Disney Land & Rose Bowl Parade

Mon, Dec. 27th - Sat, Jan. 1st

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Sackett Family in Disney Land and California Land (including my mom and John's sister).

Moon over the Disney Castle.

World of Color light show at California Land.

Ferris wheel and roller coaster at California Land.

Goofy and my mother at Disney Land.

Little Goofy.

Being Grandma is absolutely "The Bomb".

And so is being Grandpa, I guess.

Grandpa spinning the tea cups for the grandkids.

Carter, Dawn, my Mom, Hilary and Jeff riding the coaster in Toon Town while we played in the Chip and Dale tree house with Tierney.

Not a very good picture of us coming down splash mountain. Dawn and John are getting soaked in the front. I am hiding in the back trying to stay dry.

This was my favorite float at the Rose Bowl Parade. It had a 35' tall feather dancer and was accompanied by dancers from many Native American Tribes. Brule performed live on the float.

I also liked this one about the "Aloha Spirit" of Hawaii with hula dancers and five separate waterfalls.

Pac Man leaps 50' in the air celebrating his 30th anniversary. If you remember when Pac Man was the craze, you are almost as old as I am.

The Dream Machine was John's favorite. He calls it the autoboatome. Boat body on auto wheels with two story house on top and a helicopter rotor spinning above. Go anywhere you want, anyway you want, with all the comforts of home.

What an experience the parade was! John reserved us a spot for the RV and we had to be there by noon the day before.

People were already filling up the sidewalks when we got there. Not only were there chairs and sleeping bags, but queen size air beds, full-size patio grills with LP tanks, firepits, party lights and banquet tables with full buffets of food.

Across the street from us there were 11 people on top of one RV and 6 on the one next to it and lots of people on the roof of the gas station behind them. On the RV beside us, an older couple was dancing on the roof when the bands were playing as they marched by. Every block had one or two huge stand of bleachers. News reports afterwards said there were a million people along the 5.5 mile parade route on Colorado Boulevard.

My two favorite little rappers the night before the parade.

"Mom, would you please fix my hair? It's almost time for the parade!"

I have to text my friends on my new Minnie Mouse cell phone before the parade gets started.

A little walk around the parking lot before the parade gets started, wearing the same coat my grandma wore about 55 years ago. How cool is that? No. I mean, how warm is that?

Tierney and Dad, Great Grandma and Dawn, and Hilary and Goofy on top of the RV watching the parade.

The Wisconsin Band stopped in front of us and did a groovy little dance. Groovy, that dates me.

Who would have thought you could ride a steer in a 5.5 mile parade with a million people lining the street? Wild West Willie is a cross-bred Brahma steer and has been in the parade the past six years. He is 17 hands and three inches high and weighs 2,850 pounds.

Surprisingly, about an hour and a half after the end of the parade, we were back on the street and haeding back to our campground. We couldn't believe how fast that crowd broke up and cleared away. We just had a quick lunch and were on our way. Back at our campground, everyone has gone home, except my Mom, and we are getting ready to head toward Arizona and warmer weather on Jan. 6th.

Tarra

Getty Center Museum

Sat - Dec. 18th

Today we went to the Getty Museum for contemporary art. It rained all day and the fog was so thick, we couldn't even see the gardens or courtyards. But the inside was incredible and huge. We were there for almost seven hours.

I thought these two different artist's interpretations of David after he slew Goliath were interesting. I would have never pictured him like this one.

There were tapestries, porcelains, sculptures, photos, books, furniture, etc.

These people were living a totally opposite life style from what we are.

This describes the clock in the above photo. There were lots of wall clocks for the bedroom, that didn't chime at night, but had cords you could pull in the night to make it chime if you wanted to know what time it was.

This Turkish bed would have been placed against the wall with a canopy, that is now missing. The body of the bed pulled out on wheels, leaving the back attached to the wall, allowing the bed to be more easily made up by the servants.

Here's another pretty cool bed. I'll bet when the drapes are closed around it, it seems just like the little cubby hole we sleep in.

"La Promenade" 1870

by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"Irises" 1889 painted by Vincent Van Gogh in the garden of an asylum while he was recuperating from a severe attack of mental illness.

"The Holy Family" about 1820

The Virgin Mary and her mother, Anne, holding the Christ Child while her father and husband quietly observe.

My Mom arrives tomorrow, Hilary's family on Wednesday, John's sister on Thursday and Dawn on Friday, so we are getting pretty excited. I hope it quits raining by the time they all get here.

Tarra

Christmas Boat Parade at Newport Beach

Thur - Dec. 16th

Watching these little guys at Newport Beach was fun. Everytime the tide goes out they follow it out. Then they run back in ahead of it everytime it comes back in. John figured they must be burning more calories than they could possibly be taking in.






Aah, young love! Nobody drew hearts on the beach for me.




















A few views along the Balboa Pennisula.



















I thought this tree was cool, the way it was trained to grow along the house.








I thought these were also neat.










Bird of Paradise.










Flowers along the beach boardwalk at dusk.


















Wrapped in a blankie on Balboa Pennisula, looking toward Balboa Island, watching the Christmas Boat Parade at Newport Beach.

The lamp from my favorite Christmas movie, "Christmas Story". Gotta love it.

As we sat on a park bench at the jetty enjoying the parade, a local couple joined us. We had a nice visit and told them how much we were enjoying California. The parade was over, we had said our goodbyes and were starting to leave when the guy says, "Try not to foul up the state before you leave". What an odd thing to say.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Tarra