Next Stop High School

Bart Graduates from the 8th Grade the end of May. It was a nice ceremony. He is getting big. I guess we are all getting older.

St. Petersburg

In late May Tom had to go to St. Petersburg, Russia. In was a short but interesting trip. The big Cathedral was the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood. Below is a picture shot up into one of the onion shaped spires.





Another highlight was the Hermatage Museum. This wonderful Matisse was there.

Bart Sings in the Spring Concert

Bart sings with the concert choir at Bryan Middle School. There was some kid with a big head (and hair) that made it impossible to get a good picture of Bart from our seats.




Bart looks like he enjoyed his last choir concert at Bryan Middle School

Tom in the Czech Republic

It was a special gathering in Prague for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of retroviruses. Called the "Centennial Meeting of Retroviruses" it was was a meeting of many American and European Retrovirologists, including 2 Nobel Prize winners. The food was like I had as a grew up and the beer was tasty and cheap. Prague itself was beautiful.




Tom giving his talk at the meeting. They had a microphone headset, like Madonna.



Tom with the guard at the main entrance to the Prague Castle.






For my parents Joan and John it was a celebration of 50 years of marriage. Almost every one made it for the gathering, family, neighbors, and friends.




My sister Connie's children. Nephews Gabriel (holding his sisters head) and Isiah. Niece Alissa. At least she looked at the camera.




Mom was so happy! She really enjoyed the gathering.



Auntie Loretta and (need to doublecheck) who is some type of cousin



Cousin Gail on left and my sister Connie on the right.



Everyone had a fun time as you can see. Cousin Sharon in the center. 2nd cousin Alison holding a 3rd cousin baby. 2nd cousin Andy in the lower left corner.




Family from Michigan. Auntie Myra in the center. COusin Lynn hugging her husband Tom. There son P is seated next to them. Cousin Anita is on the left.




My brother Alan, his wife Thresa, son Elijah, and daughter Kiera.



50 years marriage! A great reason to bring friends and family together to celebrate.

Disneyland Day 1

The Hope family is back at Disneyland for spring break 2010 for 6 days of Disney Fun. We got off to a rough start. One of our 3 bags didn't make it to California. Alex had no clothes. A bunch of my stuff was also missing. They had no record of the bag at that time. Luckily, when we called in the morning they had found it and it was on a plane to meet us. It arrived by 3 in the afternoon and we were set for our trip.



I will admit it, we are Disneyphiles. We love the Disneyland Resort Parks, and we take out visits there very seriously. We love the Parks, but not the crowds. During spring break the crowds can get crazy. We stay at a hotel directly across the street from the parks so we can come and go easily. The parks open at 8am and close at mignight, so for a week our lifestyle is like deer. We are up early to be at the park when it opens. The lines are very short and much fun can be had. As early afternoon comes and crowds grow we head back to the hotel for swimming in the pool and a nap. Then in the evening we head back to the park as the crowds begin to shrink.

This year we kept a log of the rides we did each day. You can easily see which rides we like the best. We focused on Disneyland day 1. No California Adventure until day 2.

Ride List

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Captian Eo
Space Mountain
Jungle Cruise

Afternoon Break

Splash Mountain
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Indiana Jones
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

We met up with Buzz right after our first ride on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Bart is very skilled with the blaster and usually gets the high score for the family.



We ran into Woody and Jessie behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.




Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one of my favorites. Great roller coaster! We call it BTMRR (pronounced Bit-a-mir). "Its the wildest ride in the wilderness."





Loading the boat on the Jungle Cruise. Alex loves this ride.

Disneyland Day 2

Day 2 got off to a slow start. First after standing in line for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage for about a half-hour, the ride went down. We did get a "magic" coupon allowing us to immediately get on almost any ride. Then we got in the line for Autopia and it shut down after waiting for 20 minutes. No coupon this time. Threw us off out rhythm for the morning as you can see from the ride list below. The crowds grew quickly. We were tired so we took a long nap.




Ride List

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (abort)
Autopia (abort)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Star Tours
Snow White's Scary Adventures

Afternoon Break

Toy story Mania
California Screamin'
Soarin' Over California
Soarin' Over California
Peter Pan's Flight
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Autopia
Space Mountain



Bart and Alex meet the Queen of Snow White fame. She was nicer than she looks.



In the afternoon, we went to California Adventure Park. Here is Grizzly River Run under Bear Mountain. Didn't bring our ponchos. We would do it twice on the last day.



Picture from California Screamin. We love that ride. The biggest and fastest roller coaster in both parks.




As part of the changes at California Adventure they put Mickey Mouse on the big Ferris Wheel. Makes a cool reflection on the water. At the top of the picture you can see some of the spouts for the World of Color show that opens this summer. We got to see some tests that looked very cool! Wish it was already running.



After doing Soarin' Over California twice (my favorite ride at California Adventure) we headed back to Disneyland. Guess which ride we went on first?




The family in front of their portholes, ready for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.




Alex is now tall enough to comfortably reach the peddles in the Autopia cars. Both of the boys are good drivers.



Bart and Alex driving for real is a scary concept.

Disneyland Day 3

Day 3 was a Monday. Spring break crowds are getting bigger.




Ride List

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain

Afternoon Break

Tower of Terror
Toy story mania
California Screamin
Soarin over california.
Space Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Indiana jones


There was no one in line yet at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were able to do two runs in about 20 minutes. Please enjoy this video of the second run. "Its the wildest ride in the wilderness"!



Here is a nice picture of the Constance the Bride on Haunted Mansion. Some how her husbands keep losing their heads.



Family picture of the big fall on Splash Mountain. Another great ride.



We moved over to California Adventure after our nap. The first ride was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Great Ride with moments of weightlessness.




Join us on a night time ride of California Screamin'




We got into the habit of getting a California Screamin' fastpass and then getting in the Toy Story Mania line. By the time we finished that line we could walk onto California Screamin'. Definitely a family favorite.



Space Mountain is probably the most popular ride in Disneyland. With a fastpass the line is pretty reasonable. A lot of fun!