That one Time I Helped Make a Float

Happy Pioneer Day!

A couple of months ago I got a phone call asking if I would volunteer to work on the float for the children's parade. 

My first thought? Has no one told you I like neither children- nor parades?

Haha.. just kidding. I like parades. ;)

Oh fine... I like children too. 

It was actually kind of a fun adventure. I've never worked on a float before.  It was a group who mostly had no idea what they were doing- luckily the couple in charge (Ron and Amy) had the know-how and the access to supplies.

This was the teeny mock up Ron made. It was going to be quite a feat turning this little model into a larger than life size spectacle. 

The theme was "Pioneer stories- foundation for the future". The concept of our little float was to be stacks of books and then on top would be open pop-up books depicting the First Vision, Pioneers crossing the plains and the newly rededicated Jordan River Temple.

Luckily we had a few people who know what they heck they were doing. For the first couple of weeks I just stood back and watched them work. I'd lend a hand by holding things down or smearing glue... My opinion was always readily available but for the actual construction part I was pretty useless.

Over the next week or so the pieces started to slowly come together. There was a lot of styrofoam floating around. Oh- all of this was done in a huge garage loaned by a lady in the stake. Seriously- the nicest garage I've ever been in. It even had a second floor!

At this juncture I started to be a little more helpful.  I helped sand down the edges of the foam so they'd look like books. The white foam was scored so that it would look like pages. It was so amazing how it actually looked like a stack of giant books!

I missed the day they primed and started painting- but I made sure to be there for the most important day- glitter day!

When we were planning everything out, Ron and Amy were really good about taking everyone's opinions into consideration. Of course me being me- I wanted GLITTER! I thought the thing should sparkle from stem to stern! They agreed!

I felt like a pixie spreading my magical dust all over! We would paint a section and then I would literally blow a handful of glitter over the wet paint. I had glitter all over my face, arms and hands. It was a dream come true!

We worked over the course of a couple of months. I didn't make it to every work session- but I made it to as many as I could.

And eventually we went from this:

To this!

By the time I got to the prep area on parade day they'd pretty much finished everything- just a few last minute adjustments here and there.

This is most of our crew who worked on it- our fearless leader, Ron had to be out of town- but don't let that fool you into thinking he didn't work his buns off on this project!

I was really proud of our little float. It was by no means the most spectacular. Wow there are some people who really put a lot into this parade.  My sister Kim was visiting this weekend so she went and staked out a place to watch the parade while we got it ready to go.

Come parade time we got to see everything.

Some of the entries had the kids walking along with them. Most of them had shirts or capes or props that coincided with their float. This one was super cute- they all had giant crayons.

My pictures don't do them justice- but this one was incredible!

But this one might have been my favorite. Elder Sea and Elder Gull... haha! and they are teaching crickets! bahaha!

I was so excited for our float to come down the street that I almost forgot to take a picture of it.

Here is one of my other favorites. The beehive-cement mixer actually turned- and it was super cute that it was pulled by a tractor!

This one was Kim's favorite. And the judges. It won and was featured in the big Days of 47 parade that took place today.

The ingenuity of some of these floats is just incredible. I'm glad I got a chance to work on it- but I'm glad I didn't have to be in charge of it because I could never be this creative.

This one was fun with the "stained glass" windows and "rain"

These animals had a very origami-ish look about them. so pretty!

Ah hahaha. I love her unicorn box! :D

It was the first time I've ever been to the youth parade. And sadly- the last. They announced that this year is the last year they are doing it. They just don't draw the crowds. The big parade on Pioneer Day- well, people camp out over night to go to that one- but there were not a ton of people there. Granted- we were sitting right at the beginning of the route so maybe there were more that I didn't see. Anyway, I'm sad it's going away. My mom was telling me that as a little girl, she walked in this parade. She dressed as an alien and had a basket on her head with something poking out to be her antennae. It has been a staple for decades and I'm sure it's going to be sorely missed. 

I'm glad I had a hand in this historic parade.

The Last Days...

I have two bad news-es for yous-es. 

1. This is the last of my Disney posts.

2. For some reason there is a serious lack of pictures.

Sorry.  I know the finale should be grand- but I don't know if I was just over seeing my vacation through my camera- or if my phone died or what... but there are just not many pictures. And this is two days worth of park hopping. What the heck?

The penultimate day started at the Magic kingdom. Look how incredible the poinsettias are. I know you're probably sick of me and my poinsettias... but I just love them!

 

The bulk our our time this day was spent in Adventureland/Frontierland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country.  There may not have been a ton of pictures- but by thunder there was shopping! Here is yet another idea for a gift for me... you know, if you feel like it.

And here we have contender #3 in the Heather's Head decor competition. This one actually has a story behind it. When I went to Disneyland four or five years ago I saw this tiara. I almost bought it but it cost the same as a small country so I didnt' get it. I regretted it. I even went so far as to ask people who were going to Disneyland to get it for me... no one did because I still couldn't commit to it. I'm a chicken. A non-committal Chicken.

So which one did I end up taking home? You'll see at the end of this post. Don't spoil it!

It really is a small world after all! While wandering the park we ran into Megan! She's in my book club- you remember the best book club in the world?

As we meandered, we came across Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. They're just cute in their little hats. Awww...

 

I loved the Christmas tree in Pooh Corner.

Again with the imagineers- did they just bring in some produce and say, "ok- Rabbit is decorating a tree- what would it look like?" and they put vegetables on a Christmas tree!

We passed another churro cart that was selling weird churros. Honestly- normal churros were hard to find. they were all doing something a little different. this one was watermelon flavored. Personally I thought that sounded gross. Alex bought this one- but I just asked to take a picture of it. I didn't even want to try it.

These were the poles decorated around Splash Mountain. Teeny beehives! So adorable!

Speaking of Splash Mountain- it was closed while we were there. It was super sad because it was Nonee's favorite and it's nice to go on it in her honor.

BUT I won't lie- It was not super hot that day... I mean, it was January for crying out loud. I was a fraction... a teeny tiny fraction- glad that it was closed. I didn't want to get soaking wet and then just walk around in soggy clothes all day. If it's not hot enough to dry you out- it's not worth getting wet.

sorry.

We went around to the other side of Rivers of America and took a ride on the Mark Twain. We all stood up on the upper deck- but Lisa stayed down with Jenna.

This is one of the snackies that we got that night. I don't think I tasted it- but I thought it was super cute. Seriously- put a Mickey head on just about anything and it makes it that much more awesome.

That evening we wandered over to Toon Town. We took Alex on Roger Rabbit and then shopped around and enjoyed the decor. 

We went through Minnie and Mickey's houses and then got the chance to meet Mickey.

 

One of these nights- I can't remember which because apparently I stopped taking pictures- we went to see Fantasmic. Right up there with corndogs, Fantasmic is my favorite thing about Disneyland. BUT they have recently updated it. Again- I understand the purpose of change... but I hate change. Fantasmic was pretty perfect the way it was- but they took a lot of classic stuff out so they could add some more contemporary characters. It went from freaking amazing to just ok. Sad.

The decorations throughout New Orleans Square were incredibly beautiful.

 




This tree was in Adventureland. It was pretty funny.

I know I mentioned it before- but I didn't post a photo. The castle at night was breathtaking.

They cancelled the fireworks that night- but we were over by Fantasmic anyway. But even though the cancelled them, they still did their Disney Magic and made it snow in the park. For people who never see snow it was probably pretty amazing. For those of us who were on vacation to get away from the snow? A little less so.

We made our way out of the park. The Christmas tree on Main Street was even more stunning at night. Wowza!

We caught a few of our friends taking pictures with lines of people... We weren't about to wait in those lines. But I love it when they are between guests and notice that I'm off to the side waiting for a decent picture and they pose for me. Thanks Mickey!

 

The next day- the last day. :(

We started out in California Adventure. And it truly was an adventure. It was a grey, dismal day- but that didn't stop us from going to Grizzly River Rapids. I was in trouble for mentioning the day before that I was ok not getting wet so I was a good sport about going on the ride.

Our helper guy- I can't for the life of me remember his name and apparently the photo we took of him was on someone elses phone because once again... I don't have it. Ugh- anyway, he was awesome. He was really fun to tease with He promised that we wouldn't get very wet.

He lied.

We got so wet.

And then as we came around to the loading zone- he asked if we wanted to go around again. Sure! We couldn't possibly get more wet.

Wrong!

We might as well have jumped in a pool. There was not a dry inch on any one of us.  He asked if we wanted to go around a third time- but we were done. That was enough.

I felt bad for anyone who sat on any rides after me for the next little while because there was just no drying off quickly. Sorry guys. I swear it was Grizzly water- not Heather water. Eew.

Of all the dumb things, one of my Disney bucket list items was to see a feral Disney cat. And luck of all luck- that day we saw TWO!  We talked to a cast member and she was telling us that there are dozens- hundreds?- of feral cats who help keep the parks clean. They are well taken care of, fed and kept healthy.- this much I knew. They try to avoid contact with them as much as possible to keep them feral. Once they become more domestic and get used to human contact, they lose their hunting drive. So when they get to the point where they are not afraid of people, they are adopted out to cast members. These two beauties are named Francisco and Snickers. At the time they were both very close to being adopted. They'd been coming out more and more during the day and getting used to people. I'm sure by now they have homes. Aren't they so sweet?

 

At this point we broke up the group a little bit. We all had different things we wanted to do. Kim and I really wanted to see the Frozen show at the Hyperion theater. So we went over, grabbed some popcorn and sat and waited to get into the theater. The show was cute- but I won't lie- I totally dozed off in the middle of it. Am I getting old?

Later we met up with the crew at the Animation Studio. Some wanted to go to Turtle talk with Crush- I wanted to go to the Artists Studio.  This was my picture.

It's Zero. You can tell, right? It's not that bad. I'm probably not ready for my job as an animator, but I thought for a first time attempt at this character it wasn't so bad.

On our last pass of the pier I had t make sure to stop and document it. I will never see Paradise Pier again. It's sad. But of all the changes I am actually excited for Pixar Pier. But this was my final farewell to Paradise.

We stopped at the wharf for a bit to get some ice cream and visit for a bit. I had a long chat with a janitorial cast member and he gave me all the inside 411 on the new Pixar Pier. I'd share it with you- but now that it's complete- there's no point.

We finally decided it was time to head over to the Magic Kingdom. On our way out I saw some cute things I wanted to take a picture of and realized I didn't have my phone. Enter Panic Mode. The last time I remembered having it was while siting on the bench over by Ghiradelli. I ran- and if you've seen me you know that's a feat- back to the wharf. Thank God for good people. My phone was sitting there on the bench and the guy there said he was there protecting it until someone came back for it. He said if I didn't come back in ten minutes that he'd turn it in.  Oh my gosh. My hero! I love honest people. 

I'm such an airhead! The last time I was at Disney I left my PURSE sitting on a bench and it was turned in. The time before that I left my camera in the bathroom and it was turned in. This time my phone- that's what I love about Disney. I'm sure there are creeps every once in a while- but in general we're all there for the same reason. People there are just good. They know that losing something like that could totally ruin someones trip so they go out of their way to save someones day. 

Thank you Thank you!

This is the picture I was going to take when I lost my phone. and Pluto was nice enough to give me a money shot while he was between guests. Seriously, I love it when they do that. :)

We spent the remainder of the day mostly in Fantasyland.  They did an awesome Christmas light show on Small World.

It was totally spectacular.

By this point Jenna was zonkered so Lisa and Macy took her back to the hotel. Without Jenna there was just no getting on rides so the rest of us stayed and found a spot for the fireworks. We waited and waited and waited and once again- they were cancelled. Sigh... every time. I swear. Stupid wind.

They tried to dazzle us with the magical Disney snow- but meh. So we just shopped on our way out. I made one last friend as we walked out.

Just before we walked out of the park, Shayla and I stopped and cried together. It is just such a magical, happy place.

I miss my sister. I miss her every day but I miss her most when I'm at Disneyland. Whenever I leave it's almost like I'm leaving her behind. I know that probably sounds stupid to most people... but if you knew Nonee like I did, you'd get it.

Sigh... Until next time Disneyland. Thank you for being so wonderful.

PS- this is the winner of the decorate Heather's head competition! Was it really a competition? eh, who knows. I had to sell off one of my siblings to pay for it- but every princess needs a proper tiara. I wore it all the way back to Utah. Partly because it was easier to wear it than to pack it. And partly because I wanted the magic to last a little big longer.

This is my "back to reality" face.