Disneyland Resort or Bust

Finally, we are down to just days before we venture off for Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Downtown Disney and our posh five-star accommodations. We will have fun, hopefully sun, and some much needed rest. We have no intention of turning this into one of our usual marathons through the parks and catnaps at night. No, this is a vacation and while we will spend more time than most mortals walking the imagination of Walt and the wallet of Eisner, we will actually use the things we are paying for, like pools, beds and dare I think it- spas. Yes, this is a vacation for the whole family. Stay tuned for details and pictures.

"Hey, throw me the ball already." 

Playing ball with Mom. 

The Attionary

Atticus is starting to talk more and more. For those of you that are trying to communicate with him, here is an Atticus dictionary:

-Hewwo: greeting, hello (also used 'hi' and a wave).
-Doggins: dog and or dogs, the 's' is not significant.
-Gin: this is a hard 'G' sound, not gin the drink, but rather an abbreviation of again
-Tee: this is the number three, as in 1, 2, 3, or as he counts tee, tee , tee (the fun, as you now happens on 3).
-Bawny: Barney.
-Twain: 1. as in Mark, Atticus is heavily influenced by the writings of America's greatest satirist 2. train, specifically the engine.
-Da: slang for 'ta-da', often used after successfully peeing in toilet (standing)
-Ergo: not therefore, but rather 'where go' as in where did it go?
-Ish: fish of any kind including Nemo, a Nemo pillow, Goldfish the snack, and actual fish in the pond
-Meyow: response to hearing the words cat, kitty, kitten, or Norman (our cat's name); also used upon sight of any type of cat
-Meyowy Meyow: Mickey Mouse. I don't know why he calls a mouse by a cat noise. Norman must have taught him this one.
-Tank: thank you, used with the sign language motion of palm from chin- often replaced by a blowing kiss
-Hungy: Hungry, this is for snack purposes only, an actual meal is not an option
-Dink: drink (also used 'uice' for juice)
-Ease: pronounced eeaaassseee for please, the greater the desire the longer the sound
-What dat: what is that? used with pointing finger and look of great concern or wonder
-No: response to any question
-Dad, gimme twenty bucks: I do not understand this phrase.

I think I can. 

Da Train @ Da Station 

Da Train! Da Train!

Atticus has nearly completed his transformation into a whiter, taller and more casually dressed Tatu. Of course, being on the continent rather than an island, his catch phrase concerns locomotives versus airplanes, and instead of working for the boss, he is playing with the dad, hence this every 30 seconds in our house: Daddy, the train! The train! Come on (tugs on me)! Daddy, the train- we go!
Equally annoying and adorable- oh the duplicity of parenthood. So what is it with trains anyway? Not just Thomas mind you, but any train, be they on TV, out the window, or spread across his bedroom floor. I am starting to be at ease with the once fearful thought that my son aspires to be a hobo. I suppose this is just a phase and I should embrace it while I can. That said, I need to go- I have a train to catch.

 

We Came. We Saw. We Wiggled.

Man did we wiggle. Well, me, not so much. I worked the camera and let Tricia and Atticus shake what they've got. The show was lots of fun. The Wiggles put on a nice show, even threw in some Zepplin, Stones and Ozzy for the parents- along with a shot at Barney (who deserves it of course). The guys seem to do a lot of stuff themselves, like taking turns working the sound board located on stage and setting up their own sets and props. They had some giant balloons that kept falling over and Anthony was knocked over a few times by one of them. He took it all with a laugh though and the show kept wiggling, er, moving on. While The Wiggles and Captain Feathersword were wearing microphones, the rest of the cast was just lipping the words, which they had fun with when one character was either off or didn't know the lines. Again, they just laughed it off and kept going- kids didn't notice and the parents thought it was funny. As for the work ethic they seem to have, I don't know if it's due to budget concerns, they should be making enough now to hire a sound guy, or if it's due to their routine, just being used to doing things that way pre-Disney money and stayed with it, or perhaps because they are Australian and generally not as caught up in being a 'star' and needing someone to wait on them. Although, I have seen fellow Ausies AC/DC in concert and I didn't see Angus Young do anything but skip and play the guitar.
Regardless, the show was lots of fun despite the fact they didn't play Fruit Salad, which is one of their biggest hits (kind of like when we saw Van Morrison and he didn't play Brown Eyed Girl). What can you do? Just keep wiggling baby.

Haircut 2 bits? Forget it. 

Daddy! Wiggles! 

Today We Wiggle

It is finally here: Wiggle Day. A group of us are making an hour drive to laugh, dance and sing with Greg, Anthony, Jeff & Murray, aka The Wiggles. How does this make me feel? Good. I have accepted my wiggleness and that of those around me. The show today may provide years of memories or years of therapy. This remains to be seen. One thing is for certain though, I shall proclaim my love for fruit salad and hot potatoes at the top of my lungs- singing to the rafters. I will have fun, I will wiggle, and you better believe I'll get my monies worth. Every single wiggling penny.

Baby, I'm a Rich Man

If I had a silver dollar
I would jump and holler.
I would scream and shout
And flaunt it all about.
To my sister Grace
I’d say "in your face".
To the bully Dirk
I would be a jerk.
To my classmate Rob
I would be a snob.
Compared to both the Nates
I would be Bill Gates.
The kid that lives next door?
He would be a bore.
I know it isn’t nice
Treating them like lice,
But that’s the curse of the wealthy
Being rich, young and healthy.
There is not much I couldn’t buy.
If I wasn’t such a ruthless guy
I would call up my good friend Jim
And share a root beer float with him.
But then- I wouldn’t have a silver dollar
And I’d be too full to jump and holler.

Auntie Tiff Tiff Turns Thirty

Yes, my little sister is 30. What does that make me? Old. Here's a little poem that is a true story of a 4th of July that Tiffany and I shared some 20+ years ago:

HOTFOOT
My sister got a blister
on the bottom of her foot,
it's there 'cuza my fault
I pushed her in the soot.
I thought it might be funny,
'til she started cryin',
she screamed about them hot coals,
I swore that she was lyin'.
And so with my bare foot
I stepped into that soot,
and sure enough, them coals were hot,
and on my foot I also got
a big raw burnin' blister . . . .
a lot like the one I got for my sister.

The Merry Prankster

Here’s a joke to make you drool
I played it on an April fool
I put plastic wrap on the toilet seat
thought the trick was pretty neat
an hour later, splashed with pee
turns out the fool was really me.
Here’s a prank that’s lots of fun
set the bathroom scale to show a ton
when mom steps on it, you say "moo"
but here’s what else you need to do
when she sees the scale has lied
it may be best if you choose to hide.
If you use these tricks on anyone
make sure that you are set to run
some people make not like your style
so make sure you can run for quite a while.