Tales of the Tocksteins

I Give Up

2011-04-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I'm not going to even pretend to update this page anymore. I will keep it around in case I have something to share, but since my last post was 4 months ago it seems unlikely that will be anytime soon. Surprisingly I still get quite a bit of traffic based on my Disney posts from a few years ago, so I'll keep the page open as long as Google allows me to. In the meantime you're better off looking for me on Facebook.

Until next time...whenever that may be...

Regards,

Jared

A Walk in the Park

2010-12-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

Some Christmas cheer at Largo Park in Clearwater, FL. Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree...

2010-12-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

This video is pretty self-explanatory. It's the Tocksteins putting up our Christmas tree. We've always favored the artificial variety. The time and money saved are worth more to us than the smell of fresh pine in our living room (or the leaky water basins, or the shedding of needles, or the potential fire hazards). We've had this particular tree for 11 years, and before that my folks had this tree since the mid-1980's. So this tree has been with me since I was around 11 years old. And this will be its final year of service. It's time to upgrade. The old girl still looks great, but we are creatively hiding her flaws more and more every year. 25 years is a nice stretch for an artificial tree (probably a good 15 or 20 years past her normal life expectancy). Tune in next year to see what the Tree of Christmas Future will be like...

A Day at Work

2010-12-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

The glamorous life of a TV producer is chronicled in this amazing piece of video!

Enjoy...and don't be jealous!

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, September 21, Hanna started preschool! She loved it! Below are some pictures of Hanna (and her GIANT backpack) as she embarks on this important journey. Enjoy!

Finding Nemo...and Slippers, and Princess, and Prince Charming...

2010-07-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Tocksteins have had an interesting history with fish. Pet fish, not the kind you enjoy with some lemon and cracked pepper. Before Terri and I were married, she got Neptune, a fantail goldfish. Neptune was built of strong stuff. He survived a move from Knoxville to Nashville, and then from Nashville to Clearwater. We got a larger aquarium once we arrived in Clearwater, and we added some friends to his tank. One of these new "friends" was a small crayfish who decided that he liked snapping off chunks of Neptune's tail with his claws. We didn't discover this abuse until it was too late, and the toilet claimed two fish that day...the poor, deceased Neptune and the bloodthirsty crayfish (who was very much alive when I flushed him...and I didn't feel bad about it at all). When we moved into our house, our aquarium had about 5 fish in it. Over the years their numbers dwindled (and we didn't replace them), until there was one: Jango. Good old Jango was a survivor. We eventually got rid of the big aquarium and got Jango a small, sleek one-bedroom studio that he had all to himself. He flourished for 5 years, but 2 weeks ago we lost him. I found him floating next to the filter, and with a trip to the bathroom I laid him to rest.

So last week Terri takes Hanna to Petsmart, which now ranks just below Disney World as Hanna's favorite place to go. She picked out three colorful fish, and Terri got a new fish tank as well. The new fish have been christened Slippers, Prince Charming, and Princess. In the video below Hanna gives us a tour. Enjoy...

Happy Anniversary

2010-05-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2010 marks the 12th wedding anniversary of Terri and myself.

It also marks the 2nd anniversary of the "Tales of the Tocksteins" blog. As I look back on this particular online journal, it certainly seems I have been more active at some times than others at keeping it updated, but it's still a nice alternative to the increasingly crowded (and more times than not irritating) Facebook.

That's it. Just a quick congratulatory post for my marriage and the blog. Keep checking back. There's always more to come...

It's a Disney Dad day...

2010-04-25T11:39:00.001-07:00

Haven't posted any videos in awhile, so I thought it was time for another one (or two). This was a Dad/Hanna trip to Disney a few weeks ago. They aren't embedded here because the YouTube versions look better.

Please enjoy.

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCKIA6K7S5A

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bUDkFWMYBQ

Goodbye Stink!

2010-04-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

The date of this writing, Sunday April 25, 2010, is the day we finally got rid of the dreaded Diaper Genie.
The Genie has served us well, starting on the day that Hanna was brought home from the hospital. Within it have been stored the most heinous, putrid atrocities ever produced by a toddler. But with potty training now down to a science (knock on wood), we really have no use for it. I haven't purchased Pull-Ups for the past 3 weeks, so the only thing it was doing was sitting there empty.
Farewell, Diaper Genie. Thank you for the odor protection these past few years. May Hanna never require your services again!

(The Diaper Genie is the one without fur...although Wallace has been known to produce some odor of his own...)

The New Palace

2010-04-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend Hanna's room was transformed into a pink wonderland of girliness.

Terri is fortunate enough to be friends with Leah, one of the set designers at HSN. Free of charge, Leah helped Terri turn Hanna's room into a place where Hanna actually wants to spend time! A few months back Leah actually drew up plans on how the room would be decorated. Terri took a portion of our tax refund and bought new wall art, paint, furniture, and other various bits of decor. Over the weekend of April 10, the construction walls went up and the work began. Here are the results...

The door remained unchanged. We put her name on the door before Hanna was born, so we decided to leave it.
In one corner of the room is the new reading nook, or as Hanna calls it, her "castle". And yes, that is a TV in the room, although it is only connected to a DVD player so the content of anything on the TV is totally under parental control.
On another wall is her "Wall of Fame", which includes pictures of friends and family. It's still a work in progress.
The "chandelier" was a stroke of genius by Leah. It's actually the lampshade to a lamp fitted over the light fixture in the ceiling. It's one of Hanna's favorite additions.

The closet, now divided by curtains. For the first time, this is a neat and organized space!

Another place to read.
A brand new toy kitchen where many imaginary meals will be prepared.

This little display is just above the bed. Leah and Terri painted the stripes on the wall. The sign reads "The Princess Sleeps Here".

The Princess lounging in her new palace...

End of an Era

2010-02-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Two months with no blog! I can only imagine the anticipation that my audience of three readers has been going through! Well, I'm going to try and do better. I promise.

With today's entry, we mark the passing of an era. For the past three years, Hanna's primary mode of out-of-the-car transportation has been her Evenflo stroller, Model 31937. It could be best described as the Honda Civic of strollers. The Civic is a reliable, not unattractive vehicle that gets the job done (we own one). The Evenflo Model 31937 is much the same. No one is ever going to confuse a Civic for a Porsche, and the Evenflo 31937 is never going to be confused for one of those fancy $800 jogging strollers (or beach strollers as they are known in Florida).

We owned two of them, one for Terri's car and one for mine. One was a gift from my sister and one was a gift from some co-workers. Between the two strollers, we've probably got close to 17,000 miles on them (15K of those miles from Disney World alone). Initially, the strollers included the baby carrier/carseat attachment which we used from the day Hanna was born until she was 9 months old. After we got rid of the carrier attachment, Hanna enjoyed the roomy expanse of this reclining chariot! In addition to a smooth ride, these strollers have acted as high chairs, beds, and shelter from the Florida sun and rain. Time and use has taken a toll however. Fabric is tearing, the tires have little tread left, and there are more stains on these strollers than on Hanna's bib after a spaghetti dinner. Even the Salvation Army and Goodwill would turn their noses up at these!

Just today we bought a smaller, sleeker replacement that will take Hanna to the end of her stroller riding days. It's about 10 pounds lighter, and folds up to half the size of her former chariots. It will soon get its shakedown voyage when we visit Walt Disney World over President's Day Weekend.

Before the end, the venerable strollers have one last trip to make. This final voyage will take them to the end of my driveway, where they will come to rest next to our mailbox. If the past is any indication, within hours they will be scooped up by a passerby, where they will hopefully serve out the remainder of their days giving someone else the same reliable service they have given us.

Rest in peace, proud Hanna Chariots! Thanks for the memories...and the mileage!

Merry Christmas from the Magic Kingdom

2009-12-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a video from a recent evening trip to Disney. The lights on the castle are impressive, and there was just enough chill in the air (a nippy 48 degrees) to make it feel quite Christmas-like! Enjoy the video.

Star Wars in Concert

2009-10-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween, I give you a freak show! Well, more like a "geek show" actually. Star Wars in Concert at the Jacksonville Memorial Arena was a blast. What follows is a short video summary of the experience. Enjoy...

Anyway, as I was saying...

2009-10-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I should at least get one post up on the blog before October ends.

This is a very busy time for us here at the Tockstein home. On November 1 we will once again be loading up the Jetta and heading north for Tennessee. We'll spend a few days in Nashville, and a few days in Knoxville. My sister Julie, her husband Chuck, and their daughter Mila will be visiting Knoxville for 2 days of our visit. I'm very much looking forward to getting Mila and Hanna together. My Mom has already booked a photo shoot for both of them complete with matching outfits. Should be a hoot!

On October 29 I will be heading to Jacksonville with my buddies Matt and Mike for Star Wars in Concert. I'm very excited about this. A huge orchestra in a huge arena with a huge screen displaying scenes from my favorite series of movies. That's pretty much a Star Wars geek's dream come true. And I love that I have such an understanding wife who puts up with this nonsense on a daily basis, and even encourages it. Love you baby!

Hanna's potty training is...well...the training continues. Pee is no problem. Poop is another story. And so it goes...

And this week I had some troubling news from my doctor. I made an appointment to see if I could get rid of this cold that has been bugging me for the past month, and I left with a prescription for high blood pressure medication, asprin heart therapy, and a warning to get my butt on a treadmill YESTERDAY. Not fun, but rest assured I am taking this advice seriously.

And finally, my sister Julie and her husband Chuck lost a member of their family on October 27. Marley, their gentle, kind, and very sweet St. Bernard had to be put down. I only met Marley once, but she was the one of the sweetest...and largest...dogs I had ever met. This made me grab old Wallace and give him a bear hug and half of an ice cream sandwich. At 11 years old, he is no spring chicken, but thankfully he still keeps up with us.

Marley will be missed.

Expect more after the vacation. I promise to write more...which is to say at least twice a month.

Hanna's Video Diary: September 8, 2009

2009-09-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Another entry from our recent trip back to Walt Disney World. Please excuse the awkward close-ups of my face. When I am my own cameraman, the shots can get a little TOO close! Enjoy.

8 Years...

2009-09-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

On Friday, September 7, 2001 (exactly 8 years ago today as of this writing), Terri and I bid Nashville farewell and headed south to Clearwater, Florida. I accepted HSN's job offer in late July, so we had a little over a month to get the move planned. Terri worked out a transfer with her job at Lerner, NY. When we were in town for the interview with HSN, we did some apartment hunting and found a place that we liked. Fortunately when the job offer was made it was just a matter of a phone call to reserve the apartment. I remember how strange it felt sitting in our dining room in Nashville filling out the Change of Address forms on our bills with a Florida address. A little scary, but very exciting.

The next few weeks we proceeded to pack up our lives into boxes. We also threw a lot of stuff away. I am a pack-rat by nature (I have calendars from the 1990's for no good reason at all), so purging of stuff doesn't come naturally to me. Fortunately Terri has no such qualms about getting rid of junk. To this day she can fill 6 garbage bags full of clothes and send me off to Goodwill without batting an eye! So for the better part of two weeks we lived out of boxes. We finally got the moving truck two days before the move. My friends from work were kind enough to move all of our wordly possessions down a flight of stairs and into a brutally hot moving truck. They were paid with beer and pizza and I could never have done it without them.

The 15 foot moving truck wasn't big enough. We had an 800 square foot 1-bedroom apartment. It wasn't tiny, but it certainly wasn't a palatial spread. How could all that stuff not fit into a 15-foot truck? We ended up stuffing both of our cars full of stuff as well. We would be towing my Nissan Sentra on the moving truck and my folks would be following us down in our Honda Civic. Both cars were stuffed to capacity, leaving only enough room for our dog Wallace, my folks, and their luggage. The one thing we didn't have room for was our vacuum cleaner. It was the last thing to be packed because we needed to use it for one last sweep of our old apartment, and when the time came to pack it there was just no room. So my buddy Mike got a parting gift of a vacuum cleaner in addition to the beer and pizza.

My last shift at Shop at Home was the day before the move. It was bittersweet. I had worked with these guys for 4 years, and had grown quite close to them. Just minutes before I walked out the door, I was invited out onto the set of the Knife Collector's Show to say goodbye. In the following clip I am called "Bullet" as that was my nickname for much of my Shop at Home tenure. The guy next to me is Glen, who was also leaving to continue his career at HSN at the same time.

One big question we faced was what to do with our goldfish Neptune. I had bought Terri this goldfish before we got married, and she had taken care of him for 4 years. It seemed cruel to just flush him, but moving him seemed to be very problematic. We managed to rig up a system in the cab of the truck between the driver and passenger seats where we secured a box on top of a pillow and placed Neptune's fishbowl inside the box. It worked beautifully and Neptune survived the trip. (Unfortunately Neptune passed away in 2003).

Our last night in Nashville, me and Terri slept on an inflatable Coleman air mattress with only a clock radio and a flashlight in the room. The next day, September 7, my folks met up with us in the afternoon and we dropped their car off at the Nashville airport, where it would be waiting for them when the returned on Sunday evening.

On the way out of Autumnwood Apartments, I stopped at the office and handed in our keys. Then, at 4:00 PM Central Time, with my folks and our dog following in our Honda Civic, we headed south. We stopped for the night in Valdosta, Georgia and continued the trip the next day. The rest is history and stories for another time.

Strange to think that just a few days later, on my first day of work at my new job, the attacks of September 11 took place. That day holds different memories for everyone, but for me it was and remains a day of complete overload. New job, new city, new faces, and the world suddenly is turned upside down and you are 700 miles from all that is familiar to you. But me and Terri got through that together, and 8 years later have made a pretty good life for ourselves down here. New friends, new opportunities, new cars, new cat, new house, and most importantly a new daughter. Will we be here 8 years from now? Who knows, but whatever happens it won't ever be quite the same as that first huge step away from the familiar and into the unknown.

Happy Birthday Terri, part 2

2009-08-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over a week late, but suffice it to say that Terri's birthday was a happy one...mostly.

As we pulled into our parking space at the Magic Kingdom, I ask Terri to stow my iPod in the glove box. As she opened the glove box, there was a small, blue box with a white ribbon waiting for her. I usually wait for Christmas to give Tiffany's, but I figured I'd shake things up a bit this year. It wasn't a diamond or a platinum band or anything, but it was a silver ring with "I Love You" engraved on it. Simple and elegant and, it turns out, a HUGE hit!

We went to the will call window and got Terri's birthday present from Disney...an 80 dollar gift card. This year Disney is offering everyone free admission to the parks on their birthday, but Annual Passholders are given a gift card of equal value to an admission ticket. She also got a large pin that said "Happy Birthday Terri" on it, which she wore throughout the day and got more birthday wishes in one day than she will likely get for the rest of her life.

It turns out that I've created a bit of a theme park touring monster with my numerous "Dad and Hanna" trips to Disney. Hanna has a set routine that includes the following (in this exact order):

1. It's a Small World
2. Dumbo
3. Peter Pan
4. Go and meet Ariel, the Little Mermaid
5. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
6. The Carousel (sometimes)
7. The Walt Disney World Railroad

Any deviation of this plan will result in extremely bad behavior. This time she cried for the entire time on the carousel, as if those lovely horses were racing her to her doom. No idea why she did this. And don't even think about venturing outside Fantasyland. Terri wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion, but it became clear as we approached the menacing structure that Hanna was not having any part of the happy haunts that dwelled within. Nor was she going to be setting sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean. Amazingly, we did get her into the Hall of Presidents. I wanted to see the updated show with the Obama robot, and when Obama took the stage Hanna said "There's Donald Duck!" It was hilarious. I'm not sure why she said that, as Obama neither looks nor sounds like Donald Duck, but it provided a chuckle for us and those sitting around us.

We then headed to Epcot to grab lunch at the China pavilion at the Nine Dragons restaraunt. This almost didn't happen as Hanna decided it was going to be time for a complete meltdown just before we sat down to eat. After a trip to the bathroom with Terri, Hanna's attitude was put back into alignment, and we had a nice meal. For her birthday, Terri got a delicious piece of some kind of ginger cake and the serving staff wrote Terri a birthday note in Chinese script which was very neat.

After a walk around the World Showcase part of Epcot, we rode the Finding Nemo ride and decided to call it a day as it had started to rain a bit. Despite a few bumps it was a wonderful day with the family. I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, but amazingly I didn't think to take any! Next year perhaps...

Bye for now...

Happy Birthday Terri

2009-08-11T17:46:00.001-07:00

August 12th is my lovely bride's birthday. I am a gentleman so I will not reveal her age, but I will say that she was born the same year I was and I was born in 1975.

I bought her an ice cream cake and got her a George Foreman grill to replace the one she had (this was what she wanted -- just to be clear). Our old grill had nonstick coating flaking off in our food and always shot out a wicked spark every time I plugged it in. So the grill was not only a practical gift, but one that probably saved our lives. Yes, the days of gifting Victoria's Secret and Tiffany's have given way to electric grills. And she was thrilled to get the grill! We are well on our way to being an "old married couple". And that is just fine with us.

We celebrated with the cake and the gift the evening of the 11th since on the 12th we will be heading to Walt Dis....do I even need to type it out? This year as Annual Passholders we get a $75 gift card on our birthday. I claimed mine back in March, and Terri will do the same. Of course $75 at Disney World will get you a t-shirt and a hot dog if you're lucky. But I'm sure we'll have fun. We'll be lunching at Nine Dragons at the China pavilion, which is Terri's favorite place to eat at Epcot.

The saga continues tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Hanna's Video Diary, July 13, 2009

2009-07-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

In what I hope will be a new series of videos, I present the first episode of "Hanna's Video Diary". The plan is to post these short videos every so often just because I need some blog material to keep my audience of 5 people satisfied. So enjoy and tell me what you think!

We begin with our trip to Disney World on July 13. Yes, I know...big shock. Enjoy!

Mila Rae Brown

2009-07-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday, June 26, my sister Julie gave birth to Mila Rae Brown. She was 8 lb, 12 oz, and 21 inches long...(and her head was 14 inches in diameter!!!!)....that part she gets from her father no doubt.

I'm kidding. Sort of.

Proud Dad Chuck, his big head, and his daughter.

Chuck's father, Charlie, and his new granddaughter.

What a beauty!

Way to go Sister! I'm proud of you!

When Poop Bubbles Attack!

2009-06-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hanna has come up with what I consider to be the most descriptive and poetic name for gas I have ever heard: "Poop bubbles" (or its variant, "poo-poo bubbles").

Like her Daddy, Hanna doesn't care where or when she lets it go. At the store, in church, in the car...she will let 'em rip. And now it is always followed by the phrase "Uh-oh....poo-poo bubbles!" Terri always hangs her head to try to hide her smile as she chastizes Hanna for a natural function. I always follow up with "You tell 'em Hanna!"

I am a proud Poppa.

Lollipops have been known to cause explosive poo-poo bubbles....

R.I.P. Wayne Allwine

2009-05-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

You have probably never heard of voice actor Wayne Allwine. But there is absolutely no doubt you have heard his voice before. He was the voice of Mickey Mouse, and he passed away on May 19, 2009.

Since Mickey was created in 1928, he has only had three official voices: Walt Disney voiced Mickey from 1928 until the mid-1950's, with his final vocal performances as Mickey being in animated segments from the Mickey Mouse Club in 1955. Sound engineer Jimmy MacDonald voiced Mickey from the mid-1950's until the late 1970's. Wayne Allwine took over the character 32 years ago, and for people my age he was the Mickey we grew up with.

In the 1960's, Wayne started working for the Disney Studios in the mail room. He says he met Walt Disney only a few times before Walt passed away, never knowing that one day he would become the voice of Walt's most famous creation. Wayne learned the voice of Mickey from Jimmy MacDonald (then the current voice of Mickey), and Wayne took over from Jimmy in 1977 when Jimmy retired.

Wayne performed Mickey for literally thousands of projects. Between the TV shows and specials, movies, recordings for the theme parks, computer games, and toys, Wayne has performed Mickey more than Walt or Jimmy did combined...at least a dozen times over.

I hear Mr. Allwine's voice on a daily basis, as Hanna is a huge fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and I can't help but wonder how Mickey's voice will change now that Wayne is gone. Every voice of Mickey has been the same, but different, with each person bringing something unique to the character.

Another interesting fact that most people don't realize is that Wayne was married to voice actress Russi Taylor, who provides the voice for -- who else -- Minnie Mouse. Wayne passed away from diabetes complications with Russi by his side. He was only 62.

Still here after a year...

2009-05-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

I first started this blog on May 3, 2008, to commemorate our 10th wedding anniversary. I had no idea if I would keep posting or just let this page slip away to the dark and usused corners of the internet. Who would've thought I would still be keeping up with this blog after a year? Sure, I don't post daily (sometimes I don't even post monthly), but I try to keep it somewhat current. This will be my 33rd post in a year's time. I guess that averages out to around 2.5 posts a month.

I expect to post about our recent vacation soon. Please stay tuned.

Less than 24 hours...

2009-04-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

Interstate 75 North beckons.

If all goes to plan, at 5:00 AM on Sunday April 26 we will be heading out of the Sunshine State and on our way to Tennessee.

Unfortunately I have come down with something...it's slightly flu-like without the sore throat and stuffy head. Fever and body aches, but enough to make a trip less enjoyable. Perhaps one more night of Nyquil-induced slumber will get my body to a point where it won't be miserable driving 760 miles. Not to mention the fact that being in a car with me for hours and hours could be potentially hazardous to Hanna and Terri's health! Maybe I should look into some biohazard suits for the trip...

Perhaps I will post on vacation, or perhaps I won't. Regardless, I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories to tell when I return.

The Chariot

2009-04-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Tocksteins are not minvan people, although I can understand why many people with small children are. If we had more than one kid (and we don't...and won't...at least not until Hanna goes off to college), I could certainly understand the need for a larger vehicle.

The vehicle of choice for our upcoming road trip is my 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. I have a great fondness for this car as it was the first new car I ever drove off of a lot. I've had it for almost 4 years now, and it has a few scratches, dings, and dents, but that just adds character. I still vacuum it out and Armor All the dash at least once a month, and I have done a reasonably good job of keeping up with all of the maintenance on it. I've also recently integrated my iPod into the stereo, so I now have access to 13,000 of my favorite songs at the touch of a button. For the upcoming trip I am going to rig up our personal DVD player to the back of the driver's seat so Hanna can watch her favorite DVDs on the road.

The Jetta has made the road trip to Tennessee only once before. While the road trips are long, there is something nice about having MY car with me when I'm out of town. In my experience I've found rental cars to be a mixed bag, and you seldom know exactly what you are going to get until you find a small 2-door hatchback waiting for you at the airport with barely enough room in it for your carseat and luggage.

I remember telling my Dad I was going to get a Volkswagen, and the only thing he could think of was my last VW, which was a 1986 VW Golf that looked (and smelled) as though it had been pulled out of a junkyard. It was a constant struggle to keep it running (thanks to Herb Piercy for the generous donation of his time and expertise), but that car had CHARACTER! The horn sounded like a T-Rex from "Jurassic Park" and there was always some kind of fungus growing in the seat cushions. I had that car between the years of 1994 and 1996, and I still remember it fondly. (Maybe I should blog about all the cars I've had...that might be an interesting post).

My Jetta doesn't smell gross, and there isn't any fungus growing in the seats as far as I can tell, but it still has character, and it somehow fits me. I'm looking forward to putting a few more miles on her in just over a week.

Till next time, here is the greatest travel song ever....

762 miles of fun!

2009-04-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start the blog up again after taking about 6 weeks off. I'm sure the 3 people who read this blog will be greatly relieved that I have returned!

In just a few weeks from now, on April 26, Terri, Hanna, and I will be heading north to Tennessee. Since we've had Hanna, this trip has always been accomplished by a 90 minute plane ride to Nashville or Knoxville. But since we now have to pay for a plane ticket for Hanna, we were looking at upwards of 500 to 600 bucks for a trip. Since gas is still relatively cheap, we decided it would be much more cost-effective to drive.

I have never been in a car with a 2-year old for upwards of 12 hours, and I'm not sure how that is going to work. Hanna has made a car trip from Illinois to Knoxville (roughly 8 hours) without major incident, so hopefully that is a good sign.

The northbound drive on Interstate 75 through Florida and Georgia isn't exactly scenic. There is little to break up the monotony except billboards for "Cafe Risque" (WE BARE ALL!!!) and the occasional rest stop offering free orange juice (in Florida) or pecans (in Georgia). The drive through downtown Atlanta is always an adventure, especially in rush hour. We are driving on a Sunday so hopefully that won't be an issue, but it always seems like there is a wreck on that particular stretch of road. The scenery begins in north Georgia and Chattanooga, when the mountains start to creep over the horizon. The drive from Chattanooga to Nashville is quick but relatively dull, with more fireworks stores and gas stations than I could ever count.

Our first stop will be Terri's folks in Portland, TN, which is about an hour north of Nashville. After spending a few days with them, mid-week we will head over to Knoxville to spend the rest of the time with my folks.

We'll have the iPods charged, the portable DVD player ready to go, the oil changed, the tires brought up to pressure, and enough pillows and blankets in the car to dress a king sized bed (because Terri plans to sleep for approximately 10 hours of the trip).

Look for more updates soon as we prepare for our first big road trip in about three years!

DIY Home Theater, part 2

2009-02-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

The home theater isn't quite finished, but it's close. I need to buy a ceiling mount for my projector. I had planned on setting it on a shelf at the back of the room, but that isn't going to work. Currently I have the projector on a very low shelf at the back of the room. Because of this I've had to move the couch to the side of the room (and as you will see in the video it is very easy to cast shadows on the screen!)

However enough of the components are in place that we can watch movies in there now. In the following short video clip I show the size of the screen. I stand in front of the screen so you get some sense of scale, but it may be hard to see in this dark and grainy video.

Needless to say, I am really enjoying it. I am going to find it difficult to drive to the movies now with such a large screen in our home!

Until next time...

Scenes from a Mall

2009-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

This morning I had to have a flat tired patched at the Sears Auto Center. Rather than sit in the waiting room I decided to venture out into the adjoining mall.

The mall -- any mall -- is an interesting place before 10:00 AM. Most of the stores still have the steel security gates in place. The food court is dark and empty. The small kiosks which sell sunglasses or perfume are covered with large tarps. And of course there are the Mall Walkers.

The Mall Walkers are an interesting bunch. It is a universal law that no Mall Walker is under 70 years old. They are almost always female, and those who bring their husbands leave them to their newspaper and coffee at one of the many "resting spots" in the mall, which usually consist of leather recliners or comfortable couches. In most cases, these abandoned husbands end up falling asleep.

Countryside Mall, the mall closest to my house, has a large ice skating rink between Dillard's and Macy's. It was at the ice skating rink that I witnessed the scene which inspired me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and share this.

In the middle of the ice-skating rink was a group of about twenty ladies, all of them senior citizens, who were waving around hula-hoops with streamers attached to them, going through some kind of synchronized dance routine to the songs "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Light My Fire" by the Doors. These two songs played repeatedly for about 15 minutes. I just sat there with my coffee and watched with a mixture of shock and amusement. Where else would I see this but at a mall on a Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM?

I took a very grainy shot with my camera phone, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet I can share this lovely story with all of you.

The Cousins invade Orlando!

2009-01-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

There are going to be many first, second, and even third cousins in this story, so get out your scorecards and try to keep up...

My FIRST cousin (my Mom's brother's daughter) Amy lives in Illinois with her husband Corey, and their kids Jacob, Dylan, and Riley. Which would make Jacob, Dylan, and Riley my SECOND cousins, and would make Hanna Amy's SECOND cousin. Which would of course make Hanna and Amy's kids THIRD cousins. Got that?

Amy, Corey, and their kids have been in Orlando all week and staying at Port Orleans Riverside at the Walt Disney World Resort. Amy's kids are the perfect age for a Disney trip. Jacob is 9, Dylan is 7, and Riley is 5. This past Wednesday I had the day off and was given Terri's blessing to travel to Disney World without her. It would just be a Daddy and Hanna trip. I must admit I was a bit concerned at first. Hanna is a handful when both of us take her to Disney. What would it be like with just me? Fortunately it turned out to be a great trip. Hanna and her cousins played around all day long, and Hanna slept all the way back to Clearwater. Here is a short video of our day for your amusement.

(I sometimes do voiceovers in what I call my "1940's Announcer Guy Voice" which Terri hates but for some reason I can't stop myself from doing once the camera is rolling. Enjoy!)

DIY Home Theater, part 1

2009-01-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

When we bought our house in 2003, there was one thing that pushed it over the top for me. Terri liked the tile floors, the open floor plan, the kitchen, and the bedrooms. All of that is fine. But what sold me was the extra room that sits just off the dining room. It was called a "Florida Room" in the listing, although some would call it a "sunroom". People not living in Florida would simply call it an extra room. It was formerly a garage, converted into living space by the previous occupants. It was long and narrow and perfect for my ultimate evil plans! A Home Theater!

This was something I had been thinking about ever since my family lived in West Virginia way back in 1990. A room totally devoted to watching television and movies. I believe such a room used to be called a "den". But during the 1990's people were taking the traditional den to new levels with big screen TVs, surround sound systems, and even theater seats installed in their homes!

Sometimes these strange rooms are called "Man Caves", but mine has been dubbed "The Batcave" or "The Hatch" by my friends. I am also very aware that a fascination with home theater is limited to males only (as Terri is so fond of reminding me). Apparently digital surround sound and a high definition picture means very little to members of the opposite sex. That being said, Terri has been very supportive of my new project (which means she says "I don't care what you do in there, I just don't want it spilling out into the rest of the house.")

This room previously held a 65-inch big screen television. I sold it a few weeks ago on Craig's List and used the funds to purchase a 120-inch screen. I will be getting a video projector in a few weeks, which will truly be like having a movie theater in our house.

I'm using this as an online journal of my progress. It will probably be less than 3 or 4 entries as converting this room into a darkened theater requires surprisingly little effort. Here are some pics.

This is very early in the process. Note the tools and junk still scattered about. The screen is already hung up, as you can see above the long window. My buddy Matt and I had quite a time hanging that sucker. We are about the least handy handymen the world has ever seen. Anyway, when the screen is pulled down it will cover the window and effectively darken the room.

Of course, movie-themed art is essential for any home theater. As you can see, all six Star Wars posters hang proudly in the room above the DVD and Blu-ray collection.

The ceiling fan may soon be removed, as it might cast an ugly shadow on the screen once the projector is installed.

My new component rack at the rear of the room, on which sits my reciever, cable box, and Playstation 3 (which will double as my DVD and Blu-ray player).

And finally, the screen in it's lowered position. Note Hanna in the foreground for a size comparison. Now I just have to wait for the tax return so I can get a projector to put an image on it!

More to come...

He's making a list...

2008-12-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

The annual right of passage for all little kids who celebrate Christmas is the visit with Santa. Whether it be at the mall, church, department store, or -- as was the case with our favorite Santa -- in a Santa Village in a small little house surrounded by plastic reindeer. This setup was cool because Santa was inside the house and you couldn't see him until you actually went inside, and then you had him all to yourself until one of his helpful elves had taken your Polaroid (remember those?) and shoved you and your parents out the door so the next kid could get his turn with the Big Guy. It was much nicer than the other Santas who were placed on an elevated throne in a mall with dozens of people watching you impatiently while you tried to remember what you needed to tell him. Remember Ralphie in "A Christmas Story"? Then you know exactly what I mean. Anyway, this Santa Village was off of Broadway in East Knoxville, and as I recall was in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store. It was a small A-frame structure that sat vacant for 11 months of the year, but from Thanksgiving until December 24 it was the home of Santa. And (according to my Mom) he was the "real" Santa. All the other "fake" Santas were his elves, who were "helping" Santa take all of the kid's Christmas requests. It's a pretty good cover story when you think about it. (The Beach Boys Christmas tune "Santa's Beard" also makes it clear that department store and mall Santas are just "helpers" for Kris Kringle).

I thought it was really cool that the "real" Santa had his office in my hometown of Knoxville, TN.

(After talking to my Mom about it and searching on Google Earth, it appears Santa's Knoxville headquarters has been replaced by a fast food restaurant).

Anyway, we have a perfectly good Santa (or "Santa Helper") at Countryside Mall, about 10 minutes from our house. He isn't one of those garish, obviously younger obese men wearing blush and a fake beard. He is an older gentleman with genuine facial hair and just enough of a paunch to qualify as "jolly".

We waited in line for about 20 minutes to see him. Hanna would wave and smile at him whenever she could see him, but as we approached I sensed things might take a turn for the worse. She started saying "No Zinta. No Zinta". (Zinta is Hanna-speak for Santa). But as we walked out onto the fake snow that surrounded the Big Guy, Hanna smiled and waved. She didn't seem too thrilled when Terri sat her down in his lap, but she played along...sort of. She didn't cry but she obviously wasn't really enjoying herself. They took a few pictures, and when it seemed things might be going south Terri stepped in and reassured Hanna that we weren't leaving her with a large, strange-looking man. I did my part by standing next to the camera and waving my arms around and making noises like a fool. As you can see by the picture, she still wasn't too amused.

They took a few more pics and it was time to go. She waved at good old Zinta, and then we went and paid 20 bucks for a few 3x5 inch photos. It was magical.

Just for comparison, look at the photos below and you will see the marked improvement over last year's Santa debacle. But in Hanna's defense, 2007 Santa does seem pretty creepy!

O Christmas Tree...

2008-11-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

Starting about 4 years ago, Terri and I started the tradition of setting up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving evening. Nat King Cole's classic Christmas album plays on the stereo as I dig through a seldom-used closet and haul out the large wardrobe box which houses the pieces of our tree for 11 months of the year.

In December of 1999, my parents graciously donated their old Christmas tree to me and Terri. It is a 7 foot collection of metal and green plastic, but it is much more than that to me. My parents purchased this tree in the mid-1980's, and from the time I was 10 years old until I left home it was an important symbol of Christmastime in the Tockstein home. And I'm happy to say it remains a symbol of Christmas in another Tockstein home.

It's approaching the quarter-century mark in age, and more pieces seem to fall off every year. Fortunately, they are easy to hide, and when she's all dressed up with the ornaments and lights she looks as good as new. I know the time is coming, sooner or later, when we'll have to say goodbye to the old girl. I think she has a few more Christmases left in her.

Enjoy this short video of our 2008 Christmas tree assembly.

Hanna's Second Birthday, part 2

2008-11-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

Day 2: Hanna's Birthday!

Hanna's birthday began with the birthday girl sleeping in until an uncharacteristically late 8:30. My Dad and I went to a nearby Target on this morning to get some groceries for the next few days. When we returned Hanna was running around the house like a crazy person. We also opened a few presents, although the real birthday party wouldn't happen until the next day when her Aunt Julie arrived from Denver.

We had lunch reservations at the Wilderness Lodge that afternoon, so we headed over to Downtown Disney for a few hours before lunch to do some shopping for the birthday girl. She was scared out of her diaper by the dinosaurs at the new T-Rex restaraunt. Terri and her innocently posed next to the giant Tyrannosaur, and all of a sudden this huge robotic monstrosity comes to life and starts roaring and snapping it's jaws about 6 feet from Hanna and Terri. Hanna was not amused.

Then we drove over to the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. If you haven't seen it, Wilderness Lodge is a beautiful resort. It is set on Bay Lake just about 1 mile from the Magic Kingdom, but you truly feel as if you are in the wilderness when you walk around the grounds. My Dad and I gorged ourselves on all-you-can-eat barbeque ribs, while Mom and Terri both had sandwiches about the size of a car. Hanna had chicken nuggets, but of course the cake and ice cream at the end of the meal was all she cared about.

That afternoon my Dad and I went up to Sanford Airport, about 40 miles east of Orlando, to pick up a rental car for my folks since they would be flying out of Sanford in a few days. We ordered in pizza that night, and later my folks went to Orlando International to pick up my sister who had caught a late flight out of Denver. Mom, Dad, and Julie got back to the house around 12:30 that night. After visiting with my sis for about 30 minutes, I headed to bed. Our first day in the parks was coming next.

Hanna's Second Birthday, part 1

2008-11-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

We returned from our mini-vacation with my folks and sister just over 24 hours ago (as of this writing). Today we got back to the grind, and I find myself working through the phenomenon of post-vacation withdrawal.

We left our house on Wednesday, November 5, at around 2:30 in the afternoon. On the drive to the airport Hanna grabbed the only nap that she would have all day. We met my folks at the Clearwater Airport around 3:00. After a few minutes of hesitation, Hanna came around and fully enjoyed her Nana and Poppa's company.

The drive from Clearwater to Orlando was a bit cramped. Four adults and a carseat are just about all my Jetta can handle! Once we arrived we were very pleased with the vacation home. It was quite large, with 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, a massive living space and open kitchen and dining room, and a converted garage that held a pool table and an air hockey table. We had more than enough room to stretch out after the trip from Clearwater.

That night we drove down the road to a Perkins and had dinner. I can eat an omelet at any time of day! Then it was off to a local Publix to order a SpongeBob birthday cake. After our visit to Publix, we went over to the Polynesian Resort to watch the fireworks from the beach. It was the first time Hanna had ever seen a fireworks show, and she was enthralled...for about 5 minutes. Then the sand on the beach became much more interesting than dumb old fireworks. It was a full afternoon with only a 20 minute nap. Hanna did not put up a fight at bedtime!

Our first full day lies ahead of us. More coming soon!

Election Day 2008

2008-11-03T03:03:00.000-08:00

Election Day is upon us. Terri and I will be voting, and I hope you will be too.

Rather than talk about our current nominees, both of which hold ideals which offend my Libertarian sensibilities, I will simply share a video clip from the excellent miniseries "John Adams". It is beautiful and moving in its simplicity. If you have not yet seen this miniseries, or better yet read the book, you should. It will demonstrate how far we have come, and also how far we have yet to go as a nation to live up to the ideals laid out in our Constitution.

Tockstein Disney History, part 4

2008-11-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

JULY, 1992

In the four years since we had last been to Disney, much had happened. In 1989 we moved to West Virginia. In 1991 we moved back to Knoxville. My sister and I went to no less than 4 different schools during all the moving around. We got two great dogs, Captain and later his offspring Bugsy. I started working...first at Dairy Queen, then loading trucks at a textile mill, and finally found a steady gig at Krogers. And it was during this period of changes that I discovered what I wanted to do with my life: use a video camera to somehow make a living. In West Virginia I began to shoot silly short movies with my new friends Nate and Steve, and found that there was nothing I'd rather do. We would write these scripts, shoot the movie, and edit it, adding music and sound effects (without the aid of a computer)...all of this within a 5 or 6 hour period. There was nothing more gratifying than finally sitting down in front of the TV at the end of the day to watch the fruits of our labor. Things really picked up when we moved back to Knoxville, and my best friends Josh and Al got in on the act. When we weren't at our jobs or school, we were shooting movies in the basement of my house. Some of our classics include "Life Goes On", about a hitman hired by an alien robot, "The Adventures of the 35-Cent Boy", who was a kid rebuilt with bionic parts that cost -- you guessed it -- 35 cents. And of course there was the "Trip to the Mailbox" series, which ususally involved a crazy Post Office employee trying to wreak havoc on unsuspecting citizens. We were also fond of making our own versions of famous movies, and some of our most elaborate productions were Indiana Jones and Psycho knock-offs. Josh, Al, and I were actually given an award by a local film production company for Best Amateur Short in 1994...but I am getting ahead of myself. Where was I? Oh yes, Disney...

This trip was important to me for two reasons: the Disney/MGM Studios and Universal Studios Florida. These two parks had opened in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Of course, Universal Studios is not a Disney park, but for the purposes of this entry I'm lumping it in with the rest of the parks.

For this trip we were staying for a week, this time at the Caribbean Beach Resort, one of the newer Disney-owned resorts at that time. It was, and is, a nice place to stay, and I have returned to it several times since. This time it was just my sister, me, and my folks. My cousin Amy did not make the trip.

The first park we visited was one we had not yet been to: Disney/MGM Studios. I remember walking up to the gate and hearing loud symphonic movie music being played and became hypnotized by this place. The look of the park is great. The entrance is modeled after 1930's Hollywood, and really does a great job of putting you in that time and place. The first ride we went on was The Great Movie Ride, which was located inside a replica of the famous Mann's Chinese Theater. It was a ride through famous movie scenes, with the movie sets replicated at full scale and populated by Disney's trademark animatronic figures. I loved it, especially the movie montage at the end of the ride, showcasing great moments from movie history. For the budding film geek like myself, it was quite a treat.

Then of course there was Star Tours, a ride based on Star Wars. It was so completely immersive, from the Ewok Village and Imperial Walker outside, to the spaceport inside where they actually gave announcements in Huttese (Jabba's language)! My geek brain was in overload. I was re-experiencing this complete immersion into an environment in a way I had not since I first visited the Magic Kingdom 11 years before. To feel like that at age 6 isn't that tough, but to make a 17-year old high school student feel that way...well, that is saying something.

Also at MGM Studios was the Indiana Jones stunt show, and I was picked to be an extra in the show. I remember being taken backstage and put into a costume and loving every second of it. I remember seeing all of the techs backstage and the directors wrangling people...I was in awe. And it further cemented in my brain that I had to do something like this for a living.

Anyway, that was just the first day! Stay tuned.

A Boy and His Frog

2008-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from Disney here for a moment, but those posts will be back in force within the next 48 hours -- I promise.

I think I'll tug on the heartstrings a bit with this entry. I love the Muppets. And any child of my generation who says they didn't love the Muppets, well, they are either crazy or they are lying. I think my recent rediscovery of Sesame Street with Hanna has kind of awakened that part of me again. I've been listening to old Muppet soundtracks in my car lately and spending a lot of time on various Muppet websites. While browsing, I came upon a very moving tribute to Jim Henson, who as everyone knows is the creator of the Muppets and who tragically passed away in 1990. By all accounts, Henson was a very decent person, kind and down-to-earth, despite his great fame. The entertainment he created with his Muppeteers was wholesome and imaginative and could appeal to both kids and adults. Such a thing is rare these days, and I am introducing my daughter Hanna to the Muppets that I knew as a kid. I hope that all of my friends who have recently had kids will do the same. SpongeBob is great, but he's no Kermit.

This song was written by Tom Smith. He isn't a Muppeteer and he didn't work for Henson, he's just a fan who appreciated what Henson created. This is a song sung by Kermit (as performed by Smith), mourning the loss of his "Dad", Jim Henson. What follows are the lyrics, with a video at the bottom of the page. Get the Kleenex! Enjoy....

Life is unfair, so they tell me,

Because they think I wouldn't know.

They only can see a cheap gimmick

On their children's favorite show.

They say, "Oh, that's just foam and a wire,

Attached to a green velvet sleeve,Anyone can do that" -- well, that's true, I suppose,

But who else could make them believe?
What can I say without you there to guide me?

How else am I supposed to give?

How can I sing without you there beside me?

How else am I supposed to live?

You could never just do the expected,

I was just an idea in a bog,

But you sewed up your dream and we made quite a team,

Jim and Kermit, a boy and his frog.

It was me, Rolph, and you, but I think that he knew

There was something that you and I had.

The magic we made just kept growing,

And none of it ever was bad.

Then came Ernie and Scooter and Gonzo,

Doctor Teeth, Cookie Monster, and more.

But now all of those voices are silent,And I want to go on... but what for?

No one can make me what you did,

No one could walk in your shoes,

Nothing can make me forget you,

But that's not a thing that I'd choose.

I can't just let it be over,

And you wouldn't want it that way,

So I'll stand up and I'll face it,

And, though not quite in your voice, I'll say:
I will go on without you there to guide me,

There's so much more I can give.

Whenever I sing, you will be there beside me,

As long as I keep you, you'll live.
We just wanted to make people happy,

I was always much more than your toy.

I will never regret and I'll never forget

What we had,I'll miss you, Dad,

This frog and his boy.

Tockstein Disney History, part 3.5

2008-10-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Our first taste of Disney on this trip actually began in Ocala, Florida, which is about 90 miles north of Orlando. Disney operated a Disney Welcome Center in Ocala along Interstate 75, giving road travelers their first taste of the Disney parks a few hours before they actually arrived in Orlando. I remember feeling that we were getting very close, and the excitement was building.

We again stayed at the Polynesian Village Resort. We didn't have a lakeview room this time, but that really didn't matter to me. It was still a great place to stay. On our first night we went to the lagoon to watch the Electrical Water Parade and catch the fireworks.

Strangely, my memories of this trip aren't quite as sharp as those of our first two. Maybe the video camera captured it so I wouldn't have to remember? However, I do remember my first ride on Space Mountain...

And it was on this trip that I purchased a blue Mickey Mouse cap that would seldom leave my head for the better part of a year. I still have this cap, stored away in a box in the very room that I'm typing this.

One day we traveled over to the Kennedy Space Center. That place fascinated me. This was 1988, two years after the Challenger disaster, so it was a period where NASA was not flying shuttles. It was still an interesting place, and I enjoyed the tour very much. Now, as a resident of Florida, I keep telling myself that I need to get over there to see a shuttle launch before they stop the shuttle program in 2010.

After a week at Disney, we would head across the state to Madiera Beach in the Tampa Bay area. On the drive from Orlando we got into a fender-bender which caused us some delay in getting to our condo, but no one was hurt and our vacation continued. This second week we went to Busch Gardens (didn't compare to Disney in my opinion) and spent a relaxing week on the beach. Who could have guessed that 13 years later I would move here?

We return to Orlando in 1992 with two new parks to explore: the Disney/MGM Studios and Universal Studios. Stay tuned!

Tockstein Disney History, part 3

2008-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

JULY, 1988

This is probably the longest family vacation I can remember. Two weeks of Florida-bound road trip fun! Our first week was going to be spent at Walt Disney World, and for our second week we were heading to Tampa Bay for 6 days in a beach-front condo. For the purposes of consistency, I will focus mainly on the Disney portion of our trip.

On this trip we were plus one. My cousin Amy from Illinois was staying with us for the summer. She was exactly between my sister and I in age -- she was one year younger than me and one year older than my sister. Of course her and my sister were inseperable, and caused me massive hardship for the length of Amy's visit. But looking back, maybe I deserved it.

As you read this, you may notice several video clips peppered throughout the blog. This was the first time we took a video camera on vacation. As I have mentioned before, my Dad had an old 8 millimeter film camera on our first trip, but it didn't record sound and you couldn't play it back in your VCR. It's funny to think that the video camera we were using on this trip was the size of a small suitcase and required it's own backpack to carry it around. Interestingly enough, my current video camera is smaller than a soda can.

This was also our first vacation with our new chariot, the Dodge Ram Conversion Van. It was completely awesome. It had a TV, VCR, great stereo, 4 reclining captain's chairs, a couch which folded down to a bed...it was interstate luxury! Here is a brief look at the Queen Mary of the roadways...

I was 13 at the time of this trip. And what an obnoxious and awkward specimen I was! The video camera was a new toy to me, and I felt the need to record everything. And yes, I mean EVERYTHING. I'm sure my family was prepared to leave me at a rest stop along Interstate 75. Listening to myself on these tapes is horrifying. You have been warned. Here is a sample:

So just imagine two weeks of that. Two weeks with a 13-year old kid with a camcorder in your face all the time. And that accent! Good grief!

We split the drive from Knoxville to Orlando into two parts. We drove from Knoxville to around Valdosta, Georgia in the first leg of the trip, with a stop in Macon, Georgia to get some Cracker Barrel for dinner. We finished the drive the following day. Here is a brief montage:

So, we made it to Florida and I haven't even started the Disney portion of the story yet. I think I'll go ahead and post this, and we'll continue with this particular trip report very soon. I need a break from my 13-year old self right now!

Tockstein Disney History, part 2

2008-10-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

JANUARY 1985 In January of 1985 my Dad once again had business in Orlando, which meant that after 4 years the Tocksteins were heading back to Walt Disney World. During our first trip in 1981, we stayed at a hotel that was on Disney property, but was not a Disney owned and operated resort. That particular hotel is located in what is now known as the Downtown Disney area. For this trip, we stayed at the beautiful Polynesian Village Resort, just a monorail ride away from the Magic Kingdom. We had one of those rooms that you usually only see in Disney World commercials. We had a balcony that overlooked the Seven Seas Lagoon, with a perfect view of the Castle across the lake. We watched the fireworks from our hotel room! Disney also put on a nightly water parade out in the lagoon with a bunch of illuminated floats, all set to music. I have a vivid memory of sitting in our room on the first night and hearing the water parade starting and no one in my family knowing what the heck was going on. But it was really cool to see all of this from our balcony. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and looking out the window to see if they kept the Castle lit up all night long. They did.

This trip is more of a blur for me, but I do remember this was the first time I went on a roller coaster...Big Thunder Mountain. It was amazing! My favorite part was zipping under the dinosaur bones that are sticking out of the side of the mountain. I didn't yet have the courage to conquer Space Mountain. That would happen on our next trip.

This was the first year we visited when EPCOT Center was open. EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and it opened in 1982. I actually recall seeing EPCOT under construction during our first trip in 1981. EPCOT is the scene of what is probably one of my most vivid, and disturbing, memories ever...

We got in line for Spaceship Earth, which is the large geodesic sphere that is the symbol of EPCOT. You know...the big golf ball. There is a ride inside Spaceship Earth that takes you on a tour of the history of human communication. As my Dad was fond of saying, "It's slow, dark, and air-conditioned." We had almost made it on the ride, when up in front of us came a terrible scream. "My foot!" yelled a woman. "My FOOOOT!" Somehow, this woman had gotten her foot caught underneath the ride vehicles on the track. I can only imagine the damage that it caused. My Mom told me and my sister to look at the ground, but the sounds of that woman screaming is something I will never forget. Paramedics were on the scene quickly, and the ride was shut down. As I recall, we rode Spaceship Earth later that day without incident. To this day, I will sometimes call my sister on my cell phone while waiting in line for the ride and we will recall the terrible story of Spaceship Earth and "the foot". We never found out what happened to that woman.

EPCOT also holds more pleasant memories for me, chief among them was Figment, the purple dragon who was the mascot of the Imagination Pavilion, which was a great ride that was a journey through the world of imagination. I really liked Figment. I bought a Figment cap that I still own to this day, and a Figment stuffed animal, which my Mom has now given to her granddaughter. Although the original Figment ride has changed somewhat since then, my daughter Hanna loves Figment. She has several plush Figment dolls and a Figment pin in her very small (but growing) Disney pin collection.

Another aspect of this trip that was great was that my folks pulled me and my sister out of school for a week. I have memories of doing homework assignments just before going out to watch fireworks. The ironic thing is that school up in Knoxville was snowed out almost that entire week, so I was a week ahead of everyone else when I got back from Disney World!

This was a great trip, even with the nightmare of "the foot". It was my first exposure to EPCOT and the incredible Polynesian resort. It would only be three short years until we returned, and this time we brought along a video camera! See you soon.

Me in front of the Fountain of Nations at EPCOT Center.

"To all the parents who remember..."

2008-10-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

"To all the parents who remember, and all the kids who are just finding out."

I'm on a Disney kick right now. My folks and my sister are coming to Orlando in a few weeks, and it will be the first time since 1996 that we've all been at the Magic Kingdom together. And it makes it even more special now with Terri and Hanna as a part of that group. Three generations of Tocksteins, and we all share a history with Disney World.

This is my favorite Disney commercial. I think it encapsulates everything I like about Disney. It really plays on that generational thing, that the parents brought their children, and now the children's kids are starting to relive that, and they get to do it through their grandparents and parent's eyes. I really like it. Look for more "Disney Memories" posts in the coming days! Enjoy....

Tockstein Disney History, part 1

2008-10-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Since I've been told I don't blog enough (thanks Mali), I have decided to begin a new series of posts about my trips to Disney World before moving to Florida. Hopefully, some people will find this of interest. If not, it could work as a sleep aid if you have insomnia. Nothing like the warm glow of a laptop computer in a darkened room with an essay from Jared Tockstein on the screen to lull you to sleep. I'm better than Ambien!

Without further delay, let us load the old Monte Carlo and begin the 700 mile journey from Knoxville, TN to Orlando...

JANUARY, 1981

My Dad had a business meeting in Orlando, and he thought this would be a perfect opportunity for us to visit Disney World for the first time. I was the ripe old age of 5, just 2 months shy of 6. My sister was also just a few months short of 4 years old.

Up to this time, my exposure to the world of amusement parks had been limited to several county fairs and a few trips to Silver Dollar City (now known as the world-famous Dollywood). Now I thought Silver Dollar City was pretty cool, but when we got to Disney World I think my 5 year old brain went haywire with sensory overload.

Keep in mind that this was 1981. It was before Epcot, before the Studios, and before Animal Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom was the only kid on the block, except for Sea World (but dumb old Shamoo couldn't hold a candle to Mickey).

As I recall, this was the middle of January, typically one of the slowest times of year for the Disney parks. The park was empty. My most vivid memory of this trip was the first ride that we went on: Mister Toad's Wild Ride. Honestly, I had never experienced anything like that before. You climb aboard an old roadster and proceed on a madcap trip through the English countryside, crashing through various barnyards and pubs before finally smashing head-on into a train and meeting eternity in the bowels of Hades while the Devil looks on. Not a very Disney-like ride when you think about it. But it floored me! I didn't care or notice that the "train" was just a bright light in a dark room, or that the entire ride was simply plywood cutouts lit by blacklight. It was completely unlike anything I had experienced before, and it really set the tone for the completely immersive experience that I would have over the next few days.

Another vivid memory was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. You actually boarded a submarine and took a ride underwater! Now granted, you were really only about 3 feet underwater and all of the undersea life you were seeing was plastic, but do you really think that mattered to a 5 year old? We went to Sea World that same trip, and even seeing REAL undersea animals wasn't as cool as 20K Leagues!

And then there was the Haunted Mansion. The ride was unsettling to me, but I wasn't scared. The most vivid scene of the ride I remember was the long hallway with the floating candlestick. To this day whenever I see that scene, I think about my first trip. And of course I loved the scene where the ghosts seem to share your ride vehicle with you.

And how could I forget If You Had Wings, which was a bit of an oddity and is barely remembered today. It was essentially a ride-through commercial for now-defunct Eastern Airlines, which at that time was the official airline of Walt Disney World. You rode through this attraction looking at posters and projections of all the places that Eastern Airlines flew. There was even a travel agent waiting at a desk at the end of the ride...just in case you wanted to book your next vacation right then and there!

20K Leagues sailed for the last time in 1994. The lagoon has been filled with cement and a replica of Winnie the Pooh's Hundred Acre Woods stands there now. Mister Toad had to make way for a Winnie the Pooh ride in 1999. If You Had Wings was gone by 1987. Several attractions have come and gone in that building, and it is now the current home of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The Haunted Mansion is, of course, still there and still one of the park's most popular attractions.

Oh yes, this was also the trip where I first saw the ocean. That was pretty cool. But let's be honest, it wasn't as cool as Mister Toad.

My parents still have most of the pictures from this trip, and my Dad even took some old 8 millimeter film footage with our old movie camera. All of this photographic evidence remains at the Tockstein home in Knoxville, TN. I did come across one picture however. Those two colorful blurry spots in the middle of the picture are me and my sister Julie.

Come back next time for details of our next trip...JANUARY 1985.

Pictures and research for this entry came from the excellent Widen Your World website, which is a treasure trove of information on extinct Disney World attractions. Check out the website at http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wyw.htm.

Partners

2008-10-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Terri and I are huge fans of Walt Disney World. We spend a lot of time (and money) there. Hanna is probably starting to think that the Magic Kingdom is her personal playground.
Many people can't stand the place, and I can understand their feelings to some degree. Critics have often accused the Disney Company of being no more than a money-hungry Empire, selling pre-packaged "magic" to the unwashed masses of mindless tourists who eat it up, gladly paying 15 dollars for a hamburger that would fetch 3 bucks outside the park, or paying hundreds of dollars for their daughters to become "princesses" for a day in a cheaply made dress with the Disney logo stamped on the tag and a plastic tiara in their hair.
With things like that, you either buy what Disney sells or you are turned off by their seemingly endless and evil revenue stream. I mean, God forbid Disney makes money for their shareholders.

I, for one, buy what they sell. Because despite what other people think, there is genuine warmth and a sense of good feeling that gets me whenever I visit. What follows is one of those stories.

In 1995, there was a statue created for Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Orlando called "Partners". It is a very famous bronze statue of Walt and Mickey holding hands at the hub in front of the castle, with Walt pointing out in front of him and Mickey looking on. The man who designed this sculpture is named Blaine Gibson. He worked with Disney for many years, and among his works are the pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, the Presidents in the Hall of Presidents, and the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. For years afterwards, Mr. Gibson maintained that the sculpture in the Orlando park was not finished, although it was identical to its California cousin in every respect, and the sculpture in Anaheim was considered complete. So what was Gibson talking about?

In 1999, Gibson completed a bronze statue of Roy Disney, Walt's older brother. It depicted Roy sitting on a bench with Minnie Mouse in Town Square just under the flagpole. It was called "Sharing the Magic". Gibson then declared his "Partners" statue was complete. He then let the rest of the public understand his reasoning and filled them in on the story he was trying to tell with the two statues.
Walt Disney passed away in December of 1966, just a few months after announcing the Florida Disney World project. The Disney company was hit very hard by his loss, having just purchased the thousands of acres of Florida swamp that was supposed to hold Walt's biggest dream. They didn't know what to do. Should they go ahead with the project? Should they not? Roy Disney came out of retirement to see Walt's dream brought to life. He lived long enough to oversee the project, and on opening day in October of 1971, Roy Disney dedicated the park with a speech. He passed away 2 months later.
The statue of Roy and Minne has an empty space on the bench. This space is for Mickey. As Blaine Gibson explains it, in the Florida version of the "Partners" statue, Walt is pointing at his brother Roy, who is seated way down at the end of Main Street. Walt is telling Mickey that he can't take him any further, but his brother is waiting at the end of the street to finish the job.

Hanna's Afternoon at the Beach

2008-10-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hanna and I decided to head out to Sand Key Beach on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 15, 2008. Despite the fact that it is two weeks from the end of October, we enjoyed 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Enjoy the video!

Tockstein Home, circa 1988

2008-10-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Join us as my sister Julie (age 11 in this video) takes us on a tour of the old Tockstein Home at 3200 Walnoaks Road in Knoxville, TN, circa July 1988. Enjoy!

Now and Then....

2008-09-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

For the latest edition of Now and Then, I present you with a picture of me in the famous rack in Liberty Square at Walt Disney World. The recent picture of me was taken on September 7, 2008. The picture of me and Julie was taken in January of 1986. Enjoy.

Now and Then...

2008-09-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

I grew up with the best neighbors that anyone ever had. John and Marion were kind of like my grandparents, and still are to this day. John had this great porch swing on his patio that me and my sister would love to sit in.

So for this edition of Now and Then, I give you a picture of me and Hanna in the famous swing, circa June 2008. And below, me and my sister Julie in the same swing in 1982.

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

2008-08-26T15:43:00.001-07:00

Sesame Street was a part of my daily life from my earliest memories up until around the second grade. Grover, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, and Oscar were all as real to me as my Mom and Dad and little sister. I have vivid memories of learning about vowels and numbers and punctuation from the likes of The Count and "real" people like Bob, Gordon, and Maria.

However, my love of Sesame Street was severely tested by one particular segment. It was a short segment which would run occasionally during the show. It was an animated story of the Fox and the Crow, which is an old Aesop's Fable. To say that it freaked me out would be an understatement. I would start crying and shaking and my heart would race uncontrollably. My poor Mom thought I was going to have a heart attack at the ripe old age of 5. There was no rhyme or reason to its inclusion in an episode. It wouldn't air for months, lulling me into a false sense of security...and then BAM!!! There was that creepy fox and crow back to give me nightmares. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube you can view this short video for yourself.

See? Isn't that creepy? I think today I find it even more terrifying. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent here...

So as I was saying, I loved Sesame Street with a passion (minus The Fox and the Crow) until I was 6 or 7, and then I slowly began to grow out of it and moved on to other things. I would still see it occasionally as my younger sister continued to watch it, but after she got older and stopped watching I pretty much lost track of it.

When I was in high school I rediscovered the Muppets thanks to the release of The Muppet Christmas Carol. I started collecting all of the Muppet movies and shows (first on VHS, later on DVD), and occasionally a Sesame Street character would make an appearance in those movies or TV episodes and it would briefly remind me that I loved them as a kid. And of course the Elmo craze of the 1990's reminded me that Sesame Street was still on the air, and this new guy Elmo was the new king of the block apparently. Remember the Christmas frenzy for Tickle Me Elmo?

Anyway...fast forward 10 years. SpongeBob and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are my daughter Hanna's favorite shows. She loves them. One morning after those shows are done, we are flipping through the channels and....wait! Hey! That's Big Bird! And he looks and sounds exactly the same as I remember him. Hanna was transfixed. We continued to watch the episode and she loved it. And I found that I really enjoyed it as well. Bob, Gordon, and Maria are all still there (and Gordon looks amazingly the same as he did when I was a kid). For the past few months we have been recording the show and watching it together in the evenings. There are of course new characters and cast members. But all of the old faces are still there as well. Some of the characters sound a little different now. Jim Henson passed away in 1990, and his Ernie and Kermit are missed (however Steve Whitmire does a perfectly fine job in the roles). The great Frank Oz retired from Muppeteering in 2000, so Eric Jacobson now provides the voices of Cookie Monster, Grover, and Bert. And remember how I said Big Bird sounded the same as he did when I was little? Well that's because Muppeteer Caroll Spinney has voiced and performed Big Bird (not to mention Oscar the Grouch) since 1969!

Sprinkled throughout the new episodes are segments from older shows that still have Henson performing Kermit and Ernie and Frank Oz performing his characters. I think it's great that they are still showing these older clips mixed in with the new stuff.

Sesame Street has been on TV continuously since 1969 and after 4800 episodes it is one of the longest running television programs in history. I get great satisfaction in seeing Hanna enjoy it as much as I did. With all of the terrible kids programming that has come and gone since I've been a youngster, there is something reassuring and comforting in the fact that Sesame Street is still the most popular children's show. I'm happy to say that after about 30 years Sesame Street is once again part of my daily routine.

But they better not bring back The Fox and the Crow.

Me, Bert, and Ernie back in the 1970's. Hanna and Elmo today.

Now and Then...

2008-07-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

Up top, we have a picture of me, my sister Julie, and Eeyore in front of the Newsstand at the gates of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, circa January, 1985. Towards the bottom of the page, we have me and Hanna, circa July 2008, in almost the same location, some 23 years later.

Of course, most folks have pictures of themselves in front of the Castle at various times during their lives, but how many can say they have a picture in front of the Magic Kingdom's Newsstand? I betcha not a whole lot!
I enjoy these kind of photographic time capsules. I hope you do too. Expect more in the future.

The Saga Begins

2008-06-22T17:39:00.001-07:00

I get asked all the time how me and Terri met. People who haven't known us for very long assume we met at HSN, which is where we are currently both employed. Our story did not begin at HSN, although it did begin in the workplace.

The picture on this page is of Kroger, a grocery store chain that is prominent across the southeast. Specifically, this is Kroger Store #513, on Clinton Highway, in Knoxville, TN. Or more accurately, it is what remains of Kroger #513. Last week we spent our vacation in Tennessee visiting our folks, and as we drove by this sorry-looking structure I had to snap a picture. Kroger #513 was an old store, which had stood in this spot ever since I could remember. I started working there in 1991, and continued there until we moved to Nashville in 1998. Kroger paid for college through its scholarship program, it paid for my car, put me in the middle of a real-life stick up (no kidding!!!), it taught me how to unload an 18-wheeler with a motorized jack, and so many other great life lessons (such as how to fudge the expiration date on the milk so you can get rid of the old stuff before stocking the new stuff).

And of course it was where I met Terri. She started in November of 1994. And, well, I guess it was here at Kroger that my life changed forever.

As I pulled into the cracked ashpalt of that parking lot and snapped off a few pictures, it was interesting to think that if not for this old building, that I wouldn't have been sitting in the car with the woman who was my wife and my beautiful young daughter. Putting it in perspective like that, it made it a little sad to see what had become of the once-bustling with activity #513.

And then I remembered having to clean those bathrooms and all the warm fuzzies went away!

Good luck, old friend! May you be spared the wrecking ball and turned into bright and shiny retail space once again.

If adventure has a name...

2008-05-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

For a geek like myself, few things get me more excited than seeing a beaten-up Harrison Ford in a dusty fedora, desperately escaping impossible situations. Indiana Jones is probably my favorite fictional character ever. I've seen the first three movies countless times, own all 40 hours of the Young Indy television series on DVD, played all the video games, and have read all of his adventures in novels and comics. I'm something of an Indy scholar. Scholar sounds better than nerd (but who am I kidding?).

I was certainly not disappointed as I watched "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at 12:10 AM on Thursday morning, May 22.

The last new Indy film I saw in theaters, like most people, was "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" back in 1989. My Dad and I went to see the movie at Carmike Cinemas 6 on North Peters Road (at one time my favorite theater, now sadly demolished). That was nineteen years ago! That doesn't seem possible.

So before the lights went down on that night, me and the group of friends that I was with recounted events that had happened in our lives since last we saw Indiana Jones grace a movie screen. In my case, I had moved about 5 times, graduated high school, graduated college, gotten married, relocated to Florida, and had a child. So there was quite a bit of water under the bridge since I had last visited with Indy in a movie theater.

And what about Indy? The new movie is set in 1957, exactly 19 years since we saw him in "The Last Crusade", which was set in 1938. The movie opens not to the familiar "Raiders March" by the incomparable John Williams, but to "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. Elvis opening an Indiana Jones movie? Who would've thunk it? But it works, and it serves to give the audience a sense of time and place. It's not the 1930's anymore.

This isn't a review of the movie in the Roger Ebert sense of the word, but suffice it to say I really enjoyed it. Thus far I have seen it twice, and the second time I enjoyed it more. It's like breaking in a new pair of shoes...I'm sure it will just get better with repeated viewings.

And Harrison Ford can take a beating at 65 years of age better than most movie stars a quarter of his age! Bring on Indy 5!

The Empire Strikes

2008-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

It’s been a week since the first post, and I know you have all been waiting with baited breath, wondering if I ever got my Star Wars sheets.
The answer is yes. One beautiful day in 1980 the sheets finally arrived. I slept on those sheets until 1998, the year I was married. Yes, that is a fact. 18 years of use (of course, they were in a rotation with other sheets. I didn’t sleep on them for 18 years straight…just so you know). Sadly, they had to be retired when Terri and I purchased a queen-sized mattress. And the only reason I don’t have a set now is because I can’t find a Star Wars sheet set in anything larger than full-size. But enough about the sheets.

1980 was also the year that The Empire Strikes Back was released. I remember seeing commercials and becoming quite excited. Now I could go to the theater and watch a real-life movie about the toys that I was falling in love with! I remember cutting out the ad for the film that had appeared in the newspaper and taping it to the wall in my room.
One early Saturday morning in May of 1980, my Dad and I prepared to go see the movie. We were going to Powell Cinemas to catch a matinee. The thing I remember most about this day was getting to the theater and being told that the movie had sold out. I felt as if the world had collapsed around me. My Dad, being the very smart civil engineer that he is, did something ingenious. He did something that I would not have thought to do in a million years: he bought tickets for the next show. Despite my Dad’s heroic save, I still remember being upset that we had to wait another 3 hours for the next showing. (This was long before the days of 20-auditorium multiplexes, where the same movie begins about every 10 minutes).
The theater was not too far from our house, so we drove home to wait for the next show. I recall it being the longest wait of my young life, but the time finally arrived to get back into the Monte Carlo and head back to Powell Cinemas. We entered a crowded auditorium and took our seats.
What followed was a pivotal event in my young life. It had ramifications that continue with me to this day.
Still to come…the aftermath of Empire, the best Christmas ever, and Return of the Jedi. See you soon!

A Long Time Ago...

2008-05-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Did you know that I like Star Wars?
If my family, friends, and even casual acquaintances can tell you one thing about me, they would all say “He likes Star Wars.” But how did this happen? How does a man of 33 still have action figures in his office and Star Wars posters on his wall? Why do I have a bookshelf with dozens of Star Wars novels, a shelf full of Star Wars DVDs, and a room where the walls are covered with autographs from the actors in the Star Wars movies. What road led me here?
My story begins not in a movie theater or sitting awestruck in front of my TV. My story begins in the pages of a Sears catalogue.
For a child of the 1970’s, catalogues were the best way to see all of the new toys coming out. I was just about 5 years old at this point, looking through the catalogue for the toys (which were always at the back of the catalogue as I remember). As I recall, at this point in time my toy collection consisted of many stuffed animals, a Spider-Man doll, a Hulk doll, and a few Tonka trucks. Something fascinating caught my eye in this particular catalogue. It was a kid’s room, completely decorated in Star Wars stuff. Toys were on the shelves, posters were on the wall, and the bed was covered in Star Wars sheets. After seeing that, I had to have my room look like that. I wanted those sheets!
Keep in mind I had never seen Star Wars at this point. But the pictures of the toys and that kid’s bedroom completely fascinated me. And those sheets! I had to have the sheets!
Somehow I persuaded my parents to order the sheets. What 5-year old mind games I played on them to get them to buy the sheets I will never know. As I recall, my Mom ordered the sheets from the catalogue (which is what you had to do before the Internet was born).
After a few days, Sears called and said the sheets were ready for pick up. We drove down to West Town Mall to get the sheets. However, due to some mix-up the sheets were not there! What? How could this be? I was quite upset. What I do remember is the consolation prize I got that day. It was an X-Wing Fighter! Wow! It was almost too much for my 5 year-old brain to comprehend. It was without a doubt the coolest toy in history.
After getting the X-Wing home and having my Dad help to apply all of the decal stickers, I was ready to take flight. At this time I didn’t have any Star Wars figures, however I did have an action figure which had come with one of my trucks which almost fit into the cockpit. I used him as my pilot.
This worked fine for a few weeks, but soon I was aware that they actually sold Star Wars action figures that would actually fit into the X-Wing. It was at K-Mart on Clinton Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee where I got my first Star Wars action figure. I picked someone who looked like he could fly in space. I picked Boba Fett.
Nearly 30 years later, I still have that action figure.
Come back next time, when I reveal if I ever got those sheets, my reactions after seeing The Empire Strikes Back for the first time, and perhaps the best Christmas ever…the Christmas of 1980! See you next time…

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Our 10th Anniversary

2008-05-02T10:11:00.001-07:00

10 years ago on a Sunday afternoon in 1998, Terri and I were married. How do you mark 10 years? It is not an insignificant amount of time, yet to old pros like the senior Brocks and Tocksteins it must seem like amateur night!

Still, much has happened with us in the last decade...

Our first "child", our dog Wallace, joined us in May of 1998. He is still with us, enjoying his retirement in Florida.

We moved to Nashville from Knoxville in 1998, and then from Nashville to Clearwater, FL in 2001.

My Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, was treated, and has been cancer free for 8 years.

Terri and I both lost a pair of Grandparents in 2005 and 2006 (Grandma and Grandpa Wood and Grandma and Grandpa Tockstein). Grandma Brock is still here, and is busier than most of us young people.

In 2003, Terri rescued a kitten next to a dumpster, named him Legs, and brought him to live with us. Our carpet and furniture have never recovered!

My sister Julie was married to her boyfriend Chuck in 2003.

We bought our first home in 2003.

Three new "Star Wars" movies were released!

And of course the biggest highlight of all, on November 6, 2006, we were joined by Hanna Caroline Tockstein.

So we've had a good 10 years. Here's hoping the next 4 or 5 decades are just as good.