuff and general dance. My highlights were Beautiful, Fighter, Dirrty, Hurt. There really was no bad song or bad parts to the show at all. I can honestly say that I enjoyed it despite there being no screaming guitars or fancy pyrotechnics. The screaming girls added a different element to the show but that made it exciting as well.

2007-03-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Concert Review: Heaven and Hell

Black Sabbath rolled into Vancouver last night. This time the lineup was the band from 1980 with Ronnie James Dio singing the tunes. I first saw this lineup in 1980 for their Heaven and Hell tour and then again in 1983 for the Mob Rules show. They played only Sabbath songs which Dio recorded from Mob Rules, Heaven and Hell, Children of the Sea, Sign of a Southern Cross, Die Young, and 3 new tunes from the upcoming compilation CD and they finished with Neon Nights. They were surprisingly really good considering how they have aged. I didn’t know if Dio was going to be able to hit the notes but he did and he looked good there back on stage. He’s just a little guy probably 60 and rocked the house. Tony Iommi played awesome but didn’t move around too much. He hasn’t changed in all these years. They played for 2 hours and I could have listened to them for another 2.

Megadeth and Down opened up for Sabbath. Megadeth got ripped off in the sound department. Their sound was lame compared to Sabbaths and they only got to play a 45 minute set which is too bad.

I was in the mosh pit as usual in the front. It was tense at times with all the pushing and shoving and aggressive rockers but I held my ground. I held onto the rail with all my might despite people trying for my spot. The guy behind me must have been 6’4 330 lbs but didn’t bug me. At one time the moshers behind him hit him and his girl and he turned around and dropped the punk. I’m all for moshing but not for the sake of hurting people. It’s usually the same crowd – shirtless early 20’s and tough or wanna be tough guys. It was good see the big guy drop them and they were sure surprised.

I took tons of pics of the show but most turned out real blurry. I wish I knew how to take indoor shots of a band with smoke and lights around. The videos I took were good but the sound was all just static.
The weather was so rainy when I got there I was soaked. I didn’t want to bring my jacket down onto the floor so I “lost it” and brought it to the lost and found for someone to claim and then after the show I “found” it. I thought that was pretty clever.

Hung around the back of the coliseum for almost 2 hours meeting the members of Down and Sabbath. Couldn’t Dave from Megadeth anywhere. Tony and Geezer just walked by and onto their bus but Vinnie and Ronnie spent a lot of time with all of us. We were all shaking hands and hugging and getting autographs and pictures. I was glad I waited. Meeting Dave and Tony would have been awesome as well though.
Slept for 3.5 hours and back to work sore and tired. Christina Aguilera tonight !!

2007-03-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Casino Time
Went to the Casino with Mom. The Boulevard casino is really nice. CCR was playing the theater there but didn’t check them out. Spent time playing the slots and having dinner. We got lucky early which gave me a few bucks to play with. I played some blackjack for an hour – started with $100, went down to $20 and then ended at $100 again and quit. Watched the hockey game – Canucks won in overtime – that was fun to see. After 5 hours- left only down $20 so all in all a good night.

Soccer and basketball is over
Carter played 2 soccer games today. The rain just poured and poured and it was absolutely miserable out there for the kids. His team is great though and the parents make it fun to go. There was an end of season party with trophies and munchies and beer. I think next season he may focus more on basketball than soccer.
Basketball also ended with a couple of games and trophies and party. Steve Nash is a big sponsor of the basketball and I think it’s awesome that he supports it and gets all these kids out there and promotes it in our community. Go Phoenix.

What a long day for Carter.

2007-03-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

Had the best weekend

It started with Carter playing soccer in a tournament in the rain – OK, that part wasn’t that good. We then took both kids skating. I was Carters second time and Haleys first and my first time in 20 years. It was a blast and Haley really liked it. Carter used a chair which helped him keep balance while he skated around. We held Haley’s hand and she loved it. – OK, that part wasn’t that good. We then took both kids skating. I was Carters second time and Haleys first and my first time in 20 years. It was a blast and Haley really liked it. Carter used a chair which helped him keep balance while he skated around. We held Haley’s hand and she loved it. I did OK for being away from it for so long – my ankles were a bit weak and my back was killing me from bending over holding the kids.
Movie Review: Walk the line – 7.5/10 – I liked this movie a lot and thought the acting and story was really well done. Reese and Joaquin were a great June and Johnny Cash. I put on my Johnny Cash’s greatest hits all day getting into it. That phase ended fortunately when I put on the New Daughtry CD (the guy from American Idol.

Ski Day
I’ve wanted to take Carter skiing for some time and decided that Sunday was the day he goes skiing for his first time. We went to Cypress Mountain and he took lessons from 10:30-12:15. We cut it short 15 minutes as he was tired and hungry. He wanted to go home at that point. The lessons were great though – they have this little 50 foot hill with a conveyor belt which brings the kids up and down. Lots of staff helping out. I was nervous about Carter wanting to leave as I just spent 2 hours watching him and I wanted to ski too.

We had lunch and relaxed for an hour and then I took him to the Chairlift.He rode the chairlift no problem and when we got to the top he was a bit apprehensive. This was a real hill now and he can’t turn or stop. Together we made it down and I convinced him to try again. This time I made him hold my poles and we went together me holding him and getting him to turn. That was great and we did it again and went faster and faster together and he loved it. Just like me, he loves the speed. He then went on his own and he was great. He turned and then bombed straight down the lower part and I was freaking out how he was going to stop but he pulled out his snowplow and came to stop just before running into people in the line. Afterwards he said it “Rocked”.

We stayed on the mountain and went up and down the hill about 40 times non stop until 6PM when I was exhausted. Skiing seems like it’s his thing and I can’t wait to go again.

2007-02-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

Movie Reviews:
The Prestige-I give it an 8 MGDs – Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johanssen – 2 magicians are at each other – set in the late 1800’s

Mission Impossible 3 – 6 MGDs – Better than I expected – not a Tom Cruise fan anymore after he jumped the couch

Firewall – 4 MGDs – Harrison ford – not a great movie

The Worlds Fastest Indian - 7.5 MGDs - Anthony Hopkins - where did this movie come from ? never heard of it but watched it and it was a great story and great acting. About an old guy who wants to race his Indian motorcycle

The Queen - 7.5 MGDs - Good movie - good acting - surprised that I liked it at all let alone think is was going to be this good.

2007-02-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Dart Tournament
The Annual tournament I go into every year for the past 12 years was Friday night. It starts off with an open bar for several hours which is fun and allows us to over indulge. My partner was great and we rocked the first 3 games. Then I couldn’t hit a thing and we lost when it came to hitting bullseyes which is usually my specialty. One of my first years that I didn’t make to the quarter finals. Sigh. Oh well, the bar was still open. Stayed there until 11:30PM and then went to the George Lounge in Yaletown with some people. Had to leave at 1:10AM to catch the last skytrain at 1:20AM. Not fun running after all those drinks. Caught the train to Lougheed Mall and then negotiated with a cabbie to do a flat rate $20 to my house. Turns out I did good as it would have cost $30 if I paid by the meter. Was up at 6AM – 3 Hr sleep and had a rough day.
Saturday night I went to Dougs and we played some poker and watched my Godsmack DVD which has one of the best drumming songs on video.

2007-02-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

Passport Fun
We wanted to get passports for the kids in the event we fly to Disney sometime this year. We can’t fly to the US without a passport now. I’ve heard nothing but horror stories in getting them and the waits involved. We didn’t want to mail them as they would have their original documents in their hands for months until they were sent back. We didn’t feel comfortable with that.
I decided to suck it up and drive in early. I didn’t sleep well and was up at 3AM on a Wednesday morning and was parked and in line at 4:40AM downtown. I was 28th in line !! There were some that got there at 3AM. The weather was crummy – cold and rainy. I found a spot under an awning and was able to break out my laptop and watch Mission Impossible 3 until 6AM when they let us into the building. We sat in the building in a line until 7:30 when the office opened. Behind me at this time was over 250 people who were looking at a 5 hour wait to get their documents processed. I watched the movie Firewall next and was served at 8:15AM which I thought was pretty good. Having the movies to watch made time fly. Now we just need to wait 4 weeks to get them.

2007-02-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

Monster Truck Show
I donned my plaid jacket, baseball cap, Kodiak boots, chewin tobacco and chipped my front teeth and headed to BC Place for the Monster Truck show to see Grave Digger, Monster Mutt, Bulldozer and Blue Thunder make some noise and crush some cars. I went with a buddy and his 2 kids and we went to the Pit Party which is just a bunch of the trucks parked on the floor and we can get close to them. I expected more but the kids enjoyed it.

The show was OK – felt a bit like a Canadian production – there was no dirt !! What was up with that ?? We saw the trucks do wheelies, race each other and do donuts. It was fun and worth the $15/ticket. The kids enjoyed it which is why we went. They had motocross jumpers as well which takes some guts considering they are jumping over a cement floor.

2007-01-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

I haven’t written anything in January – been so busy – I usually write stuff on the train but been working on the train – not even watching movies. I think the weather got me down too. The rain, wind, snow and continuous gray skies is depressing. Blue skies are back though and so am I.

Whistler Ski Day
I went to whistler with a couple of buddies last Monday and it was just great. The sun was out which was a real treat considering the crap we’ve been dealing with last few months. It was 6 degrees up top – 7500 feet up. We skied Blackcomb since the sun shines on it much longer. The snow was soft and not icy at all despite no new stuff for a week. Blackcomb has a 30 foot base though which is huge. Being a Monday meant no crowds either which just added to the spectacular day. I am so out of shape though – the guys I was with a very fit and I did keep up but I was sure sore afterwards. My knees and thighs were killing me.

2006-12-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone !!

2006 is coming to an end this weekend and I think back on the past year and then think about what's next for us.

2006 was a good year - everybody is healthy - my dad is doing well - no major issues arose with anyone or anything - things were good. I took a trip of a lifetime in May with my dad to 9 countries - 11 cities (http://mrslurpee.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html) - I completed 18 months of school at SFU and got my CRM (Canadian Risk Management) certificate - I got to spend a lot of time with the family and kids throughout the summer.

The summer was great - it basically started in early May when the sun came out and didn't end until the end of October when the Sun left us. We were busy doing something fun almost every single weekend. Travelling here or there, camping, beaches - just a great time all around. I usually work a lot of nights and weekends but kind of took the summer off to enjoy it and the kids. I saw a few concerts this year and had some really good times with friends and family.

Quick Kid Update
Carter is doing well - he enjoys school and his buddies. He still plays soccer a couple of times a week and plays basketball once a week. He loves Lego, Hot Wheels and playing on the computer. Hmmm - where did he learn to love those things ?? It's funny, I look at the sports dads and their kids are sports kids and then there's me and mini me.

Haley is doing great. She loves preschool and her girlie toys. I thought she may take to Carters toys but she's a real girl. Loves all the Disney princesses, Polly Pockets, jewelry and stuffed animals.

I think 2007 will be another great year - I hope to see my friends more - camp more - play Texas Hold'em more - and no more studying. I want to go to Disneyland or Disney World with the kids sometime in 2007 - Haley is still under 42" so she won't be able to go on the rides yet - we keep waiting for her grow more.

I see me working a lot again in the spring - evenings and weekends with the hopes of taking the summer off again. I want to visit the Island, Williams Lake, Camping, Okanagan. I've never been to Banff or Jasper - that would be a great trip to take for a week with the family. I hope to see my friends back East - it's been 5 years since I've been back there (9/11 we were in Toronto visiting).

I need to work on the house more - I'm just not the handy type though - paint, baseboards, drywall, doors, plumbing.

Things to think about:
Has the USA ever won a war ? What the hell are they doing ? 3000 men are dead now - have they solved anything at all ?
Is the real estate market going to change so I can afford North Vancouver ?
Will I get back in shape ? Let me get a slurpee and think about that one
Will I finally get out skiing this year ?
Will I finally get out golfing this year ?
Will Angelina and Brad adopt me ?
Will I really see the Christina Aguillera concert ? Will there be pyrotechnics ?

2006-12-29T12:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2006

Had a great Christmas - the four of us stayed here in the morning and opened gifts and then went to my parents place and opened a bunch more and they made dinner for 14 of us. It was a lot of fun - played games and ate a whole bunch of delicious food.

Boxing day for me means shopping at 7AM til 5PM - I even did some shopping at Plum clothing for Linda so she could get 50% off too. Most of the stuff I bought has or is going back - what a waste of time buying it all - I get caught up in getting a good deal but if I don't need it, why buy it even if it is 50% off. I'm a slow learner.

Some pics from the last few days

Carter went skating with his class for the first time. He did well but had a couple of terrible falls which banged up his face real good - I think he needs a cage helmet while he's learning - we're going to take him out again soon - he liked skating - I must be a bad dad who has a 7 year old who can't skate.

Posers

Mr Slurpee got a Slurpee machine for Christmas - woo hoo - I made a couple of slurpees - we had fun making them. Takes regular soda and almost freezes it. Kids and I like it.

Carter loved building this Lego Harley Davidson bike he got for Christmas

Linda made a fabulous chocolate cake in the shape of an ornament

Carter at his Christmas recital

Our house and the various blow up things out front

Carter had a special day at school - his teacher made them all dress up and she made them spaghetti and bread and desserts and ate by candlelight - He called it Fancy Lunch day.

Princess Haley