Magic Castle Children's Day

Sunday, December 07, 2008

It's becoming somewhat of a tradition that every year Robin takes his local nieces and nephews to the Magic Castle on Children's Day.

This year, Aunt Vicky got to go too!

Our number appears to be dwindling. There was a time not that long ago when four kids would accompany Robin to the Castle. We're now down to two. (Yikes! Does that mean *they're* getting old -- or WE are?!? :-O)

My first picture above is our two charges -- Emily and Ryan -- waiting patiently in the front room of the Close-Up Gallery for the show to start. The magician had just gifted Emily with the lovely heart-shaped balloon.

Click any picture to see it bigger.

This next shot I grabbed in the Hat & Hare room down in the basement -- against the rules, mind you, since no one is supposed to take pictures inside the Magic Castle. But I knew Magic Steve wouldn't mind, so I risked it!

Emily is working hard as the magician's beautiful assistant.

Last but not least, the Magic Castle featured Santa in the Blackstone Room, so we decided to grab a family picture to commemorate the day.



I wish I could show you the magnificent orange parrot balloon animal that Denis Forel made for Emily precisely to her specifications, but it suffered irreversible damage before I could get the camera on it. Ballon animal artistry is such a fatally transient art, sigh.

Here's some film showing Magic Steve working with Emily (6 minutes long):
Ryan's off to the side, mostly in the dark. (And yes, Emily is wearing heels!)



And here's Magic Ian with Ryan at his table (5 minutes long):
Be sure to listen for Emily telling the magician that Ryan is 12 years old.



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2008 Halloween Report

Monday, November 03, 2008

This year's Halloween was absolutely the scariest, most horrific, ghoulish Halloween I've ever had!

I was spooked by one of the worst monsters ever: the blue screen of DEATH!

Boo!

Now, you've got to admit: that's scary!

Bwahahahhahahaha!

I confess I'm still recovering from the fright. Still sorting out what that monster destroyed. Grrrrr!

The rest of Halloween was pretty fun, actually. Click on any of the images to see them a little bigger.

We got our decorations up in plenty of time for once, so we displayed a festive Halloween theme.

Trust me, it looks much better at night. The glass bricks had an orange glow, of course the jack-o-lanterns were lit from within, and I have little orange LED lights wrapped around the bars. It's hard to see, but each little step has its own light, which I covered with orange gel. I even drew little spider webs on each one, complete with a dangling spider, using a black Sharpie pen. Hand drawn!

I especially liked our little touches, such as the bugs crawling around on the house number, and the crime scene tape stretched across the front gate.

Our front door featured bloody hands, which looked delightfully creepy at night when lit from behind. (It really suited Robin's tastes!)

Unfortunately, one of them kept falling off. You know, there's nothing quite as annoying as having your bloody hand keep falling off.

(I confess: even though I've taken them down now, handprint shadows remain on the frosted glass. Windex doesn't seem to faze them. Got any suggestions for cleaning them off???)

We got so into the Halloween theme that even our flamingo was garbed in a witchy costume!

Eat your heart out, all you ghosts and goblins. Flamingos rule!

Now let's talk about the good stuff -- costumes! Yayyyyyy!

Robin recycled the Halloween costume he wore last year since he liked it so much. He's really into the magic thing. Me -- I did something a little different. I was disguised as a peacock!

We attended the Halloween party at our favorite clubhouse, the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

When I arrived, I learned something about my costume. It's funny -- anywhere else in the world, I would be simply a peacock. But in Hollywood, I was THE famous NBC Peacock!

One guy came up to me and did a big double-take. Then he exclaimed, "Whoa! You look really different on TV!" Then he did another double-take like he just couldn't take it in. He was hilarious.

Did I mention that my costume was convertible? Check it out!

To top the evening off, Robin and I were both finalists in the Best Costume competition for the category of "Most Mystical Costume." That took us both by surprise! (Robin was secretly thrilled.)

I hope your Halloween was as fun as ours.

Trick or treat!

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Raging Waters

Monday, June 30, 2008

A couple years ago Robin took the McPeters kids (his nieces and nephews) to a California water park called Raging Waters for the day.

Everybody had such a great time we decided to do it again.

We didn't get it on the calendar last year, but I was pushy this year. So last Monday was the day!

Normally I'm a stick in the mud about these things. I didn't even go with them the first time! But I joined them for this outing -- and I went on nearly EVERY ride! Yayyy!

The older kids seemed impressed. (Robin was astonished.)

We had a blast.

The irony is that I went to Raging Waters for my 30th birthday, because I wanted to prove I wasn't over the hill yet. And.... I didn't ride a single ride. I'm not sure I even got wet! It was a miserable experience. (I *did* feel like I was over the hill.)

I guess it took a couple more decades for me to become mature enough to enjoy myself.

Go figure!

I have 13 more shots in a little slide show here. You don't have to sign in or sign up or any of that business. Just click the yellow button that says "View Slideshow." When the picture comes up, be sure to click "play" in the upper right-hand corner.

Enjoy!

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Beebe Conference

Thursday, May 22, 2008


We're having a great time! Wish you were here.

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Chippendales

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Yesterday was very busy for me. My husband is in Las Vegas attending an IBM Conference at the Rio, and I got to be his "camp follower" for the week. So I have been doing my coaching calls from the hotel room, and going out and working on other projects alongside the pool (life is soooo hard!). In the evenings, I do the "corporate wife" act, and socialize with other IBMers.

So yesterday I went down to the pool, and they had shut down one end of the pool area and were building a little stage. After a bit, they announced over the speakers that they wanted all the *ladies* to come sit on the blocked-off side of the pool -- they were having a "fashion show" with the Chippendales dancers modeling swimwear.

It turned out they were taping an episode for "Entertainment Tonight." So I wandered over there and sat with "the girls," and when the emcee encouraged us to clap and scream, I did!

It's scheduled to air next Thursday night [May 15th]. Look for me in the verrrry modest navy blue one-piece corporate wife swimsuit (see pic below), with a bright blue polka-dotted towel under my feet. IF I even appear in the final segment, that is.

Whatta hoot!

Geez my life is just hilarious sometimes.

PS: Yes, my eyes are closed in the picture. I just think the sun got too bright while I was waiting for Ingrid to take the shot, but you can tell yourself I'm fantasizing about the guy if it amuses you.

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You Tube?!?

OMG! Robin's on YouTube!

For those of you who keep wondering what Robin actually does for a living, here's a taste. (You get a gold star if you sit all the way through it! :-P)

Robin on YouTube

Enjoy!

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