BC Hydro Christmas Party

Every year I think it will be our last year at the BC Hydro Christmas party but every year someone decides we should go. This year Carter asked about it in advance and made sure that I signed up. The age limit is 12 so technically he has one more year but even this year it became quite noticeable that our family had the oldest kids. The event was once again at Science World which is nice but also gets a bit monotonous. They open the doors early from 7:30 to 9:30 for only BC Hydro family members and we get to wander the exhibits before everything opens and we can stay into the day if we want.

One of the reasons that this might be our last year is because they switched up the format a bit this year. Not sure if it was BC Hydro or Science World but instead of an open buffet of morning goodies, there were pre-boxed breakfasts. The food was okay but we weren't happy about all the packaging and the limited selection. The highlight was that one of the exhibits was dog and cat themed. We put in an hour or two and then headed back home so Callie could go to dance.

Our New Second Car Modo

Our household now needs approximately 1.1 vehicles. 90% of the time the one vehicle is fine but sometimes we have events that require us to separate and use two vehicles. I figure it's $5k to $8k to have a vehicle so rather than buying we are lucky enough in the lower mainland to have access to car sharing networks. There is now one that has a car just a few blocks from our house plus other vehicles at the skytrain station. I tried it out for the first time when I had to get to a blood donation. I could have taken transit but the car was faster and I wanted to try it out. I picked it up at the Skytrain with no trouble and now know what to do when we need a second vehicle. Much more economical.

Gingerbread Mayhem

A very short post on Gingerbread making this year, mainly because it went so quickly and I didn't get a lot of pictures. The kids still wanted to decorate so I made the house parts on the Saturday and we picked up materials the same day for decorating on Sunday. We went to the cake decorating store which I now regret because it made this much more expensive than it should be. We might as well have bought kits. Callie had two friends and Carter had one and we had just enough icing to put together five houses. I may try to plan more next year so we can do some more interesting things like lights or moving parts.

Mark Hall - Celebrity Tree

For the past several years we've been getting a live tree. Or at least a tree that was recently live. One year I'd like to get a tree with the roots still attached that gets planted after Christmas but I'm not sure where to go for that. The tree farm we've settled on is called Dogwood Christmas Tree farm and it opens at the end of November and is usually sold out within the first few weekends. It's the actual farm so you get to cut your own trees or take one of the ones they've already cut. Those are typically pretty expensive because they cut the tall ones and you pay by the foot.

Kerry was very excited during our hunt because we were warned that some of the trees that had blue ribbon on them may have a bit of fake snow from filming a Hallmark film in the summer time. Hallmark has started making these utterly ridiculous movies that they release at Christmas time. This year there was 30 new ones and when you're making that many you know the quality has to be high. I follow the Christmas tree farm on Facebook so I knew about it in advance and with a little sleuthing we determined that the movie was the "Mistletoe Secret" staring Patrick Duffy and Kelly Pickler.

We found the marked trees and Kerry insisted on getting a celebrity tree so after a bit of searching we found our tree and named him Mark Hall. He's a noble fir and we later discovered he had his part cut when they did the final editing. It's a shame too because he was a great tree. We got a good deal during the height measurement too because the tree measuring guy works at Kerry's new school. We strapped Mark to the top of our car and he fit nicely into our living for the whole month of December. We watched the parts with the tree farm in the movie but Kerry couldn't stand to watch this particular movie. Even she has her limits.

Christmas Craft Fair

Kerry is at a new school this year and her school arranges a craft fair each year. The organizers had expressed the need for some wooden crafts so I volunteered to help out. I had low expectations when I discovered that the approach was that each table paid a $20 entry fee which was how the PAC made their money. An okay deal for the sellers but it did mean there wasn't much incentive for the PAC to encourage people to attend. They had their money already and their other income was from selling pop and chips at the door which they could always just sell later if no one shows up.

I felt this would be a good family event so Callie made toques and Christmas ornaments, Carter made Christmas ornaments and I made wood crafts. Attendance was what I expected and most of the attendees appeared to be other vendors or family members. I had made sure we all made things we could use or gift to others after the event which worked out well because we had very few people attend our booth. Those that did though were quite interested. Callie managed to sell two of her Jughead toques and Carter did okay with ornaments. I had zero sales for the first half but managed to see a few items. I was also lucky our friend Brenda came and bought a few things. We did better than most vendors though. Some of the people near us didn't sell anything. I don't think we'll be doing this craft fair again next year.

Callie Meets Dave

This year Callie was in grade nine which meant it was her turn for 'Take Your Kid to Work" day. Callie of course had the option of either Kerry or myself and since she had spent 8 years at work with Kerry I was able to convince her that she would learn more and have more fun if she came to my work. Kerry wasn't happy but reluctantly agreed. BC Hydro is a big company and I'm at one of the home offices so they had events already prepared. We started the day by taking the bus and the sky train to work. I wasn't surprised when security said they didn't know what was going on. After a bit of convincing I managed to get a pass for Callie to come to my desk.

The plan was to spend an hour at my desk doing boring things like checking e-mail and meeting co-workers before sending her to BC Hydro baby sitting where she got to go on several 45 minute tours of various parts of the company. The highlight of the morning was the magical coffee machine on my floor that has an LCD display and will make everything from espresso to to milk hot chocolate. We also stopped by Starbucks in our building. The next highlight was getting introduced to Dave who is the social media spokesman for BC Hydro. Just a regular BC Hydro employee who has his face all over BC. We got a powerpoint presentation on how he got his job and then Callie went off on her tours for the morning. I think she liked the Geomatics and Fleet tours the most. She even met up with a friend from elementary school. Lunch was provided and included pizza and a cookie and we got to have our picture taken with Dave. Callie had a great day and Carter can't wait for his turn.

Halloween Gets Out of Hand

Halloween is getting out of hand. It all started a few years ago when my friend Jeremy asked if I wanted to make a monster in a box which was a mix of woodworking and electronics. It was a lot of fun and ever since I've been adding a few more props. This year started in early October and was based on a comment Callie had made. Last year I had created a cemetery entrance but not a cemetery. This year I worked on adding some fence sections so we could have a fenced in cemetery. It started with a length of old looking picket fence along the front which was made with new wood with a technique for aging it.

The next step was to place the cemetery entrance and add a section of wrought iron fencing with lit up skulls. This too was new materials made to look older. The columns were solid wood and have the words Keep Out and Dead End on them. I've started making everything out of materials that will survive the rain. Unfortunately October is often quite wet and the columns I made for the cemetery entrance last year were made out of a plywood and have already started to peal. I may have to rebuild them. I also redid the archway with a lit up Cemetery sign. It's got a strobe light inside so it flickers and looks quite spooky.

The final touches for this year included a new place for the monster in a box and the coffin with the skeleton as well as a blue tooth speaker in the bushes playing spooky sounds of the cemetery. Just loud enough so that people weren't sure it was there. We had another new record for number or kids so I think people are starting to enjoy coming just for our house. Next year I plan on improving the fog chiller. Chilled fog stays close to the ground for a spookier effect and the plan is to build a chiller that looks like a cemetery crypt. Add to that some new cemetery stones and we should keep our place as spookiest house on the block.

The Pedunkle

One more year at the pumpkin patch. I would say this looks like our last year except for the fact that we go every year with the cousins and I think Ryan has a few more years left in him. We posed for our traditional family picture at the big pumpkin and I got some good shots of the kids but when we handed our camera to someone to get the full family I think he was either drunk or blind because he somehow missed us. We are all in the left hand side of the screen and I think one of us is missing. Next time we'll have to be a bit more judicious in our picture taker selection.

One of the highlights this year was the kittens. There are always newborn somethings and it's typically pigs, chicks and rabbits but this year there was a kitten pen. They don't seen to have any qualms about hundreds of people picking up the bunnies for hours on end but they were a bit more protective of the kittens. Only 60 minutes a couple times during the day. Callie and I got lucky and were able to get in just as they were about to shut down visiting hours. Kittens sure are cute. Too bad Callie and Kerry are allergic.

The true highlight of the day however started a year earlier. The person who took us on the hay ride to the patch asked a question of what the top of a pumpkin is called and the answer was pedunkle. The winner got a free pumpkin and at that moment Carter wrote down the answer and brought it home and posted it on our fridge. It sat there all year and we were reminded about it every few months. The day finally arrived and Carter even took the time to learn the other parts of the pumpkin just in case they switched up the question this year.

Things weren't looking good when the driver asked a completely different question. He wanted to know why the farm was called Aldor acres. (Turns out it is because the owners are named Al and Dorothy.) Carter did not look happy because that was not on his list of answers. Kerry saved the day when she told the driver about Carter's year of planning and the driver was very excited that someone would be that dedicated. He asked the question to him directly and Carter got his free pumpkin. We'll have to do a bit more studying next year so we can be even more prepared.

Carter's Birthday Party

Carter turned 11 this year and apparently that is still young enough to have a real birthday party. The good thing is that we didn't have to do anything too big at the house because he wanted to go to Extreme Air Park which is a trampoline place in Langley. They have well over 100 trampolines and there is a mix of open areas and closed arenas for events like basketball or dodgeball. They even turn the lights off periodically and turn on the black lights so everyones socks light up nice and bright.

The attendees were the usual suspects including Jevin, Luca, Ryan and Kristen. There were enough of us that we had to borrow uncle Corey to help us bring the kids from our house to the trampoline park. It's an interesting experience with kids in the car as they get older. They are in that stage where they completely ignore you as the driver. No number of dad jokes are able to bring them out of their parent ignoring trance. We managed to get everyone to the park and went through two hours of jumping and dodgeball without any damage.

After the trampoline park it was back to the house for cake and presents. I will admit that I was a terrible father and had accidentally booked a movie with some friends during the second half of the party. Luckily it's not as big a deal now that Carter is older because the party is much more self sufficient. Carter even did most of the work with the goodie bags. He was careful to avoid any unnecessary plastic toys that would just break and get thrown out. His cake was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen with a Simpsons theme. The kids have been hooked on that since we got back from Universal Studios.

Carter's big gift was exactly that. Big. This year he wanted the Apollo shuttle. Not sure how many piece it was but these aren't even a challenge for him anymore. He had it together with no assistance before the evening was over. Now we just have to find a place for a 36 inch space shuttle.

A New Start for Kerry

Kerry has been a temporary vice principal on and off for the past few years. This was typically precipitated by some sort of illness in either the vice principal or principal position at Frost Road. They aren't able to bring in someone to fill the position right away and when it's an illness they don't know how long they will need someone so they try to fill it from within. She had almost three full years experience in this temporary role and felt it was time to apply for a permanent role. She was successful on her first attempt and the hope was that she would be able to have one more year at Frost Road before being moved to a new school.

Things were looking good right up until the end of August when she got the call from her district principal and was informed that she was going to be moving to Hazelgrove Elementary. This was a big announcement and probably better that she didn't have too much time to think about it. It could have been much worse. The new school is less than 15 minutes away and because it's so big she gets to be 80% vice principal which is good experience for getting her own school as principal in the next couple years. She said her goodbyes and set up her new office. Since I'm writing this in December I can say that it's been a lot more work than her last school. I think a principalship in a smaller school will be easier. :)

Callie's Birthday

It's been a few months since my last blog post. No specific reason other than the fact that things got busy in early September. (There will be a blog post on that.) It's the end of 2019 and one of my tasks for 2020 is to go back to regular posting rather than my current approach of uploading pictures every few months and trying to catch up on blog post at that time. This year I'll also be concentrating more on woodworking which will give another excuse to open up blogger. I spent most of the spring and summer on a back yard project and this year I'll just be focusing on the plants. Should free up some time.

Regardless of how exciting the day is, I hope to always have a post about the kids birthdays. This year there was no formal party for Callie and instead the day was focused on TV and food. (Maybe that's not a good thing....) I was at work but Kerry took the kids to Rocko's Diner in Mission. It doubles as Pop's diner in the Riverdale series which is loosely based on the Archie comics. Dinner involved a trip to Kelly O'Bryan's which includes a free dinner on your birthday. We followed that up with a trip to snowy village where they provide overly elaborate frozen milk deserts. Callie had a good day with family and friends.

Summer Road Trip - Last Day at Disneyland

We were up early again but once again Melissa and crew were first in line. Their hotel is closer to the park then ours however it still takes a bit of effort to be the front of the line. By the time we got there they had already entered the park and were waiting by the ropes in California Adventure Land. This worked out very well for us as our goal was to get on the Radiator Springs Racers ride. It was the last of the big rides and one of only a few rides remaining in California Adventure Land for us to say we had ridden every ride at least once.

The only other ride that we had to focus on getting in line for was Toy Story. I don't consider this one of the big rides but it seems to be a fan favourite. It's similar to Buzz Light Year where you are shooting things to score points however it's much more fun as it's more like an interactive video game. You are presented a screen in pairs and you shoot things like plates and ducks as if you are on the mid way. The line up was manageable since it was so early and we got on with no problems. I had the high score for our car at 158,000. Nowhere near the high score for the ride that week of over 350,000.

We finished most of the outstanding rides and then headed over to Disneyland for the rest of the morning. We decided to take the train but we got distracted by a character for pictures and missed it by about 15 seconds. This means that technically it would have been faster to walk to New Orleans square but we were tired so we decided to wait the 10 minutes for the next train. I actually think they need to run this thing more often now that Galaxy's edge is in. The park is getting to be quite the walk from one end to the other.

Today was our last chance to get something in that Carter had been waiting patiently for. He wanted to build a droid however he wanted to make sure he did it with his cousin Kristen and this was the first chance we had to do that. It was initially going to be just the two of them but Ryan decided at the last minute that he wanted to. $99 per kid later and they were in the droid factory picking their parts. It's not a terrible price if it was Canadian but in US it's a bit steep even though the end result has a motor and a remote. At least this time the batteries are included.

We did our usual pool time in the afternoon and then headed back to California adventure for our last outstanding rides which included the Nemo submarines and another ride on Soarin over California. The submarine is actually quite ridiculous. You stand in line for a long time to get on a submarine and then you look out a tiny portal. I think you could get the same effect by climbing into a garbage can with an iPad and a video of the ride on YouTube.

We had seen the fireworks from various locations every night however tonight we managed to be right in the middle. There are fireworks coming from Toon Town as well as Fantasyland and we got to see them from in between. I think they are much better in the summer. This year there were various themes including Frozen and the Lion King. During frozen they had bubbles falling from the street lights to simulate snow. I was finished by about 10:30 but the kids and Kerry managed to stick around right til midnight. They made Space Mountain their last ride. Another fun trip.

Summer Road Trip - Kerry's Birthday

July 19th is Kerry's Birthday. July 18th is Melissa's birthday. July 17th is Disneyland's Birthday. It seems they were connected at birth which does not surprise me one bit. We were early to the park once again though this time Melissa had our back and was there early enough to be first in line. First in line is a hard thing to measure since there are about 50 gates to the park and even when they let you in you can only go so far before you get trapped by a rope. The goal is to ease everyone into the park instead of in a dangerous rush.

Our goal was the Millennium Falcon once again as we had really enjoyed this ride the first time around. This time I tried to capture all of the details that I missed previously. The ride starts by guiding you onto the ship through the same corridors that you see in the movies. They really want you to be immersed in the experience. Since only six of you go through this area at once it feels like you are about to crew the ship. We didn't do so well with our piloting this time. We'll have to do some research to figure out how to boost our score.

This is a fun time of year to see ducks at Disneyland. Most of the duck families have ducklings and they don't appear scared of the crowds at all. You see them crossing the paths going after popcorn all over the place. There are plenty of waterways to swim in and natural areas to have their nests. I imagine Disneyland has to do something about the population periodically. I might have to ask some questions the next time I have duck at one of their fancier restaurants.

We booked a time to visit the Cantina in Galaxy's age but had some time to kill so we headed over to Fronteirland for a few rides. While we were there we noticed a famous pirate by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow so we stopped for pictures. He did a good job of being in character. He seemed surprised that we wanted to get our picture with him and he made no effort to stand near you. You had to move towards him. He was quite crazy.

We made it back for our scheduled visit at the Cantina. It looks just like the bar from the original Star Wars series. There are only drinks to purchase and it's very crowded so you have to book a time to go. Once it's your turn they bring you into the bar to find a place to stand and you have to force your way up to the bar to place your order. There are both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and they are not your normal drinks. Callie had some sort of blue milk and it was not sweet like you would expect for Disneyland.

I had the Fuzzy Tauntaun. I should have done some research. It is a peach drink so I assumed it was just a fuzzy peach but it came with something called buzz foam. It's made a natural pain killer from the Szechuan flower and it makes your lips go numb. For me it also did a number on my taste buds and by the time I was finished it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I wandered back to the hotel after that. We did get a warning from the bar tender but I don't think I took it seriously enough.

We spent the afternoon in the hotel and then went back to the park for a special event planned by Melissa. She had called ahead and found out that Flynn Ryder from Rapunzel was going to be at the park. Flynn is one of Kerry's favorite characters. I didn't realize until she did this that the characters are on a set schedule that you can ask about so if you have a particular character you want to see you can find out where they will be and when. Now most people that were there in advance were there to see Rapunzel so it was rather awkward when it was time for Kerry, Callie and Melissa to get their picture taken. Rapunzel was trying to position herself so that everyone could be around her with Flynn nearby. It was comical to see Melissa guiding her away and ultimately arranging for her to leave the shot altogether. Flynn was quite excited to realize that someone was there for pictures with just him.

We didn't have anything booked for Dinner however Kerry had seen a burger place in Downtown Disney that she wanted to try. They were incredibly efficient. You ordered and paid for your food in advance before getting in line for a table. Once you were sat your food showed up almost immediately. Beyond burgers, the other reason for going here was the rather impressive milkshakes. We ordered one for every two people because they were quite extravagant. The cake version had a full piece of cake on top.

We finished our day in California Adventure. Although the mornings have been quite free, things get busy in the evenings. We mostly wandered around as the big rides all had wait times beyond what we wanted to wait for. Callie and Carter were not super excited that it was only the smaller kid rides like the Carousel that had manageable wait times. One thing we've noticed this visit is that the fast passes seem to be used up quite early in the evening. Only one more day until our stay at Disneyland comes to an end.

Summer Road Trip - Melissa's Birthday

Thursday started an hour earlier for us. When you buy a five day pass, Disney allows you to come earlier on one of a select number of days. This meant we were at breakfast for 6:30 am sharp and at the park by 7:00 am. "Magic Mornings" as they call them are good because there are a lot fewer people in the park which allowed us to quickly knock off a few of the big rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn as well as some of the hard to get on rides like all the rides in Fantasyland. Fantasyland is typically full of strollers and babies.

Thursday was also Kerry's best friend Melissa's birthday. Kerry had spent the day before getting things ready which included arranging for lunch, getting birthday pins from City Hall and having hats specially made. Kerry's birthday is the following day so the plan was to wear the birthday hats on both days. Disney staff are always very good at wishing happy birthday when you wear a pin or a hat. We even got happy birthday wishes from staff walking to the parking lot.

We had lunch at Cafe Orleans in the park. We had thought about going to the Blue Bayou which is a very nice sit down restaurant on the edge of one of the water rides however we decided the menu was too nice for our (me and the kids) simple pallets. The menu at Cafe Orleans was a bit posh as well but I took a chance on the Three Cheese Monte Cristo. It's essentially cheese deep fried in the same batter they use to make Beignets. It came with a blueberry jam dip and was covered in powdered sugar. It also came with grapes so I think that makes it healthy.

The rest of our day was spent in Disneyland with one of the highlights being pictures with some of the Pooh Bear characters. Pooh wasn't there so we'll have to go back but we did see Tigger and Eeyore. Eeyore borrowed Carter's Groot and tried to put it on his shoulder like Callie. He was somewhat successful. I always enjoy Carter's face in the character pictures. Pure joy. Only two more days to go with lots more to pack in.

Summer Road Trip - Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

Our second day in Disneyland took us to a different planet. One of the reasons we decided to go to Disneyland this year was that the new Star Wars Galaxy's Edge was opening. We realize it may sound crazy to try to visit when a new attraction is opening and I completely agree however we seem to have lucked out. Crowds have been small, ride lines have been short and we had no trouble getting into Galaxy's Edge on our first attempt. We made it into the park and onto the only ride in under 30 minutes.

The path to the new area takes you through Frontier Land and the transition from forest and rocks to a completely different planet is slow and subtle. I will admit I heard the phrase "Please stop running sir!" more than once, however in my defense this was because I kept stopping to take pictures and then had to run to catch up to the rest of the family. We knew we were in the right place when we saw Chewbacca standing on a hill welcoming us. The funniest phrase I heard from a cast member was "please slow down everyone. This is our least favorite part of the day."

There is surprisingly only a single ride open in the entire 12 acres of new park. There are plans for a second ride and I suspect they will add others in the future as there is plenty of  space. I'm sure it's on purpose because they always want to have a new reason for you to come back and visit. The line up for us was quick and as per usual Disney line-ups are an experience in themselves. There were droids, ships and plenty of bits of foreign technology along the way to keep you interested. You could even sit at the table where Chewy plays chess.

The ride itself was amazing. Not only does it really feel like you are walking through the hallways of the Millennium Falcon but the ride itself is interactive. You are one of six crew members, each with a specific role including Pilot, Gunner and Engineer. During the ride you have specific tasks to perform. I didn't realize until almost the end but as gunner you are actually firing a weapon on the screen and your actions as pilot have consequences as well. Each button click resulted in a laser fire on screen. Quite realistic. (For a spaceship firing at aliens anyways.)

Disney isn't content with just realism on the rides anymore. This time they took their magic to the restrooms themselves. Restrooms are typically subtlety placed and Galaxy's edge is no exception however this time the insides stayed in theme. The doors were rusted metal and they had painted all the equipment a utility black including the soap dispensers and hand dryers. I think they frown on people taking pictures in restrooms so you'll just have to take my word for it or go yourself.

The last part of the experience is of course shopping. Because you can't just have one ride in 12 acres. You have to have plenty of shopping as well. There was a whole promenade of shops to choose from with themed bottles of coke, stuffed animals and lot's of other memorabilia to choose from. There was an entire shop dedicated to just cute animals from the newest Star Wars movies. We avoided buying anything, however I may go back to get something small that says Galaxy's Edge 2019 on it, since we are here the first year.

When we were done with Galaxy's edge we spent a bit more time in the park before heading back to the hotel. After a nap and a swim we were back at the park to meet up with Melissa, Josh and her mom. They had just arrived today and our first ride attempt was the new Guardian's of the Galaxy. It's a drop ride which I hate so I sat this one out. We managed to get pictures with Groot after they were done. My favorite part was when he was yelling "I am Groot!" and gesturing at the bushes. I'm sure it was an amazing conversation.

The remainder of our evening was spent at on the California Adventure pier. The adventurous members of our group went on the Incredicoaster while Callie and I shopped for a new set of ears for her. She's decided she will get a new set with each visit. We also had dinner on the Pier. Callie and Kerry shared a bread bowl and I was once again disappointed that they don't have fish and chips on the pier anymore. I'm not sure how you can say it's the San Francisco pier without fish and chips. Even so, still an amazing day and looking forward to at least one more trip to Galaxy's Edge during our stay.