Happy Birthday Terri, part 2

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

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

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

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!

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

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...

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.