Monthly Archives: November 2016

Family, Food, Photo-A-Day, Vlog

Happy Thanksgiving – So Much to Be Thankful For

Family Christmas PJs
Photo-A-Day #4244

We headed down to Cape Cod for Thanksgiving. This was after we had some special turkey donuts from Honey Dew in the morning. I went over to the shop and they didn’t have the donuts ready. Luckily I only wanted one so they made one up for me right away. That Honey Dew is my favorite. They are always good to me there.

There were hardly any other cars on the road. We sailed right to the house and unpacked for a nice day. The kids brought along their art cases and did a ton of drawing. Andrew got me, Allison, Memere, Grandfather, Uncle Howard and Grandpa Rick to color and draw with him. He was a drawing machine today. Eva was focused on reading the Moana novel. She loved that book. I’m pretty sure that she’ll be finished by tomorrow. She reads so quickly.

The kids were also little performers throughout the day. They did Thanksgiving songs, danced and made up a little play. I am very thankful that they get along so well. You can see a little of that in today’s vlog.

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Disney, Movie

Moana is Out in Theaters Now

Moana in Theaters Now

On Monday the whole family was treated to an advanced screening of Disney’s Moana. This is a beautiful film that was both funny and amazing. The music was some of the best I have heard in a long while. We ended up listening to the Moana Spotify station non-stop since we saw the movie. Songs have been stuck in our heads and smiles on our faces remembering that movie.

Moana as a character is fantastic. She is strong, determined and is searching for her place in the world. She is drawn to the ocean against the wishes of her father. Despite her love for her family she disobeys her father and journeys the open ocean. It is her strong love for her family and her connection to her people that she does this. She is on a journey of self discovery and it will take all of her courage and determination to succeed.

A major part of the movie was about wayfinding. Wayfinding is Polynesian navigation that has been used for thousands of years to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. I learned about this during the Summer when I visited the Hokulea when it sailed into Woods Hole. The ships in Moana look very much like the Hokulea. Seeing Moana learn how to to sail was inspiring.

The movie was also very funny. We loved Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui. He had some great lines in the movie. From the trailer you see him jump into a deep hole and a few minutes later yells “I’m Still Falling!” On our way home from the movie we said that it looked like Andrew was falling asleep. His eyes were closed and he looked asleep, but he pops open one eye and says, “I’m still falling.” Even funnier after having seen the movie.

The water was a character in the movie, too. You can see some more funny moments with water in the featurette below.

Behind The Scenes of MOANA – “Working With Water”:

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