Category Archives: Travel

Family, Photo-A-Day, Travel

Expert Traveler Kids


Photo-A-Day #2988

Less than twelve hours after graduation Allison, Eva, Andrew and I were on a plane headed down to visit Mimi and Dano for a vacation. As a family we have really hit our stride on air travel preparedness. We wee all up and out of the house by 5:15am and at our gate by 6:30am. The kids slept in their travel clothes, something light for sleeping but substantial enough to wear on the plane. I dropped everyone at the outdoor check in area with the bags and then parked the car. It took me a couple of minutes to get into the terminal. Allison and the kids were already inside and ready to roll. We flew through security so quickly that the TSA looked at us and said that we were really organized.

The flight wasn’t too bad. Andrew and Eva were pretty good on the flight. Andrew had a little meltdown towards the end and so did Eva. I think it was mostly the being over tired plus the ear pressure thing. Some time with the iPad and with some crayons and coloring pages helped them out.

We arrived at Mimi and Dano’s. We stopped at Sonic first for our lunch and then some playtime and off to the pool. Both of the kids were little fish in the pool. Andrew spent most of the time climbing in and out of the pool. Eva did a lot of jumping and playing with the noodles. Then Dano came home and made us some barbecue chicken. We had a nice meal and then time for the kids to bed down for the night. Time to get some sleep.

Disney, Movie, Travel

A Chat with Monsters University Director, Dan Scanlon at the #MonstersUEvent

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I was sent to California to visit the Pixar Animation Studios. Flight, Hotel and meals were provided. Opinions of the events that I attended, people I met and things I saw are 100% my own.

Monsters University Director, Dan Scanlon
Monsters University Director, Dan Scanlon talks with press at Monsters University Long Lead Press Days. Pixar Animation Studios. Emeryville, California. April 9, 2013 (Photo by Jessica Brandi Lifland/Pixar)

When I was at the MonstersUEvent back on my birthday in April I had the unique pleasure to talk with the director of Monsters University (Which arrives in Theaters June, 21 2013), Dan Scanlon. I was involved in a round table discussion with the other bloggers the day after screening 40 minutes of Monsters University, but I spoke one on one with Dan directly after seeing the movie. I was at the reception for the press after seeing Monsters University and Dan was talking with some people but then they moved on and he was all alone for a moment so I figured what the heck, I’ll go and talk with him.

Dan was a very personable guy. I had to ask him the burning question that I think most people who are fans of Monsters Inc wanted to ask. “What about the 4th grade thing?”. If you are unaware, in Monsters University Mike says to Sulley, “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the 4th grade.” Yet, in Monsters University Mike and Sulley’s first meeting is in college. That bit of continuity was scrapped in favor of making a better story. If they were to stay true to the continuity then they would have had to make Monsters Elementary and that would not have been the stronger story. Essentially think of that line as something that establishes that these two guys have been good friends for a long time.

We also talked about scouting colleges to create the overall look of Monsters University. To me it has the feel of a New England type campus but that may just be my own personal bias since I went to school on a beautiful campus in New Hampshire. I asked is Dan’s own college experiences helped shape the film in any way. Dan went to an art college and his experience was different than that of the students at Monsters University. I thanked Dan and told him that I was really looking forward to seeing the rest of the movie when it comes out in June. Continue reading A Chat with Monsters University Director, Dan Scanlon at the #MonstersUEvent →