Balderramas in California 2024: Day 2 – Disneyland!

Romey

The day is finally here: Disneyland! After reading books, watching YouTube videos, and researching tips, we set up a game plan to open the park at “rope drop” to get the shortest line to the most popular rides. We’d head home around lunchtime to eat at the hotel and rest, then have an earlier dinner and return to the park until close.

The girls had no trouble waking up early this morning, and we quickly ate a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, fruit, and cereal before heading to the park. Our hotel was a 20-minute walk; we made it about 15 minutes before they opened.

Before we go further, I must confess that I’m not a big fan of roller coasters and crazy rides. However, my girls were anxious to try everything out, so this week, I set aside those fears and put my love for my daughters in its place. I didn’t mind the rides after all, and I always marvel at how parenting can cause us to set aside our fears for our kids.

We made a mad dash to Space Mountain and managed to get through the line in about 20 minutes. I wasn’t too worried about Clara on the ride, but I was curious about what Mariana would think. After the ride, she said she wasn’t sure whether she was laughing or crying, but ultimately, she loved it and said it was her favorite ride (albeit after one ride).

Our next ride was Autopia, the little cars. Mariana brushed up against the 54″ height limit, barely clearing the ability to drive on her own. While she was excited to get her driver’s license, in hindsight, driving alone was a mistake. She didn’t realize how hard it would be to press the pedal and steer simultaneously, and her car ride was just 5 minutes of pure frustration while I was trying to talk her through it without rear-ending her. It remained her least-favorite ride of the day.

Our next ride was Jungle Cruise, which the girls found very entertaining. We then stopped and enjoyed a Strawberry Croissant and Macaroon from the Jolly Holiday Bakery. At this point, the lines started getting long at most places, and we started chasing the shortest line. This brought us to the Storybook Land Canal boat ride. I showed the girls a photo we took in 2017 and asked them to re-enact it, but they weren’t very cooperative.

We didn’t get our boat fix on Storybook Land, so we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. Mariana was apprehensive about the ride and didn’t like the first drops. However, when they got off, they both exclaimed that it was their new favorite ride. They loved all of the animatronics and were looking for Jack Sparrow.

We then had an appointment at Droid Depot for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The design is astonishingly detailed.

In the Droid Depot, you can build your own Star Wars Droid. I discussed this with the girls over the last week and gave them both the option to do it. The experience lived up to the hype, and the girls had a blast building them. They come with a remote control that moves their head, makes noise, and then rolls them around.

We returned to the hotel for lunch and a rest. We then had an early dinner at Ballast Point in Downtown Disney and returned to the park for the night. Our first ride was Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which had a cool queue/line area that entertained us for the 30-minute wait.

I then convinced the girls to go on It’s A Small World, and they loved trying to identify the different countries and princesses.

After tracking the wait times, we saw that Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, arguably the most popular ride in Disneyland, had just reopened after breaking down. We hustled back to Galaxy’s Edge and got on the ride within 30 minutes. The girls loved the ride’s realism and the story’s experience.

We stayed in Galaxy’s Edge and did Smuggler’s Run. The girls loved being able to pilot the ship. The ride broke down while they were on it, spurning many “you crashed the ship” jokes.

The night was starting to wind down, but the girls wanted to ride Pirates of the Caribbean one last time before we left. We arrived at the hotel around 10:30 p.m. Overall, we had a great first day and were excited to return on Thursday. Next stop, Disney California Adventure!

Here are some more photos of our awesome day!

Balderramas in California 2024: Day 1 – Beach Day

Romey

The girls and I visited California this week to soak in some sun, Disney magic, and family fun. This is the second time the girls and I have been to California, taking roughly the same trip seven years ago, back when Clara was 4, and Mariana was 18 months. Now that they can make memories, we set out to revisit these places and create some new ones.

We woke up at 3 a.m. on Monday, boarded an airport shuttle, and flew out of DIA at 6:45 a.m. The prices on early-morning flights always seem great until the morning you have to wake up and get to the airport. However, our excitement was a good substitute for our fatigue, and the girls were in good spirits.

We landed at LAX, piled into the rental car, and drove to San Clemente. Over twenty years ago, my good friend Pegge showed me this beautiful pier with this excellent Fisherman’s restaurant with an adjoining bar serving fantastic seafood. I’ve shown it to my friends, sister, and brother-in-law, and I showed it to my kids during our 2017 trip.

We are an amazing lunch of fisherman’s chowder, steamed mussels, calamari, oysters on the half shell, and sourdough bread. I love that the girls are so willing to try new things.

After our filling lunch, we walked up and down the pier, then spent the early afternoon playing in the ocean.

We left San Clemente and stopped at Trader Joe’s to get our breakfast and lunch foods, then rolled into Anaheim, checked into our hotel, returned the rental car, and laid low for the night. The silver lining of being beyond tired from the early morning was that it made an early bedtime easy. We set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. and were out before 8:30 p.m., ready to tackle Disneyland in the morning.

Extra pictures from our day are below:

Photographing FoCoMX 2024

Photographing FoCoMX 2024

Romey

Last month, I brought my new Sony A7iv to FoCoMX, the best music festival in Fort Collins. It had been a while since I could photograph bands, and I looked forward to photographing some of my favorite bands.

Common for Colorado, the springtime weather was unpredictable, and Mother Nature brought cold, rain, and snow for the festival. Outdoor performers had to endure the cold, wind, and elements, while the indoor venues all had long lines due to spectators fleeing the weather. When I shot FoCoMX in 2019, it was relatively easy to pop in and out of venues to snap pictures. The long lines and big crowds made it much more difficult this time, and I only managed to capture 6 bands across the two days. Despite all of those challenges, I am happy with the outcome.

Alexa Wildish at Magic Rat

I ventured into the Magic Rat to snap a few pictures of Alexa Wildish. As much as I loved the lighting and stage, the crowded room made it hard to get close enough to take pictures, so I quickly ejected. I look forward to catching her another time.

The 14ers at Equinox Outdoor Patio

The weather cleared enough for me to join friends at the Equinox Outdoor Patio to see The 14ers. I wanted to snap some pictures of their drummer, Clark. The band was playing in a garage, which made for interesting lighting for everyone in the back.

The Waido Experience at Salt Road Brewing

In addition to seeing The Waido Experience, I also got to scout Salt Road Brewing, where my band, Heart Medicine, played the next day. The large garage door cast a large back-fill light against the performers. While not ideal, especially from my angle, I still managed to get some fun shots.

T-Mule vs Nic Clark at Wolverine Publik Farm

T-Mule vs. Nic Clark is one of the few bands I shot back in 2023. They’re a great group of guys; catching their shows is always fun.

Venture Still at Illegal Pete’s

Whether on the patio or in the upstairs bar, I always wish Illegal Pete’s featured more live music. Venture Still rocked that indoor stage while rain fell a few feet away.

Wrenn & Ian with Libelula

These amazing musicians braved the cold to play an outdoor set on the Old Town Stage. Wrenn Van has talent well beyond her years!

This weekend reminded me just how much I love photographing bands and has reinforced my goal to get out and get more musician pictures. If you’d like me to shoot your set, please reach out!

Dark Money in the Windsor Mayoral Election

Romey

Note: This post originally appeared on NextDoor

Look, I get it – we’re all tired of posts about the Windsor Mayor Election, but rather than persuade you to vote for one candidate over another, I am posting on Election Day to raise some concerning information about Dark Money that infested our local elections.

“‘Dark money’ refers to spending meant to influence political outcomes where the source of the money is not disclosed.” – OpenSecrets (more at https://www.opensecrets.org/dark-money/basics )

After examining all of the Financial Disclosures at https://www.windsorgov.com/1256/Campaign-Finance-Reports and charting them based on expenditures, over 1 in every 4 dollars spent in this election has been by a Nonprofit Corporation called “Advancing Northern Colorado.” Based out of Loveland, they do not disclose their donors and do not have to abide by the contribution limits imposed on the candidate committees. As you can see, this has opened a pipeline of funding into our elections that cannot be traced. In this case, all the money was spent supporting one candidate.

Expenditures by Advancing Northern Colorado include $2734 for text messaging campaigns, while an additional $4500 for “Hallett for Mayor Creative Development” and “Ad Placement.”

I have raised earnest questions regarding these expenditures at https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=327303868 and appreciate the candidate’s response. I invite you to review the post and comment threads and consider them.

My intention is not to promote or embarrass any candidate but to raise awareness of how these financial practices impact our elections. I believe strongly in election integrity, and while I cherish freedom of speech, I also believe strongly in financial disclosure so we can understand how messaging is funded. As a community, we need to have some very serious discussions about Dark Money and its place in our local political discourse.