Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Namaste ~ William

Roommate Wanted in Edmonton , Alberta

http://web.me.com/williamanddavid/Roommate_Wanted/Welcome.html

A wonderful friend in Edmonton is looking for a new roommate. Please check this out 🙂 ~ Namaste ~ william

Plugging away on the yard work

This weekend was a good start to the outdoor work around the house. We did a bit of transplanting and got the gardens ready to plant the annuals. I worked away at sanding our deck , almost ready to stain and set up the new gazebo. My son gave the gnomes a bath and set them out in the yard. He teased saying we should set up cameras to see what they are up to at night when we’re sleeping hehe 🙂
People usually have a love / hate relationship with garden gnomes , but hey they can be fun, we thought it would be cool to take them out on a few of our little day trips in the summer and take some fun photos 🙂
We have a pile of family and friends coming to visit this summer from all over North America so I am trying my best to get all the projects around the house finished up on time. Of course a little time out here and there for hockey playoffs and twitter is a must but I am sure everything will get done.
Handyman app by Wowzer Software has been a great tool for planning and shopping for little Reno jobs around the house. I hope they come out with an iPad version one day. The budget is great although I did go a wee bit over ; oops 🙂
A very productive weekend for the most part and it ended with a huge smile as the Vancouver Canucks won game one of their series tonight ! Looks like the Sedins are in this round full bore 🙂
Go Canucks !
Have a wonderful week ahead – best wishes and thanks for stopping by – William

Flipboard for the iPad

Flipboard
The of my newer apps and one of my favorites. Flipboard is so simple to use and a gorgeous way to view things 🙂 The content is very customizable to suit your style. I love checking out flickr photographs and you are able to comment & favorite within the app which saves time. the same thing goes for sites like twitter.
Be sure to give it a try 🙂
Flipboard on Twitter
I spent the afternoon working on my deck. Sanding and getting ready to restain. I adore the smell of cedar and the breeze today helped to keep the dust down to a minimum. It will be great to get the outside work done and the BBQ back into action. I’ve been moving a few shrubs around and getting the gardens ready to go. Probably do the planting on the upcoming long weekend.
My son is looking forward to fishing season which is right around the corner as well as a few camping trips. Should be a fun summer ! I hope everyone else has some cool plans for the summer. Best wishes – William
Will have to look at some of these new cooking apps and try some cool new recipes , if your have a great summertime dish , feel free to share 🙂

Pictures from Disneyland & Legoland

Mobile me gallery

These are unedited, it’s a work in progress :))) hope you enjoy !
Thank you for stopping by – Namaste – William

Home sweet home …

Well , it’s nice to be back 🙂 It was an amazing trip filled with fun and adventure but in the end it’s always nice to get back and unwind. The unpacking complete, laundry , catching up on mail, dreading the bills to come … Hehe
I’ve uploaded all the pictures and video, ready for editing , well.. Almost… I did hit one little snag. It’s this cute little camcorder I picked up from Sony (DCR-SX43) , it seemed just perfect at the time, it uses an SD card to record and according to the box it works with iMovie … Unfortunately I am still trying to figure this one out. I’ve tried iMovie on my iPad, iPhone, Mac and to no avail. So off to the Sony website I went in search of clues… Sorry this software does not support OSX ! You have to be kidding ! Ok, I’ll try a few other sites such as the discussion forums at Apple.com, well, I found more people searching for the same answers…
If anyone knows how I can somehow convert the files so I can download my eight GB of video it would be hugely appreciated and I will be sure to pass on the advice to the other people faced with this problem.
My son & I were somewhat overloaded with gadgets on this trip ; 2 cameras, an iPad , iPhone , iPod , Nintendo DSi & the Camcorder , it was fun watching the people at customs marvel at the xray screen when our carry on went through. The funniest part was that the one thing that baffled each one of them was the novel my son had with him, I guess it looks like a big solid blob in the xray 🙂 the only pain with all these little gadgets is all the power cords and accessories that have to come along for the ride …
While we were away, a friend had a little baby girl (Congrats Ruby , welcome to this wonderful adventure called life ! 🙂 ) I couldn’t resist picking up a little Minnie Mouse outfit at Disney for her, I hope they like it.
My son’s first day back at school consisted of a Science field trip, kind of a cool way to get back into the swing of things. He’s doing so well at school, I am a very proud & lucky parent. Being a single parent has had it’s fair share of ups and downs but I wouldn’t give it up for anything .
On the trip back David was all ready talking about what we should do next year, and yes , you guessed it : Disney World in Florida ! Personally my preference would be exploring Castles in the UK, or a West Coast outdoor adventure involving kayaks, whales , mountains and massive old growth trees , but I think that should probably wait until he’s a bit older. David is 11 and right now it’s all about roller coasters , Harry Potter & Pirates 🙂
The great part about going to Florida , is that we have a place to stay and friends to visit along the way. We have an Aunt & Uncle who spend the winters in St. Petersburg and the summers up here in Canada. It’s a nice central location for exploring the state.
Now that we are back and I’ve completed my basement renovation, it’s time to hit the garden and get to work on the other outside work that needs to be done. This weekend we are going to refinish our deck and put together a gazebo. It will be nice to get the yard cleaned up and the garage emptied out, hey , I will be actually able to park my car in there again hehe…
I hope everyone’s spring is going well , I should get going on some sleep , work comes early …
Nite all , thanks so much for stopping by
– Namaste – William

A day at Legoland

We spent a leisurely Sunday at Legoland in San Diego, California. I probably took more pictures there than any other place. It’s amazing what they can create with those little blocks ! My son’s big favorite was the new Star Wars exhibits, there is so much detail to everything.
There is a few cool rides for older children but for the most part the park is geared towards younger children. We had plenty of fun just the same. There is a very cool water park at Legoland but the hours were short (10-5) and there weather was not the best for swimming.
We stayed at the newly renovated Sheraton hotel right next to the park. It is a very modern and gorgeous hotel and Spa. David spent most of the evening in the heated pool and jaccuzi.
San Diego has so much to offer people looking for fun and fabulous food. Next time I would prefer spending a couple of days here. A car is a big plus as everything is somewhat spread out.

Legoland
SeaWorld
San Diego

Disney Vacation continued …

Today was spent at Disney’s California Adventure. We had such a blast with the shows and attractions. There are quite a few new ones under construction at the moment so next year the place will almost double in size it seems. We’ll have to come back and check it out again 🙂
I took quite a few pictures and video footage using the iPhone and a Sony camcorder. (my digital camera is broken but I am going to try and fix it for the trip to Legoland tomorrow)
One problem I encountered was, although I took the time to get the iPad all set up for our trip, I did not test the camera kit (SD card reader & camera connector) oops, apparently the camcorder doesn’t work with this version of iMovie & my USB cable for the camera is no where to be found. Oh well, these small problems are fixable as soon as we get home.
The World of Color debuted at Disney tonight, a fantastic mix of fountains, lights, lasers, video and fire all combining to make an incredible show. It was really amazing to watch. If you have a chance , book a fast pass really early to try and get in the blue section with the best views.
The main Disney park closed earlier today for a premiere of the new Pirates of the Caribbean show they have made, it is to officially open later this month.
My son has become completely hooked on roller coasters and can’t wait to try the one in West Edmonton Mall when we get home. Until now it freaked him out seeing people go upside down numerous times at crazy speeds 🙂
All in all, an amazing day ! I had better get my butt to bed , we are off to San Diego in the morning to check out the new LegoLand !
Best wishes and have a peaceful Mother’s Day tomorrow, be sure to spoil her if you can or call and send your love if you can’t . Mom’s are incredible and deserve all the best
– Namaste – William
P.s. So sorry to hear about the Canucks loosing tonight , we were cheering them on from afar and I was getting a million compliments on the Canucks jersey today 🙂 and a special thank you to my wonderful friend who kept me posted on the game !

A day at Disneyland , California

The day is winding down here at Disney. The place is packed solid this friday night and everyone is talking about the big premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean that takes place here tomorrow evening.
It’s been a fantastic adventure so far, we’ve done every major ride that is open , watched a cool show, parade, etc. The line ups in the morning were not bad at all which was a pleasant surprise. The afternoon became much busier yet the longest line up we’ve hit was space mountain which was 45 minutes.
There sure is a lot to do for all ages here. My son whom is 11 & myself are here with my sister & here 2 year old son as well a Grandma. We’ve all been busy and have had a lot of fun.
The fireworks are about to start and the street is filling up. The place is really magical at night 🙂
We’ve been trying out the camera on the iPad and I am going to give the movie camera a try for the fireworks. We’ll see how the shots turn out. Tomorrow I am bringing my digital camera with me to take some better shots and hopefully catch some nice ones of the premiere.
One thing I like about these theme parks is the all inclusive tickets. One pass works for both parks and all your rides. This is a nice change from the amusement parks and carnivals we’ve been to in canada. It seems we are always running to buy more tickets for rides and games or paying extra for the cool rides…
We did a bit of shopping at the main street located in between the two parks. There are some really cool shops and restaurants. I’ll be sure to post some links and pics of the whole adventure once we return.
It’s almost fireworks time , have a great weekend people and thank you so much for dropping by !
Namaste from Disney – William

Canucks fans on the road :)

I'll be sure to be wearing this in Disneyland this week , Go Canucks !