8r4d A couple weeks in and I’ve written about ten thousand words on the new #keyboard in a variety of settings: home, cafe, backyard and on my lap. I thought the colourful lights were a bit of a gimmick and sure, it mostly is, but I do get a bit of a kick out of writing at night which is about the only time they are bright enough to notice.

squwetchy A theme park might literally be among the worst places in the world to try urban sketching.

There is nowhere to get more than five minutes of peace to draw. So I embraced that: I went with the intention of seeing what I could accomplish in the least amount of time possible. I adopted a loose af sketching style and a sloppy/abstract watercolour style and spent literally no more than 5 minutes sketching— standing in a queue, waiting outside a bathroom for my fam, after lunch—and then painting with super-limited time and supplies back at the hotel.

The result was 28 sketches over the week (i filled a sketch book!) and about 6 hours total invested in drawing and painting. They are not neat nor tidy. They are not photo perfect by any stretch. They are vibes. Impressions. And the whole collection, despite a few flops and a leaky sketchbook seam, is an awesome souvenir.

8r4d We did one of our holiday Monday breakfast #running meetups for Canada Day today. Five kicks earned us some eggs and bacon back at A&W and of course a hot cup of coffee.

8r4d Who knows how long this little bush might survive as I’ve not had great luck with my front #flower bed but I put a rose in earlier this year and it bloomed for the first time this morning!

8r4d We started collecting those Starbucks #coffee mugs with the stylized art and locations on them a while ago, and they have turned into quite a collection, so much so that we’ve kinda sworn off buying any more. That is also a good thing because they changed up the style in North America and they are hard to find. Sure, the new Disney series doesn’t perfectly match the style of the rest of our collection, but I couldn’t help adding just one more #starwars limited edition to my set. And who says I haven’t been to Hoth anyways?

8r4d A rendezvous with a long lost puppy post vacation. [read more...]

8r4d We don’t have these dumb things in Canada, do we? [read more...]

8r4dsfeets Last day in Anaheim and #breakfast before we fly. You wouldn’t have thought it, and neither did we before we sat down and ordered, but mediocre pancakes were literally the most expensive meal of our trip. Two stars, would not recommend.

8r4d Just those last day #fireworks at #disney2024 —and just like that four days in Disneyland wraps up. We parked on the warm pavement for a solid hour to watch the show, hit last couple of rides on the way out of the park, did some window shopping, and waved goodbye for another couple years.

8r4dsfeets #disney2024 #starwars

8r4d #disney2024 #starwars We logged into another trip on Smugglers Run, the premise being that six people get tossed into a motion simulator version of a borrowed Millennium Falcon to do a cargo run. Each person is assigned a role. The Kid and I were pilots. Karin was a gunner. And the family (including a grandmother and her two very young grandkids behind us who may have just gotten lost and wandered into the ride looking for a bathroom) were the other gunner and the engineers. Needless to say we scored about 30% on the game as the kids howled in confusion behind us, but it was a good time.

8r4dsfeets Stepping aboard #starwars #motionsimulator #disney2024

8r4d #starwars #disney2024 You’d think all we did on this trip was hang out in the Star Wars themed area of Disneyland, huh?

castironguy #disney2024 Mickey-shaped pretzels, a crazy-sweet candy apple, and of course no trip to the park is complete (for me at least) without a world famous smoked turkey leg.

8r4d #starwars #disney2024 Our third time aboard the Star Tours ride, and Karin had done a bunch of research on how to become the “rebel spy” which is the one person from each cabin who is “randomly” picked to have their photo on the screen when the stormtroopers stop the ride and kick the story into a kind of chase mode (which is the premise of the ride.) Despite her annoyance that I was snapping photos and distracting her while she was following the tips on how to get picked, she actually did.

8r4d #disney2024 — one last Disney day.

8r4d #disney2024 day four —you may ask yourself why we go to Disney so much. I mean, you go to LA, this huge city full of cool things to see and do and after six trips all you’ve ever really focused your trips on is going to this silly theme park in the middle of Anaheim. Sure. You have a point, but then why to people go to the mountains so much? Or why do people book cruises? Or why do some folks take a trip to palm springs or an all inclusive Mexican beach resort? I mean, it’s not travel we’re doing here: it’s a getaway and a break, and it’s fun, familiar and (no not restful but) a bit of relaxing family time.

8r4d #disney2024 California Adventure is real purty at night.

8r4d #disney2024 The park is colourful and lit up in crazy lights after dark. When you are not rushing back to the hotel to put a grumpy kid to bed (like in past trips) there is lots of time to goof around and take silly photos.

8r4d Sunshine afternoon in #disney2024

8r4d #disney2024 lunch in an alternate version of #sanfran based on a flick from about ten years back. Back when California Adventure opened about twenty five years ago, the theming was all pretty generic and last time we were here this was a San Francisco themed area—it still kinda is, but now with a twist.

8r4d We had a few photogenic family moments while riding the Spider-man ride again this morning. #disney2024

8r4d #disney2024 #disneytrash post the fifth

8r4d #disney2024 #disneytrash post the fourth