by Mark Smiley | Oct 24, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
It started out as a small teen center at the former YMCA in Glendale. The common area space had a pool table, a couch, and a ping pong table. Now, devoted space in the Glendale Sports Center has over 20 teens enjoying everything from Xbox and Wii to computers and tablets. Caroline Davis has been with the Glendale Sports Center for almost two months and she has jumped into her role with both feet. She is the teen coordinator for the Center and has begun to take the program to the next level. The primary focus of the teen program, which services teens ages 13 to 18, is to get them to be more active and involved and learning life skills. “We are trying to get the kids more active and more learned in life skills. We are working to put a ski and snowboarding trip together this winter at one of the four major resorts,” said Davis.
Most kids come from the Denver Public School system, West Middle School, and Cherry Creek High School. They are 7th to 12th graders and the majority of participants reside in Glendale. It is a drop-in program and open to anyone who is a member of the Glendale Sports Center. More programs for teens are being developed. “We have opened up the music, arts, and dance classes to the teens and are pushing for enrollment,” said Davis. “We are also going to bring in salsa and yoga instructors to enrich the program even more.”
The adult prep initiative is another program that has been launched. The Sports Center brings in different experts to lecture or present, such as Whole Foods in Glendale lecturing on nutrition and healthy snacking.
One of the biggest things to happen to the program over the years is receiving the tobacco grant from the Tri-County Health Department. It generated $30,800 over a two year span. The program was able to upgrade its computers and even add a tablet to its fleet of electronic devices. “The grant is aimed at preventing and teaching the youth on how to recognize big tobacco’s advertising toward the younger population, specifically teenagers,” said Steve Martinez, Programs and Teen Coordinator for the Glendale Sports Center. “Our work is advocating for different kinds of policies to be put into place such as tobacco free public spaces or stricter fines for those that litter with tobacco waste.”
One of the biggest projects from the tobacco grant was a public service announcement on smoking. The teens put together a public service announcement by directing, editing, and filming a basketball game between smokers and non-smokers. For those who are interested, the non-smokers won the game.
The teens also picked up cigarette butts around the Glendale Sports Center on National Kick Butts Day. This year, it coincided with Earth Day, April 22, 2014. Kick Butts Day is a day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against big tobacco at more than 1,000 events planned by independent organizers across the United States and around the world. Next year, Kick Butts Day is on March 18, 2015.
Also, the teens picked up 60 bags of trash, covered graffiti at Whole Foods, and worked all summer on other beautification projects.
For more information on the teen program at the Glendale Sports Center at Infinity Park, call Caroline Davis or Steve Martinez directly at 303-692-5778 or stop by and visit them at 4500 East Kentucky Avenue in Glendale. You can also visit their website at www.denverymca.org/glendale.
by Mark Smiley | Sep 29, 2014 | Travel
by Glen Richardson
Glendale staple Shotgun Willie’s is now open and will be serving liquor until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights thanks to a new Common Consumption law (C.R.S. 12-47-103 et seq.) passed by the legislature in 2011.
State Senator Pat Steadman, a sponsor of the 2011 law that paved the way for Glendale’s extended drinking hours said, “Local governments should be allowed to set the hours of their establishments.” After the law was passed, the Glendale City Council approved the extended hours by a unanimous vote.
Shotgun Willie’s is the first establishment to get approval under the new law although casinos in Black Hawk and bars and restaurants in Morrison are considering it. “Now that casinos are allowed to stay open 24 hours, there is a lot of interest in Black Hawk of having later drinking hours,” said Steadman.
It is perhaps not surprising that Shotgun Willie’s was the first business to utilize the new law as Glendale was one of the prime backers of the new legislation.
The new hours brought the club to the attention of Brian Maass the investigative reporter for CBS4 Denver News. Maass, throughout his career, has made a living on doing specialty pieces on Shotgun’s and Glendale, usually in a negative light, and the latest story was no exception. Maass brought hidden cameras into the club for no apparent reason other than to have an employee on camera confirming the new hours which Maass acknowledged were wholly legal. On camera Maass made a Freudian slip first saying “wholly illegal” before correcting himself.
Westword’s Michael Roberts, in an article on the matter, made fun of Maass’ use of “hidden camera techniques even though everything the club has done is completely overboard [meant ‘aboveboard’].”
Maass then had the male executive director of the Colorado chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Fran Lanzer, predictably declare that they were against extended hours. He stated what’s happening with Glendale in his opinion is a risky proposition. “If we have a uniform statewide cutoff limit, then every bar has to close by 2 a.m. and that means there is no incentive to leave one bar to try and get to another bar that is going to close later. If there is an option where people could go and potentially continue drinking and continue their night, that would be an incentive for people to drive drunk and take that risk,” said Lanzer.
On his 710 KNUS morning show, Dan Caplis then praised the Maass piece and took calls on the subject. Michael Brown also covered the topic on his drive time radio show on 630 KHOW.
The net effect of the publicity was packed crowds now on the weekends after 2 a.m. “It’s incredible,” said Marguerite Lucas, Shotgun Willie’s spokesperson. “Brian Maass really knows how to gin up business for the club and we are very grateful.”
The club even put in huge letters on their marquee on Colorado Boulevard, “Thank You Brian Maass.” The club indicated thanks to the boost given to it by Maass and the related publicity, they may consider adding some other days of the week to the extended hours program.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 29, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
The award-winning Bella Diva Dance is moving from Cherry Creek North to Glendale after four years at 3rd and Clayton. “It was great working with th
e city of Glendale. Obtaining permits is easier in a smaller city. There was not a lot of red tape,” said Caitlin Brozna-Smith, owner and founder of Bella Diva Dance Studio. They have invested over $10,000 in building a brand new dance studio in the Glendale Center located at 4309 E. Mississippi Avenue.
They are situated in the same shopping center where longtime Glendale businesses, Bistro Boys Catering, The Bo okies, and Dr. Proctor’s Lounge are located. Brozna-Smith’s business partner Erin Anderson shares the space with her business, Communitas.
The two met four years ago while Anderson was taking one of Brozna-Smith’s classes at the Cherry Creek Athletic Club. Communitas focuses on creating a healing space which includes massage therapy and extensive body work.
The Bella Diva Dance Studio, founded in 2010, does not focus on the traditional ballet or tap dance. Bella Diva Dance offers a unique blend of modern Egyptian, American and Lebanese style dance technique. Particular emphasis is placed on body awareness, proper alignment and clean movement execution
. They are a company dedicated to creating a community for belly dancers and samba dancers while elevating the art of both dance forms. They dance to share the joy and beauty of Middle Eastern and Brazilian dance through artistry, thoughtful innovation and quality classes.
“Bella Diva Dance is a female empowering experience. Whether it’s attending one of the classes that push you physically to try new and exciting movements with your body, or attending a show, BDD always does a great job. I would highly recommend the classes or the shows to everyone I know,” said Valley resident Kara Thomas.
Class structure is based on a Western format of beginning with a thorough warmup including isolations and stretching, and then moving on to clear movement breakdowns, drilling the basics, hands-on corrections and integrating movements through combinations, choreography and improvisational exercises. Above all else, Bella Diva Dance celebrates the joy, femininity and individual expression inherent in Middle Eastern & Brazilian dance. Classes are taught on a monthly series-based curriculum, either being four or five classes per month. New series start the first Tuesday and Thursday of each month.
Members of the Bella Diva Dance Performing Company regularly perform at private parties, birthday and bachelorette parties, weddings, and festivals, throughout the Denver metro area. “We love to get out in the community and perform. We get an incredible response from spectators who love the uniqueness of the performances,” said Brozna-Smith.
In addition to being the owner and founder of Bella Diva Dance, Brozna-Smith is currently on faculty at the University of Denver as an Adjunct Professor of Dance and Stage Movement in the Theatre Department and Lamont School of Music. The Lamont School of Music is widely recognized as a premier university music performance school with a long-standing tradition of excellence.
This September, Bella Diva Dance will be pioneering a kids dance program offering Children’s World Dance for children ages 7-12, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Also in September, Bella Diva Dance is bringing in Afro-Caribe dance founder Eulanda Shead Osagiede from London to conduct an Afro-Caribe Unleashed Dance Fitness workshop during the World Dance Workshop Weekend. Afro-Caribe dance is typically joyful and free-spirited, and is often performed to Caribbean, Jamaican, highlife, jazz or soul music. The workshop will be held on Sunday, September 14 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information on any workshops or classes, visit Bella Diva Dance’s website at belladivadance.com or call them at 303-359-9414.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
Ken Horwege is a legend in the local newspaper scene in the Cherry Creek Valley having started with the iconic Up the Creek newspaper in 1974, as one of publisher Stan Janiak’s first employees. Utilizing his skills learned as an Air Force captain in charge of public affairs he became the newspaper’s illustrator, photographer and column writer. In 1977 he shifted over to Southeast Denver Graphics where he has worked on dozens of publications from Rocky Mountain Christian to Colorado Country Music and for the last two decades on the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle as photographic and artwork enhancer.
A free spirit, Horwege has never married despite a lifetime of flings and at age 72 it does not look like will ever become the “marrying kind.” He has filled his free time with an incredible array of activities from being one of the state’s top clog dancers to attending conventions and historical re-enactments in full regalia. He has a room full of authentic uniforms and costumes which allows him to time travel from the American Revolution to World War II and out into space to Star Trek’s Klingon planet of Kronos.
Ken Horwege was born May 30, 1942, at Ft. Benning, Columbus, Georgia. Ken attended grade and high school in St. Francis, Kansas, graduating in May 1960. He attended college at the University of Kansas, graduating in May 1964 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Commercial Art degree.
At KU, he was in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps; he was named as a distinguished AFROTC Graduate, and commissioned as a second lieutenant, Air Force Reserve. In October 1968, he was assigned as a Public Affairs Officer at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. Ironically, this is the base where my dad, Paul Smiley, served from 1968 to 1972. Ken wrote the public relations operations plan for the base conversion from F-100 to F-111 aircraft operations.
Ken was honorably discharged from the Air Force in October, 1970. “I was too outspoken. I think I pissed off one too many colonels.” Upon his discharge, he moved to Colorado to become a ski bum. From 1971-74, Ken drove a taxi.
His many hobbies keep him fit and healthy. Into his eighth decade, Horwege doesn’t show any signs of stopping. He indicates he has never been sick a single full day in his entire adult life. “I have my annual medical check once a year and otherwise I don’t see a physician any other time during the year,” declares Horwege.
As far as retiring, he declares “You’ve got to be kidding. Retire to what. I love my life and I love working at Southeast Denver Graphics. I have never been a person who likes to sit still and do nothing. The only time I plan to stop working is when they put me six feet under the ground.”
Horwege became interested in dancing in 1979, when he won the dance contest at his 20th high school reuni 
on. After winning, he decided he needed more formal lessons to continue. He took classes at Colorado Free University. In 1983, Horwege joined the Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers, a group founded in February 1979. His first performance was that same year for the People’s Fair at East High School.
The Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers performs all across the country at festivals and private events, including conventions, weddings, and other gatherings. Routines vary from intricate four-person dances to spectacular six- and eight-person dances. Clogging is a type of folk dance in which the dancer’s footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm.
The group has performed at the People’s Fair, Taste of Colorado, and Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival, among others. Perhaps one of their most notable performances was at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 1991. They danced to the music of the original Dixie Chicks who had been playing together for just two years at the time. The band was formed in 1989 by Laura Lynch on upright bass, 
guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin.
In addition to performing with the cloggers, he is also part of the Denver and District Pipe Band, a group of musicians and dancers enjoying the music from Scotland, Ireland, and beyond.
Another interest for Horwege is dressing up in costumes. His favorite holiday since he was a kid is Halloween. He has always been fascinated with it. In 1985, Horwege met Rocky the Leprechaun in Telluride which inspired him to dress up as a leprechaun. Since 1982, Rocky (Brougham) has been the Luck Leprechaun at all Bronco home games and five Super Bowls.
Since his days as a unit historian in the Air Force, Horwege has been interested in old war uniforms. He dresses in full uniforms that date back to the American Revolutionary War, World War I, and World War II, to name a few. In fact, when he attends military balls and other individual vignettes, he corrects others who may not be completely authentic in their dress code. “If I see stripes on a uniform that are not accurate, I correct them,” said Horwege.
Horwege also enjoys dressing as a Klingon from the Star Trek series and attending conventions such as Comic-Con. The biggest thrill for Horwege has been meeting William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca from Star Wars), and David Prowse (Darth Vader from Star Wars). He would most like to meet Patrick Stewart someday, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek the Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the latest X-Men movies.
Horwege is an advocate for being social but you won’t find him connected to any social media platforms. He enjoys traveling and performing with his groups. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone and he likes it that way. His strongest advice is to stay fit, healthy, and active and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | Travel
Denver Botanic Gardens has presented the Rocky Mountain Region’s first major outdoor exhibition of artwork by celebrated American artist Dale Chihuly. The exhibition is on view at the York Street (1007 York Street in Denver) location until November 30, 2014. Informed by nature, each installation responds to surrounding plants, flowers and architecture.
The exhibit has gotten a mixed reception to date. The Denver Post managed to both condemn and praise the display in separate parts of the paper. In its “Ärts and Culture” section it blasted the exhibit as “invasive” and “fake” while over on its editorial page the paper hailed it as a “visual tour de force.”
Chihuly’s sculptures — ranging in size and style from small water floats to a 30-foot tower — have added bold colors to the Gardens’ 24-acre urban oasis. Site-specific sculpture installations are presented in 12 locations throughout the Gardens. A looping video features a comprehensive survey of his work and process. “I would say his work is pretty organic in nature and that would be the way he approaches things,” said Britt Cornett, the head of the exhibition.
Shop at the Gardens offers a retail gallery of original Chihuly works. No artwork will be on view at Mordecai Children’s Garden or the Chatfield site. “We are thrilled to welcome Chihuly to Denver Botanic Gardens,” says Brian Vogt, CEO of the Gardens. “This special opportunity brings an internationally recognized artist to the Denver metro area and the Rocky Mountain West. The iconic artwork enhances the Gardens’ living collection in a powerful, yet graceful way that is at once familiar and other-worldly.”
Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.
In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice, Italy. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. He lost an eye in an automobile accident in 1976 in England, and he now sports a rakish looking eye patch.
His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide and Chihuly is one of three living American artists to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris. Chihuly does have his critics some of whom claim his artistic repertoire tends to be rather limited in nature
The Denver Post Fine Arts Critic Ray Mark Rinaldi stated, “It’s hard to say why the garden would let an invasive species like Chihuly take over so completely. Why put fake flowers next to real ones? It’s tempting to connect it to the number of tickets it will sell, offering quick thrills over that thoughtful throughline that can make art and nature copacetic.” He was not through, “It’s all competition for the plants and flowers and disruptive to the paradise so many of us run to when we need to escape the urban clutter.” He went on to trash the new construction projects at the Gardens indicating that “greenery might be a better option.”
Apparently in fear of what city officials, Botanic Gardens administrators and Chihuly fans might say, The Post prepared a somewhat unique editorial underneath another editorial call for more gun control. In it the Editorial Board opined, “And take it from us.” [And apparently not from The Post’s Fine Arts critic.].”Far from being a distraction from the main core attractions . . . the Chihuly sculptures fit niftily into the landscape, often with stunning results.” The Editorial Board went on to fulsomely praise all the new construction projects on the premises.
The controversy should draw great crowds to the Botanical Gardens this summer and fall with folks wanting to see what the hubbub is all about and determining which side of the dispute they fall on.
The Denver Botanic Gardens’ summer hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Weekdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit their website at www.botanicgardens.org.
by Mark Smiley | May 27, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
A father in 
modern secular America has relatively few sacred duties, but there is one task he must perform. That obligation is taking his family on a hajj to one of the twin Meccas of material consumption, Disneyland and Disneyworld, before his children reach adolescence. Cost can be no impediment as it is your familial duty.
Eleanore, my almost three-year-old highly precocious child, had talked of little else since my wife, Gwen and I had tentatively broached the subject with her. She has seen every full-length Disney movie from the 1937 “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to the latest mega hit “Frozen,” with the latter viewed in whole or in part almost one hundred times. She is a card carrying member of the Mickey Mouse Club and has our television permanently set to the Disney Junior Channel. Any attempt to change the channel results in a caterwauling that curdles the blood of any nearby adult.
No, the only question was Disneyland or Disneyworld. After much deep thought and meditation Disneyland was chosen as we had lived for a time in the Inland Empire west of Los Angeles and had friends in the area.
Sunscreen. Check. Boarding passes. Check. Manual on how to take a toddler to Disneyland. Doesn’t exist.
I pre-purchased tickets to Disneyland. I packed little toys to surprise her with throughout the trip as to not spend a small fortune on them inside the park. I even purchased a photo package that allows for a download of all photos taken at the park by cast members.
We landed in Ontario, California. Having lived there for three years, we knew that early May would be a lovely time to visit. The temperatures would be in the 70s, the winds would be mild, and there would be fewer fellow sojourners circling the Kaaba of Disneyland, better known as Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. We got one of these right. At the time we landed, it was 98 degrees with the Santa Ana winds howling at 55 miles per hour. This was weather more befitting of the an-Nafud desert than Southern California. Moreover, there were fires in Rancho Cucamonga so the winds were blowing the smoke across the inland valley. The blowing dirt caused the sky to turn an ominous blood red. We felt we were less entering the Magic Kingdom and more descending into the rings of Dante’s Inferno.
We had rese
rvations at Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel on our first evening. The restaurant features character dining with characters such as Goofy, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, etc. Leading up to this dinner, my wife and I prepared our daughter to meet all the wonderful Disney characters in larger than life costumes. The food was expensive and just o.k., but you were really paying for the entertainment and not the cuisine.
As Goofy and Pluto approached our table to meet and greet Eleanore, she began to scream. “Help Mommy! The monsters from under my bed are here!! Please lock and load, Daddy. Quick.” I am not sure where she got the “lock and load” part but she was clearly terrified and wanted her parents to act decisively, if not murderously. We hurriedly left the restaurant with child in tow and escaped into the night with Eleanore slightly miffed that her parents had not permanently taken care of the “bed monsters” problem when the opportunity had presented itself.
The next day we prepared for our foray into the park. As the designated parental mule, Gwen loaded me up. First was the backpack with sunscreen, extra set of clothes for Eleanore, baby wipes, etc. Next came the cooler with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and iced downed water bottles. Finally, a foldable stroller and miscellaneous and sundry items were piled upon my shoulders until I reminded my wife of the allegory about the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Fully loaded down I began lugubriously marching toward the bus stop with Eleanore and my wife strongly urging that I pick up the pace. We proceeded to go curbside and wait for the bus. It was so crowded, that there wasn’t room for us on that bus so we had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. Luckily, I purchased bus tickets from the front desk and we would have an easy boarding process. Wrong. As that bus pulled up, I searched for the tickets I had purchased over one hour ago and couldn’t find them. I unloaded all of my burdens and ran up to the 9th floor of our hotel and searched the room to no avail. A call from my wife to my mobile phone made me realize that I had run out of time. We now had to drive to make it on time for the opening of the gates at the park. As I entered the car my wife ominously held one finger and from the passenger seat intoned: “Strike One.”
As the day clipped along, things appeared to be going well even as the temperature climbed to three figures. As anticipated the lines were less than other times of the year and Eleanore appeared to be having a wonderful time. A series of Disney characters were coming down the street. I decided that we had to get Eleanore over her strong phobia about costumed Disney characters. Carrying my daughter in my arms I walked directly up to a large and almost ferocious looking Pluto who she quickly made friends with. I did feel sorry for the poor teenager working for a little more than minimum wage inside a rubber costume in which the temperature can climb to over 120 degrees. The employees must put this modern Iron Maiden on eight times per day. They are in costume 30 minutes of every working hour. I had to wonder myself whether Dick Cheney and the CIA might have considered this routine as a possible enhanced interrogation technique in lieu of the more prosaic waterboarding.
We visited numerous fun exhibits and rides including Dumbo the Flying Elephan
t over the next couple of hours and then decided to take a break resting under a shaded tree with Eleanore falling asleep in the stroller. I thought this would be the perfect time to indulge my inner adolescent and skip over to Space Mountain and ride one of my favorite roller coasters. I told my wife I had to accomplish an unspecified important task but would be back momentarily. Unfortunately, numerous other dads apparently had a similar idea and I waited over 40 minutes to get on the ride. I waited, rode the ride, looked at the picture of myself screaming on the ride, and returned to New Orleans Square to reunite with my family. As I walked over with a smile from ear to ear, I began to wonder what would happen if they weren’t still there. The smile turned into a concentrated look and my walk became more brisk. As I arrived at the spot where I left my family, I came across a beautiful woman with her child. The only trouble is, it wasn’t my family.
I literally didn’t know wh
at to do. I reached in my pocket for my cell phone to try to call Gwen only to realize I had left my cell in the backpack. In a panic I found a Disney employee who was kind enough to lend me his cell phone. I then remembered that I hadn’t committed Gwen’s cell phone number to memory and just pushed a speed dial letter when I wanted to call her. I hiked over to the human lost and found section of the park. There was a room for children who had lost their parents or other adult supervision and a room for parents, et al, looking for their kids. There was, however, no place for a lost adult like myself. I stumbled back into the park in a daze. In a fit of desperation I headed over to Tomorrowland where we had planned to visit at some point and in a minor miracle located them awaiting the Astro Orbitor ride. I was overjoyed. Gwen’s words of greeting were simply: “Strike Two.”
After finishing an otherwise enjoyable trip around Tomorrowland including riding the popular Autopia car ride, it is almost time to leave. But, we decided to visit Downtown Disney, just outside the main gate before heading into the parking lot. As we passed by the extraordinary Lego Store, my wife insisted I pose for a picture with the enormous “Beauty and the Beast” Lego display just outside the store. Exhausted by this time I put my arm to rest on the Beast over the short guard ra
il undoubtedly put there to prevent exhausted dads from leaning on the artwork. Too tired to care I leaned in with my full weight and found out to my horror that it was a genuine Lego sculpture that had not been glued together. As a part of the Beast’s arm began to crumble the Smiley family hot-footed it toward the parking garage.
We hit the exit at full stride, afraid to look back to see whether Lego personnel were trying to track down the man who had trashed the Beast sculpture. Being an ever prudent dad I had written down where we had parked — “Donald 5.” But thousands of cars had come after us and Donald 5 now encompassed an enormous field of automobiles. The non-descript Japanese white four-door rental car looked like thousands of other automobiles. The rental cars beeper on the key chain worked only if you where within a dozen feet of the automobile. Leaving mother and child in the middle of the garage, I walked up and down the endless rows and rows of cars in Donald 5 relentlessly pushing on the key chain until after 30 minutes I finally heard a blessed “Beep, Beep.”
As we left Disneyland and hit a traffic filled Los Angeles area streets my wife put everything in perspective. “Look Mark, Eleanore is not quite three-years-old. Humans have no permanent memories of events much before their fourth birthday. Eleanore will never remember how you totally flummoxed up her first trip to Disneyland. Of course I might. Just saying — Strike Three.” She then commenced the official and dreaded “silent treatment.’’
As I was feeling at the lowe
st level of the entire trip, Eleanore broke the long conjugal silence declaring “I had a great time, Daddy” and gave me a big toddler smile. It was now all worth it. No matter what the ups and downs are, there is nothing like taking your child to Disneyland.
