hole-y matterhorn

as we leave 2007 (and our little '72 trip) and disneyland behind; here is a shot of my favorite ride. from the first time in the park to the last, the matterhorn has always been both exciting and reassuring. it has been the focal ride of every trip to the park i have had.

here we have the older version of the ride with the holes for the skyway ride. this is back before sarah's 'dogie' was added. this picture is also special in that you can see several rides all centered in this part of the park.


{i hope you enjoyed our little tour of part of disneyland}

the old tomorrowland (only at disneyland)

turn right at the hub and wind up here. well, sorta, this was a different time, just the same place.

this is a shot from the people mover of the rocket jets. the people mover is gone(except the track, so my fingers are crossed for a return)and the rocket jets are re-configured and moved. i remember my first trip to the park in 63 and the rocket jets as you see them here were new. it was so impressive to ride up that elevator and walk across that gantry. talk about plus-ing a ride. now, you just wait in line.

the origional anchor of the park

as we make our way down main street, we are drown to the hub by the castle, what walt called the "weenie". this picture i actually took from the then carnation gardens,to avoid the head on populated view.

the use of 'forced prospective' is very evident in this shot as the castle looks huge. another interesting note is how the vegetation has matured in this area.

the 'floral' shot

this is the start of a disneyland "flood" over the next few days. they were taken in nov. of 1972.

as you may well know, i have a love for old pictures of the park. these were handy, i have some around from our first visit to the park in 1963. i am not sure why, but i just truly love the park, the feelings, the excitement and pure joy of relaxing and being carefree. i guess walts desire really worked on me.
in what has become one of the 'holy grails' of disneyland pictures....the floral at the entrance. i did not realize how lucky i was to get a shot not populated. note also the train conductor up on the track.

william and sarah go to the beach

one year we packed up the van and all went to mississippi to visit my family.let me tell you that was a fun trip.

here we are at the beach in gulfport. i think william had been to the beach in california before but this may have been sarahs first time.

you can tell they were really having fun.

william as always being helpful and protective.

feeding william

a young steve feeds a young william. i look happy for some reason. now that i think about it, it must be the adjustments i was making being responsible for my first child. this was a period of big change (for the better) as i was becoming a father. i look at william now as he holds and feeds hayden and i know what is going unsaid in his mind. aaron's time is soon and i have faith that he will do well.

Merry Christmas!

happy birthday mom.

dad and his sunday afternoon nap

this picture was taken sometime in 1967. it is a sunday afternoon after we got back from church and this is where you would find my day. he would watch a little football and fall asleep. note that very cool early color tv we owned. i remember when we got it. exciting stuff back then. what is funny to me is i never remember my dad being bear footed, yet he has no socks on.

did you get an orange?

christmas tree and stockings laid out. orange if you were good, coal if you were bad.

brunch at the flamingo

in vegas we would always try to have brunch at the flamingo. they had this really odd breakfast/lunch combo that featured a lot of asian foods that was really good and the restaurant itself was just beautiful. the other cool thing was the penguins. they always came out for the day around the time we got there and we would eat then go watch them eat. they provided a good time for all of us.

goffy around

this is sarah and holly having fun with goffy.they both look cute in their new disneyland outfits that the kids always got when they went to the park. also, this picture is taken under the beloved 'people mover' track. i truly hope that someday (like the submarines) the people mover will return to the park.

chill~n with grandma

this is me, mom and william sitting on the couch.not sure the time or occasion, she just may have come over for the night. happy times.william has a beer so it's sometime after he was 21. (lol, i hope)

mom in the rocket jets at disneyland

i really do belive mom enjoyed disneyland as much as any of us. she always wanted to ride. her she is on the rocket jets and look behind her. is that heather? why i think it is and she looks simply amazed.

just what you need on a cold winter's day....

a dip in the pool on a warm arizona day! can you say memories? Mom and sarah in the shallow end and william in the deep end.

I can do this grandma!

sarah and grandma encounter their first talking grocery cart in sedona at the bayless there. we were on one of the many soccer trips. remember the burger king with upstairs formal dinning? unfortunately, I have no picture of that.

this time; william and those damn ducks in sedona

here is william having fun with the gritters down at the pond. check out the lone straggler coming up to the left. hehehehe run little duck; run.

because i know your covered

this was thanksgiving morning 1965. we lived outside bay city,michigan. and i was in the 6th grade. that's dad and me shoveling early in the morning.



a few hours later, mom comes to the rescue calling us in for thanksgiving lunch. what a day!

heather and grandma score big time

christmas a few years ago. thats me getting out of the way.

doggie christmas

grandma and sarah share christmas morning with caleb.

photo edited at source to remove unwanted content

a special sequence from the double anniversary party a few years ago

this is khi showing me how to do it



this is me sort of doing it



the results. i would not normally post these but i had fun looking at them and thought you would as well. that’s dad and william looking on and enjoying me being stupid as well. yes; it did hurt. actually, the bottom picture is khi pulling me onto the floor and shaming me into jumping, just sounded better saying it was the results- hehehehe.

mom doing her thing in vegas

she always enjoys the 'bandits' and some of her happier times have been on those stools.

i was a closet Jr. fan? ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ohhhh the pain of it all......the pain.

a young soccer star in trainning

william & sarah enjoy christmas

i played basketball as well....

if they would have just waited a second or two, they would have gotten a shot me me doing a between the legs pass al la pistol. the picture below is my senior year team.

christmas with grandma

here is heather and aaron with grandma a couple of years ago; at the apartments.

william at disneyland

if you ask him, he'll say we never took him...(lol) but here is proof. will at the entrance to tomorrowland just off the hub; looking back towards main street.
(note to all my DL friends, the popcorn cart can be seen right above williams head; the popcorn cart is a favorite subject with that crowd.)

it's beginning to look a lot like....

i thought i would post some old christmas pictures every now and then. we start with this undated shot of dad at their trailer.

sarah with her ducks

a few weeks ago, i got a comment that someone remembered getting bit by the ducks....i was just wondering why?