Disneyland - Best of...

A little late, seeing as how we were in Disneyland in December... but here it is!



Best ride worth waiting an hour in line:  Midway Mania

Best ride worth Fastpassing twice:  Star Tours

Best ride with no line so you can ride it 3 times in a row:  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Best time to get to the park:  8:15 am

Best time to stay at the park:  12:10 am

Best popcorn stand:  Main Street, 12:05 am (they cook it there until 12:30 so you can get some on your way out of the park!)

Best thing about getting a 'Happy Birthday' button:  Everyone - cast members and fellow Disney go-ers - wishes you a happy birthday!

Best place to watch World of Color from:  We didn't find it... we went twice and had rather tall people standing in front of us both times... what?

Best holiday rendition of a ride:  It's a Small World

Best thing about mentioning it's your birthday when you make reservations for the Blue Bayou:  Chocolate mousse

Best thing to eat so you don't have to eat anything else for the rest of the day:  Monte Cristo sandwiches from the Blue Bayou

Best Fantasyland ride with the longest line though I can't for the life of me figure out why it's so much longer than every other ride's line:  The Flight of Peter Pan

Best scare:  Tower of Terror

Best (worst?) song that got stuck on my head:  Mad Hatter's Teacups jingle

Best song to sing along with on the ride:  Yo-ho, Yo-ho, a Pirate's Life for Me!

Best advice overheard given from mother to son:  "Don't cut off your own arm with that light saber."

I {heart} WDC!

Looking toward the National Mall from Arlington House

Things I {heart} about Washington DC:

1.  I love the Metro.  I like that I can take the Metro and walk pretty much everywhere I want to go.  It's safe, it's clean, it's easy to figure out where you want to go.

Luv my Metro stop!

2.  Tourists.  Yes, I know that I'm one when I'm here too, but I really try to not look conspicuously like one (well, except for the camera - but even that, I don't bring all 8 zillion lenses with me).  I like how parents and children are making connections over the documents, monuments, and artifacts they're seeing.  I also like chuckling to myself when parents get it wrong.

Paying my respects to President Lincoln

3.  Too much to see!  Museums, monuments, exhibits, offices, restaurants x 10 million!  There are so many things to do and see - how could you ever see it all?

WWII Memorial

4.  Softball on the National Mall.  I love that teams - law firms, offices, and congressional staffers - organize and play their games on the Mall.  Sad to say, but watching them play is one of my favorite down-time activities when I'm done with museums and monuments.

Things that I could do without in WDC:

A.  June = 8th graders on tour.  Yeah.  Avoid DC in June if at all possible.

Washington Monument, the emptied-out reflecting pool, and 9 million 8th graders and their poor chaperones and tour directors... I feel their pain, but I'm glad it's not me!

B.  Icky brown grass on the National Mall.  Yes, I know it's irresponsible to use a sprinkler system when others are in a drought... but really.  This is America's capital city.  Surely taxpayers wouldn't mind a cent or two more to cover the water bill for America's showpiece city?

The Capitol... and brown grass... ick...

Library of Congress

Back in February, I saw an add on UEN to apply to the Library of Congress for a 4-day seminar in the summer. I thought this sounded like a great opportunity, so I put in my application, not really expecting anything to come of it, because of the national pool of applicants for 5 sessions of about 20 people each. Well, last week (actually on the day they said they'd let people know), I found out that I got into a session! So I am headed to Washington DC in July! Four days will be spent at the Library of Congress, doing research and prepping documents for use in my classroom. I am going to extend my visit, because, hey - I'm in DC!

I spent three days there a few summers ago with Holly and had a great time. Three days was enough to see the important stuff, but not enough time to see everything - so some of my must-see-sites were already on my list. The seminar lasts until about 4:30 each day, which will leave some time for museums and sites and such, but not a lot - many close at 5:30 daily. So I'm thinking that I'll be able to see the monuments and get to the few museums that are open later, and then spend my other days in those earlier-closing museums. When Holly and I were there before, we did things on the cheap - especially eating - and while I'm not huge on going to nice restaurants (especially on my own), I am looking for a little bit better food than hot dog vendors (though those dogs are delicious!).

Here's my list of stuff to see and do while I'm in DC:
US Botanic Garden
Eastern Market
Folger Theater/Shakespeare Library
National Postal Museum
Sewall-Belmont House
National Museum of the American Indian
National Air & Space Museum
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
National Museum of American History
National Museum of Natural History
National Archives
Ford's Theater
Old Pavilion at the Post Office
International Spy Museum
Chinatown - Friendship Arch
National Geographic Society
Holocaust Museum
National Cathedral
Mount Vernon
Monticello
Soldier's Home/Lincoln's Cottage
Arlington Cemetery
Memorials on the Mall


I've also been working on my reading and movie-viewing list of DC settings to prepare. I've always enjoyed reading books which have settings of places that I've been to or are going, but haven't always been able to find great fiction books, especially, and especially on purpose. I came across this great site - BiblioTravel which does just that - matches settings to books.

Book List:
Big Bad Wolf - James Patterson
Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
Dear Mr. President: FDR-letters from a Mill Town Girl - Elizabeth Winthrop
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy
The Hyde Park Murder - Elliott Roosevelt
Killer Hair - Ellen Byerrum
King - Ho Che Anderson
King of Torts - John Grisham
Lincoln's Santuary - Matthew Pinsker
Mr. Lincoln's T-mails - Tom Wheeler
Purple Dots - Jim Lehrer
Y: The Last Man 1: Unmanned - Brian K. Vaughan (trilogy)
Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Movie list:
Pelican Brief
Legally Blonde 2
Bourne Identity
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
National Treasure
Night at the Museum
Houseboat
In the Line of Fire
Dave
Clear and Present Danger
Spy Game
Sum of all Fears
All the President's Men
American President
Transformers
Get Smart
Burn after Reading
Forrest Gump
Mission Impossible 3

Any suggestions?

A True Blue Tale...

Holly and I went to Vegas this weekend to go to the Utah/UNLV game. More on that later... However, here's the story of the weekend:

The scene: A downward-heading elevator at the Excalibur. Holly and I had just returned to our hotel room to change into our U shirts (more on that later), and were heading back down to the strip. There are 4 college-age boys in the elevator. Just one talked to us... the others tried not to laugh.

cab (college-age boy): Oh, hey, you guys bleed red, huh? I bleed blue.
me: Oh, that's too bad.
(awkward pause, other cabs trying not to laugh)
me: So, you should have been down here last week for the game.
cab: Uh, yeah, I had midterms last week.
me: So?
cab: I didn't pass as it was.
me: Well, then, you could have come and the outcome would have been the same!
cab: Yeah, ha ha...
cab: So, who do you guys play this week, anyway?
(Holly and I exchange a look - really, is this what he's asking? The city is crawling with Utes! Where has he been all morning?)
me: UNLV...
cab: Oh. OH...
(other cabs trying not to laugh.)
Elevator door opens, and we all exit and go our separate ways.

Whew.
No wonder he failed his midterms!
Go Utes!

More on Philly...

My seminar is just about over. It's been quite the experience. I have learned a lot. I'm not sure that it is totally relevant to what and who I teach, but it definitely was good for me. The professor, Stephanie McCurry, is a historical expert on the Civil War story, from the southern perspective, with focus on gender issues and citizenship in the nation. Many of the things she lectured on and what we discussed strayed from the traditional story you get on the Civil War (the north's perspective - they won, so it's their story we hear), and gave me lots to think about. I will probably be thinking about it for a while, in fact. I doubt that much will get passed down to my students, because I think that at 10 years old, you need to know the traditional tale so that as they associate with others, there is a common knowledge. Also, I'm sure that there are things you learned about at a young age, then grew up or moved on to another class and learned a different perspective (or learned that what you thought you knew was right really isn't!)... you've got to have someone teach you the basics so you can blame them for not telling you more, right!?
You can only apply to come once every two summers (probably so you can recover... and forget your dorm-living experience), so you know of any programs/organizations that do something similar and you've had a good experience, I'd love to know so I can apply for next summer! If you are a teacher and are interested, applications are due mid-February, more info at http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/seminars1.html
We ventured out for an official field trip today (unlike the one we took Wednesday during lunch...) to the Constitution Center. I really didn't know what it would be like, and so didn't have any real expectations, but it was really cool. I think that even kids would enjoy it as a field trip... wonder if there is money in the budget for that?! There is a whole 'mall' of places in old town Philly, not unlike Washington DC. The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall is quite close by, as are other places of historical significance. (I'll be back here next Thursday and Friday and so hopefully can go to some.)

Ben Franklin (inside the Constitution Center)

A lovely self-portrait of Alexander Hamilton and myself. (Guess who took the picture?)

Outside of the Constitution Center.

Independence Hall.

Philly!

I'm in Philadelphia for the week! Woo-hoo!
Back in February, folks from the Gilder Lehrman Institute (a history education organization) came to my district to talk about Lincoln and do some educational activities. They mentioned that they do these summer seminars, and the applications were due in a few days. I did not spend a ton of time on this application in answering their questions and such, and so was quite surprised to find out that I had been accepted. They sent the books to study, I booked the travel, and here I am.

The seminar is about Civil War reconstruction. I actually understood most of what was said at the lectures and discussions today, though have to admit that this is much more enriching for the teacher... I'm not sure that much of this at all will get trickled down to the students. We're staying in the dorms at the U of Penn, which make me appreciate my college living arrangement even more. Dorm food is okay, though a group of us ventured out around campus and got ourselves Philly Cheesesteaks - yum-o!

Boston Day 1

Monday April 13

Monday was mostly a travel day. I got to the airport super-early... not entirely by choice... it was when my ride left for work! (Thanks, Mom!) I got through security (I'm getting to be quite the airport-security pro) and went to the gate... and sat... and waited... and listened to my iPod... and read some of my book... and plugged in my phone... and sat... and waited. Okay, it wasn't that long before someone else from the group came around. But it was a while!

Everyone arrived (though the person in charge was one of the last people to the gate - yikes!) and we all got boarded. The flight was fine... I slept, read, and listened to music. I got a window seat, which was lovely. Our group of 35 teachers all sat together in two blocks of seats, each 3 rows, so that was kind of fun to be all together. Not that many people noticed... the teacher sitting next to me asked me when we got to Boston where I was from, Utah or Massachusetts. I hope that I made him feel bad when I said that I was with him and all the others. (Really? We've been going to class together once a month for the school year... True, I didn't know everyone's names, but at least I recognized people... urgh!)

We shuffled ourselves off the plane, grabbed our luggage, and got the shuttle to our hotel, Embassy Suites, right by the airport. We took a few minutes to get settled (I lost the sofa-bed game) and then headed out to the T - Boston's metro system. We looked quite the sight, I'm sure - very touristy, bags, money and camera flying everywhere, on all 35 of us. We finally got our week-long passes (7 days for $15 - what a deal!) and got on the train.

I went with a group going to the Italian quarter for dinner. Five of us ended up at a great Italian place, owned and operated by real Italians! The food was great, our waiter was cute (and Italian, of course), and we had a good time. Yum-o! We headed back to Quincy Marketplace to do some window shopping... and real shopping too! There were some stores in the Quincy Marketplace building we looked in, and later, we went to some stores around the marketplace. We caught the T and headed back to the hotel. Woo-hoo for day 1!

Old State House

Cheers - where everybody knows your name. I should have gone on this trip with those guys!

What happens in Vegas...

... apparently stays in Vegas... and off the blog!



Okay, no...

We had a great time! The weather was great, the food was yum, our hotel was okay, the flight was fine (even if we were in the airport longer than the actual flight, especially coming home when the flight was delayed because of the weather in SLC), the books I took to read were good, shopping was fun, walking through all the casinos was a great way to earn our cheesecake (twice!), losing money was quick and mostly painless, and almost fun... (I'm no Charlotte!). Best of all, we were able to get away for a few days!

Where we stayed - the Excalibur. Very no-frills... and fit our budget exactly!

We believe in public transportation. Scary? Not so much. Mostly tourists were on the Deuce Bus that we took most of the time. The right price? Definitely!
The fountain in front of the Bellagio. We came to several fountain shows on purpose and saw a few more by coincidence. Have you seen Ocean's 11? See it, then you'll look for Danny, Rusty and Linus in front every time you pass by. (Sadly, they were unavailable the days we were there. "Of course I'm in the casino. I'm staying in your hotel. I have two words for you: 'Mini bar.'")
We spent a bit of time in the Conservatory inside the Bellagio. It's quite the garden. There is even a butterfly house. What beautiful flowers! (and then there's us...)
(I apologize for all the pictures here... but they fill my quota of artsy photography for a little while...)

What would a trip to Vegas be without a trip to the Cheesecake Factory (twice!)? Yes, I'm fully aware that I live less than 10 minutes away from one... and yet I've never been to that one. Chocolate mouse cheesecake... yum-o!
The Apple Store at the Forum Shops inside of Caesar's Palace. I bought my iPod Touch - woot! They didn't have to do much selling, I was pretty sold when I walked in. It was only a matter of time before I bought one anyway... why not get it some place fun? (and I love it!)
Caesar's Palace. When it's said that casinos are built to keep people in, they weren't kidding in here. We walked and walked - from both ends of this place - to get where we thought we were going. Imagine if we had left the side of the wall - we might still be trapped inside! (which actually wouldn't be so bad...)
The show we wished we'd gone to... Ahhhhhhhh!
The show we did go to - Knights of the Round Table. This is Prince Christian, the victor over all the other kings and over evil. Check out his blue eyes! Our king was from Norway. He won a competition and was hottie-on-the-bottie too!
We did some shopping at the Coke store. They have everything! I'd love to go back sometime and do their "Sodas of the World" taste-testing.
The M&M store - right next to the Coke store! My two favorite tastes in life, right next together on the Vegas Strip! Smells like chocolate in the air... kind of like Hershey's!
The add for the buffet in our hotel was a girl looking just like this. We couldn't resist this picture when we went there to eat. (Not joking, this is what the chick looked like!)Ah, Vegas. See you again some day!

Happy Year of the Ox!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

Even though Joee and I weren't in China for the New Year Celebration, it's always a time when we get together to eat some good Chinese food (thanks Mrs. Gong - we really should have had her show us what she was doing with all that oil!) and reminisce about our Chinese livin' days.

Joee asked me to come to China with her in the spring of 2005. She'd been the year before with her mom, and Joee wanted to go again, not so much her mom! Joee was willing to go herself, but thought she'd see if I wanted to come. Of course! My parents got excited too - and it must be safe if Joee's parents were letting her go again... right? Right!

I had grad classes in May and June and wrote and turned in my last paper the day before we left! (Good thing I took all those breaks to pack!) Joee and I shopped for stuff we wouldn't need two of, and looked through papers and lesson plans and game ideas and other teacher stuff. Joee gave me lessons in Chinese culture, and did her best to prepare me for culture shock.

Here are some highlights and memories...

• "I took a bus, I took a plane, to Beijing city!"
• "One time I hired a monkey..."
• Ice cream!
  
• Peking duck
• Bottles and bottles of bottled water - and Coke, too!
  
• "I'm a big, big girl, in a big, big world..."
• Getting voted off of the bus!
• Willage after willage after willage...
  
• Bus troubles, airline troubles - it's not our fault we're teachers with lots of stuff!
• McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut!
• Chinese doctors - I'm the sick one? Really? Do they know who they're talking to?
• Instant messaging
• Sending emails while 'drunk' - not a good idea... but very entertaining for Lee!
• The Great Freaking Wall of China - and we get to spend 45 minutes there? Really? Don't they know we're at the Great Freaking Wall of China?! How often do you go there? And we have to be up and back in 45 minutes? Really? Really!
• Hair! No water shampoos, massages (and laughing through it, so they massage more!), and straight, straight, straight!
• Karaoke bar - microwave popcorn, Coke, and the best skewered fish I've ever had... yum! Thanks bus driver and Zeng!
• Taxi rides
• Shampoo is heavy! Whoever had it in her luggage always had the heavier bag, no matter what else was in it!
• When people speak Chinese to you, and you don't know what they are saying, it doesn't help for them to speak louder and slower, nor does it help for them to write it out for you!
• Bargain, always look for a bargain! Talk 'em down! Promise to bring all your 'good American friends' with you the next time you come to this part of China to do their shopping and you will get the very best deal on all the 'real silk'!

Gambe, my friend! Happy Chinese New Year!

Washington DC - from Scrapblog.com

More pictures from the Pageant!

Hoorah for a day of rest yesterday!  We had 12 o'clock sacrament meeting at the Hill in the pouring rain (what a cool thing to have sacrament meeting on the Hill Cumorah!  And in the rain, too!  Good thing Holly and I had reserved seating in the front of the middle section with the choir!), then had family time.  To help us pass all that time, there were 2 speakers.  One spoke about Joseph Smith and how some of the best scripture passages he received or translated came when he was going through some of his worst personal trials.  The other speaker is one of the pageant directors who is an amazing singer.  He helped us be better singers ourselves - what a great lesson!  Then we had dinner and a fireside, and made it back to Hobart, had a quick devotional, and we were in bed before midnight!  Hoorah!

Today is another day of rest - and recreation.  We get to sleep in a bit again this morning (and I can't, drat it all).  We have brunch here at Hobart, and then have a myriad of activities to choose from to do with other young single adults - movies in the (semi-air conditioned) campus theater, art projects, volleyball, other sports... yea!  Tonight we'll go to the Hill for dinner and the variety show.  That was one of the best things about Pageant last year - hopefully this year won't disappoint!

Here's some more pictures from Pageant!

Nephite and Lamanite battle banner carriers.  Wouldn't want to see this motley crew coming your way down a dark alley!

James, a Nephite warrior, ready to battle after a stop at the drinking fountain.  They had those around during Nephite times, right?  (James is the only guy in my cast team, and puts up well with 19 girls... poor kid!)

A nice moment from the 'Tableau of Peace."  Too bad Lamanites and Nephites can't always be friends.

Holly's cool spiral braid to put up under her wig.

Me and Holly in our Pageant t-shirts.

Me, Amanda and Echo in front of the stage.  Now those are girls that you could meet in a dark alley and make it out alive afterward!

Echo and Amanda.  Delete, or not to delete - that is the question!  (Aren't digital cameras great?)