NSJ

Let me start out by saying, I don’t like Disneyland. There, I said it. I’m pretty sure it is against the Patriot Act to not like Disneyland and I’m not looking forward to spending (another) year on the do-not-fly list, but I had to say it. There is just something…well…just not right about it. It is too happy. There are too many people. Too much gross food. Too much stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I have very fond memories of Disneyland as a child. This was before I learned about intellectual property and Disney’s absurd stance on copyright law. It was also before I saw a movie made by Pixar, which made Disney movies pale in comparison. All that being said, we felt it was our duty as parents to take Niko to Disneyland. That and we couldn’t pass up a chance to hang out with Lynn, Steven, Connor, Neil, and Gregd. So while we had a great time hanging out with the crew, enjoying delicious dinners, swimming in the pool, and Jul and I got some evening time to finish season 3 of The Wire, the Disneyland part just sucked. This had nothing to do with me not liking Disneyland, or Jul not liking Disneyland (although it didn’t help), but really just came down to one simple thing:

Niko hated Disneyland.

I’m serious. He hated it. On the second day when we said, “Hey, Niko, we are going to Disneyland!” He said, “Disneyland…people…” and let out a big sigh. This turned into his sad mantra throughout the visit (“Disneyland…people…<sigh>”). Of course he hated waiting in line. This was like being on the airplane, only with less personal space. He was completely unimpressed with the rides — we might have well been sitting on the airplane. The parade? Barely registered. And as his sad mantra says, he was completely frustrated by the concentration of people. How is a boy suppose to run with all these people around?

We found two areas where he wasn’t miserable. They are redoing It’s a Small World, so the area is pretty much deserted. He was pretty happy running around and finding ants in this deserted area. He also was pretty happy running around in Toon Town. But really, Toon Town wasn’t all that unlike the park, except with scary dressed up Disney characters.

By the way, if any of you ever start a theme park where there are thousands of screaming children, super long lines, and huge crowds, please, please, please serve alcohol.

[flv]http://happyinwater.com/nicholas/videos/running-at-disney.flv[/flv]

More…

After surviving the haircut, we spent a lazy Sunday in the backyard.

He obviously didn’t enjoy his first cut but I couldn’t tell if it was the haircut or the leopard print smock. Or maybe it was the Wiggles playing on the TV. Those guys freak me out. Who could possibly be that happy? It just ain’t right.

Beaches rock for the little one because there is no end of stuff to discover (and possibly eat).

We also get to say “bye bye” to the sun every night.

I’m also determined to get him standing on a surf board by age three. Won’t it be funny when he hates the water just to spite me? I don’t know what Unka John is doing. Directing traffic?

Plenty of quality time with time with “Unka Don” and “Aught Deen” in Florida.

We spent some time on the bayou yesterday and headed down to our favorite bar for a breakfast of oysters and beer.

Lazy days on the porch.

We are down in Florida this week. Since the last time we were here somebody swapped out my baby, for a little man who can walk and talk and say things like “go swimming?” We are here with all four grandparents and Aunt Jan and Uncle John. For those of you not counting, that is an 8/1 adult to little man ratio. Rock on.

[flv]http://happyinwater.com/nicholas/videos/jumping-in-the-waves.flv[/flv]

As usual, our trip consists of a lot of time on the porch watching the waves. And roaring like a lion. Watching waves AND roaring like a lion

[flv]http://happyinwater.com/nicholas/videos/roar-640×360.flv[/flv]

There is nothing I appreciate more than people who make amazing things. People who don’t settle for mediocre, or good, but instead insist on amazing.  Take the iPhone. I’ve hated every phone I’ve ever owned (and believe me, I’ve owned a lot) until the iPhone. The team that built the iPhone never settled, right down until the last minute when they switched to a different glass screen. Most impressive to me is that doing something amazing requires very hard choices. It typically means spending less time sleeping, less time with those you love, and less time doing anything but thinking about making something amazing.

I feel this way about every episode of Sesame Street, and all the movies and shorts made by Pixar. We have dropped Niko in front of these programs since birth and it is amazing to watch the impact they have on him. Just last week were were counting to 10 and he continued to 20. We never taught him to count to 20, but The Count did. He knows his letters and how to jump because of these shows. Best of all, where as something like Dragon Tails or Blues Clues makes me want to kill myself, I can watch Sesame and Pixar over and over again and still enjoy it. Making material like this is really, really hard and requires an unrelenting drive to amazing.

So a big shout out to both Sesame Street and Pixar. Thanks for making amazing things.