Tigard Orenomah DeMolay

Last Friday night, Tigard DeMolay had a fun night at Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center in Wilsonville. The kids rode go-karts and bumper boats, played lazer tag and mini-golf, and had a pizza feed.

Last night, Bryan's term as Master Councilor of Tigard DeMolay ended and he installed a new MC to run the chapter for the next six months.

Jennifer was installed as Chapter Sweetheart.

Grand Court

  

On the first Tuesday of this month, Tigard DeMolay voted in five new members.

Last Saturday, we headed down to Salem with a bunch of DeMolay and Job's Daughters for the annual DJR Statewide Installation. Bryan lead the DeMolay in an initiation of 15 new members, while Jennifer was 5th Messenger for the Grand Bethel. After the degrees, the kids joined other Bethels, Chapters, and Assemblies for a dance and talent show.

This weekend we traveled to Canyonville for the Order of the Amaranth's annual session, called Grand Court. Bryan performed the flower talk at Opening, and gave remarks as State Master Councilor of Oregon DeMolay.

He attended the formal banquet on Friday night, and sat with the heads of other Masonic Bodies in the State at the installation on Saturday night. When we weren’t attending formal functions, we enjoyed swimming in the pool and visiting with friends.

Sleepover

The end of February has been busy, mostly filled with DeMolay activities. The Tuesday night after we got back from Disneyland we attended a pizza fundraiser for Tigard DeMolay, and Thursday was Milwaukie Chapter's formal meeting. I also attended a Official Visit of the Grand Master to a Portland Lodge.

Last Saturday we prepared for the DeMolay State Council Dinner & Dance, while the boys trying to get State Offices next term were interviewed by the State Dad and some Past SMC's. Last Tuesday Bryan and I attended the meeting of Mount Hood Chapter in Portland.

This Saturday Bryan and I headed down to North Bend so Bryan could serve as Installing Officer for Tioga Chapter. We returned to a house full of girls, as Susan and Jennifer were hosting a Bethel sleepover.

The girls decided to pull a prank on the GBHQ.

Last Day

Friday was our last day at the Disneyland Resort. We got up and checked out of our room, then walked around Downtown Disney and the Parks, mostly trading vinylmations, but I did talk the family into riding the Fun Wheel in California Adventure, so we could see the progress on Carsland.

In the evening, we walked through the elecTRONica area in California Adventure, then headed north.

Southern Californian friends

As a kid, I always enjoyed going into the preview gallery in Disneyland to see what might be coming to the park. Recently they added a "Blue Sky Cellar" to California Adventure to show the ongoing changes, in the area that used to hold the wine movie. Above is a picture of the new Carsland from the patio outside the preview center.

Wednesday night Bryan and I visited Excelsior Chapter in Norwalk.

Yesterday we were joined at the resort by friends from Temecula. We watched the new show projected onto Small World. It was pretty good, although of course nowhere near as impressive as Fantasmic! or World of Color.

California Adventure

A nice feature of the new wing of the Grand California is the observation deck. From it you can get pretty nice views of California Adventure, although mostly of the Paradise Pier area. Here is a shot that shows the new Little Mermaid ride building in the foreground, and the Carsland mountains in the back.

Two of the restaurants of Paradise Pier are being completely redone.

Tuesday night, Bryan and I went to a DeMolay meeting in Yorba Linda. Afterwards we went with the Chapter to ice cream, and Bryan visited with the Region 8 Cabinet Member.

Disneyland

On Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and headed south to California. After a stopover for the night, we arrived at the Disneyland Resort, where we checked into the Grand Californian Hotel. Our one bedroom villa had a park view, but it was on the second floor and partly obscured by trees.

We headed into parks, catching a viewing of Fantasmic! at Disneyland then checking out the Electronica stuff in the Hollywood Backlot area of California Adventure.

This morning we headed into California Adventure and picked up some Fastpasses for World of Color, the new nighttime show in Paradise Pier. There's lots of work going on in this park. The revision to the swing ride is pretty nice. It used to be surrounded by a structure, and removing that makes it a lot more fun.

It also makes for better views of the park, including parts that are currently being remodeled. This shot, showing an area near the Grand California being redone, was taken from the Zephyr ride. In the afternoon we headed into Disneyland.

After dinner, we watched World of Color, which uses multicolored fountains along with fire effects and mist screen protections. It was really good.